SUMMER/FALL 2020 CENTRAL CENTRAL COLLEGE CIVITAS ALUMNI MAGAZINE SPECIAL RESILIENCE ISSUE : EXTRAORDINARY TIMES. BOLD INNOVATION. 26 2020: COLLEGE DURING CORONAVIRUS MEETING THE LATEST CHALLENGE 16 1935: THE FACTORY FACTOR WORK STUDY ON A GRAND SCALE 20 1941: PILOT TRAINING SERVING COUNTRY AND COLLEGE PRESIDENT’S CORNER RESILIENCE IN CHALLENGING TIMES BY: MARK PUTNAM, CENTRAL COLLEGE PRESIDENT ears ago, I was speaking with the head of one of our nation’s six regional accrediting associations for Y colleges and universities. Accreditation was then a carefully outlined process — reliable, consistent and predictable. He said “accreditation flows on a river of form letters.” His metaphor could have been applied to many of our day-to-day experiences — until recently. The scrambling of our activities feels like looking at a space that has been ransacked. Nothing is where we left it. Everything is completely disorganized. We feel a sense of violation. Suddenly a sleepy river of form letters seems appealing. These past months it’s been difficult to maintain routines. Our minds race with contingencies. The predictable patterns have mostly been disrupted. Policy frameworks strain under the weight of novel conditions. Stress levels increase as workloads grow. Resilience is born of challenge. It finds life in what’s most important. It calls us to protect what matters most. It finds a place to start again. Resilience is a core principle of Central College. Education is fundamentally a human enterprise that can be aided by technology but not supplanted by it. Our desire to live in an academic community has been reinforced as our highest and best calling. We have mustered the strength to overcome the present challenges by always aiming to be connected. It’s why we talk about physical distance, not social distance. Lessons in patience are hard to bear, but we are called to look to the long arc of time. Our shared task is to emerge from this arms through time and across the world to having a heart for others is also the very best pandemic with greater resolve to pursue our see our shared ambition remain strong. thing for me. Resilience begins with ambitions despite the disruption. Through Our deepest commitment is manifested the realization that we are in this together. generations we have learned and relearned in how we care for each other. In a world We are a community that understands that resting and waiting is restorative as without maps it’s easy to feel lost. So many our shared sense of purpose and can be hard-won renewal gradually brings new life. opinions. Endless speculation. Political patient in managing change. Central has endured so long because we are turmoil. But at the core of our being is an The foundation of our resilience is that centered on a collective interest and lock impulse that continues to call us to love we are all one. our neighbors as ourselves. It’s the idea that 2 | CIVITAS SUMMER/FALL 2020 | 3 SUMMER/FALL 2020 CENTRAL COLLEGE CIVITAS TABLE OF CONTENTS ALUMNI MAGAZINE ON THE COVER A thoughtful Central community member fitted The Quest, Central’s bronze likeness of Harold Geisler, with a mask while studying and practicing physical distancing on the Peace Mall. Photo by: Paul Joy Summer/Fall 2020 | Issues 1 & 2 FEATURES EDITORS Jeff Bersch [email protected] Melody VanderLeest [email protected] Cyvannah Vecchio 16 20 26 [email protected] THE FACTORY A PIVOT TO PILOTS COLLEGE DURING FACTOR A pivot to pilots served CORONAVIRUS SENIOR DESIGN DIRECTOR “Ea r n-You r-Way country and college How Central is Melody VanderLeest Corporation” was making it work decades ahead CONTRIBUTING EDITORS of its time Jeff Bersch Jordan Bohr ’15 Cyvannah Vecchio PRESIDENT'S CORNER 2 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 4 AROUND THE POND EDITOR AROUND THE POND 5 Alex Wilson ATHLETICS 9 PHOTOGRAPHER PROFILE 13 Paul Joy CENTRAL SCENE 14 [email protected] HOMECOMING & COMMENCEMENT 37 NEWSNOTES EDITORS ALUMNI NEWSNOTES 41 Mary Benedict PARTING SHOT 55 Lisa Thurman Fyfe ’87 Peggy Johnson Van Den Berg ’83 [email protected] [email protected] SPORTS EDITOR CIVITAS.CENTRAL.EDU Larry Happel ’81 812 UNIVERSITY ST., PELLA, IOWA 50219 [email protected] 800-447-0287 DIRECTOR OF INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA Denise Lamphier [email protected] Civitas is published by the Central communications office for alumni, parents and DIRECTOR OF ANNUAL GIVING friends of Central College. For information on the Civitas mission, visit civitas.central.edu. AND ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT Civitas (USPS 096-840) is published quarterly by Central College, 812 University St., Pella, IA 50219-1999. Periodicals