P E O P L E


On the thirty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Peace Corps, President Bill Clinton hosted forty young volunteers in the White House Rose Garden, just as founder John F. Kennedy did in 1961. Among this new crop of volunteers was 1995 Emory College graduate MANDY JACKSON who spoke on behalf of her thirty-nine colleagues on the eve of their departure for Ghana. Listening to Jackson that muggy June day were several of the Peace Corps volunteers who attended the original Rose Garden ceremony. They were joined by members of Congress and representatives of the Clinton Cabinet.

"I am so excited about living the next two years in Ghana, and I hope to share my experiences, perspectives, and education . . . through my service as a teacher," Jackson said. "I suspect that I will learn as much as I teach."

While at Emory, Jackson majored in chemistry and music. She played varsity tennis and as a member of the women's basketball team scored more points than any other player in team or conference history. She worked as a resident adviser and was a lab assistant for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's bacteriology lab. Her volunteer activities included work at local food banks, Grady Hospital, and Habitat for Humanity. The University awarded Jackson a Humanitarian Award for the 1994-95 school year, and she was named 1994 grand female winner of the Georgia Boy Scout's "Peach of an Athlete" award for her community service and academic and athletic achievements. For the past year, Jackson has been a fellow at the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation in Atlanta, working as an assistant to the foundation's president.

Photo by Annemarie Poyo

ROSETTA E. ROSS, who earned her master of divinity degree from the Candler School of Theology in 1989, is returning to the school for two years as visiting professor and director of black church studies. She comes to Emory from the International Theological Center in Atlanta, where she was assistant professor of ethics. Previously, she has been a research fellow at the Coolidge Colloquium of the Association for Religion and Intellectual Life and a Hewlett Graduate Fellowin Religion and Health at The Carter Center. She received a Ph.D. degree in social ethics from Emory in 1995.

Photo by Kay Hinton

Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar CHERWANDA R. WILLIAMS spent her summer teaching primary school children in Atlanta and Exeter, England, as a 1996 Rockefeller Brothers Fund Fellow. She was one of twenty-five students from sixteen colleges and universities nationwide chosen for the award, which supports minority students interested in teaching. At the end of the summer, Williams presented her observations on the differences between the American and British educational systems to the August conference of the Rockefeller Fellowship. After her graduation from Emory in May 1997, she plans to teach and pursue advanced degrees, including a doctoral degree in psychology or counseling.

ELAINE K. SWARTZENTRUBER has been appointed to a two-year term as acting director of the Program for Women in Theology and Ministry at the Candler School of Theology. She has previously been assistant director of the program. Swartzentruber is completing her doctoral degree in religion at Emory. She earned a bachelor's degree in women's studies from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a master's degree in theological studies from the Chicago Theological Seminary. Her research interests include modern Christologies, feminist and liberation theologies and ethics, and the Anabaptist and Mennonite traditions.

Photo by Kay Hinton

Alumna LORRI HEWETT, whose first novel, Coming of Age, was released during the summer between her freshman and sophomore years, recently published her second book, Soulfire, the story of an African-American youth's journey into manhood. A 1994 Emory College graduate, Hewett drew on her experiences as an adolescent growing up in Denver for the book's characters, setting, and plot.

After leaving Emory, Hewett spent a year at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland on a Bobby Jones Scholarship. She is now a research assistant at the Mid-Continent Regional Education Laboratory in Aurora, Colorado. She is also pursuing a master of fine arts degree in fiction writing at the Iowa Writer's Workshop and is at work on her third novel.

Photo by University Photography

--compiled by Andrew W.M. Beierle


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