Magazine | Fall 2020
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
FRANKLIN COLLEGE MAGAZINE | FALL 2020 RAISING THE BAR Public relations pro makes Indy’s Forty Under 40 list. Pg. 32 FORTIFY FRANKLIN College life looks different this semester, but Grizzlies are adapting. Over the summer, College administrators collaborated with local health officials on developing COVID-19 mitigation protocols and strategies to help keep students, employees and the surrounding Franklin community safe. The resulting Return to Campus Plan, subtitled “Fortify Franklin,” includes a Community Responsibility Pledge to wear masks and practice physical 2 Franklin College MAGAZINE CHAD WILLIAMS distancing during classes and extracurricular activities. Compliance ensures the College can continue providing the best possible residential, liberal arts experience to students. Together, Grizzlies are helping Fortify Franklin. Learn more at FranklinCollege.edu/ coronavirus, and look for #FortifyFranklin videos on social media. Pictured are Kosmo Wojack ’24 (foreground), Jovany Sebastian ’24 and Ellie Lammert ’24. FALL 2020 3 FRANKLIN COLLEGE MAGAZINE | FALL 2020 PRESIDENT’S Volume LVI, No. 3 Contributing Staff Director of Communications MESSAGE Deidra Baumgardner CONTENTS Editor Amy (Kean) VerSteeg ’96 Director of Marketing Ann Smith Assistant Athletic Director for Communications Ryan Thomas Dear Alumni and Friends, Senior Leadership Among the many challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic has come another round Vice President for Development and Alumni of cautionary tales about the future of liberal arts education. While many small Engagement Dana Cummings colleges struggle with enrollment and financial pressures, I am pleased to share that Franklin College has embarked on a path to ensure continued relevance Submissions and Changes of the liberal arts experience within the postgraduate marketplace. For content submissions, email aversteeg@ FranklinCollege.edu or call 317.738.8188. For address and phone changes, email recordupdates@ Our recent $1 million Charting the Future grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. for the FranklinCollege.edu or call 317.738.8052. Mail digital fluency initiative reflects our continued recognition of market-sensitive correspondence to Franklin College Magazine, educational imperatives (related story on Pages 14–15). The next logical step in Attn: Amy Kean VerSteeg, 101 Branigin Boulevard, equipping Franklin College graduates with a value-added distinction is exposing Franklin, Indiana 46131-2623. them to the various tech applications being leveraged daily in their respective Franklin College Magazine professions. That tech proficiency, coupled with the breadth of preparation Published three times annually. Copyright by Franklin enabled by a liberal arts foundation and discipline-specific knowledge and College. experience, will make FC graduates uniquely attractive to employers. Background Founded in 1834, Franklin College is a residential liberal arts and sciences institution located 20 minutes south of As we staff and equip the new Center for Tech Innovation and begin our esports Indianapolis. Franklin offers a wide array of undergraduate program, we enter an exciting new phase of excellence at Franklin College. majors as well as master’s degree programs in Physician Assistant Studies and Athletic Training. The unique Already, our elementary education students are practicing teaching and classroom curriculum merges classroom instruction with immersive management skills through Mursion before a virtual room of student avatars. experiences, research opportunities and study-away programs. Our goal is to prepare career-ready graduates for Exercise science students have made use of HTC Vive to study the effects of virtual today’s global professions and those of the future. Small reality on cognitive functioning and also engaged in the use of wearables that rely classes enable students to thrive through personal peer interaction and mentorship from professors who challenge on muscle-activation technology. and inspire them to think critically and perform confidently. Students participate in a vibrant co-curriculum that includes 21 NCAA Division III sports, Greek life, musical and theatre Students in other majors will soon have the opportunity to explore similar productions, and more than 40 student organizations. As the cutting-edge digital technologies. For example, journalism students could use first college in Indiana to become coeducational with the admission of women, Franklin welcomes diversity of thought, automated data-sifting technology for investigation and development of belief and person into a community that values equity and story ideas. English majors interested in technical writing could learn Whatfix, inclusion. Franklin College maintains a