Honoring the true student athleteAlso in this department:
Honoring the true student athleteBy Bob Carpenter
A T-shirt currently available at the Emory Bookstore has proved popular with alumni and students. On its front, over the oblong image of a blue-and-gold football, is the word "Emory" in block letters. The punch line on the back of the shirt reads, "Still Undefeated."
I think the sly wink of the shirt's message goes a long way toward summarizing Emory's historically uneasy relationship with intercollegiate athletics. In conversations with alumni on the role athletics should play at Emory, I have found two camps. The first, in my experience predominately comprising graduates of the last fifteen years or so, wishes Emory could find a larger national stage through its athletic teams. They point to the schools--notable exceptions in the athletic arena--that have embraced big-time college football or basketball and yet maintained their academic reputations, citing sold-out stadiums and network coverage as key ingredients in the elusive elixir of "school spirit."
The other camp is defiantly resistant to the lure of sports glory. Their love and respect for Emory are enhanced by the fact that its educational mission has never been confused with the demands and accommodations of an NCAA Division I sports program.
Thankfully, there is a satisfying middle ground between the two, a path our athletic program now follows. As a brochure the athletic department sends to prospective students states, "Student athletes attend Emory University for two reasons. The primary reason is to receive a quality education as an investment in their lives. The second is an opportunity to continue their lifelong enjoyment of athletics while competing at the national level."
Competing at the Division III level in the University Athletic Association, Emory successfully honors the concept of the true student athlete. The women's tennis team captured Emory's first national championship last spring, and we have had hundreds of other success stories in the last ten years, including dozens of academic and athletic All-Americans. Last semester, more than fifty percent of the members of Emory's varsity teams made the Dean's List.
We also have a growing recognition of what it means to be an exceptional athlete at Emory. We have the Emory Sports Hall of Fame.
It comes as a shock to some alumni that there is an Emory Sports Hall of Fame. Let me tell you about three of its inductees so that you might better understand its place at the University.
Virlyn Moore '31C, inducted in the hall's inaugural class of 1989, lettered in four sports at Emory. While in law school at the University of Georgia, he played baseball and basketball and, upon graduation, received not one, but three offers to play sports professionally, from baseball's Atlanta Crackers and Cleveland Indians and from the New York Celtics, who were the reigning world champs of professional basketball. Moore opted for a distinguished career in law, but continued playing on amateur teams and was selected for the 1936 U.S. Olympic basketball team.
The late Manley L. "Sonny" Carter '69C-'73M, also inducted in 1989, lettered in track and soccer, was intramural wrestling champion, and was the captain and most valuable player on the soccer team. As extraordinary as it sounds, while Carter attended Emory medical school he also played professional soccer for the Atlanta Chiefs. He went on to distinguish himself as a flight surgeon, fighter pilot, and test pilot with the U.S. Navy before becoming a NASA astronaut. He flew on the space shuttle Discovery in November 1989.
Katherine Marshall Moore '91C, inducted this September, was a dominant cross-country runner, overcoming severe injuries received in a car accident just before she came to Emory. She held numerous Emory and University Athletic Association records and twice led her team to the conference championship. A Woodruff Scholar, she received her medical degree from Vanderbilt University and is in a residency at the Mayo Clinic.
For better or worse, the American obsession with polls, rankings, and who's on top finds a perfect outlet in sports. At one time, I was a moderately skilled tennis player on a team that won a city championship. The best player I ever faced was a doctor in residency at Emory Hospital. After he flawlessly drubbed me, I asked him about his tennis background. Before he entered medical school, he told me, he had a brief moment in the sun in professional tennis. He had managed to qualify for a tournament, but as the bottom seed he had drawn the great Ivan Lendl as his first-round match. Even though Lendl was then somewhat past his prime, he was still able to inflict the dreaded "triple bagel" on the newcomer--6-0, 6-0, 6-0. Game, set, and match on my new friend's tennis career. He went on to medical school, and I gained an even greater perspective on my ability.
The point is that we can't all be Ivan Lendl. I will always prefer the Virlyn Moores, the Sonny Carters, and the Katherine Marshalls. I'm proud that Emory honors them for their achievements in life as well as sport. Please let me know what you think. You may call me at (404) 727-6400, and my e-mail address is rcarpen@emory.edu.
More than one thousand Emory graduates returned to campus in the fall to attend Alumni Weekend. Despite a sometimes uncooperative Mother Nature, the event was a rousing success. Reunions were held for Emory College and Goizueta Business School undergraduate classes whose years ended in either a one or a six, beginning with the Class of 1936. Reunions were also held for classes in the School of Medicine, beginning with the Class of 1941. In addition to reunion parties, Alumni Weekend activities included the Sixth Annual Alumni 5K Fun Run in Lullwater Park, the University's "Big Book Sale," the Sports Hall of Fame Banquet, the presentation of the Emory Medals, and a tour of the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum. Pictured here are selected highlights.
