Summer 2018 – Hollins Magazine

Early Birders

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Participants in this year’s reunion bird walk were rewarded with the sights and sounds of several of the species that make their home on campus.

By Jean Holzinger M.A.L.S. ’11

At 6:30 on the Saturday morning of reunion weekend, a group of alumnae gathered on the front steps of Dana for biology professor Morgan Wilson’s annual bird walk. Rain-soaked clouds didn’t dampen the participants’ enthusiasm—or that of the nearby birds, who sang with early-morning gusto.

Even though we tend to use the term “bird watching,” Wilson said, listening is just as important. “The challenge [to birding] is learning the species not only by sight, but by song.” To that end, an important part of the curriculum of his ornithology class is becoming familiar with the sounds birds make. “Every time I had a song file on a quiz,” he said, “there would be a collective groan.” Still, even during this hour-long stroll along Carvins Creek, participants found it easy to distinguish between the sweet call of the song sparrow and the “cheer-cheer” of the northern cardinal.

Group members ranged from beginners to seasoned birders. Rachel Townsley Toth ’98 described herself as an “amateur” who likes to watch birds while she walks her dogs in Sandy Bottom Nature Park in Hampton Roads. Zelime Gillespie Matthews ’68, from San Antonio, Texas, was so enthusiastic about bird watching when her children were young that they told her they never wanted to see another bird. They have since changed their minds. Bebbie Thrower MacCary ’63 watches birds in New York’s Central Park and is especially active during the spring and fall migrations, heading to the park several times a week to see what she can see (and hear). “The real treasures,” she said, “are the warblers.” You can catch a glimpse of her, binoculars in hand, in the Netflix documentary Birders: The Central Park Effect.

Wilson told the group that there was no predicting what they would see on their walk—at the very least, several of the 75-80 species that have been spotted on campus. And that’s just what happened. After taking note of the song sparrow darting in and out of the foliage of the trees in front of Moody, the group saw the red flash of the male northern cardinal and the silhouette of two mallards flying overhead. High up in a tree along the creek was a gray catbird, a mimic like the mockingbirds and brown thrashers, also campus visitors. Sailing low over the creek was a yellow-crowned night heron. “That bird’s not supposed to be here,” Wilson said. Until recently the species didn’t show up on the distribution maps of the birds in the area. Now that they’ve taken up residence on Carvin Creek, there’s a little square on the maps representing their presence.

Wilson pointed out a pair of bird boxes on the edge of the Moody playing field. For years, Wilson and his colleague Renee Godard have conducted various kinds of research on the bluebird population on campus—for example, testing whether applying the scents of predators to the boxes affects nesting behavior. Although the data about how bluebirds detect the scent of nest predators were inconclusive, the species has become accustomed to nesting on campus. While Wilson cleaned an old nest out of one box and showed the group the new nest being constructed in the box nearby, a pair of bluebirds, perched on a lacrosse net 25 yards away, watched closely.

Overhead, barn swallows dipped and swerved, possibly on their way to nests under the gym pass-through. In the distance participants could see a black vulture (“not a buzzard,” said Wilson—buzzards are raptors found in Asia and Africa) perched high atop the chapel steeple. Also on view was a blue jay, one of the most intelligent bird species, Wilson said, “capable of performing complex tasks.” The birds that elicited the most “awwws,” however, were the mother mallard and her eight ducklings waddling along the water’s edge.

To see a video of the birds that showed up for this year’s reunion walk, visit .

Jean Holzinger is the guest editor for this issue.

Illustrations by Kristin Bell ’14.

Professor Wilson’s photos of campus birds:

Q&A with Nicole Oxendine ’03

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This year’s Distinguished Young Alumna Award winner has been recognized for her dance expertise and her business and leadership acumen.

A psychology major, Nicole Oxendine earned an M.A. in dance and movement therapy from Columbia College in Chicago. Before and after graduate school, she taught at Hillside High School in her hometown, Durham, North Carolina. In 2014 she was named Spectacular Magazine’s Woman of the Year in the emerging leader category. The following year, she founded Empower Dance Studio. Seeing a need to raise funds for dance students who had limited financial resources, she founded Empower Dance Foundation. In 2016 the Durham Business & Professional Chain presented her with its new business award, and in 2017 Empower Dance Studio was a top-four finalist in Independent Weekly Triangle’s best dance studio category.

