Transitions Spring 2014 # From the Archives … This fall marks the 50th Anniversary of Prescott College opening its doors. We’ve been taking time before then to look back, and reflect on the winding journey that has led us to where we stand today. Do you know who these animated performers are? If you can identify these folks, what year it was, or what brought them together, please let us know at [email protected]. From Last Issue: Time: January 1992 Place: Just outside Yellowstone National Park Event/Course: Wildlife Ecology class protesting Bison culling. Who: (left to right) Ines Rutkovskis ’93, unknown, Christian Petrovich ’92, Stephanie Abrams ’94, and (not seen) Susanne Nelson ’93 to the right of Stephanie. Photo courtesy of the College Archives Prescott Connect with us There are more ways than ever to tell us what’s on your mind: Call us. We’d love to hear your feedback Email us at (928) 350-4506 [email protected] Transitions Magazine Twitter users can follow Join our Facebook Prescott College Prescott College at community. Log on to 220 Grove Ave. twitter.com/PrescottCollege facebook.com/PrescottCollege Prescott, AZ 86301 Cover photo: The Horton River with Molly Hutsinpiller, Mike Zimber ’78 and Dave Meeks ’73, Summer 2015, submitted by Steve Huemmer ’73 (story page 18) Contents TransitionS 8 Ratings and Rankings Publisher and Editor Ashley Mains 9 Vicki Yaeger Revisits a Life’s Inspiration Designer 10 Traveling in Page Miriam Glade 12 Alum Creates Culinary Training for Vets Contributing Writers Joel Barnes • Shayna Beasley • Sue Bray • Robyn Bryers 14 Serendipity and the Power of Daydreams Paul Burkhardt • Anita Fernández • Liz Faller • John Flicker Willie Heineke • Steve Huemmer • Aliyah Keuthan 16 Alumni Fund for Faculty Megan Letchworth • Richard Lewis • Ashley Mains Miriel Manning • Robert Milligan • Delisa Myles 18 An Arctic Adventure Diane J. Schmidt • Carla Smith • Marie Smith Sean Thomas • Vicki Yaeger • Lisa Zander 22 Sea Kayaking Course Staff Photographers 36 Dance Reunion Fall 2015 Miriam Glade Photo Contributors Mariana Altrichter • Thomas Bauer • Edouard Beardsley Departments Gregg Berman • BestDegreePrograms.org TheBestSchools.org • BestValueSchools.com 3 College News Nicole Childs-Sondgeroth • Anita Fernández • Fiske Guide to Colleges • Liz Faller • Hannah Flagg • Jen Chandler Grand Canyon Wildlands Council • Willie Heineke 26 Alumni Office Briefs Steve Huemmer • Doug Hulmes • Austin Kessler the family of Josh Keultjes • David Meeks • Robert Milligan 27 Class Notes Julie Munro • Delisa Myles • Travis Patterson • Joe Piccari The Prescott College Archives • Prescott Creeks 32 Faculty & Staff Notes The Princeton Review • Pumpkin Vine Family Farm Alec Robinson • Joe Schaeppi • Diane J. Schmidt 34 In Memoriam Sean Thomas • Bill Timmerman • U.S. News and World Report • Doug Von Gausig • Washington Monthly Caleb Wilcox • Lisa Zander • Mike Zimber 37 The Last Word Director for Advancement Communication Ashley Mains (928) 350-4506 • [email protected] For Class Notes and address changes, contact Marie Smith • [email protected] Send correspondence, reprint requests, and submissions to: Ashley Mains Prescott College 220 Grove Ave., Prescott, AZ 86301 (928) 350-4506 • [email protected] Transitions, a publication for the Prescott College community, is published two times a year by the Office of Institutional Advance- ment for alumni, parents, friends, students, faculty, and staff of the College. Its purpose is to keep readers informed with news about Prescott College faculty, staff, students, and fellow alumni. Transitions is available online at www.prescott.edu. ©2016 Prescott College Prescott College reserves the right to reprint materials from Transitions in other publications and online at its discretion. Prescott College is committed to equal opportunity for its employees and applicants for employment, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed, sex or sexual orientation, age, disability, marital or parental status, status with respect to public assistance, or veteran’s status. This policy applies to the administration of its employment policies or any other programs generally accorded or made available to employees. Contact Admissions at (877) 350-2100 • [email protected] For the Liberal Arts, the Environment, and Social Justice WWW.PRESCOTT.EDU Photo by Willis Peterson Scholarship winner Joe Schaeppi M.A. ’16 President’s Corner Verde, the kayaking Flicker John February 2015 theme emerged from this issue of Transitions despite the fact we didn’t set out with one in mind. In the pages of this magazine you’ll find mostly the voices and stories of our remarkable alumni. It’s an oft-quoted stat around here, but one that bears repeating: about A 80 percent of our alumni choose what to do with their life and careers based on the capacity of those professions to have a positive effect on the world. Like many small colleges, we’ve had our share of challenges over the past few years. Despite these struggles, Prescott College continues to inspire students