Pictured: Students observe a devastated home in Tuscaloosa.

My first Oglethorpe Alternative Winter Break was amazing, relationship-building, eye-opening, and reflective. From January 3-8, ten Oglethorpe students and two staff members volunteered to help with disaster relief for damage caused by the April 2011 tornados that swept through Tuscaloosa, Ala. Although part of the city has been cleaned up and rebuilt, there are numerous communities that look like the storm passed through just yesterday.

During our first morning service project, we worked with Compassion Coalition to patch up a home that was previously destroyed by the tornado. We hammered trim to fill in an elderly woman’s bedroom cracks from the wall to the ceiling and covered up a hole in her floor. Hearing Vicki’s story was extremely heartbreaking and devastating as she lost eight people in the tornado, including her husband and her son. This was my most memorable moment of Alternative Winter Break because I saw the true strength that the people of Tuscaloosa possessed through such difficult times. To lose everything precious to you and still have hope for a better tomorrow finally put meaning behind my own mother’s words: “There is hope for the living.” Regardless of what few possessions Vicki had, or where she was living now, she had today and that was enough for her.

Pictured: Jacob Tadych ’14 helps Alicia Morris, an AmeriCorps volunteer at OU, make a side window.

Pictured: Anna Ethridge ’14 paints a new shed.

During that same afternoon, we volunteered with the Volunteer Reception Committee to pick up debris from and around a home that was destroyed by the tornado. Our group genuinely bonded over this experience as we became better acquainted with each other as well as the individual who had once lived in this home. We all put ourselves in the shoes of this woman and recognized how truly thankful we are to simply have a roof over our heads.

For the next three days, we worked with Habitat for Humanity to rebuild a home for a family who was displaced by the tornado. We met the mother, father and two children who would move into this home in less than three weeks, all because of our hard work. We were able to learn new construction skills all while helping a family who both needed and appreciated our efforts.

Pictured: "Our" Habitat for Humanity home

In addition to our daily service projects, throughout the week we participated in various teambuilding activities, reflections and presentations. We held discussions with native Tuscaloosa community members about preparations for the tornado, during the tornado and the rebuilding process. We even had the opportunity to speak with an individual who was part of the civil rights movement in Tuscaloosa. Learning more about the history of Tuscaloosa first-hand provided us all with insight that could not be read online or even in a book.

Pictured: OUr special handshake with some Tuscaloosa residents.

Volunteering with the nonprofit organizations and participating in the various group activities throughout the week helped us to grow together as a group and as individuals. If I can close on one piece of advice it would be to take advantage of opportunities where your surroundings are completely different; your ideas, passions, and talents can be exercised in such a way that personal growth can occur. Sometimes growth can happen in the most unlikely places.

OU students – if you’re interested in making a difference by participating in Alternative Spring Break (March 18-24, 2012), join us in the Center for Civic Engagement this Friday, January 27, 12-12:30 pm or contact Heather Staniszewski at hstan@oglethorpe.edu. Applications are also available NOW in the CCE or on PetrelNet.

Pictured right: Rebecca Mulligan-Santos "visiting" France before the fair began.

As an international student at Oglethorpe, I felt it important to make the absolute most of my experience here in Atlanta, which is why I choose to volunteer at PATH Academy. I tried to make it to the DeKalb County charter school every week to help out in a 5^th grade classroom with language arts teacher Ms. McCombs.

As I was talking to the students about college life and the different languages I was learning, it struck me that every single child in the class spoke or understood at least two languages already. We discussed the great advantage of this and how they would be able to benefit from it in their future. I asked them in how many languages they were able to say “hello” and I was surprised to see how many students were eager to show off their knowledge on the white board. I watched as a number of students came up and wrote words from “Bonjour” to “Ni Hao” to “Hola.” I then told them about Belgium, my homeland, and they asked me to teach them French words.

Their excitement was really heartwarming. One thing was for sure: the interest in foreign languages was definitely there! I thought that as their brains were already accustomed to constantly switching from one language to the other, why not use that skill as much as possible?

I told my story to Peyton Healy in the Oglethorpe Center for Civic Engagement, who coordinates all volunteer placements at “OUr partner school,” and she offered to help me to set up an International Languages Fair to get the students even more interested in foreign languages. I recruited a group of both international and American OU students and was thrilled to see how many were happy to help.

