When he arrived at Emory from his small central Texas hometown of Thorndale, Carl Kroeger 15C did his best to blend into the background.
Through friends and mentors, he became involved in the university’s Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Life. There he found the courage to step up and make a difference for other Emory students. “I was incredibly shy. My involvement has definitely helped me open up and feel more comfortable,” Kroeger says. “It was a safe space to talk about whatever I needed to without feeling self-conscious.”
Kroeger was honored with the 2013 GALA Leadership Award. Presented by the Emory Gay and Lesbian Alumni (GALA) group, the award honors a student’s leadership efforts to advocate for LGBT rights within the Emory community. It comes with a stipend based on financial need.
With the encouragement of Michael Shutt, assistant dean for Campus Life and director of the Office of LGBT Life, Kroeger ran for an office with Emory Pride, the undergraduate LGBT and ally organization, and was selected to serve as secretary.
Kroeger served on the Emory Pride community service subcommittee and coordinated Emory undergraduate students’ involvement with the Names Project, which brings the AIDS Memorial Quilt to campus each year with sponsorship from GALA. Kroeger’s dedication to service inspired Emory Pride to donate a percentage of the proceeds from its annual drag show to the Emory Student Hardship Fund. “I support the hardship fund because I have gone through hardships in my life and this is something that is prevalent, especially in the LGBT community. It is important to me to work for something that benefits students and our community,” he says.
A gift from the father of an Emory graduate allowed GALA and the Office of LGBT Life to present the first GALA award in 2009. The award was endowed in 2010 with more than $100,000 in private donations. The Office of LGBT Life is dedicated to increasing the endowment to $200,000, which will provide funding for two $2,500 awards annually, and the fund continues to grow as alumni, parents, and friends support the effort. Previous recipients of the award include Olivia Wise 10C, Bassel Rabah 11C, Conrad Honicker 14C, and Dohyun Ahn 14C.
As a student, Michael Kaminsky 89C played intramural baseball, football, and basketball, and served as sports chairman of his fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi, which won the “all-row” title his senior year.
Now managing director at investment firm Neuberger Berman in New York City, Kaminsky gave $1 million to improve athletic fields and facilities and establish an endowment for the intramural program.
“It’s meaningful to me that I’m helping improve Campus Life at Emory,” said Kaminsky.
Given in collaboration with Marla Whitman Kaminsky 89C, the gift honors his brother-in-law, Todd Whitman, a member of the Emory Class of 1993 who died during his senior year; and Harris Silver 89C, a close friend who died in 2003.
The facilities portion of the gift has been used to expand the parking area, improve the safety and look of the fields, and add a club and intramural sports fieldhouse, while the endowment portion ensures that intramural sports will continue to thrive.
Other private gifts made during Campaign Emory benefitted student-athletes, both on varsity teams and in intramural sports. Alumni and friends helped build a new grandstand at the Woodruff P. E. Center outdoor tennis courts, for example, expanding seating capacity to two hundred spectators and building a pavilion and champagne tables overlooking the courts. In addition to expanding Emory’s ability to host conference and NCAA championships, this showcase facility helps Emory attract members of the regional, national, and international tennis community.
A new endowment for the swimming and diving team comes from Charles Barron 45C 46D, and an anonymous parent has established an endowment for the women’s soccer team.
Several alumni, including Deborah Jackson 85C, created an endowment to name the Department of Athletics and Recreation director’s position in honor of Clyde “Doc” Partin Sr. 50C 51G. An Emory icon for more than fifty years, Partin was a teacher, coach, athletics director, and historian.
Fittingly, Partin’s family has donated his papers to Emory’s Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (MARBL). The gift includes Partin’s essays on baseball Hall of Famers, posters, documents, signed baseballs, and a large collection of books about African American athletes.
The archive is a tribute to Partin’s life and work, says his son, Emory physician Clyde Partin Jr. 78C 83M 86MR.
Making Room for Debate
June 20, 2013
Anne Bordon writes in the Spring issue ofEmory Magazine:
As a freshman, Rajesh Jegadeesh 13B found a home at Emory in the small Barkley Forum office at the back of Dobbs University Center. Sitting in the same office as a senior, preparing to graduate from Goizueta Business School with a degree in finance, Jegadeesh realizes how much he gained in four years with the nationally renowned team.
“There was always someone here—from the coaches to the other members—to listen and discuss anything. There is no place on campus where I have found more intellectual curiosity than here,” he says. “It is amazing how the skills learned through debate can be applied in all aspects of life, especially being able to intelligently incorporate all sides of an issue into consideration. I think it makes you a more complete person.”
Jegadeesh will work in finance when he graduates, and his plans for the future include working in the nonprofit sector.
“I never would have thought about doing that before, but working with the Urban Debate League has had a huge impact on what I want to do down the line. In teaching younger kids how to debate, I have learned how important it is for them to have someone to listen to them and to help them develop advocacy skills for themselves,” he says.
During Campaign Emory, alumni and friends raised more than $1 million to establish an endowment for the Barkley Forum.
Lilly Correa 73C is the Campus Life representative for the Emory Alumni Board and was cochair of the committee that helped fund the endowment. As a student, she came to Emory specifically to be a part of the Barkley Forum.