What part has your psychology major played in your roles as dancer, teacher, small business owner, and fundraiser?
I was fascinated with memory, so my concentration was in cognitive psychology. These interests led to designing units and lessons based on movement memory.��As a small business owner, I find my psychology major has helped me develop a strong marketing strategy. It also helps me relate better to our customers.

What is movement therapy, and how has that training informed your teaching?
According to the American Dance Therapy Association,��dance/movement therapy and counseling are the “psychotherapeutic uses of movement to further the emotional, cognitive, physical, and social integration of the individual.” For me, it is the perfect combination of dance and psychology, and I have been able to use this training to become a better teacher.

You were��Spectacular Magazine’s��Woman of the Year in the emerging leader category. What is good leadership to you?
Good leadership is providing guidance while allowing people to have autonomy in their work and process.��Leaders are not complacent; they are thinking about the next step and the best way to get there.

When and where were you/are you��happiest?
When I am teaching! Especially with children, you must be present and engaged.��Sometimes happiness is viewed as what’s going to happen next in life and not enjoying the moment.��Children enjoy the moment.��I am also happy at the ocean.

Who are your heroes/heroines?
My “sheroes” are women who speak up, get things done, and make change in the world.

What is your favorite music to dance to?
I love acoustic music, anything with great vocals. I love the cello and violin.��Anyone who plays or sings music with heart and passion—I feel it and want to dance with the same passion.

If you could go back and do one thing at Hollins differently, what would it be?
I think everything I did led me to the opportunities I have now.��I wouldn’t change anything.

What would you tell your 18-year-old self?
Your life will be exactly what you envision.��However, the path to get there will not be the way you think.��Every trial and hardship will lead to something great, so be flexible.

At the Beginning

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Kacee Eddinger ’14

Kacee Eddinger believes in intuition.

“You’ve got to think with your head as well as your heart, but I’ve had what I call ‘that good feeling’ a couple of times in my life,” she says.

Eddinger’s inner voice spoke up when she traveled from her home in Colorado Springs to Hollins to get her first look.

“I felt very at home,” Eddinger remembers. “A lot of people talk about the welcoming environment they feel when they walk on campus. I definitely felt that. I just had a feeling that Hollins is where I was meant to be.”

This winter Eddinger interviewed for a job as a youth services librarian for the Montrose Regional Library district in Colorado. She tuned into her subconscious again. It told her to take the position—so she did. “It’s been a dream job for me,” Eddinger says.

From a young age, Eddinger knew she wanted to be a writer. By high school, she was also starting to picture herself working in a library. She put down Wyndham Robertson Library as her top choice for a work-study placement her first year. “It was the first choice for a lot of other people as well,” she says.

Instead, Eddinger ended up working in the physical plant, where she did lots of data entry. “It’s another form of information science,” she says, cheerfully.

In her free time, Eddinger, an English and creative writing major, often headed to the Robertson Library, where she preferred studying in a second-floor carrel that sat across from the graphic novel section. During her junior and senior years, she worked part time as a page at a nearby public library. “I got exposed to a lot of the aspects of public librarianship there.”

After graduation, Eddinger began an online master’s program in library and information science through Kent State University while working at a call center for an insurance company. She graduated in the spring of 2017.

Although she’s only been in her current job for a few months, Eddinger feels confident she’s found the perfect home for her first professional gig. At Montrose, Eddinger develops children’s programming and works on collection development. “I buy lots of picture books,” she says happily.

“I’m really excited I’m sort of at the beginning,” Eddinger says. “I feel like there’s so much more time for me to grow and explore and learn. It’s going to be amazing.”

A Year of Confidence

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President Lawrence reflects on her first 12 months in office and believes Hollins has never been more prepared to face the uncertainties of higher education and the world at large.

At the end of my first six weeks as Hollins University’s 12th president last year, I shared an update with our Board of Trustees on the experiences I had already enjoyed during my brief time in office. Among other things, I assured them that I had settled in nicely to Lorimer House, my new home. I proudly proclaimed, “I have figured out 80 percent of the light switches!” But I also admitted, “I am not sure what the other 20 percent actually do.”

