SPORTS 18 LIFE in the BALANCE the Mountain Lions Officially Made the Move to the NCAA Division II—And YHC Will Never Be the Same
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ECHOESTHE MAGAZINE OF YOUNG HARRIS COLLEGE | FALL/WINTER 2014 8 COMMENCEMENT 2014 Trisha Yearwood, ‘84, delivers inspirational message to graduates THE 12 A NEW ERA FOR ATHLETICS SPORTS 18 LIFE IN THE BALANCE The Mountain Lions officially made the move to the NCAA Division II—and YHC will never be the same. 22 WORK & PLAY ISSUE 44 FANDEMONIUM 12 PRESIDENT 8 Cathy Cox, J.D. VICE PRESIDENT FOR BUSINESS/CONTROLLER Wade Benson CONTENTS VICE PRESIDENT FOR CAMPUS TECHNOLOGY 8 22 52 Ken Faneuff VICE PRESIDENT FOR COMMENCEMENT 2014 WORK & PLAY AN ULTIMATE ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT The festivities featured words Seven alumni have sought AND EXTERNAL RELATIONS COMPETITION of inspiration from speaker out vocations that center on Clinton Hobbs, ’88 Trisha Yearwood, ’84, symbolic their love of sports, and their An intense new club sport is SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR spiritual services, and special winning ways epitomize the sweeping across the campus FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION awards for students and friends tradition of excellence that truly and outdoor organizations David Leopard of the College. defines the YHC experience. are on the rise—all thanks to students daring enough to get VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS them going. AND DEAN OF THE FACULTY 12 40 Dr. Gary Myers VICE PRESIDENT FOR A NEW ERA FOR MOUNTAIN LION PRIDE 54 PLANNING AND The competitive cheerleading ASSESSMENT AND ATHLETICS FRIENDLY RIVALRIES CHIEF OF STAFF team and Purple Reign pep YHC has officially made the Each decade is defined a little Rosemary Royston, ’89 band play a central role in move to NCAA Division II spreading the spirit that differently by the alumni who VICE PRESIDENT FOR athletics—and the three-year permeates the Enchanted played intramural sports at STUDENT DEVELOPMENT transition has been worth YHC—and current students are Angi Smith, J.D. Valley. the wait. carrying on the tradition today. VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADVANCEMENT 44 Jay Stroman 18 58 FANDEMONIUM CHAIR, BOARD OF TRUSTEES LIFE IN THE BALANCE SPIRITED SUPPORT Brantley Barrow, ‘74 Steadfast supporters show their Six student-athletes share Mountain Lion pride in far- Three dedicated alumni what it’s like to maintain a reaching ways—from attending express their enthusiasm for standard of excellence both the purple and white by giving Echoes is published by the Office of daily basketball practices to Communications and Marketing at Young Harris academically and athletically— traveling 16 hours to catch a back to ensure their alma mater College. The views and opinions presented in this publication are not necessarily those of the and how YHC is helping them lacrosse match. continues to excel. editors or the official policies of the College. make this goal a reality. © 2014 Young Harris College 44 54 52 18 ECHOES VOLUME 16, ISSUE 2 FALL/WINTER 2014 22 40 EDITOR Krystin Dean ART DIRECTOR Melissa Mitchell DEPARTMENTS PHOTO EDITOR 62 Scott Dean AN UNFORGETTABLE IMPACT 4 FROM THE PRESIDENT CONTRIBUTORS Alumni band together to advance the Krystin Dean College’s mission through initiatives like Kyle Huneycutt, '13 the Class Scholarship Challenge, Papa 5 IN THE KNOW Judy Lunsford Rich Project, Clay Dotson Open and Young Michael MacEachern Harris Annual Fund. 34 FACULTY VIEWPOINT Mason Mitcham, '14 Jennifer Stearsman 64 36 INQUIRING MINDS Elizabeth Bradley Turner ALUMNI WEEKEND 2014 LeAnn Waldroup 39 MOUNTAIN LION LUMINARY ARTWORK & PHOTOGRAPHY Hundreds of alumni, their families and friends traveled to campus this spring to Clarkson Creative/Colorado Rockies get in touch with their YHC roots while 56 ATHLETICS Matthew Davis, '17 making lasting memories. Krystin Dean 68 CLASS NOTES Scott Dean Kyle Huneycutt Jerilyn Oquendo, '15 71 THE LAST WORD Philip Sampson, '84 LeAnn Waldroup ON THE COVER Commencement speaker Trisha Yearwood, ’84, (center) mingled with several graduates prior to the ceremony, including Lauren Chamblin, of Cumming, Brian Walker, of Powder Springs, Will Skelton, of CONTACT US Hayesville, N.C., Emily Espy, of Cumming, Travis Donahoo, of Knoxville, Tenn., and Sarah Puett, of Warne, Email [email protected] N.C. Check out the full story on page 8. Web yhc.edu/echoes Mail Office of Alumni Services P.O. Box 275 Young Harris, GA 30582 Phone (706) 379-5173 Fax (706) 379-4572 58 64 facebook.com/YoungHarrisCollege twitter.com/YH_College instagram.com/youngharriscollege youtube.com/youngharriscollege pinterest.com/youngharris flickr.com/youngharriscollege foursquare.com/yh_college FROM THE PRESIDENT opportunities beyond the playing field, Worth the Wait graduate scholarship opportunities, and a culture that emphasizes a balanced On Sept. 1, Young Harris College became a full and active member of approach to life beyond athletics. the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Division II. We sat down with YHC President Cathy Cox to find out more about the Q: