Tusculum College was one of 39 campuses across the country to host the National Post-Katrina College Summit, a nationwide effort to raise awareness about the crisis in the Gulf Coast and to promote federal legislation calling for a New Deal-style program for the region.

Events on the Tusculum campus on Wednesday (April 11) included a public reading of the names of victims of Hurricane Katrina and a discussion by Tusculum students who have traveled to the hurricane-stricken areas about their experiences along with a showing of a portion of Spike Lee’s documentary “When the Levees Broke.”

Students also conducted a petition drive to gather signatures in support of the passage of federal legislation to create a program that would create 100,000 jobs for Gulf Coast residents to rebuild their communities. The cost for the program, which includes job training, is estimated at $4 billion.

The National Post-Katrina College Summit was initiated by the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project, which is spearheading the national effort to develop the legislation to establish the federal work program.

The need for such a program was expressed by Tusculum students and faculty during the discussion session on Wednesday.

Robin Fife, assistant professor of social science, has led three Service-Learning classes to the Gulf Coast area to help in the hurricane relief effort with the most recent trip taken earlier this year.

“It was the hardest work I have ever done,” Fife said of the relief projects she and her students have undertaken, including ‘mucking out’ damaged contents of people’s homes. “It was not just physically hard, but emotionally as well because we were taking the stuff of people’s lives out to the curb to be thrown away.”

She said that on one trip, the students met a lady in one neighborhood who is the only person who has returned to that area in New Orleans. “The city is not coming back, and now the insects, bugs and animals are taking over,” she added.

Sudipa Shrestha, who was in New Orleans in March, said she was disappointed to find that the government and large national organizations were not doing more to help people in New Orleans, but that the help was coming through smaller non-profit organizations.

Shrestha, an international student from Nepal, organized and led a group of 12 Tusculum students to New Orleans for an “Alternative Spring Break” in the first week of March. The students worked to remove damaged materials from homes, some so overtaken with mold that the students had to wear protective clothing and masks.

The students worked with Common Ground Collective. Common Ground was established one week after Hurricane Katrina and its mission is to provide short-term relief for hurricane victims and long-term support in rebuilding communities. It has hosted over 10,000 volunteers to provide relief and assistance to hurricane survivors, and contributed millions of dollars to the community through distribution of food, water, cleaning supplies, protective gear, tools, building materials, and volunteer labor.

Shrestha said the organization is student-oriented and provides both short-term and long-term volunteer projects for students. Working with the group, the Tusculum students had the opportunity to meet other college students from across the country, she added.

The “Alternative Spring Break” is the first trip of its kind at Tusculum College and had sponsorship from MECO Corporation.

The trip to New Orleans was among the latest service efforts by Shrestha, who is a member of the Bonner Leader student service program on campus and active in the local community, through both service and her academics. An accounting major, she gained invaluable experience through an internship at MECO Corporation last summer, and she has used the knowledge she has gained in the classroom and the business world to provide a needed service to a local non-profit organization.

Last January, Shrestha began working for the director of the Greeneville company’s Foreign Sourcing Department, which handles the company’s importing of supplies and exporting of products. She describes MECO as “one of the best places I have worked – the company has a family environment.” Through her internship, Shrestha said she learned about working in the global business environment with suppliers and customers from different parts of the world.

She has been able to use her business skills learned in the classroom and her internship to assist the Opportunity House. Shrestha worked at the Opportunity House once or twice a week through the summer and created a brochure about the organization and its services. This brochure has been sent to local businesses and organizations to raise the awareness of the services provided by the Opportunity House and help garner some much-needed support.

The Opportunity House Thrift Store, which provides financial support for the organization, moved locations during the summer, and Shrestha helped in the process of sorting clothes in preparations for opening at the new location.

As a Bonner Leader, Shrestha has also served locally in children’s educational programs as well as traveling to other communities such as Caretta, W.Va., to help others.

