ONWARD and UPWARD Opportunity Comes in Many Forms and Two Colors, Blue and Gold
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NURSING’S ACCESS WEATHERSPOON’S NANCY ADAMS, P.2 FOR VETERANS P. 24 BIG BANG P. 28 AHEAD OF HER TIME FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS SPRING 2016 Volume 17, No. 2 MAGAZINE ONWARD AND UPWARD Opportunity comes in many forms and two colors, blue and gold. PG. 12 SHOW AND TELL Students in Professor Jo Leimenstoll’s interior architecture class had the opportunity to do prospective design work for a historic downtown building. Best of all, they had the chance to speak with and learn from developers, city officials and consultants 12 such as alumna Megan Sullivan (far right in picture) as they presented their creative work. UNCG’s undergraduate program was rated No. 4 nationally in a DesignIntelligence Magazine survey of deans and department heads. See more opportunity-themed stories and photos in the Golden Opportunity feature. PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARTIN W. KANE. KANE. PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARTIN W. contents news front 2 University and alumni news and notes out take 8 Purple reigns in Peabody Park the studio 10 Arts and entertainment 12 Golden Opportunity UNCG provides the chance to strive for dreams and prepare to make your mark on the world. Some alumni and students share their tales of transformation. Weatherspoon’s Big Bang 24 Gregory Ivy arrived to create an art department, and ultimately de Kooning’s “Woman” was purchased as part of the Weatherspoon collection. Ahead of Her Time 28 Nancy Adams ’60, ’77 MS didn’t set out to be a pioneer. But with Dean Eberhart’s help, she became North Carolina’s first genetic counselor. 32 connections Alumni Association news and information 34 grad tidings Lots of class notes and pictures too old school 49 Student veterans on G.I. Bill Cover photography of Gatewood Building by Martin W. Kane. Visit us online To see an electronic version of this magazine, go to alumnimagazine.uncg.edu. While there, you can also submit a class note or click on archives to see former issues. newsfront Credit for those who served Mike Peters has devoted most of his adult EMTs, he developed an appreciation for life to the Army, Air Force and the the medical field. Reserves. He’s been on tours to Bosnia All three have one thing in common: and Afghanistan and served as a flight they’re students in the UNCG School of medic. As a civilian, he’s worked as an Nursing’s Veterans Access Program (VAP). EMT. But as he began looking toward the The program puts veterans with medi- future, he wanted to launch a more lucra- cal training on an accelerated path to a tive long-term career. bachelor’s degree in nursing. Each veter- Rachel Puckett enlisted in the N.C. an’s path is customized to his or her Army National Guard when she was 17 training and experience. “The Veterans years old. Four years later, the 21-year-old Access Program took my military training drives Humvees and works in logistics, but and turned it into credits for nursing she also wants to pursue her interest in school,” Bruce explained. becoming a mental health professional. The faculty, several of whom are veter- With four tours to Iraq in his 16-year ans themselves, help their students with Army career, Bruce Vosefski has spent a the transition from soldier to student. lot of time on the front lines. When he left “The camaraderie is already there,” active duty, he became a police officer. Mike said. “Everyone’s been through what After several years of working alongside you’ve been through.” 2 uncg magazine ° Spring 2016 newsfront Here’s Lucy Mason While Lucy Mason has been researching the lives of African-American figures on campus, she’s made history of her own. Lucy set the new all-time scoring record for UNCG women’s basketball. The record had been held by Angela Polk-Jones ’89, ’07 MSA, who returned to UNCG in 2011 to be the founding principal of the Middle College at UNCG. At the January ceremony honoring Lucy, Angela gave the new record holder a congratulatory hug and a round of applause. A double major in economics and African American and African Diaspora studies, Lucy graduated in 3 1/2 years in December. She currently is complet- ing a third major, political science. Last summer, Lucy researched and wrote about some of UNCG’s out- standing African-American faculty, staff and students for University Archives. One figure was Angela Polk-Jones. “There were a lot of interesting stories,” Lucy said. “It makes you want to go out and do great things.” VISIT ALUMNIMAGAZINE.UNCG.EDU TO SEE LUCY’S ARTICLE ON POLK-JONES AND A VIDEO. VAP students Rachel Puckett, Mike Peters and Bruce Vosefski (l-r) talk with Susan Safran. The program holds a special place for Board of