postage paid at Pella, Iowa, and additional offices. Corey Falter [email protected] Postmaster: Send address changes (PS 3579) to Civitas, 812 University St., Pella, IA 50219-1999. Address changes also may be sent to [email protected]. VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADVANCEMENT Sunny Gonzales Eighmy ’99 10% [email protected] 10% Post-Consumer Fiber 2 | CIVITAS Production notes: Civitas is printed with a vegetable-based ink by Town Crier, Pella,SUMMER/FALL Iowa. 2020 | 3 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SPRING 2020 CENTRAL CENTRAL COLLEGE CIVITAS ALUMNI MAGAZINE 12 IN OUR OWN WORDS 130 YEARS OF CENTRAL PUBLICITY 18 CENTRAL WANTS YOU FOUR WAYS TO STAY CONNECTED CENTRAL WANTS YOU What takes four years but lasts a lifetime? Membership in the Central family! Here are four ways the alumni office helps you 22 stay connected with the college. LIBERAL ARTS AND MANAGEMENT CEO AMY COUGHENOUR ’87 STORY BY: DAN WEEKS PHOTOS BY: PAUL JOY Klay, left, and Kade, right, Bonnstetter, sons of Kevin ’05 and Steffanie Bonnstetter. 18 | CIVITAS SPRING 2020 | 19 PROUD TO BE THANK YOU SO MUCH! CENTRAL SAVES Cards and letters from Central’s little I wanted to send both an update and a legacies keep arriving in the alumni office thank you as I read our recent Civitas thanking Assistant Director of Alumni [Spring 2020]. My wife and I welcomed DUTCH!Students and Alumni Respond to COVID-19 Spring 2020 will be remembered for generations as the time the most devastating global pandemic in modern times began. As this issue our daughter, Mirabelle, last July. She’s not went to press in early April, we reached out to Central College students and alumni for their thoughts. Here are a few of their responses. Relations Mary Benedict for gifts of Central Look for more about the response of Central and the broader Central community to the pandemic in the next issue. LAURYNN MIZE ’21 gear. The one above reads: “I’m sorry for the even a 1-year-old yet and we already talk I CAN’T SAY HOW PROUD I WAS I was studying abroad spring semester in Granada, Spain, and loving every second of about how we could make a future for her it. I know all of us there recognized each day delay, but I wanted you to know that I love as the privilege it was to be there. As the coronavirus outbreak in Europe worsened, I can’t say how proud I was of the pencil case! Central College is definitely at Central. She just grew out of her Central the way Central handled the situation. Many of my classmates at the Center for Modern Languages in Granada were hat, but now fits into her onesie. pulled home immediately, prematurely and one of the colleges on my list. I use the without any warning from their institution, while Central, I feel, reacted coolly and responsibly. We were listened to about our pencil case for my pens and pencils and I put I am proud to be a Central alum. Central perspective of the severity of the situation in Granada specifically and Central College was communicative and rational in the steps bet on me at a time in my life when I needed it took to recall us home. it in my messenger bag. Thank you so much! While I am sad to have left my study abroad early, I understand and agree with why we had to leave. Everything was done to Signed, Addie VS” it most and saved me in so many ways. My enable us to stay. This is one of my proudest moments as a student — to have been supported by my successes in life all started with my Central institution when others didn’t involve their students in the decision process, and to have had the months I did in Granada in the first education. I continue to be proud of Central place. Central College has shown us nothing — Addison Van Soelen but support and handled this situation with grace and determination. Proud to be Dutch!!! Daughter of Justin ’05 and Jill Williams as I see the decisions you’re making in light Van Soelen ’06 of COVID-19. We will make a donation Sully, Iowa to the Journey Scholarship Fund today. 26 | CIVITAS SPRING 2020 | 27 Thank you for supporting students like me. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that THE BEST CIVITAS EVER Central has saved lives beyond COVID-19. I just wanted to let you know that this was the best Civitas [Spring 2020] I ever — Kendra Haack Weston ’12 remember reading. I read it from cover to Cedar Rapids, Iowa cover and each page was more enjoyable than the preceding one. I especially like the “Forever Dutch” segment. I even enjoyed Dr. Putnam’s opening remarks. I am so proud to be a Central grad. Please thank the staff who put this together for a job well done. — John Grieco ’71 Rye Brook, New York WRITE US! 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