At the Academy, we set up five different stations, each representing a different country. France, Spain, Germany, Turkey and China were all represented by two Oglethorpe students of different origins.

Passport for France

The 32 PATH Academy students were each handed makeshift passports at the beginning of the fair, indicating the order in which they would be “flying” to the different countries. As they traveled along the five different stations, their passports were stamped and they learned interesting facts about the respective countries, as well as a few basic words in all the languages. Various activities were organized for the small groups as they rotated from station to station. For example, in Germany, students made Christmas stockings out of brown paper bags. For Spain’s station, they were taught basic flamenco moves and in China, they learned to draw Chinese characters.

Where in the world is France?

They spent 10 minutes at each station and we’d ask them questions about what they had learned about the country. The first students to answer correctly got to place their name in a raffle box. At the end of the fair, five lucky students received great prizes related to the various countries.

Thanks to the great work by the Center for Civic Engagement staff as well as both international and American Oglethorpe student involvement, the languages fair was a great success and the team of teachers at PATH academy all were very pleased. More importantly, the kids really enjoyed it and loved interacting with college students from different cultural backgrounds.

Attention Oglethorpe students: Are you interested in volunteering at the PATH Academy? Learn more at an orientation and information session this Wednesday, January 25, 12 noon – 1:30 p.m. in the Center for Civic Engagement. Contact Peyton Healy at phealy@oglethorpe.edu for more information.

"Can you show me how to find it on the map?"

Pictured: Mark Lavery

The National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) announced the 2011 NCAA Men’s Soccer Division III All-Region teams recently and four Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels received recognition: Senior center back Mark Lavery (Woodstock, Ga.) and senior midfielder Aaron Walker (Woodstock, Ga.) were tabbed as members of the All-South Atlantic First Team while sophomore defender Nikos Papanikolopoulos (Atlanta) and junior goalkeeper Frank Petersen (Woodstock, Ga.) received Third Team nods.  

Just days later, the NSCAA named Lavery to the First Team of the NSCAA/Continental Tire 2011 NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer All-America Team. Lavery is the first Stormy Petrel in school history to receive a First Team All-America designation in men’s soccer.  He was also named the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Defensive Player-of-the-Year.

These individual postseason honors come on the heels of unrivaled team success for an Oglethorpe squad that won a conference title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2011—all during Oglethorpe’s 50^th anniversary year of soccer.

“I’m thrilled that four deserving players like Mark, Aaron, Nikos and Frank were recognized…” said Oglethorpe head men’s soccer coach Jon Akin. “It’s the icing on the cake after all the hard work these kids put in to push us to our first conference title and first trip to the NCAA’s in program history.”

Congratulations to all!

Frank PetersenAaron WalkerNikos Papanikolopoulos

Here’s a brief excerpt from the article, which was published in the December 16th print edition:

“The Oglethorpe story is an amazing one,” said Jack Guynn, retired president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, who recently completed a three-year term as the chairman of its board of trustees. “Every indicator of success has moved in the right direction under Larry’s leadership — enrollment, markers of academic strength such as SAT scores, philanthropic giving and on and on. And this has all been accomplished during the most difficult economic times most of us have ever seen.”

Read the entire article with photos on the Atlanta Business Chronicle website (subscribers only) or on Maria Saporta’s blog,  SaportaReport.

Dr. Bob with OU players

The Oglethorpe University Women’s Basketball team had some special fans in the stands during their recent game against Birmingham-Southern.  Residents of the Sunrise Senior Assisted Living community visited the campus to support the team as part of the new Silver Petrels program.

Initiated by Head Basketball Coach Aaron Nester and organized by OU’s Center for Civic Engagement, the Silver Petrels service program was formed inspire teamwork both on and off the court, and to make a positive impact in the community. The players focus on nurturing friendships with the residents at the Sunrise Assisted Living in Buckhead. The team has made a commitment to spend quality time with the residents.  The groups’ first gathering in November was spent playing bingo during an afternoon spent at the assisted living center.  