As I celebrate my one-year anniversary as your president, I look back on the past 12 months and realize that my continuing adventure with those switches may be an apt metaphor for leading an institution of higher learning: You can anticipate and effectively manage what’s going to happen day to day about 80 percent of the time, but be prepared for the inevitable 20 percent of your tenure when you must deal with those unexpected events that could affect you positively or negatively. (That switch on your “unknown list” might turn on a handy closet light. Or it could shut off power to the TV, which could be problematic if there are 10 seconds to go in the Super Bowl, the score is tied, and you’ve got a living room full of football fans.)

Fortunately, I’ve learned this year that Hollins offers a strong foundation to handle life’s surprises:

Our faculty and staff believe in this university, possess a desire for relationship building, and are dedicated to the happiness and success of our undergraduate and graduate students.
My introductions over the past year to alumnae and supporters throughout the country confirm a deep commitment to Hollins, the importance of its place in women’s education, and the role the university plays in developing students poised to change the world, locally and globally.
Through interaction with the President’s Advisory Council, which consists of local community leaders, I know there is keen interest in bolstering our ties with the Roanoke region. I look forward to the council’s engagement in our strategic planning process.

Further, I cherish the tremendous inspiration I receive from our students. Their passion for learning and love for this institution never cease to impress. To me, the power of a liberal arts education to promote lives of consequence is apparent in what we see already from members of the class of 2018:

Roshaye Graham, a biology major, is a student at the American University of Antigua College of Medicine. She plans to become an OB-GYN and open a maternal health education center in her home country of Jamaica.
With a platform of ending hunger in the United States, communication studies major Emili McPhail was crowned Miss Virginia 2018, marking the second year in a row a Hollins alumna has won the scholarship competition.
Whitney McWilliams, a gender and women’s studies major and social justice minor, has joined Day One, a New York City nonprofit serving young people who have suffered from dating abuse and domestic violence.
Cierra Earl, who double majored in Spanish and communication studies, is spending two years with the Peace Corps in South Africa, helping children learn English and improve their reading literacy.
A biology major and chemistry minor, Kaitlin Gott is attending the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine. At Hollins she spent spring term of her junior year in the rainforests of Peru focusing on her interests in ecology and animal disease.

Last August, we faced one of those “20 percent” situations as we witnessed the horrific incidents that occurred during the protests in Charlottesville, just two hours from our campus. We were shocked and heartbroken, but that weekend’s events prompted a profoundly important moment for Hollins. In the wake of those protests, we reiterated our dedication to educating leaders who will foster a more humane and just society. We reassured new and returning students of our unwavering support for diversity and inclusivity and our vehement rejection of racism and hatred. Our response to Charlottesville demonstrated to me that our community values will endure. They will sustain us no matter what unforeseen obstacles we encounter.

In 2015, T. Gregory Dewey, president of Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Science, described his first year in office as “a voyage of discovery.” I wholeheartedly agree, with the caveat that the voyage shouldn’t end with that one-year milestone. With the encouragement of our students, alumnae, faculty, and staff, and the bedrock of our mission and values, we can confidently and successfully face any challenge that occurs outside of that 80 percent comfort zone.

Editor’s Note: Summer 2018 Issue

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As President Lawrence says in this issue’s essay, her first year has been “a voyage of discovery,” during which she has not only found out more about Hollins but also about herself (and about the wiring in her house—a teaser I hope will prompt you to read her inspiring text).

Classes ending in 3 and 8 (and the class of 2016) assembled on campus in early June for reunion. For complete coverage of this splendid event, visit “Reunion 2018.” Here you’ll find lots of photos, 25^th and 50^th reunion remarks by Punky Brick ’93 and Sally White ’68, and information about this year’s award winners, including Distinguished Alumnae Award winners Brooke Morrow ’78 and Margaret “Cameron” McDonald Vowell ’68 and Distinguished Young Alumnae Award winner Nicole Oxendine ’03.

Alumnae listened to a fascinating adventure story told by Jenine Culligan, director of the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum, Marilyn Moriarty, professor of English, and Beth Harris, special collections librarian and archivist. Titled “French Connections,” their tale weaves together two biographies—of writer Jacques Lusseyran and artist Jean Hélion—and explains how each was connected to Hollins.