The Presbyterian Outlook publication has established the “Presbyterian Outlook Church-College Partnership Award” with a first place award amount of $1,000.00.

The award will be presented to a graduating senior who writes the essay adjudged the best on the subject: “How my education at a PC(USA)-related college has equipped me for significant service and leadership.”

The winning essay will also be published in The Presbyterian Outlook.

Honorable mention awards of $200.00 will be awarded to all others whose essays are chosen for publication.

All seniors presently attending a PC(USA)-related college who will graduate in calendar year 2007 are eligible to submit an essay.

The essays should be no more than 1,000 words and should be accompanied by a resume.

Submissions may be sent to:

College Partnership Award
The Presbyterian Outlook
2112 W. Laburnum Ave., Suite 109
Richmond, VA 23227.

The deadline for entry is April 30, 2007.

To learn more about The Presbyterian Outlook, visit http://www.pres-outlook.org

How can schools meet the challenge of educating students to be successful in a world that promises to be far different than the one their elders have known?

That question will be the focus of a lecture by Oliver ‘Buzz’ Thomas on Tuesday, March 13, at Tusculum College. Thomas, executive director of the Niswonger Foundation, will present “Preparing Students for Life on Another Planet: K-12 Education for the 21^st Century” at 7 p.m. in the Chalmers Conference Center in the Niswonger Commons on the Tusculum campus. The event is part of Tusculum College Arts Outreach’s Acts, Arts, Academia 2007 performance and lecture series.

Education is at the focal point of Thomas’s role at the Niswonger Foundation and of the mission of the foundation itself. Prior to coming to the Niswonger Foundation, Thomas served as a minister, attorney, author, teacher and community leader in his multi-faceted career.

As a minister, he served churches in Tennessee and Louisiana. Thomas’ interest in charitable work is rooted in his experiences as an inner-city youth minister in the Irish Channel of New Orleans. He earned a Master of Divinity from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary where he also graduated first in his class and was chosen as the school’s outstanding divinity student.

As an attorney, Thomas has experience practicing at every level of state and federal courts including the U.S. Supreme Court. His clients have included the National Council of Churches, the Southern Baptist Convention and the Children’s Defense Fund. He has appeared as an expert witness before the Judiciary Committees of the United States Congress several times. Thomas is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Tennessee where he graduated first in his class, and he received his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Tennessee College of Law where he was Order of the Coif. Thomas earned his Master of Law from the University of Virginia.

As an educator, he was an instructor of First Amendment law at Georgetown University Law Center. Thomas has also lectured at such universities as Harvard and Notre Dame. More recently, he was a member of the Maryville Board of Education, serving three years as chairman. Thomas has also provided training to teachers and administrators from more than five hundred school districts from North Carolina to California.

As an author, Thomas co-authored The Right to Religious Liberty and Finding Common Ground, the First Amendment handbook endorsed by the Department of Education and used in many of the nation’s public schools. His articles have appeared in a variety of national publications, and he is a regular contributor to USA Today. Thomas has also been a guest commentator for ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, C-Span, and National Public Radio.

Thomas’s columns have at times provoked national discussion and been referenced in national media forums and on talk radio.

Next month, Thomas’s book “10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You (But Can’t Because He Needs the Job)” will be published in hardcover by St. Martin’s Press. It is already listed for pre-order on Amazon.com.

Admission to the lecture is $6. For more information, contact Tusculum College Acts Outreach at (423) 798-1620 or visit its Web site at http://arts.tusculum.edu.

The Acts, Arts, Academia series is presented by Tusculum College Arts Outreach and supported by Dr. Sam Miller in memory of Mary Agnes Ault Miller, Society of Cicero, Hearts for the Arts, the Tennessee Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Arts Outreach.

Members of a service-learning class from Tusculum College have recently taught eighth graders at Chuckey-Doak Middle School (CDMS) about ways to help themselves have a healthy and successful future.