“This is a great partnership and hopefully one we keep for many years,” said Coach Nester. “It is neat to see our student-athletes be involved in something bigger than themselves and, ultimately, that is what it is all about.”

“The residents were so excited…to visit a college campus and to see a sporting event,” said Heather Staniszewski, assistant director at OU’s Center for Civic Engagement. “They loved seeing new people, clapping, and of course the food. [One resident] took notes and cried he was so touched to be cheering on the team.”

The residents were impressed to find out that OU students do not play for athletic scholarships but out of pure love for the game. They hope to return for another game and in the meantime they are preparing to host the team again at Sunrise for another Bingo Day.

Oglethorpe University students Christina Bayne, Will Jones, Misty Love, Katie Odell, Corey Ray, Kristy Williams, Ashley Causey, Awet Woldegebriel, Joseph White, and Maya Hayes will discuss that question during a live webcast titled The Future of The American Dream on December 1 at 6:00 p.m. The webcast is organized by the The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and is part of their Speaker Series. The discussion will feature Bob Herbert, journalist and Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos, and Deborah Bial, president and founder of The Posse Foundation. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Garrow will moderate the discussion.

“We are delighted that a number of Oglethorpe students will join us for our live speaker series event,” said Penny McPhee, president of the The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation.

Oglethorpe University students were invited by the foundation to take part and will participate alongside students from several other metro Atlanta universities, including Spelman College, Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University, Agnes Scott College, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Georgia State University.

Join the live webcast at http://bit.ly/ambdream, no registration needed. The page also contains links to speaker bios, interviews with area college students on The Future of the AmericanDream, and links to resources and news articles.

Pictured: Oglethorpe University students Anna Ethridge '14, Keturah Thomas '13, Tirzah Brown '14, and Ashley Causey '14 at the Amnesty International Conference.

On the weekend of November 4-6, Ashley Causey ’14, Tirzah Brown ’14, Keturah Thomas ’13, and I all lugged our (overly-packed) luggage and our Oglethorpian minds up to Charlotte, N.C. for the 2011 Amnesty International Southern Regional Conference. Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 3 million people, in more than 150 countries, who fight injustices and advocate for human rights all around the world.

The organization uses a three-prong strategy to fight for human rights: (1) public education, (2) state work, and (3) case work. The vision is for every person to enjoy all the rights preserved in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which are rights that are often denied more than we realize. Some of the issues that Amnesty advocates for include, but are not limited to LGBTQ rights, the abolition of the death penalty, human trafficking, environmental  issues, torture in Guantanamo Bay, controlling arms, immigration rights, and issues in Syria, China, Nicaragua, the Middle East, and North Africa, just to name a few.

With multiple workshops to choose from, Ashley, Tirzah, Keturah and I thrived off of the abundant information that was presented in each workshop. We all decided it was best to attend workshops that presented on issues we knew little about, which proved to be a successful learning experience. This conference was a life (and mind)-changing experience for me. This experience gave me that “boost” of motivation that I so greatly needed to start advocating and educating people on the many injustices that engulf society every day. 

Out of all of the workshops and events that I attended, (including the Troy Davis Vigil and plenaries on human trafficking, queer liberation, undocumented youth, and more), the Closing Brunch Plenary impacted me the most. During brunch on the last day of the conference, two advocates against the death penalty spoke about their own personal experiences with the criminal justice system, and why and how we can make an impact against the injustices that violate human rights everywhere. Troy Davis’s nephew, De’Jaun Correia, only 17 years old, spoke about the execution of his uncle and how it impacted him. He was recently named one of the Top 25 Youth that will change the world. Rais Bhuiyan also spoke. He is a Bangladeshi American who was shot by Mark Stroman, who told police that he was “hunting Arabs” after the attacks on 9/11. Rais was saved from brain damage, but lost sight in one eye. He appealed to save Stroman from the death penalty.

These two speakers had a huge impact on me and really made me realize what we, as an organization, are really fighting for. We’re not fighting to change institutions, or even to change people’s minds about the most effective form of punishment, we are really fighting to eliminate hate. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”

Hill defeated both veteran City Councilman Donald Wilson and former Commerce Mayor Tommy Stephenson for the job. Clark, a local physician has also served as Ward 4 city councilman and chairman of the Downtown Development Authority. Jonathan Milford ’00, who owns an Allstate insurance agency in Commerce, was first to call me with the exciting development.　