and transform their lives. Our students, faculty, staff, and alumni remain deeply committed to the philosophy of self-directed, experiential learning we helped pioneer and have been practicing for 50 – yes 50 – years now. The best news this year is that we reversed the downward trend for resident undergraduate enrollments with an increase in year-over-year spring numbers, and we are projecting an even greater increase for fall 2016. Enrollments in other areas, mostly graduate programs, have been steady or on the rise this whole time. In fact, the Master of Science in Counseling happens to be the College’s most popular degree program and is recognized as one of the best in the nation (see kudos on page 9). In March we submitted our application, the culmination of six years’ work, to the Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP), and we are cautiously optimistic we’ll be accepted. The combination of our unique pedagogy, alternative modalities, and CACREP curricula will make our Counseling program even more appealing to people seeking licensure. Our on-campus students made national headlines after petitioning to add a fee to fund a scholarship for their undocumented peers. The scholarship was the Senior Project of then-undergraduate student Miriel Manning (see the story in our last issue of Transitions). Now a graduate student in our Social Justice and Human Rights program, Miriel, along with the students who participate in the fee starting next year, exemplifies the altruistic action we hope to see our grads carry out in the wider world. We continue value-added partnerships with other likeminded colleges to expand opportunities for students and to potentially share support service functions. We’ve had a long and productive relationship with five Eco League colleges with a rich, active student exchange program. And we are now exploring a partnership with Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara to share support service functions with the possibility of launching new learning opportunities together. A half-century of innovation through transformative education is something to celebrate, and I’m convinced the next 50 years at Prescott College will be brighter yet. Thank you for coming along for the ride so far, and I hope each and every one of you – our friends and alumni – will continue to support us. Onward! John Flicker 2 Transitions Issue 2016 College News Leadership Transition at the Kino Bay Center Ed Boyer left his role as co-director at the Kino Bay Center last year. He was the first Kino Bay Center Director, and since 1993 Ed has been the driving force behind the physical development of the Center. Under his leadership, the site grew from being a residential property with a big vacant backyard to being a multi-use field station, equipped to support a wide variety of educational, research, and community outreach activities for more than 1,000 visitors each year. Ed worked with Doug Hulmes ’74, Tad Pfister ’06, Mark Riegner, Tom Fleischner, Dave Craig, Lisa Floyd-Hanna, Lorayne Meltzer, and others to create and implement one of the most robust undergraduate marine studies curricula in the country. And although Ed has stepped away from a director’s role, he may continue to teach field courses in Kino Bay. Lorayne Meltzer has taken on an expanded role as sole director of the Kino Bay Center and is currently utilizing funds through the Packard Foundation to create a roadmap for the future of the Center. Monarch Waystation Planting Honeybee and Monarch butterfly declines are of great concern right now, with Monarch populations alone seeing a 90 percent reduction in the past 20 years (Xerces Society numbers). To combat this trend, and to create natural history opportunities on campus, the Natural History Institute built a pollinator garden and Monarch waystation last year with the help of students, employees, and members of the local Prescott community of all ages. The garden was made possible through a generous grant from the Prescott College Sustainability Council and donors to NHI’s fundraising campaign. Salamander Sighting A Prescott College Restoration Ecology class was part of the first recorded sighting of a tiger salamander in the Grand Canyon last spring. A weekend of fieldwork with Dr. Larry Stevens and the Grand Canyon Wildlands Council focused on leopard frog habitat enhancement when students came upon the uncommon creature. Faculty Member Accepts Award on Behalf of Grandfather Juniper Longtime faculty member Doug Hulmes ’73 was instrumental in obtaining Arizona Heritage Tree status for the Grandfather Juniper rescued by the Granite Mountain Hotshots in June 2013, and was on hand for special recognition of the alligator juniper as one of 2015’s Magnificent 7 trees on State Arbor Day in the State Capitol last year. The Magnificent 7 are selected each year from three sub-programs of Arizona’s Magnificent Trees, which include Champion Trees (largest), Heritage Trees (culturally significant), and Witness Trees (as old as Arizona Statehood).