HIRAM THE MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF HIRAM COLLEGE • SPRING 2015 Educating A NEW GENERATION president'sletter DEAR FRIENDS, HIRAM As a newcomer to the Hiram MAGAZINE College community, I spent my first several months meeting with Hiram's most important constituents: students, faculty, staff and alumni. The stories they tell and the memories they share have moved and mo- tivated me. Recently, I have taken to learning more about Hiram's history, so we can be both mission- driven and market-wise as we position ourselves MAGAZINE STAFF for the future. The more I CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: learn and the more I see, Karen Donley-Hayes ’86, ’06 the more convinced I am Megan Jennings ’16; Andrew Korba that the type of education CHIEF OF STAFF, CHIEF PUBLIC Hiram has long provided AND MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICER: is increasingly rare and Cristine Boyd, M.B.A., APR increasingly relevant. This is one of the many reasons VICE PRESIDENT FOR DEVELOPMENT why I believe Hiram can become a prototype for bringing a 21st century AND ALUMNI RELATIONS: Patrick Roberts, Ph.D. liberal arts education to life. DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI RELATIONS: Hiram brings education to life by being a real place, with real people, real John Coyne ’95 opportunities and just enough real challenges to keep us on our toes. The education we provide in our small classrooms, and out in the “field” – via ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF COLLEGE RELATIONS: guided research projects or during trips abroad – is stronger and more Christina A. Russ meaningful than what I have seen in most other places. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF The strength and purpose of Hiram's programs are fueled by the tremen- ALUMNI RELATIONS dous efforts of the “whole.” Here, everyone rolls up their sleeves to work AND ANNUAL GIVING: Connie Skingel ’07 together, help each other, and form and strive for “a common good.” The interesting thing about the common good at Hiram is that it is shaped GRAPHIC DESIGN ASSISTANT: by vastly unique faculty, staff, students and alumni, who are finding and Yvonne Sherwood becoming their best selves while helping others do the same. There is real magic to a common good that grows out of individual uniqueness, rather ART DIRECTOR: Rebecca Smetak than one that is born of a conformist community. FOR MORE INFORMATION As we all go out to invite prospective students to visit campus and encour- Office of College Relations age our own sons, daughters, nieces, nephews and friends to consider this Teachout-Price Hall gem on the hill, let's work even harder to highlight how this part of our past Hiram, OH 44234 330.569.5286 | www.hiram.edu positions us to become the type of contemporary liberal arts college that others wish to emulate. Our original name, the “Western Reserve Eclectic THE HIRAM COLLEGE MAGAZINE Institute,” still aptly describes who we are today and what makes us so (ISSN 1042-0894) was founded as the strong. Let's honor that name by continuing to bring to life the characteris- Broadcaster in 1928 and is published by the tics and values associated with such a powerful moniker. Office of College Relations, Hiram College INQUIRIES TO CHANGE YOUR ADDRESS Dr. Lori E. Varlotta OR UNSUBSCRIBE CONTACT: President Office of Alumni Relations 800.705.5050, [email protected], or update your records at alumni.hiram.edu 2 SPRING2015 One Magical Game 4 From the Hill 6 Cover Story 8 Decade of Nursing 13 100 Years of Football 14 Terrier News 16 Building a Frohring Legacy 18 Friendly Bob's History 22 Alumni Notes 28 A Season to Remember Rallying around the mantra “We will,” the football team finished the Fall 2014 season 5-5, its best record since 1988. Women's Basketball Extends ‘Hiram Magic’ to Lauren Hill BY MEGAN JENNINGS ’16 The women’s basketball team was The emotional story behind the game has become a nation- ally covered illustration of perseverance, collaboration originally scheduled to begin its season and sportsmanship. Mount St. Joseph University freshman on Nov. 15, 2014 against the Mount St. Lauren Hill dreamed of playing with her college team, but an aggressive brainstem cancer was rapidly incapacitating her. Joseph University Lions, a Cincinnati- It seemed that by the team’s first game, Hill would no longer area team the Hiram College Terriers had be physically able to take the court. So the National Collegiate never played. But even before the Terriers Athletic Association (NCAA) allowed the game to be moved up by almost two weeks to give Hill a chance at her dream. On gathered for their first practice of the year, Nov. 2, 2014, Lauren Hill stepped onto the court for “One Last that date had been pushed forward to Game.” Nov. 2, and the venue moved from Hiram’s “When they decided to move (the game), we realized it wasn’t home court