“I attended a two-week summer high school workshop with the Barkley Forum. It was an intense debate experience, but it was so much fun,” Correa says. “In much the same way other people go to a school to be on a football team, I wanted to come to Emory to be a part of the Barkley Forum.”
Correa still counts many fellow participants among her closest friends and colleagues. She also gained skills from debate that have helped her in her career in financial services.
“The Barkley Forum taught me how to be successful, but it also teaches you the balance you need to have between career, family, and social justice issues,” she says. “Hopefully this endowment makes that true for many future Emory students as well.”
Emory University senior Katie Dickerson is this year's recipient of Emory's highest student honor, the Marion Luther Brittain Award, which honors service to Emory and the greater community without expectation of recognition. The award comes with $5,000 -- no strings attached -- which she is donating to Appalachian Service Project.
During four very full years at Emory, Dickerson played on the basketball and lacrosse teams and was involved in an astounding number of campus organizations. She recently was awarded the Bobby Jones Scholarship and will spend a year studying at University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
Past recipients of Emory University’s highest student honor, the Marion Luther Brittain Service Award, include:
The Emory University Athletics Department held its annual awards banquet on Tuesday, April 30, where it announced the recipients of its major awards for the 2012-13 school year. The following is a list of the winners with a brief description of the award.
ALIBERTI AWARD – Presented to a male and female varsity athlete who demonstrates continued athletic improvement, persevere in their academic studies and show profound loyalty to Emory athletics.
Male – Michael Friedberg (Basketball)
Female – Mia Michalak (Swimming and Diving)
McDONOUGH AWARD – Presented to the male and female varsity athlete who have made positive contributions to the Emory community as a student, athlete and citizen.
Male – Richard Upton (Swimming and Diving)
Female – Katie Dickerson (Basketball)
BRIDGES AWARD – Presented to the outstanding all-around male and female varsity athlete.
Male – Jake Davis (Basketball)
Female – Kaele Leonard (Soccer/Track and Field)
PARTIN AWARD – Presented for outstanding career or season performance in a team-based sport by a male and female varsity athlete.
Male – Alex Greven (Basketball)
Female – Lauren Gorodetsky (Soccer/Softball)
McCORD AWARD – Presented for outstanding career or season performance in an individual-based sport by a male and female varsity athlete.
Male – Miller Douglas (Swimming and Diving)
Female – Gabrielle Clark (Tennis)
EMORY SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD -- Presented to the varsity athlete who best exemplifies the ideals of a student-athlete through their academic and athletic success.
Recipient – Isaac Chambers (Track and Field)
FRESHMAN IMPACT AWARD – Presented to a first-year student who demonstrates the exceptional dedication and spirit that defines Emory athletics. The recipient will have made a positive impact on his or her team through competition and sportsmanship.
Male – Andrew Wilson (Swimming and Diving)
Female – Taylor Erwin (Volleyball )
Katie Dickerson of the women's basketball team presented the Senior Reflection. The text of her speech follows.
You’re all insane. Every single one of you is certifiably crazy.
You wake up, often much too early in the morning, and work through grueling practices for hours on end. Do you know how many things you could be doing that don’t involve blood, sweat or tears? And don’t even try to tell me that it’s good for your health. I was sprightly as a freshman. Now I require at least thirty minutes to warm up and have the joints of an 80-year-old woman.
Well, chances are you know that you miss out on a lot to play NCAA athletics. There were inevitably times when you really could have used an extra few hours to study for a test, sleep or just really wanted to party with “Narps” instead of resting up for a competition.
Sometimes it seems like the sport consumes your entire life. At least for me, it dictated my highs and caused my lows. So are you ready for a huge secret? …It all ends. At some point the wins and losses don’t matter and all you take with you are the life experiences you gained by being a student athlete. The bus rides, the plane rides, the team dinners, the competitions… those times when your teammates became your therapists, your teachers, your singing partners, backup dancers and most importantly- your lifelong friends.
Points and wins and losses are cheap, but the effort that goes into them is not. Nobody can judge effort or assign points to it, because ultimately it’s between you and yourself. We get one chance to lay a foundation and make a mark on life, one chance to seize every opportunity made available to us. And opportunity is not something that comes around very often in life. Even the swim team, god bless their winning selves, will still be able to count their NCAA championships on one hand when they leave this place.
So really it’s actually pretty humorous that I was even asked to talk to you this morning. If any of you ever venture to peruse the athletics website I’m pretty sure that one of the highlighted statistics in my bio is averaging something like one minute per contest. So as unabashedly as I deemed you all to be crazy, I certainly am no exception. Not only did I endure the aforementioned suffering but I kept doing so from the highly sought after position of left bench.
I stayed in part because I couldn’t imagine not playing the game I love, but honestly that alone wouldn’t have kept me. After suffering a season ending injury last year that put me through two surgeries and made every single step I took painful, I wasn’t staying for the game. I was staying for those people at that table right there and I would do anything for any one of them. I would limp through suicides, oh coach I’m sorry I mean “champions”. And I would take a bullet for them because I know at the end of the day it’s not about me. It’s not about my personal glory because it’s about the team.
Ten years from now, nobody will remember the stats, the scores, that pass you threw away or that race you lost. They will remember the impressions you made, the relationships you built and the great moments that came when you were doing the sport you love with the people you love more.