The Tusculum students spent a week working with the Chuckey-Doak eighth graders to teach them about the principles at the center of “The Power of Five” program, which was developed by the national America’s Promise organization in conjunction with Weekly Reader.

The “Power of Five” encourages young people ages 11 to 14 to fulfill a modified version of the five promises central to the America’s Promise program’s efforts to strengthen communities to enable youth to lead successful lives. Tusculum is a College of Promise and CDMS is a School of Promise in the local Greeneville/Greene County’s Promise organization, a program of the Volunteer Center.

During the past week, the Tusculum students, members of a service-learning class taught by Robin Fife, assistant professor of social science at the college, visited the eighth grade classes to teach four of the five promises. The Tusculum students involved the eighth graders in such interactive activities as role-playing skits, art projects, and open discussions to teach them about the importance for children to have a caring adult as part of their lives, the value of having a safe place to go after school, the significance of learning marketable skills, and the benefits of good nutrition and exercise.

The week’s activities culminated on Monday (Feb. 26) with a special presentation by both the Tusculum students and eighth graders about the week’s activities and what the CDMS students had learned. Participating in the presentation were Chuckey-Doak students Stafania Collins, Ashley Gill, Natalie Guzman, April Hooper, April King, Brook McCamis, Natasha Parker, Alexis Penley, Kaylee Proffitt, and Ruby Townsend. The Tusculum students included Gala Barrentine, Cheyenne Casteel, Bryant Cook, Cerene Eddo, Aubrey Furster, Cody Greene, Ronnie Harris, Josh Hinkle, Seth Lady, Ross Lewis, Wesley Spurgen, and Cody Wiggin.

Attending the presentation were representatives from the Volunteer Center, Tusculum, Chuckey-Doak, and the Greeneville-Greene County Community Ministries. Mary Fitzpatrick, director of the Volunteer Center, and Dr. Kim Estep, provost and academic vice president at Tusculum, spoke briefly to the students.

Ross Lewis, speaking on behalf of the Tusculum students, thanked the Chuckey-Doak eighth graders for welcoming the college students into their classes, giving them their respectful attention and participating in the activities. Fife also thanked the students, their teachers, and the CDMS administration for allowing the college to come and work with them in the Power of Five program.

While the Tusculum students taught the eighth graders the first four promises, the fifth one involved the Chuckey-Doak students taking the initiative. This promise involves giving back to the community through service, and the eighth graders conducted a canned food drive to benefit the Food Bank operated by the Greeneville-Greene County Communities. The students collected several hundred cans of food, which was accepted during the presentation by Carol Thornburg from the Food Bank.

Thornburg thanked the students for their efforts, noting that the Food Bank relies on volunteers daily to be able to provide food and other assistance to families who find themselves in situations in which they need help with their basic needs.

Students in LeAnn Myers homeroom at Chuckey-Doak collected the most cans, 288, and were rewarded with a ‘healthy party’ hosted by the Tusculum students.

Service-learning classes have been involved in Power of Five projects in local schools since the fall of 2002, and their efforts have been featured in publications of the America’s Promise organization.

The computer lab in Tusculum College’s Virginia Hall was busy Sunday afternoon as the College hosted College Goal Sunday, an event that provided help in filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form required for students at any college or university who apply for federal financial aid.

A team of Tusculum College Admission and Financial Aid staffers, along with volunteers from other departments of the College, helped a total of 15 families complete their FAFSAs.

Some FAFSAs were submitted on the spot via the Internet. Students planning to attend any College were welcomed during the two-hour event. Originally scheduled for Feb. 18, the event was delayed by one week because of bad weather on the 18th, though some families came on the 18th despite the closure and were given FAFSA help by College staffers who had come by just in case someone showed up

Several students from Greeneville’s Hal Henard Elementary School who excelled in the “Slam Dunk Reading Program” held in recent weeks at the school were honored for their achievement during a recent Tusculum College basketball game.