Associate Professor of Biology Morgan Wilson again this year led participants on an early morning bird walk. “Early Birders” chronicles the birds on display this year. Check out the charming illustrations by Kristin Bell ’14 and photos from Wilson’s extensive collection.

Many colleges that had their beginnings in the 19^th century, especially those in the South, have connections, often overlooked or even buried, with enslaved people. Hollins is no exception. In “The Quest for Historical Justice,” Jeff Hodges M.A.L.S. ’11 writes about the steps the university is taking to engage in a campus-wide dialogue on issues of collective memory, diversity, and reconciliation—an effort that began nearly two years ago. Last spring, the university hosted the Universities Studying Slavery conference and also invited students to participate in the first on-campus archeological dig on a site near the Wyndham Robertson Library that is believed to have been the location of a 19^th-century home called Edgehill.

“What Makes Ticks Tick?” is the question Hollins faculty, including biologist Elizabeth “Liz” Gleim ’06, and student researchers are tackling in a joint study with Old Dominion University and the University of Richmond. As Jeff Hodges explains in his fascinating account, watching ticks in their natural habitat requires a lot of patience, but this close observation could help explain whether behaviors are, as Gleim says, “controlled by genes or prompted by the climate in which ticks live.”

In “The Way Life Is Lived,” Martha Park M.F.A. ’15 profiles writer Mary Carter Bishop M.A. ’89, who has just published a memoir called Don’t You Ever: My Mother and Her Secret Son. The celebrated journalist uses her observational talents and the skills she learned in Hollins’ writing program to explore and bring to light a long-held family secret.

Beth JoJack ’98 profiles two high school principals—Emily Sullivan DoBell ’06 and Martha López Coleman ’01—and details the winding path each took “From Leading the Classroom to Leading the School.”��

Don’t miss the tributes to two much-loved members of the Hollins community—Professor of Physics Sandra “Sandy” Boatman and Riding Director Nancy Peterson—who retired at the end of the academic year.

Jean Holzinger M.A.L.S. ’11
Guest Editor

Books by Hollins Authors: Summer 2018

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Cut and Run
Mary Beth Burton 1983
Montlake Romance (Kindle edition), 2018

Her Last Word
Montlake Romance (Kindle edition), 2018��

The Last Move
Montlake Romance (Kindle edition), 2017

The Hangman, Forgotten Files Book 3
Montlake Romance (Kindle edition), 2017

The Seventh Victim
Pinnacle (reprint edition), 2018��

Merciless
Pinnacle (reprint edition), 2017��

I’m Watching You
Pinnacle (Kindle edition), 2017

Charleston: City of Gardens
Louisa Pringle Cameron 1975
University of South Carolina Press, 2018

Millennials Taking the Lead
Carolyn White Fore 1970
Mountain Arbor Press, 2017

Lost Places: On Losing and Finding Home
Cathryn Hankla 1980, M.A. 1982
Mercer University Press, 2018

The Adventures of the Missing Sock
Elizabeth “Lizzie” Lange 1996
Wisdom House Books, 2018

Daughter of Madness: Book Two of the Creation Saga
Amanda J. McGee 2010
Amazon Digital Services (Kindle edition), 2018

National Geographic Kids Chapters: Terrier Trouble!: And More True Stories of Animals Behaving Badly
Candice Ransom M.A. 2007
National Geographic Children’s Books, 2017

Jazz Dance
Focus Readers, 2017��

Dance Team
Focus Readers, 2017

The Coloring Crook
Cristina Ryplansky 1979 (as Krista Davis)
Kensington, 2018

Space Robots (Robot Innovations)
Angie Smibert M.A.L.S. 1991
Core Library, 2018

Robots Inspired by Nature
Focus Readers, 2018��

Building a Bridge (Sequence Amazing Structures)
Amicus Ink, 2018��

Building a Dam (Sequence Amazing Structures)
Amicus Ink, 2018��

Building a Stadium (Sequence Amazing Structures)
Amicus Ink, 2018

Yankee Rock & Ice: A history of climbing in the Northeastern United States (with Guy Waterman; updated with four new chapters with author Michael Wejchert)
Laura Johnson Waterman 1962
Stackpole Books, 2018

In the Loop: Summer 2018

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“Working for a more inclusive society”

Jennifer Barton Boysko ’89 delivers commencement address

Virginia House of Delegates member Jennifer Barton Boysko ’89 welcomed the class of 2018 to “the ranks of the strong, barrier-breaking women who have come before you” during the 176th commencement exercises on May 20.