And if you had told me a few years ago that my team, the Emory Women’s Basketball team would win a UAA championship and make it to the NCAA tournament I probably would have laughed. Maybe it wasn’t my shot that won the crucial game, but it was my blood, sweat and tears that went into what this program has become.
To all of you who have ever doubted yourself, or thought you didn’t measure up, or wanted to quit- don’t you ever give up. Don’t you ever let anyone play harder, or give more of themselves to their team. Success is not about records. It’s about knowing you did the best of which you are capable. These four years are too short to hold yourself back. And being an Emory Athlete is too precious of a gift to throw away.
There are so many people in this room who deserve my thanks, however after seeing most of you studying late last night in the library I’m sure you’d really like me to just be quiet. So I’ll leave you with this…
Whatever legacy you’re going to leave at this place, choose it well.
Emory Women's Tennis Places 22 on the UAA 25-Year Team
Emory University Women's Tennis was well-represented on the University Athletic Association's (UAA) 25-Year Team, with 22 Eagles among the 32 total players named to the conference's silver-anniversary squad.
Players were selected based on the UAA honors earned during their collegiate careers. Awarding two points for an all-UAA First Team selection and one point for a Second Team honor (only as a singles player), any athlete who totaled five or more points during their career was named to the team. In addition, a player who was named the UAA Most Valuable Player during her career received an automatic selection to the team, as did any of the top-flight singles winners when a UAA MVP was not named from 1989-93.
Highlighting the list for Emory is former Eagle Mary Ellen Gordon, who was named the UAA Most Valuable Player all four years of her career, a feat still unmatched in conference history by any female athlete in any sport. Jessica Levy is Emory's only other multiple-time UAA MVP, having won the award in both 1994 and 1995. Current junior Gabrielle Clark, the 2011 UAA MVP, was the only active player in the conference selected to the 25-Year Team. Emory head coach, Amy (Smith) Bryant, was named to the team as well, winning the MVP award as player in 1996.
Other former Eagles who were named UAA MVPs during their careers included Karen Kirschbom (1987), Alexa Wilensky (1998), Julie Sterner (2000), Carina Alberelli (2005), and Tshema Nash (2008). Nicole Sullivan, who won the top-flight singles championship in 1989, also earned a spot on the team.
Other Emory selections to the UAA 25-Year Team include Megan Bern, Jamie Chan, Zahra Dawson, Mandy Jackson, Stefanie Leshaw, Shannon McGlame, Margaret Moscato, Lindsay Reidenbach, Tracy Shub, Erin Terrell, Jill Tobin and Emily Warburg.
Emory has won 23 UAA Women's Tennis Championships during the program, including each of the first 22 awarded in the conference's history. The Eagles have gone on to win National Championships on five occasions (1996, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006), and have finished among the top-three teams at the NCAA Championships 12 times, including each of the last four years.
Click here to see the list of players who made the team.
Volunteer Emory and Center for Community Partnerships Celebrate the Power of Partnership
Volunteer Emory, and the Center for Community Partnerships (CFCP) are hosting an End of Year Celebration on Friday, April 26 from 6-7:30 p.m. in Winship Ballroom.
The University-wide event will celebrate the contributions of community partners and Emory staff, faculty, alumni and students from across campus.
Volunteer Emory, part of the Office of Student Leadership & Service, organizes weekly service trips for students, alternative fall and spring breaks, special events and social justice dialogues.
The Center for Community Partnerships is Emory's centralized resource for coordinating, aligning and enhancing the University’s engagement and outreach to serve the greater Atlanta community. Working closely with partners at Emory and in the community, CFCP collaborates with other Emory organizations to coordinate their related programs and develops a range of its own initiatives.
"There's a real breadth and depth of community engagement work at Emory, everything from going to make sandwiches in the DUC, to tutoring, to courses that are heavily involved in solving real-world problems in the Atlanta community," says Maureen Sweatman, director of operations for CFCP.
The celebration on April 26 is an opportunity to illustrate how Volunteer Emory and CFCP work together with Emory's community partners, says Volunteer Emory Fellow Alexis Irby.
The power of partnership is the theme of the evening.
The celebration is "a way to appreciate all the players involved – the coordinating offices, the staff, the students, the alumni, the community partners – everyone who has a hand in community partnership and community engagement," says Sweatman, who will give remarks during the celebration.
McKenzie Wren, executive director of Clarkston Community Center and Emory alumna, is the keynote speaker. Other speakers include:
Ozzie Harris, senior vice provost for community and diversity
Bridget Riordan, dean of students
Mark Torrez, assistant director for community engagement.
Six Emory University seniors have been selected as recipients of the prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, based on their academic, athletic, and community achievements during their careers at the University. The winners include men's basketball player Alex Greven, men's swimmers Justin Beegle, Miller Douglas, and Peter O'Brien, and women's swimmers Mia Michalak and Ann Wolber.
Each of the six winners will receive a one-time $7,500 scholarship, to be used for postgraduate study within three years. Emory has now been awarded 82 postgraduate scholarships over the school's history, and its 65 since 2000 are more than any other NCAA institution except Stanford University.
In addition, the six winter winners are the most in a single-season (fall, winter or spring) in the history of the Emory Athletics department.