The students also earned an in-school party for themselves and their classmates. TC’s basketball players have lent support to the reading program as a community project. Hal Henard educator Ron Fields led the project at the elementary school.

The Hal Henard students who attended the basketball game are shown in the front row. They are, from left, Mack Mathis, Kelsey Leng, Mindy Neas, Sydne Stephens, Zoe Bowman and Marc Bowman. Standing behind them are members of the Tusculum College Pioneer basketball squads. They are, from left, Tyler White, Eric Williams, Chris Poore, Brooke Underwood and Diana Neves.

Tusculum College students Becca Friddle, Anup Kaphle, and Eliza Land are the 2007 winners of the Curtis and Billie Belcher Owens Literary Prize creative writing competition at the state’s oldest institution of higher education.

The winners of the competition were announced on Feb. 15 during the fifth annual English Department Extravaganza, an event hosted by the English Department for its majors. The English Department coordinates the annual Owens creative writing competition. This year’s English Department Extravaganza event, which had a Mardi Gras theme, also provided information about English student organizations and upcoming course offerings.

Friddle, a senior from Honea Path, S.C., was the winner in the fiction category with her story, “He Said, She Said.” This was the first submission in the competition for Friddle, who is majoring in English literature with a minor in writing. She is a managing editor of the Tusculum Review, the college’s literary magazine, and a member of Sigma Tau Delta, the English honor society. Friddle is a member of the Tusculum Women’s Golf Team.

Kaphle, an international student from Katmandu, Nepal, was the winner in the poetry category for his poems, “Baghdad,” “Katmandu, 2027,” “Brothel in Bombay,” “Night, Trekking Down Tatopani,” and “Coup d’etat.” Kaphle, a senior majoring in English writing with a minor in journalism, is editor of The Pioneer Frontier student newspaper and worked last summer as an intern for Newsweek. He also attended the prestigious Bard Program for Globalization in International Affairs last summer. This is the third time that Kaphle has placed in the competition, previously earning honors for poetry and fiction.

Land, a senior from Greeneville, was the winner in the nonfiction category for her essay, “Calling It Home.” Land, who is majoring in English writing with a minor in journalism, is a Trustee Scholar, the president of the Sigma Tau Delta English honor society, a tutor, and Student Support Services mentor. Last year, she served as managing editor of the Tusculum Review, and editor of The Pioneer Frontier. Land won an honorable mention in the competition last year for her poetry.

The Curtis and Billie Belcher Owens Literary Prize was established in 1995 by Professor Curtis Owens, a 1928 graduate of Tusculum, and his wife. At Tusculum, Owens played football, debated, won a special award for philosophy, two awards for poetry, wrote the class poem for the 1928 annual, and wrote a play presented as part of commencement. After graduation, he began a career in education, serving as a school principal in eastern Kentucky where he was noted for his drama productions and later as a professor of English and speech at Pace Institute in New York City, now Pace University. Although Professor Owens and his wife are both now deceased, the prize continues to recognize their long-standing commitment to Tusculum by providing for the annual competition among students and a monetary prize to the winners.

The 2007 Theologian-in-Residence series at Tusculum College will take place in February, featuring an examination of the doctrine of the Trinity from the viewpoint of a Reformed theologian, Dr. Charles Aden Wiley, III, associate for theology in the Office of Theology and Worship of the General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. in Louisville, Ky.

Dr. Wiley will make his presentations each Tuesday in February in the Chalmers Conference Center of the Niswonger Commons on the Tusculum College campus at Greeneville, Tenn. The lectures, sponsored by Tusculum College and the Holston Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., are free and open to the public.

Presentations begin at 10 a.m. each Tuesday, with a midday lunch break followed by a brief afternoon wrap-up session.

Free lunch in the Tusculum College Dining Hall is available for all participants. Reservations for attendance are requested so that preparation may be made for the appropriate number of attendees each week. To make reservations, call the Tusculum College Office of Church Relations at 423-636-7303.