Trustees Chair Susan Safran ’77. It combines two things the nursing graduate is particularly passionate about – nurses and veterans. When her father passed away in 2014, Susan was looking for the best place to make a contribution in his honor. That’s when she heard about the program at a trustees meeting. “It was my school of nursing and my dad was a veteran. It just all seemed to fit,” she said. Susan provided each VAP student with their uniforms and clinical supplies. The rapidly growing program now has 24 students. Lucy Mason, the new all-time scoring record holder for UNCG women’s basketball. Lucy SEE VIDEO AT ALUMNIMAGAZINE.UNCG.EDU. Mason with previous record holder, Angela PHOTOGRAPHY OF VAP BY MARTIN W. KANE; PHOTOGRAPHY OF MASON BY TIM COWIE/UNCG ATHLETICS. BY MARTIN W. PHOTOGRAPHY OF VAP Polk-Jones ‘89, ‘07 MSA, founding principal of the Middle College at UNCG. Spring 2016 ° uncg magazine 3 news front SCIENCE, SCIENCE EVERYWHERE Bring your kids and kids at heart to experi- ence science in its many forms on Saturday, April 16, noon to 4 p.m. This second annual UNCG Science Everywhere festival, free and open to the pub- lic, will be held throughout campus. Key sites include the School of Education Building, Foust Park, Peabody Park and the walkway at Sullivan Science and Eberhart buildings. In case of rain, it’ll move inside. Kids are fascinated by (non-venomous) snakes … by making their own creations … by science experiments of all types, especially if they fizz on the sidewalk, launch into the sky or parachute down a story or two. Dr. Lynn Sametz said, “Last year we had 40 activities. This year we are aiming for over 50 hands-on science activities.” Education professor Heidi Carlone was struck at the last festival by the kids’ focus during the activities. “Some stayed at a given activity for up to 45 minutes!” One parent told a graduate assistant volun- teer, “You kept my three-year-old busy all afternoon. How do you do that?” Her response? “It’s science.” SPARTANS TEAM UP WITH ESPN3 Now there’s another way to cheer on the Spartans. As basketball season began, UNCG Athletics announced a partnership with ESPN3 to produce sports events on campus. UNCG is now one of three universities in the country to have its own, custom-made ESPN3 trailer designed to broadcast games exclusively on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. This not only provides production experience for students, but gives UNCG greater national exposure. PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARTIN W. KANE. PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARTIN W. 4 uncg magazine ° Spring 2016 Minerva statue was a gift of the Class of 1953. A new twist on a campus tradition It started in 2007 with a few coins. Three years later, apples appeared. Since then, there have been notes, flowers and various fruits left at the statue of Minerva, all serving as offerings intended to bring good fortune and even better grades. This past December, for the first time in UNCG history, alumni got involved. During exam week, students didn’t have to bring their own apples to the statue. Instead, the UNCG Alumni Association donated more than 100 apples, many of which included a note of encouragement or advice from GOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade) alumni. “Relax. Reflect. Remind yourself that you are an extension of all you have learned,” said a note written by an alumnus. Another letter quoted Franklin D. Roosevelt: “When you get to the end of the rope, tie a knot and hang on.” “We wanted to send our love and well wishes to students, and this seemed like a great way to do it,” said Sarah Kathryn Coley in Alumni Engagement. Academic All-American Noah DeAngelo ’15, a men’s soccer Academic All-America First Team honoree, was the first Spartan athlete to earn First Team honors since Jennifer Moran in 2003. st DeAngelo, a biology major, graduated in December. This spring, Lucy Mason ’15 (p. 3) was named to the women’s basketball TEAM Academic All-America First Team. PHOTOGRAPHY BY MORGAN GLOVER. 1 Spring 2016 ° uncg magazine 5 news front Carnegie Foundation Professors of the Year’s Transformative Teaching FOR DR. MARY BLYTHE DANIELS ’88, volunteer at after-school programs and at a create who they are becoming. He also takes IT’S SERVICE LEARNING. FOR DR. nearby minimum-security prison, and Mary has his students to conferences where they are OMAR ALI, IT’S IMPROVISATION led several service-oriented, international trips. compelled to ‘perform’ in new ways through AND PERFORMANCE. “I love the sense of community that we build presenting themselves and their work. When it comes to teaching undergraduates, in a classroom,” she said. “I really like teaching “Performance helps people grow and the UNCG alumna and UNCG professor have undergraduates.