voluntary association enabling them to create web-enabled pictorial guides complete with interactive with the American Baptist Churches USA. walkthroughs. Plotly, a graphing library used for the visual display of statistical Nondiscrimination Policy Franklin College is committed to the principle and practice analyses, could be leveraged by students in a wide variety of majors. of equal opportunity for all its students, faculty, employees and applicants for admission and employment. For that The list goes on and on as tech applications multiply by the day in every academic reason, the College provides equal employment opportunities on the basis of merit and without regard to the individual’s discipline and each associated professional career. Our goal is to provide Franklin race, color, religion, gender, disability, age, national origin, College students with cutting-edge tech skills to complete their preparation for marital status or sexual orientation, in accordance with state and federal laws and any other characteristic protected by the best employment opportunities and, ultimately, for leadership positions in law. The College prohibits, forbids and will not tolerate any their chosen professions. verbal, physical or other conduct that belittles or demeans any individual on the basis of the above-listed statuses. All employees, managers, supervisors and job applicants The digital fluency initiative reflects the latest iteration of the truly transforma- are covered by this commitment. No person or employee, no matter his or her title or position, has the authority tional experience that is a Franklin College education. We are so proud to have expressed, actual, apparent or implied to discriminate against earned the confidence of Lilly Endowment Inc. and excited to embark on this next any employee of the College. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, admission to and enrollment level of academic distinction for current and future Grizzlies. in Franklin College, including, but not limited to, recruitment, selection, hiring, benefits, educational policies, admission Sincerely, policies, financial aid, scholarship and loan programs, housing, athletic and other College-administered programs and activities. On the Cover Brad Rateike ’02, founding principal of BAR Communications, made the Indianapolis Business KERRY PRATHER Journal list of Forty Under 40. FRANKLIN COLLEGE PRESIDENT PHOTO BY CHAD WILLIAMS Follow Us 4 Franklin College MAGAZINE CONTENTS INDUSTRY EXCELLENCE 12 VICE-PRESIDENTIAL PICK 22 POWERHOUSE SWIMMER 25 PEACE, LOVE AND JUSTICE 28 TEACHING WITH HEART 30 PRAYER WALL PODCAST 34 Featured Stories POMP, CIRCUMSTANCE AND PANDEMIC 6 See how the Class of 2020 reunited for a traditional in-person Commencement ceremony while following pandemic safety precautions. MILLION DOLLAR GRANT 14 Learn how a $1 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.’s Charting the Future for Indiana’s Colleges and Universities initiative is helping strengthen technology integration and expand learning opportunities at Franklin College. RAISING THE BAR 32 Meet public relations pro Brad Rateike ’02, and learn why he was named an Indianapolis Business Journal Forty Under 40 honoree earlier this year. FALL 2020 5 CIRCUMSTANCEPOMP, AND PANDEMIC Tremendous thought and preparation preceded the hosting of an in-person Commencement ceremony for the Class of 2020, whose traditional rite of passage was postponed in May, while the College implemented distance education amid pandemic concerns. With health and safety as top priorities, Commencement was reimagined and hosted at Faught Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 11. Admission was limited to four guests per student, seating was distanced and face masks were required. With picture-perfect fall weather as the backdrop, there were 181 students recognized for earning bachelor’s or master’s degrees. Some were recognized in absentia, due to personal health restrictions or relocation to other parts of the country for grad school or career since the spring. The class of 2020 selected Melissa Beer ’20, who double majored in applied mathematics and quantitative analysis and now works for Lincoln Financial Group, as their speaker. “I am so extremely grateful to Franklin for giving us the opportunity that many graduates of 2020 did not have. We get that walk across the stage that brings closure to the four years of hard work during our collegiate careers,” Beer said in her address. “As graduates, we can vouch for the fact that one of the biggest lessons Franklin engrains in us as students is to be adaptable and resilient in an ever-changing society, and boy is our world ever-changing right now. But today is not about the challenges we faced. Instead, today is about celebrating all we accomplished. Because we did it. We made it to graduation!”