Dr. Charles Wiley was born in Surinam, South America, the son of Pilgrim Holiness missionaries. His movement toward the Reformed side of the Church began when he entered Davidson College. Dr. Wiley graduated from Davidson College, Duke University Divinity School (M.Div.), and Princeton Theological Seminary (Ph.D.).

A member of New Hope Presbytery, Dr. Wiley’s duties as Associate for Theology involve working with the General Assembly regarding theological issues and issues of science and faith.

Dr. Wiley is married to Betsy Wiley. They have two children. Dr. Wiley lists his loves as Duke basketball, Bruce Springsteen music, cooking, kayaking, and fly-fishing.

The overall title of Dr. Wiley’s presentations is “God for Us: Reflections on Trinity and Gospel.”

Below are individual session titles and descriptions as provided by Dr. Wiley:

Session 1, Feb. 6: Proclaiming the Triune God: The Sum of the Gospel

“The topic of the Trinity is sometimes considered as a problem to be explained or avoided … we will explore the Trinity as a gift, building on the conviction that to speak of the Trinity is to proclaim the gospel, and to proclaim the gospel one must speak of the Trinity.”

Session 2, Feb. 13: Worshiping the Triune God: An invitation to “Come and Join Us.”

“The Triune God invites us into a life of divine worship. In worship we are drawn in to the embrace of God. Sometimes the language we use to describe worship betrays a sense that we are doing something ‘for’ God or that God is doing something ‘for’ us. A Trinitarian understanding of worship is invitational—the triune God invites us and calls us into God’s own overflowing love.”

Session 3, Feb. 20: Identifying the Triune God: Sitting at Table in the Kingdom of God.

“What do we believe about God? Who is God? In our increasingly pluralistic context, these questions are pressed upon us with increasing frequency. We will explore how our celebration around the table of the Lord makes clear for us the identity of the Triune God and the nature of the Gospel.”

Session 4, Feb. 27: Baptized in the Name of the Triune God: How the Trinity Shapes our Lives Together

“Christians have one basic call in life: a vocation, formed in baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the waters of baptism, in the midst of the worshiping community, we are formed toward a lifelong journey of faith. This Christian life is marked by gratitude for the work of the Triune God, reception of the law as a gift, and dependence on the continuing work of the Holy Spirit.”

Tusculum College’s new Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Stephen J. Gehret, began his tenure at the college in December.

Gehret (pronounced like “Garrett”) oversees the college’s Business and Finance, Human Resources, Information Systems, Facilities, Bookstore, Campus Post Office and Food Services operations. His office is located on the third floor of McCormick Hall, the main administrative building of the College.

President Dr. Dolphus E. Henry said, “The addition of Stephen Gehret to our leadership team bodes great promise for Tusculum College. We could not have found a more qualified individual to manage financial affairs.”

Gehret was since 1992 Associate Vice President for finance and Chief Budget Officer at Florida’s Barry University, managing a budget exceeding $165 million.

Earlier, he was Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer at St. Thomas University in Miami, which he joined in 1986 as Controller and Secretary. He was promoted in 1990 to CFO and Treasurer.

At St. Thomas, Gehret managed an operating budget exceeding $20 million and directed operational planning as a member of the President’s Cabinet. He also directed business office operations, financial reporting, purchasing and accounts receivable, cash flow and banking relationships, and preparation and control of operating and capital budgets.

While at Barry and St. Thomas, Gehret assisted in the provisional approval process by the American Bar Association for their Schools of Law.

He identified and initiated control measures and cost reductions in 1986 at St. Thomas that amounted to 40 percent of the budget and led to an operational turn-around the next year. He executed a $10.5 million tax-exempt bond placement in 1990 that resulted in budget relief and a simplified debt structure for St. Thomas.

From 1985 through 1986, Gehret was controller of the Cigarette Racing Team, Inc., in Miami, Cigarette being the well-known manufacturer of luxury boats.