Alex Greven (Winston-Salem, NC/ RJ Reynolds) will graduate as part of the winningest class in Emory Men's Basketball history, leading the team to 74-28 during his four seasons, including a University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship and NCAA Tournament berth this season. The guard's 1,268 points rank as the sixth most in school history, and he has been named to the all-UAA First Team once and the Second Team twice during his career. Greven, who was named to the Capital One/ CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team earlier this season, has a 3.783 GPA as a Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology major at Emory.
Greven is the fourth member of the Emory Men's Basketball team to win an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, and the first since Neil Bhutta in 2000. Other previous winners from the program include Lewis Satterwhite (1999) and Kevin Felner (1993).
Justin Beegle (Gettysburg, PA / Gettysburg Area) recorded an all-America honorable mention finish in the 200-yard breaststroke for the second-straight season at the 2013 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, finishing 12th in the event with a time of 2:02.12. He also finished 18th in the 100-yard breaststroke with a career-best time of 56.70 seconds, and 21st in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:06.50. Justin finished his Emory career with the two all-America honorable mention certificates. He has a 3.64 cumulative grade point average as an Anthropology major with a minor in Global Heath at Emory, and has been named to the CSCAA Scholar All-America team twice.
Miller Douglas (Atlanta, GA / Westminster) won the 2013 National Championship in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:46.64. It was his first career National Championship, and the 13th overall in the program's history. Miller added all-America honors in his other two individual events at the NCAA Championships, finishing sixth in the 200-yard individual medley (1:49.78) and seventh in the 400-yard individual medley (3:56.32). He was also a part of three all-America relays, swimming the butterfly leg on the Eagles' school-record setting 200-yard medley (1:28.72) and 400-yard medley (3:17.28) relays, finishing third in the former and sixth in the latter, and finishing the meet with a seventh-place finish as the second leg of Emory's 400-yard freestyle relay. Miller, who transferred to Emory from Cal-Berkeley prior to his junior year, ended his collegiate career with 10 all-America honors during his two years with the team. In addition, he recorded a 3.606 GPA as a Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology major, and was named to the CSCAA Scholar All-America Team and the UAA Honor Roll in each of his eligible seasons as an Eagle.
Peter O'Brien (Houston, TX / Cypress Creek) recorded all-America finishes in three events during his final NCAA Championship meet, setting school records in each, and added three all-America honorable mention finishes. Peter set the program record in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:49.38, finishing fifth overall in the event. He also swam the breaststroke leg on the Eagles' third-place 200-yard medley relay, which finished in a school-record time of 1:28.72, and sixth-place 400-yard medley relay, which recorded a program-best mark of 3:17.28. Peter added individual all-America honorable mentions with a ninth-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:00.55) and a 10th-place finish in the 400-yard individual medley (3:56.06), in addition to a 12th-place finish as the anchor leg of the Eagles' 800-yard freestyle relay (6:41.74). He finished his career with a total of 12 all-America certificates and seven all-America honorable mentions. Peter is a a 3.542 grade point average as an Applied Mathematics major at Emory, and his academic honors include recognition as a CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team and All-District First Team selection during his junior year, and CSCAA Scholar All-America honors each of his eligible seasons.
Mia Michalak (Collierville, TN / St. George's Independent) finished sixth in the 200-yard individual medley at the 2013 NCAA Championships, earning an all-America certificate in the event for the second-straight season. She also added all-America honorable mentions with a ninth-place finish in the 400-yard individual medley and a 12th-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke. Mia ended her four years at Emory with three individual all-America certificates and three honorable mentions, all coming over the last two seasons (the maximum total individual honors one can earn during a two-year stretch). She has a 3.53 GPA as a Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology major, and has been named a CSCAA Scholar All-American on two occasions.
Ann Wolber (Sterling, IL / Sterling) won a pair of National Championships in 2013, swimming the third leg on both the 200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard freestyle relay. Ann helped the Eagles record a new Division III record in the 400-yard freestyle relay, finishing with a time of 3:21.28, while the 200-yard freestyle relay recorded a mark of 1:32.93. Ann finished her Emory career with six National Championships, the second-most in the program's history, and seven all-America certificates. She has a 3.693 GPA as a Biology major at Emory, and has been named a CSCAA Scholar All-America three times, and to the Dean's List in 2010.
Emory's Swimming and Diving team has now seen 38 of its members win the scholarship, including 21 winners over the last seven years. Since 2000, the Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving programs have garnered 34 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships.
This season's NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipients (29 men and 29 women) represent winter-sports participants from all NCAA divisions, who will receive one-time, nonrenewable grants of $7,500.
The scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition. The Association awards up to 174 postgraduate scholarships annually, 87 for men and 87 for women.
The NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship was created in 1964 to promote and encourage postgraduate education by rewarding the Association's most accomplished student-athletes through their participation in NCAA championship and/or emerging sports. For more information about the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships, go to the Diversity and Inclusion link under the 'About the NCAA' tab at www.ncaa.org.
RespectCon 2013, an inaugural conference focusing on social justice and the prevention of sexual assault and violence in school settings, will be hosted by Emory's Respect Program on April 12 at the Dobbs University Center (DUC).