Jonathan and other business leaders in the community feel strongly that Clark is the best choice to represent their interests and lead Commerce out of economic uncertainty. They trust he will bring inspired leadership to Commerce based on his strong character, integrity, caring and generosity for others. One local business leader said that, “going to the polls to vote for someone like Clark Hill for Mayor means your town won the lottery.”

Clark will replace outgoing Mayor Buzzie Hardy, who is retiring after more than two decades as Commerce’s mayor. “Commerce is at a critical point in its history with high unemployment and most new jobs going to the west side of Jackson County,” Hill said in an email over the weekend. He wants to modernize city hall; rebuild relationships with other local governments, schools and business groups; and reclaim the city’s status as an industrial and manufacturing hub in the I-85 corridor.

During the next few years, key city employees like the town’s long-time manager, clerk and recreation department director also are retiring, making the time a pivotal one for the city, he said. “Recruitment of qualified replacements and having a smooth transition will be paramount to our success,” Hill said.

Knowing Clark as an Oglethorpe undergrad student I never imagined this professional path for him. I knew he wanted to help others through medicine but it’s great to see what a difference his consistent caring spirit makes on those around him. It’s interesting too how his Oglethorpe experience may have nurtured his current professional and political path.　

Here’s a snapshot of Clark:

Councilman J. Clark Hill III received his BA in Biology/Chemistry from Oglethorpe in 1993. He is a 1997 graduate of Mercer University School of Medicine and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Atlanta Medical Center. He moved to Commerce in 2001 to start an Internal Medicine practice. Dr. Hill owns Hill Medical Group, PC. Dr. Hill is married to Doreen (Hart) from Savannah and they have three daughters: Emily, Maggie, and Callie. Dr. Hill has served on the Commerce Downtown Development Authority since 2005 and is the current Chairman of the Board. He is a 2003 Leadership Jackson County graduate, current member and past president of the Commerce Kiwanis Club and serves on the Board of Directors of First Georgia Banking Company.

John Breton ’97 is Clark’s SAE fraternity brother.

Brittany Weiner '12 (left) celebrates her award-winning research with Ashleigh Brizzle '10 at last year's SEPA Conference

Earlier this fall, five Oglethorpe University psychology majors submitted research projects for presentation at the 58^th annual meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA) in New Orleans in spring 2012. 

All submissions to this professional conference are peer-reviewed by faculty experts in their respective fields.  As is always the case with Oglethorpe psychology majors, they did not self-identify as “students” and submit to an undergraduate student conference.  Instead, they submitted their work alongside that of professors and graduate students to a professional research conference. 

All five students recently were informed that their projects were accepted for presentation.  Their accomplishments continue the strong record of performance by OU psychology majors on state, regional, and national levels.

The five students and their respective projects are listed below.

Cassie Hendrix ’12 – “The Effects of Media Exposure on Infants’ Ability to Learn”

Balbir Khalsa ’12 -“Detecting Subtle-microexpressions: Can we see them?”

Marie King ’12 – “How People Perceive Profanity Users”

Justin Sabree ’12 - “Versatility of psychophysiological paradigms for assessing post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms”

Brittany Weiner ’12 - “Whose Fault is it Anyway? Perfectionists’ Experience of Test Anxiety”

Congratulations and have fun in New Orleans this spring!

Last month the OU Blog told you about a lecture and book signing by author Twesigye Jackson Kaguri and organized by Oglethorpe’s Women’s Network.

In Kaguri’s book, A School for My Village: A Promise to the Orphans of Nyaka, he describes his amazing journey from a small farm in Uganda to the ivy halls of Columbia University, and then home again to build a tuition-free school for almost 500 Nyaka orphans.

Affected by the Kaguri’s story, Betty Londergan, President Schall’s wife, journeyed to Uganda, to see the work of Kaguri’s Nyaka AIDS Orphan School wtih her own eyes. Read about her experiences and follow her journey on her blog:

Nov. 11 – You are welcome here, Bet-ty!
Nov. 14 – Somewhere over the rainbow…
Nov. 17 – Not the same old song.