He has worked at the vice presidential level in finance and administration for the Magee-Poole Drilling Company in Alice, Tex., an oil-drilling company. In the first part of the 1980s he worked with two other drilling firms, Dixilyn-Field Drilling Company and Bawden Drilling, Inc., both in Houston, as area administrator and division controller, respectively.

From 1979-1980 he worked in an accounting management position with Dolphin International, Inc. in Houston, and in the latter half of the 1970s was a staff accountant with Chicago-based Arthur Andersen & Company’s Houston division. He was recruited by Andersen, at that time one of the “Big Eight” accounting firms, to perform basic functions on audit engagements for oil and gas clients.

He was licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in 1980 in Florida, three years after earning his BBA in accounting at St. Edwards University. He earned an MBA in finance from Barry University in 1999.

Gehret co-authored an article entitled “The Institute for Liberal Arts – A Case Study” in Business Case Journal in 1998.

Gehret said he was attracted to Tusculum College during the interview and familiarization process in August 2006, wherein he met several members of the Tusculum College Board of Trustees, whom he found knowledgeable and “receptive to new and creative ideas.”

Gehret said he also was impressed by the management team in place at the college, noting that he had already met Vice President for Admission and Financial Aid Jacquelyn Elliott while she was working for another institution.

His initial conversation with President Henry began as a “15-minute phone call” that stretched into an hour-and-a-half conversation, Gehret said.

Gehret said he can envision “where Tusculum College can be and should be in the next three to five years” and plans to provide the tools to enhance the College’s “fiscal position” during that period. “I am confident I can do this with the help of the team here,” he said.

He particularly wants to use his expertise in financial management to support the efforts of the Provost, Student Affairs and Development divisions of the College. At present it is important that the college focus strongly on recruiting and retention of students, Gehret said.

Gehret has worked as a member of both on-site visit and off-sight evaluation teams for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which accredits Tusculum College and many other institutions of higher learning.

Gehret’s initial visits to Greeneville and Greene County left him impressed by the beauty of the area and by the strength and scope of the local business, governmental and social infrastructure. Discussing that with some personal friends, he said they were surprised by what he told them, and noted that the local infrastructure could support a town “three times the size” of Greeneville.

A devotee of golf, Gehret has bought a house that gives him easy access to the Link Hills Country Club course, where he can often be found during his off hours.

Tusculum College varsity basketball players recently visited with students at Hal Henard Elementary School in Greeneville to give support to a reading program several of the elementary students are taking part in. Tusculum College players told the pupils about the value of reading in their own lives and its importance to career success in any field. Pictured are, front row from left: Hal Henard students Mack Mathis, Desmond Dabbs, Spencer Anderson, Matthew Bestman, Matthew Bentley, Jacob Hamilton, Charlie Boss, Katlyn Garber and Eian Hurd. In the second row, from left, are Pioneers Carlie Lake, Emily French, Chassity Martin and Kathryn Spears. In the back, from left, are Pioneers Jordan Lear, Eric Williams, Serge Poppe, Tyler White, Nora Ramsey, Corey Poindexter and Gabe Story.

Students in grades two through five who achieve a certain level in the point-based “Slam Dunk Reading” program will earn a party for their school class and attendance and recognition at a Pioneer basketball game. Students receive scores based on reading books and answering questions about those books.

Several Pioneer players visited with the pupils to give support to the reading program and describe the importance of reading skills in their own college careers and life in general. Several players autographed Pioneer basketball posters for the Hal Henard students.

Also present at the event along with their teams were Head Coaches Jim Boone and Missy Tiber of the Pioneers, and several assistant coaches, plus staff members from Tusculum College Institutional Advancement.

Roger Jones, Denise Fliesser, Tina Collins, Luaren Hawk, Rachel Bussell and Glen Black, from left, graduating seniors and members of the Alpha Chi National Honor Society at Tusculum College, were recognized during a reception prior to commencement exercises on Dec. 16.