What’s the most exciting part College’s journey, which many have heard her say has been “the hardest about our first year as an active thing we’ve done” in YHC’s transition to four-year status. member of this division? Q: Why did YHC decide to had to travel thousands of miles to find a A: No question about it—the chance pursue Division II athletics over Division III conference at the time. NAIA to compete for, and hopefully win, some really didn’t align with our educational conference championships. And maybe a its other options? model either. So from a number of national championship, too! We’ve certainly A: As you know, we had a robust junior perspectives, Division II really was a great got that caliber of talent on our teams here college athletics program and a strong fit for us. at YHC. history of offering scholarships to student- athletes, but we nevertheless undertook Q: Why did it take us so long to Q: Are we at a disadvantage a significant study of Division III and get full membership? against big state schools in the National Association of Intercollegiate Peach Belt Conference (PBC)? Athletics (NAIA) options back in 2007 A: Don’t get me started! Seriously, we and 2008, and determined that Division II got misleading advice and had the rules A: No, not really. The conference sets the really fit us best. changed on us at midstream on more than maximum number of scholarships a college one occasion. We learned the hard way that can offer for each sport, and many of the Q: Why was this the best fit? the membership process has been made public colleges honestly cannot afford to more arduous every year over the past five fund the maximum scholarships allowable. A: Several reasons. The division’s “Life in years as the NCAA has tried to manage the We are fortunate at YHC that, despite our the Balance” motto really fit our educational growing number of member applicants. It small enrollment, we have the resources to approach, and you can read more about was, unfortunately, a very political process. provide the maximum level of scholarships that in this issue. Secondly, our coaches felt in most of our sports—so we actually have comfortable recruiting with scholarships Q: Was the long road worth it? somewhat of an advantage in recruiting. rather than moving to a Division III model And the proof is in the pudding: we’ve A: Oh, yes! Division II still provides with no scholarships, and we would have already become the little David slaying the the gold standard for smaller college Goliath as we’ve gone on to defeat many athletics. Our student-athletes will be of these larger universities in our first two able to compete at the highest levels years of PBC membership. So watch out for and take advantage of many member our Mountain Lions—this is going to be an benefits, including service and leadership awesome year! President Cox and Dunn were on hand during the men’s soccer Senior Night in October to congratulate Khurram Shazad, of Halifax, England, Ilija Ilic, of Belgrade, Serbia, and Samuel Mansour, of Paris, France, who helped their team score Director of Athletics Randy Dunn and President a second consecutive Cox presented basketball standout Ladondra PBC title this season. Johnson, ’14, of Athens, with the Female Athlete of the Year Award during the College’s athletics banquet in April. 4 THE TOP STORIES IN THE KNOW: FROM AROUND CAMPUS YHC NAMED YHC Expands Academic Offerings “College of Distinction” This fall, YHC added three new bachelor’s degree programs in creative YHC has been named to the prestigious “Colleges writing, environmental science, and interdisciplinary studies (IDS) that will of Distinction” for the fourth consecutive year for prepare students for a variety of careers. The College also established three providing students with the minors: art, popular culture and sport studies. best learning experiences in The bachelor of arts in creative writing provides innovative instruction undergraduate education. Fewer in the theory and practice of writing poetry and prose. Students develop than 300 colleges and universities their voices and follow their literary ambitions under the guidance and from across the country and only mentorship of published authors. eight in Georgia earned the The bachelor of science in environmental science prepares students who honor in 2014-2015. want to better meet the global problems associated with climate change, use of natural resources, and protection of the environment. Coursework takes students outside the classroom into natural laboratories that exist in local lakes, rivers, forests and fields YHC BREAKS surrounding campus. The IDS degree allows students to Enrollment Records independently invent their own programs of study with guidance from advisors or choose YHC recently welcomed its largest-ever entering from several predesigned programs that build 500 freshmen class comprised of . Fall 2014 marks on some of YHC’s most popular majors. the largest enrollment in the history of the College Potential pathways include biomedical ethics, with 1,216 students on campus, continuing a trend of comparative literature and culture, education steadily increasing enrollment figures.