Scheduled to take place during Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the conference marks the first of its kind for the Respect Program, which strives to engage the Emory community to prevent and respond to sexual assault and relationship violence.
The impetus for hosting a conference stems back to last year, when the recently renamed program embraced a new identity and a renewed focus, explained Lauren Bernstein, assistant director for the Respect Program in the Office of Health Promotion.
"We felt that this was a great year to have a conference dedicated to the intersections of sexual assault prevention on campus and social justice," Bernstein says.
"There is a lot of focus right now nationally on policy, which is critical as well. But we wanted to create a space to showcase prevention initiatives, collaborative work, social justice, creativity, and student engagement," she explains.
National statistics indicate that one in four women and one in 33 men will experience sexual assault sometime during their college years, according to Bernstein.
As a best practice program, Respect receives "inquiries from around the country to provide technical assistance and training, and we wanted to provide a venue for idea-sharing and showcasing Emory's work and that of our colleagues," Bernstein says.
"We wanted to engage Emory's campus and beyond in creating culture change," she adds.
The inaugural conference is expected to draw between 75 and 100 attendees from around the country with topics that include:
How can we prevent sexual violence on college campuses?
Engaging men in sexual violence prevention
Creating partnerships to end sexual violence
Innovations in bystander intervention
Student leadership in creating a survivor supportive campus
Sexual violence in the media
Integrating alcohol abuse and sexual violence prevention
Engaging Greek lettered organizations in sexual assault prevention.
In keeping with the Respect Program's commitment to fostering student engagement, "Emory undergraduate and graduate students are at the center of our work and of this conference," Bernstein notes.
Emory students have been involved at every stage of planning and implementation of the conference, she adds, including roles as presenters, facilitators, volunteers, and conference developers. "They also played a key role in selecting sessions that would be relevant to student activism."
"We are hoping to continue to establish best practice in student, staff, and faculty collaboration to use our respective roles to end sexual violence, support survivors, and create a healthy and socially just community," she says.
On April 12, RespectCon will run 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the DUC. Registration fees, which cover admission and lunch, are $20 for Emory students, $40 for non-Emory students, and $50 for other attendees. Scholarships are available for undergraduate and graduate students for whom the fee would be a financial hardship. Advance registration is strongly encouraged.
Emory's Zimmerman And Davis recognized By The NABC
March 26, 2013
The postseason honors for the Emory men's basketball team keep rolling in with head coach Jason Zimmerman and junior Jake Davis being recognized by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).
Zimmerman, who led the squad to a share of the University Athletic Association title and the program's first berth to the NCAA Division Tournament since 1990, was chosen by the NABC as the South District Division III Coach of the Year. It is the first time that an Emory coach has been tabbed for the honor. Zimmerman saw his team finish with an overall slate of 20-7, just the third 20-win campaign in school history and tying the program's second-highest victory total. Zimmerman, who just completed his sixth year patrolling the Eagles' sideline, has compiled four consecutive winning seasons, the first time in school history that has happened. Earlier, Zimmerman was named the UAA's Coach of the Year for the second time and was the recipient of the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Whack Hyder Award, symbolic of Georgia's Coach of the Year.
The 6-foot-5 Davis landed a spot on the All-South District Second Team, the third straight year that Emory had seen a player earn a spot on the district team. Davis led the team and ranked second among UAA players in scoring with an 18.2 points per game average. A double-figure scorer in 23 of the 25 games he saw action in, Davis registered 20 or more points on 12 occasions. He led or shared for team scoring honors in 14 games including the Eagles' two NCAA Tournament contests where he posted 25 points against Randolph and 22 against Whitworth University. A First Team All-UAA selection, his 454 total points during the 2012-13 campaign, established him as the school's most-prolific junior scorer.
Coordinated by Volunteer Emory, the Alternative Spring Break trips are intended to "create new opportunities for Emory students to explore social justice in various frameworks of understanding," according to the Volunteer Emory website.
The six groups went to Kissimmee, Fla.; New Orleans; Charleston, S.C.; Nashville, Tenn.; Bolton, N.C.; and also took to the streets of the city of Atlanta — the latter, quite literally.
An Atlanta service 'staycation'
Now in its second year, the Atlanta trip immersed students in the issue of homelessness, as well as hunger and poverty. The students volunteered at various shelters during the day. They were given a total of $7 for food for the entire week, had to walk from shelter to shelter, many of which were often miles apart, and sleep outside for three nights.
Additionally, the 13 participants were not allowed to shower, change clothes or brush their teeth, as they endured rainy nights in order to experience what living on the street is actually like.
Atlanta trip leader Shyama Appareddy, an Emory junior, said the experience "definitely humbled participants." She acknowledged that while the students had the security of knowing they were safe and could go home after the immersion, they experienced some of the physical discomforts that people have to deal with while sleeping outside.
"We can never really understand the emotional or psychological trauma endured by someone who is actually homeless," adds Appareddy. "A lot of our participants realized their own privilege."
By volunteering and visiting agencies like the Open Door Community and the City of Refuge, participants were able to converse with homeless people and hear their stories of what led to their situation, as well as their aspirations for overcoming them.
"Our goal was — and is — to reduce the distance between 'us' and 'them' by connecting with our homeless neighbors and hearing their stories," Appareddy says.