Emory Sports Hall of Fame inducts
its Class of 1996The Emory Sports Hall of Fame inducted the Class of 1996 during Alumni Weekend. Present at the ceremony were (clockwise from top left) Ralph Byers '67C, a two-time winner of the Bridges Award for best all-around athlete; cross country All-American Richard Anthony Lewis '86C; Robert E. Chappell Jr. '56Ox-'58B-'68MBA, who was the number one player on the Oxford tennis team, and whose generosity made possible the University's new state-of-the-art baseball facility, Chappell Park; 1991 NCAA Division III national men's golf champion Lee C. Palms '91C; three-time track and field All-American Katherine Marshall Moore '91C; and S. James Ruddock II '79C, who captained both the cross country and swimming teams, and who was ranked seventeenth as a senior at the Modern Pentathlon National Championships. Four other alumni were inducted posthumously: sportswriter Morris Siegel '37C, a three-time winner of the Washington, D.C., Newspaper Guild's sports writing award; Alexander Edward Dewar '08C, who was All-Emory in track and football, captain of the track team, and president of the Emory College Athletic Association; William Carlos Smith '08C, who was All-Emory in baseball, football, and track and captain of the baseball and football teams; and star halfback Marvin L. Thrower 1896C, an outstanding track athlete who also played third base for Emory.
Photo by Annemarie Poyo
Laura Hankin '89COn a typical weekday morning at the Art & Soul Cafe, a cluster of children is tie-dying T-shirts while their parents gather around multicolored tables and chairs to watch them and sip coffee. In a large back room, a group of elementary school students decorates terra cotta flower pots with acrylic paints. Four "soul guides," cafe employees, oversee the creativity and circulate among the customers, buttoning up smocks, refilling paint jars, and dispensing stencils, paintbrushes, and advice. A portable stereo in the corner sends out lively music. The aroma of gourmet coffee fills the air.
A combination coffee shop and arts and crafts studio, Art & Soul is the vision of Laura Hankin, a 1989 Emory College graduate and Marion Luther Brittain Award winner. She opened the Buckhead cafe, the first of its kind in Atlanta, in February 1996 after noticing a national trend in do-it-yourself crafts. In similar shops, customers can paint unfinished pottery, which is then glazed and fired in a kiln, but Hankin has expanded on that notion. Art & Soul also offers jewelry making, bird house decorating, candle making, and several other crafts, and provides raw materials, studio space, guidance, and clean-up.
"Paint-your-own-pottery is popping up all over the country," Hankin says, noting that the number of such studios has risen from twenty-five in 1995 to some one hundred and sixty. The concept, plus a lifelong desire to try her hand at entrepreneurship, drew her in. "I went to a paint-your-own-pottery store in Philadelphia, and I just fell in love with it," explains the psychology major who earned a master's degree in public policy from Duke University. With no background in either business or art, Hankin took a continuing education course on how to write a business plan and apprenticed herself to the first paint-your-own-pottery shop, Pull Cart, in her hometown of New York.
"I always felt like art was so far away from me, even though I loved sitting down and actually creating when I had the chance," she says. "When I found this idea where literally anything turns out nice, it clicked. It brought art down to people like me or anyone else who hadn't felt artistic since the first grade."
Hankin estimates that only half of her customers are children. Her adult clientele has ranged from college students to groups who have come in for fiftieth birthday parties and bridal and baby showers.
"We even had a jubilee for somebody who had been a nun for twenty-five years," she says. --A.O.A.
Photo by Ann Borden
Ernest "Chip" Koella
IV '91CErnest "Chip" Koella IV '91C died August 1, 1996, while attempting to save the life of a kayaker on the Little River in Rockford, Tennessee. According to an article in The Tennessean, "Blount County Sheriff James Berrong said Koella, 27, leaped into the river at the Rockford Manufacturing Co. in an attempt to rescue Kyle David Tyree, 24, whose kayak had gotten pinned against the dam by a strong current." Neither man survived.
According to friend and classmate Jeff Balck '91C, "Chip will be remembered as a man who was dedicated to his family and to his career. He was a man of action and character who selflessly gave his own life in the hopes of saving the life of a stranger." Koella's mother, Harriet Tumlin Koella '66C, said her son "loved life and valued it. That's why he was willing to give his life for someone else." She described her son as "a real Renaissance man."
After earning his B.A. from Emory, Koella (at right in photo) received a master of science degree from North Carolina State University in 1993. That year, he was awarded the Hoechst Celanese Excellence Award for graduate studies for the best thesis or dissertation at N.C. State. At the time of his death, Koella was a vice president at the Rockford Manufacturing Co., where the accident occurred.