to the Cintas Center at Xavier just for Lauren having one last game,” says Dana Perrotta ’17, who explained Hill’s hope was also to raise awareness about University, Cincinnati, Ohio. her cancer – diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) – a rare, inoperable pediatric brain tumor. “That’s when I realized how selfless she was.” 4 SPRING2015 Before the big game on Nov. 2, the Lions treated the Terriers to “I think for a second, we forgot that she was on the other dinner, where the two teams bonded over college memories team,” says Perrotta. “I felt like it was one of our teammates and basketball, and formed a relationship unknown between who just made that shot. It was like we couldn’t wait for it to teams in collegiate basketball. happen.” “It was like sitting down with people you’ve known your The game ended with a win for the Lions at 66-55. But there whole life. It was effortless,” said Taylor Ratliff ’15. “We were no losers on that day. laughed and cried.” “When we think about it, it wasn’t a loss at all,” says Koskinen. The Terriers were not only moved by the overwhelming “We won because Lauren was out there and played the game. gratitude the Lions displayed during dinner, but by Lauren’s That’s all she wanted to do. Looking back, it was a blessing positivity in the face of her illness and the emotional inten- that we got to be a part of it.” sity of the situation. Even though the teams met only that one time on the court, “Just being in the same room as her ... you could feel her en- they gathered again a few weeks later. The Mount St. Joseph ergy,” says Perrotta. “She just lights up a room. You want to team, on its way home from playing against Baldwin Wallace smile.” University, made a stop in Hiram to cheer the Terriers on against Albion College (Michigan). The Lions also presented On Nov. 2, the game opened with Lauren Hill making her a gift of appreciation to the Terriers: a framed “Play for 22” first collegiate layup. Kelsey Koskinen ’15 remembers how shirt, signed by the entire team. the stadium erupted in cheers. “When people ask about that moment, I can give you every emotion, every sense that was Note: The national outpouring of support for Lauren Hill has been going on, and I could see the smile on her face,” she recalls. overwhelming. As of March 25, 2015, $1.4 million has been donated “It’s in my brain forever and it always will be. The smile she in Lauren Hill’s name to The Cure Starts Now Foundation. had on her face was priceless. It was the world for her to be ● there and shoot that layup.” “It was like a movie,” says Ratliff. “You look up, and you see people, their hands moving, their mouths going, and you hear nothing. You just look up, and immediately everyone just waves, and you just stand there and smile and cry.” READ MORE HIRAM NEWS AT NEWS.HIRAM.EDU. HIRAMMAGAZINE 5 Educational studies major Chelsey Christie ’15 was the first Hiram student to get involved with the program, running an after-school literacy program during the Fall 2014 12-Week. The inaugural program was part of her 120-hour internship re- quirement for the educational studies major. Christie planned a theme for each of the 12-week sessions, and she created and ran activities for the elementary students. Honors Scholars Lead Book Discussions in Local High Schools Four Hiram College honors students are visiting senior English classrooms at neighboring Crestwood and Streetsboro High Schools. The students have been leading discussions on diver- sity and racism through the literary lenses of two of 2014’s Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winners. A collaborative effort between the Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature and local high school teachers, the project challenges students to expand their education beyond classroom walls, to discuss how literature confronts racism and examines diversity, and to explore the issues with a broader audience. Hiram College and NOCHE During the fall 2014 3-Week session, John Enasko ’17 and Seiji Partners Receive $1 Million Prize Bessho ’18 visited students at Crestwood to examine Anthony Marra’s novel, “A Constellation of Vital Phenomena,” which Hiram College’s innovative degree completion and retention deals with radically differing lives intersecting in war-torn programs helped the Akron, Ohio, region secure a $1 million Chechnya. grand prize from CEOs for Cities for its growth in college de- gree attainment over the past four years. During the spring 2015 12-Week session, Robin Peshick ’17 and Maya Watkins ’17 will visit Streetsboro to examine CEOs for Cities announced in October 2014 that the Akron Adrian Matejka’s poetry collection, “The Big Smoke,” which Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) had the biggest improve- explores the life of the first African-American heavyweight ment in degree attainment out of the 57 regions competing in world champion.