Natural disaster relief in New Orleans
Over seven years have passed since Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast; New Orleans is still reeling from the devastating consequences of the storm.
New Orleans Alternative Spring Break participants helped various agencies like the Louisiana Boys and Girls Club, Renew Schools, St. Paul’s Homecoming and Green Light New Orleans with tasks that range from installing energy-saving light bulbs in homes to cleaning up a lumber yard.
Emory sophomores Kayla Pak and Jaime Cheung led the New Orleans trip that focused on natural disaster relief.
"The most rewarding experience in New Orleans was getting to know the people in the city," says Pak. "Although some days we made less impact with our service, the residents never failed to express their thanks."
Pak, in an email to Emory Report, attached a letter that one of the agencies sent to the participants that read:
"You have made a big difference to our city and to the citizens that call it home. I only hope that the lives you touched with your acts of kindness pay it forward. Some of the tasks probably seemed mundane and some people may have seemed unappreciative. But know that the people who really care about this unique city called the Big Easy are very grateful to your group. We recognize that you could have gone anywhere for Spring Break but chose to give a big part of yourself to us. Thank u for that. Never feel that what u are doing regarding service work is ever useless Because if it comes from your heart it is the greatest gift u can give."
Cultural connection in North Carolina
Nneamaka Ifeadike spent her break with the Waccamaw Siouan Tribe in southeast North Carolina.
"I had a really fulfilling journey," says Ifeadike of the six days she spent with the tribal community, focusing on community building and cooperation.
The goal of the North Carolina trip was to "connect the Emory community with Native American communities, and to respect and appreciate culture that is different from ours," according to the Volunteer Emory website.
Students on other Alternative Spring Break trips spent time learning about food production and consumption in South Carolina; community-building in Florida; and focusing on various aspects of poverty and social justice in Tennessee.
To see photos and read the Oxford Spotlight, visit the Emory News Center.
Nominations open for the 2013 Marion Luther Brittain Award
March 8, 2013
The Marion Luther Brittain Award is presented each year to a graduating student from any academic division of the university who is considered to have performed the most “significant, meritorious, and devoted service to Emory University with no expectation of recognition or reward.”
The award is made under provisions of a gift by the late Dr. M.L. Brittain, former President of Georgia Institute of Technology and alumnus of Emory.
The Brittain Award is generally acknowledged to be the highest honor given to a student by Emory University.
You are invited to submit a nomination for this award to the Division of Campus Life, DUC 401E, Drawer PP. Nominees must be fall 2012 or spring 2013 graduates. Nominations must be returned by Friday, March 22, 2013.
The nomination form should be used, although you are invited to provide supplemental materials if you desire. A thorough nomination enhances the review of a candidate’s merits. Each student nominated will be considered by a selection committee that will determine the Brittain Award recipient.
Past recipients of the Marion Luther Brittain Service Award include:
Feras
Akbik
06C
Silas
W.
Allard
11L 11T
Hugo
J.
Aparicio
04C
John
S.
Austin
60C
Hoda
Blau
64C
Arthur
Brandenburg
52C 55T
Laura
C.
Broder
96C
Michele
F.
Broemmelsiek
91C
Lonnie
T.
Brown
86C
Jason
McCue
Brownlee
97C
Melinda
W.
Certain
63C 65G
Frederick
M.
Chen
90C
Thomas
B.
Clegg
61C
Walter
M.
Deriso
68C 72L
Hetal
J.
Doshi
01C
S.
Wayne
Duncan
78C
Evan
Dunn
10OX 12C
Laura
H.
Durudogan
85C
Paul
Lynd
Escamilla
81C 84T 87T
Judith
T.
Foster
68N
Steven
N.
Galyon
78C 82T 94T
Laura
Hankin-Lewin
89C
Charles
C.
Haynes
71C 85G
Jack
Marvin
Horowitz
55B
Barbara
Ann
Jaffe
73C
Emily
Tripp
Jameson
95OX 97C 97G
Keith
Jeffords
88D
Ben
F.
Johnson
65C
B.
Kembrel
Jones
00B
Alexander
S.
Kappus
10C
J.
Michael
Kelly
66C
Martha
Berg
LaVance
77C 80L
David
C.
Lowance
62C 68MR
Nicolai
B.
Lundy
09C
Meghan
Howett
Magruder
80C 83L
Bernadette
Emmy
May-Beaver
94C 98T
H.
John
McDargh
70C
Kenneth
F.
Murrah
55C 58L
Dung
Minh
Nguyen
95C 01M
James
B.
O'Neal
77OX 79C
Bharath
Parthasarathy
05L
Charles
A.
Peck
74C
Anthony
J.
Prenni
92C
Catherine
E.
Rudder
69C
Stephen
Randall
Scarborough
87C
Jeanette
Carpenter
Schreiber
76C
Nancy
King
Scoggins
59C
John
R.
Strother
56C 58L
Adam
R.
Taylor
98C
Frank
Vasiloff
50C 52G
Charles
T.
Vedder
93C
Emory
A.
Wilkerson
81C 82G
Cameron
Nicole
Wilson
99L
Pride Awards honor LGBT champions
February 28, 2013
The 21st annual Pride Awards on Feb. 28 will honor those who work towards full access, inclusion and equity for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community at Emory.