Juniors or seniors in the top 10 percent of their classes are invited to become members of the honor society. Graduating seniors receive blue and green cords to wear during graduation to signify their membership in the honor society.

Black of Bristol, Tenn.; Bussell of Middletown, Ohio; Collins of Mooresburg; Fliesser of London, Ontario, Canada; and Hawk and Jones of Greeneville, were presented their cords by Tusculum President Dr. Dolphus E. Henry and Dr. Kimberly K. Estep, provost and academic vice president. The event was hosted by the advisor for the honor society, Dr. Nancy Thomas, and Carolyn Gregg, co-director of the Warren W. Hobbie Center for the Civic Arts at Tusculum.

Sixty-four students of the Tusculum College Graduate and Professional Studies program were recognized for their membership in the Omicron-Psi National Honor Society prior to commencement exercises on Dec. 16.

During a reception in their honor, members were presented with pins, certificates, letters of congratulation, and blue and gold cords to wear when they graduate from Tusculum by President Dr. Dolphus E. Henry; Dr. Kimberly K. Estep, provost and academic vice president; and Denise Wood, vice president of extended education. Sixty-one graduated during the commencement ceremony later in the day.

Students are eligible for membership in Omicron-Psi if they are among the top 5 percent of the Bachelor of Science in Organizational Management graduates or have a grade point average of 3.5 or better in the master degree programs.

Members of the honor society from the Master of Arts in Education (K-12 concentration) program recognized were Erin Coffman and Cynthia Hardee of Kingsport, Della Gilliam and Elizabeth Kilbourne of Limestone, Daniel Myers of Parrottsville, and Tim Fuller, Melanie Smith, and Jessica Wilhoit of Greeneville.

Connie Earls and Charles Williams of Russellville, Chad Gregg and David Parr of Greeneville, Shayne Harrison and Lisa Houser of Knoxville, Susan Housley of Oak Ridge, Kyle Satterfiend and Lisa Satterfield of Greenback, Gregory Miller of Jefferson City, and Tony Watson of Pigeon Forge were inducted into the honor society from the Master of Arts in Education (Organizational Training and Education concentration) program.

Master of Arts in Education (Human Resource Development) program students inducted into Omicron Psi were Shelly Dunkel and Sara Rummage of Rockford, Donna McCall of Louisville, Amy Setzkorn of Seymour, and Sheryl Burnette, Treasa Mason, and Wakita Myers of Knoxville.

Inducted into the honor society from the Master of Arts in Organizational Management program were Chris Beach of Jonesborough, Rebecca Griffin of Greeneville, Mary Ann Condry and Jeffrey Cornett of Knoxville, Amara Doran of Gray, Kathryn Rutledge of Kingsport, Crystal Hirschy of Afton, Anne Hubbard-Rutherford of Kingston, and Doreen McCammon of Kodak.

Bachelor of Science students chosen for membership into Omicron-Psi were Martin Anderson and Natasha White of Clinton, Leslie Brooks of Whitesburg, Melissa Dixon of Church Hill, Barbara Evans of Jefferson City, Gary Evans and Daniel Matherly of Kingsport, Shannon Hargis of Knoxville, Jim Mitzel of Corryton, Michelle Reed of Limestone, Sandra Roy of Rockwood, Tammy Sharpe of Loudon, Bobbie Watson of Mountain City, Karen Sheets of Weber City, Va., and Rebecca Douthat, Kimberly Jones, and Karen Malone of Greeneville.

Dorothy Jacobs of Knoxville and Matthew Smith of Lake City from the Bachelor of Arts in Education program were inducted in the honor society.
Also recognized were four students in the master’s program and five in the bachelor’s degree program who have indicated to the college that college-related news about themselves should not be released to the media.
The reception was organized by Carolyn Gregg, co-director of the Warren W. Hobbie Center for the Civic Arts who serves as advisor to Omicron-Psi, and by Nancy Thomas, director of the college’s Honors Program who serves as advisor to Alpha Chi.