In addition to his mother, Koella's Emory's survivors include his father, Ernest Koella III '65C, and sisters Harriet Stevens Koella '87C (left) and Virginia Brooks Koella '94C (center). Donations may be made in Koella's honor to either the Friends of the Smokies or the American Cancer Society.
Photo courtesy Koella family
Austrian Escapade, eight days
February 26 to March 5
A specially priced travel program to the enchanting city of Salzburg. Optional
ski safaris are available daily to nearby world-class ski resorts. Other
optional excursions include Vienna and a "Sound of Music" tour.
$1,095.
Alumni College of Ireland; Ennis, Ireland, nine days
May 6 to 14
This popular Alumni Campus Abroad program sold out in 1996, so we're offering
it again. Whether you're simply curious or an avid enthusiast, this concept
offers an opportunity to learn, explore, and relax with fellow alumni. Highlights
include Bunratty Castle, the Burren Center, Coole Park, Thoor Ballylee and
Galway City, and the Cliffs of Moher. $1,995.
Alumni College of Tuscany; Cortona, Italy, nine days
May 14 to 22
A brand-new Alumni Campus Abroad program. Enjoy the tradition and magnificent
beauty of Tuscany. Excursions include a walking tour of Cortona, the Tuscan
countryside, Siena, Perugia and Assisi, ancient Montepulciano, and Florence.
$2,195.
Alaskan Wilderness and Voyage of the Glaciers, thirteen days
July 21 to August 2
Arrive in Vancouver and board the deluxe Cunard Dynasty for a memorable
cruise of the Inside Passage. Enjoy up-close views of massive Hubbard Glacier,
Misty Fjord, and the Inside Passage with ports of call at Ketchikan, Wrangell,
Skagway, and Juneau. This tour also features two nights in Denali National
Park, where you'll view the stunning Alaskan landscape from the glass-domed
rail cars of the McKinley Explorer. This unforgettable trip will
conclude in Fairbanks. From $2,995.
Alumni College of Scotland; Stirling, Scotland, nine days
August 27 to September 4
Another brand-new Alumni Campus Abroad program offered through only a select
number of universities this year. Spend nine days in Scotland, from your
home base at the Stirling Highland Hotel, where your visit will include
Edinburgh, Scottish Highland, Loch Ness, The Trossachs, and the Pathways
of Rob Roy MacGregor. $2,295.
Wines of the World: Bordeaux, eleven days
October 2 to 12
This opportunity to visit well-known wine chateaux and sample their wares
will entice wine enthusiasts of every level. Wine tastings and lectures
highlight this journey. While in Bordeaux, you'll experience the Dordogne
Valley, Sarlat, Graves, Saint Emilion, Medoc, Sauternes, Biarritz, and San
Sebastian, Spain. $3,795.
For travel information, send name, address, and telephone number to: Association of Emory Alumni Travel Program, 1627 North Decatur Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, or call (404) 727-4239. Individual trip brochures will be mailed to interested alumni as soon as they are available, usually six months prior to departure. All pricing is per person, based on double occupancy.
Mandy Jackson
'95CEarly last summer, one day before leaving to become a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana, Mandy Jackson '95C spoke at a White House Rose Garden ceremony marking the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Peace Corps. An Emory basketball and tennis standout, Jackson was one of five women basketball players in the nation to receive a $5,000 NCAA Division III postgraduate scholarship. The following is an excerpt from a letter she wrote to the Emory athletics department nine weeks into her stay in Africa.
[My site] is on the Togo (eastern) border in the Volta Region, named after Lake Volta, the largest artificially made lake in the world. It is beautiful here. Lots of vegetation and rolling foothill-size mountains. Waterfalls, too. The house I will stay in sits on top of a hill, and there is a breathtaking view. . . . I will teach chemistry, physics (yuck), and math at Leklebi Secondary School, a school of 280 students about half a mile from my place. The Peace Corps volunteer I am following was a coach, so I will probably be able to fill his shoes and coach basketball, lawn tennis, volleyball, football, and "athletics." . . . I have enjoyed training, but it is so easy for me to play cards and fantasize about Tortillas' [burritos], Zesto's malts, and Everybody's pizza. . . . We have yams--boiled yams, fried yams, mashed yams, yam balls, yam chips, and we could probably make yam stew.
At their sixtieth class reunion, members of the Emory Class of 1935 got together for a photograph, each sporting an official reunion cap and T-shirt. The picture turned out so well that it was chosen to appear on the cover of Currents magazine illustrating a story on "Picture-Perfect Reunions." Currents is the magazine of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.