A signature event of Emory's Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Life, the annual Pride Awards are "a reminder of our past, a celebration of our present, and an opportunity to look to our future," says Director Michael Shutt.
The 2013 honorees include:
Alum of the Year Award
Robert Lewis 87Ox 89C
Counsel for Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans
U.S. Department of Labor Chesnut LGBT Person of the Year Award
J. Michael Aycock '66Ox '69C '82G
Emeritus Associate Dean of the School of Medicine
Emory Pride Member of the Year
Will Ezor '14C
Fierce Leadership Award
She Wen Ong '13C
Keeping the Faith Award
Rev. Joshua Noblitt '04T
Minister of Social Justice
Saint Mark United Methodist Church
Outstanding Transgender Advocate Award
Hal Jones
Director of Care Transformation
Emory Healthcare
Outstanding Ally of the Year
*To be announced at the ceremony on Feb. 28
GALA Leadership Award
Carl Kroeger '15C
The GALA Leadership Award is a scholarship, created by Emory Gay and Lesbian Alumni (GALA) to reward and foster leaders who work on behalf of the LGBTQ community at Emory.
Also at the awards ceremony, graduating seniors and alumni will be recognized with rainbow cords or lavender diplomas in the annual Lavender Graduation.
"It is an honor and a privilege to be a part of an event that brings together current students and alumni," says Shutt. "The Pride Awards event is truly a community building occasion for Emory." Sponsored by the Office of LGBT Life, Emory GALA and the Emory Alumni Association, the Pride Awards ceremony begins with reception at 6:30 p.m. at the Miller-Ward Alumni House. All are welcome to attend but should RSVP at lgbt.emory.edu.
Nominations double, new category added for Crystal Apple awards
February 28, 2013
At the 14th annual Crystal Apple awards ceremony on Feb. 25, nine Emory teachers were commended for excellence in teaching. And this year, a new category to award excellence in teaching by a graduate student was introduced based on popular demand.
Crystal Apples honor faculty members who go above and beyond in their search for knowledge and involvement within the Emory community.
Students nominated the recipients of the awards, honored at the entirely student-run event.
And the number of nominations this year doubled from 300 to 600, according to Jessica Simon, vice president of programming for the Residence Hall Association.
The 2013 Crystal Apple honorees are:
Excellence in Graduate School Education—Samiran Banerjee, senior lecturer in economics, Emory College
The Laura Jones Hardman Award for Excellence in Service to the Emory Community—Nancy Bliwise, professor of pedagogy, psychology, Emory College
Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student—Sara Freeman, graduate student in neuroscience, Emory College
Excellence In Professional School Education—Otto Froehlich, associate professor of physiology, School of Medicine (posthumous)
Excellence in Undergraduate Large Class Education—Christopher Gilson, biology instructor, Emory College
Excellence in Undergraduate Seminar Education—Judith Miller, associate professor of history, Emory College
Excellence in Undergraduate Business Education—Christopher Rider, assistant professor of organization and management, Goizueta Business School
The William H. Fox Award for Emerging Excellence—Thomas More Smith, assistant professor in the practice of finance, Goizueta Business School
Excellence in Undergraduate Nursing Education—Deanna Womack, instructor, School of Nursing
Family members for Froehlich, who died unexpectedly last semester, accepted his award.
Women's Basketball wins first-ever UAA title; men earn co-championship
February 26, 2013
The Emory women's basketball team captured its first-ever University Athletic Association Championship (UAA) on Feb. 23 when it came away with a victory over the University of Rochester. With the victory, the Eagles earn the UAA's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament that starts next week. Emory, ranked 16th nationally, raised its overall record to 22-3 and closed out the league portion of the schedule with a 12-2 ledger following a 65-57 decision over the YellowJackets who slipped to 19-6 overall, 11-3 in the league. Emory's 22 wins establish a school record for most victories in a season. The Eagles' appearance in the NCAA Tournament will be the program's first postseason berth since 1997.
Junior Savannah Morgan came up with one of her biggest offensive performances of the season for Emory, leading all scorers with 20 points, her second-highest offensive total of the year. Morgan knocked down nine-of-14 from the floor including two of three from beyond the arc in notching her 15th double-figure scoring performance of the season. Junior Danielle Landry chipped in 18 points, her second most productive effort of the year, while grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.
The Eagles connected on 45.7 percent of their field goal tries during the opening 20 minutes compared to Rochester's effort of 42.9 percent (9-of-21). Emory's ball hawking defense forced 13 YellowJacket turnovers during the opening stanza that it parlayed into 15 points. Rochester drew to within six points with 1:47 on the clock, but a couple of buckets by Morgan, including one at the buzzer, gave Emory its double-figure lead at the break.
In December of 2012, growing student concerns sparked the formation of an ad-hoc committee designed to explore issues of race, gender, privilege, sexual violence, and oppression on campus. This committee, composed of student leaders, faculty, and administrators from the Division of Campus Life, created an online form to gather student feedback, which resulted in two Emory-wide open discussion forums. Student participation in these conversations was strong and continues to grow.
From the general feedback and open forums, the ad-hoc committee will generate a report of their findings to present to Campus Life in early March. The committee will then make the report available to the entire university community through the Campus Life website. After gathering community feedback on this published report, the committee will then submit a final list of practicable recommendations to Campus Life.
Some of the committee recommendations will include:
Establishing a Bias Incident Protocol so students can identify advocates when they experience issues of bias.
Creating a peer-driven advocacy organization focused on race, oppression, and privilege to be advised by trained professionals.
Reviewing the practices and procedures related to the adjudication of allegations of misconduct involving Greek-letter organizations.
Reexamining space needs at Emory, in order to best meet the requirements of our diverse student population.
Engaging one or more nationally recognized scholars on issues of race, diversity, and community in higher education to assist with the development and implementation of committee recommendations.
Working intensively with student leaders, the Division of Campus Life has already begun the process of planning and implementing these and other committee recommendations.
The forthcoming “Rally Against Racism” and SGA President Ashish Ghandi’s recent letter to students are signs of a community excited about the opportunities that open, positive dialogue offer. After the full ad-hoc committee report is made available, the Division of Campus Life will host a Question and Answer session to clarify the report’s findings and action items. This session, open to all Emory students, will be held on Tuesday, March 26, 2013, from 5:30 to 7:00 pm in Eagle’s Landing of the Dobbs University Center. Please participate in the discussion in whatever way you have to offer. Our collective efforts will foster a community that is healthy, respectful, inclusive, and vibrant.
Ajay Nair, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President and Dean of Campus Life
Emory University
Emory Swimming & Diving Teams Win 15th-Straight UAA Championships
February 20, 2013
The Emory University swimming and diving teams wrapped up another dominating conference performance on Saturday night, as the men and women each claimed the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship for the 15th-consecutive season.
The Emory men ended the meet with 1,818.5 points to claim first-place out of the eight teams, finishing well ahead of second-place Carnegie Mellon University (1,300 points) and third-place Chicago (1,230.5 points). The Emory women finished the meet with 1,955 points, besting second-place Chicago (1,435) and third-place Washington University (1,219.5).
Emory's 15-year conference winning streak dates back to the 1998-99 season, Head Coach Jon Howell's first campaign with the team. The conference team titles marked the 21st overall for the Emory women and 15th for the Emory men, during the 26-year history of UAA competition.
Founded in June 1991, the Office of Health Promotion began as the Department of Health Education in Student Health Services with a single staff person and a mission focused on patient education. Over the past two decades it has grown into a comprehensive organization promoting student health through diverse and engaging multi-level strategies.
The office currently has eight staff members, five student employees and over a dozen student volunteers. Students are partners in health promotion, not just patients.
• merge creativity, social justice and the arts through visual design and performance to educate their peers
• use social media and film to inspire compassion and healthy behaviors in others (such as the Project Unspoken video series)
• gain skills to be health promoting change-agents in their communities now and in the future.
Staff in the office provide confidential consultations on topics ranging from sleep to alcohol, tobacco and other drugs to sexual violence recovery and crisis management. Staff and student researchers track student health trends via the National College Health Assessment implemented at Emory every three years.
"Student well-being is at the heart of what we do," says Director Heather Zesiger. "Our population-level and public health approach allows us to engage with students throughout campus to merge their interests with efforts to protect and enhance the well-being of our community at Emory."
The office selected the 20 Health Promotion Champions for their contributions to student leadership and advocacy, faculty collaborations and curricular integration, their status as key opinion leaders and supporters in the administration, and collaborative efforts with multiple partners that have grown into sustainable movements.
"We wanted to emphasize that effective health promotion is a community endeavor," Zesiger explains. "While our office has grown in size and mission and is thrilled to celebrate our anniversary, our success has been dependent on our relationships with students, staff, faculty, alumni, parents and others. Designating champions outside our staff was a way to acknowledge these vital collaborations to create a healthy campus culture at Emory."
Thank you to everyone who has advanced health promotion at Emory for the past twenty years. To make a gift to support the Office of Health Promotion, click here.
Emory University's 2012 Annual Report
February 14, 2013
Emory University has released its 2012 Annual Report. You can read the report and view related videos here.
Eagles Make an Impact Off the Field
February 11, 2013
Last spring, a mother of one of the women’s basketball players was suffering from a form of leukemia and needed a donor match to help fight the disease. In response, the women’s basketball team organized a bone marrow drive in conjunction with Delete Blood Cancer DKMS, the world’s largest bone marrow donor center.
“One of the defining characteristics of our student-athletes, and in fact of Emory students, is that they don’t just sit on the sidelines. When they see a need, they address it, and this is how positive change happens and this should be what playing sports teaches us,” Emory Athletics Director Tim Downes said of the DKMS drive.
At the drive, several athletes and other members of the Emory community came together to get their cheeks swabbed, and their samples were placed on the registry. If their cheek swabs proved to be a possible match, then the DKMS would contact them.
“I figured if I could get swabbed and get on the registry, maybe I could possibly be a match,” junior pitcher Lena Brottman said. “It was just a cool thing for everyone to do together.”
Since it is fairly uncommon that a person is a match for a patient in need, most of the individuals who get swabbed find that is the end of the process for them. However, for Brottman and men’s basketball Assistant Coach Chris Murphy, it was just the beginning.