Reflecting on “what’s different between the time that I sat in your place 29 years ago and today,” Boysko noted that “most of my classmates were not as politically active or deeply civically engaged [as you are]. We realized society wasn’t perfect in 1989, but there wasn’t [the same] sense of urgency. We all have to acknowledge that in today’s society, we cannot afford not to be engaged. During the time that you’ve been here at Hollins, we’ve seen a number of movements spark real political engagement, specifically around racial and social justice issues. You have taken a stand on many of them, making sure that we are working for a more inclusive society.”

This self-portrait by art major Brittany Lewis ’18 was part of the senior exhibition displayed in the Wilson Museum in May. It was one in a series she created using grisaille painting, a centuries-old technique that emphasizes shades of gray and creates the semblance of sculpture. Lewis said that she only started realistic painting her senior year.

WWW To read more about Lewis and her work, visit www.��Ĵ�ý.edu/news.

Emili McPhail ’18 was crowned Miss Virginia in June. She is the second alumna in two years to win the title. McPhail succeeds Cecili Weber ’17, who reigned as Miss Virginia 2017. “Ending Hunger in the U.S.” was the communication studies major’s platform.

STEM students benefit from NYU summer internships

Pilot program preps students for postgraduate success

Photo by Michael Falco

Four rising seniors who intend to pursue careers in STEM fields got the chance this summer to intern at one of the nation’s foremost academic medical centers.

Biology majors Ya Gao and Assma Shabab and chemistry majors Veronica Able-Thomas and Rania Asif spent eight weeks in June and July working at the NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan.

“Growing numbers of Hollins students are interested in STEM fields,” said Karen Cardozo, Hollins’ executive director of career development. To help STEM students become more competitive candidates for postgraduate education, she called upon her brother, Timothy J. Cardozo, who is an associate professor in the department of biochemistry and molecular pharmacology at NYU Langone.

“Tim generously agreed to open a special Hollins pipeline to his lab at NYU for a pilot program this summer,” Karen Cardozo explained. “As an interdisciplinary researcher with dual degrees, he’s an especially flexible mentor, able to support students with a wide variety of interests.”

The internship program furthers Timothy Cardozo’s relationship with Hollins. Last April, he participated in a “PreMed Plus” panel at the university, joining alumnae and others who hold a variety of roles in a range of health care fields. He also provided informal mentoring to students especially interested in the M.D. and/or Ph.D. tracks.

Karen Cardozo also praised “the incredible generosity of Hollins alumnae, some of whom stepped up immediately as donors when the opportunity arose to place these students at NYU.”

Faculty news

New hires in chemistry and mathematics

Born and raised in Vietnam, Assistant Professor of Chemistry Son Hong Nguyen moved to the United States in 2004. After receiving a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Tufts in 2015, he did postdoctoral research in biochemistry at the University of Massachusetts-Worcester. Among his research interests is the design and development of probes for the detection of cysteine-containing proteins.

Stephen R. Wassell, associate professor of mathematics, received a B.S. in architecture in 1984, a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1990, and an M.C.S. in computer science in 1999, all from the University of Virginia. He has been a professor for more than 25 years, mostly at Sweet Briar College but also at the University of Virginia, Randolph-Macon College, and, most recently, the American University of Malta. His primary research focus is on the relationships between architecture and mathematics, which means he explores the mathematics of beauty. He has published many articles and has co-authored three books.

Sandra Boatman: 50 Years of Hollins Science

When Professor of Chemistry Sandra “Sandy” Boatman interviewed for the chemistry job at Hollins in 1967, she was struck by the liveliness of the students she spoke with. “They enjoyed each other and seemed to have a lot of fun. That made the other places where I interviewed seem relatively dull,” she says. She was also impressed by the “emphasis [at Hollins] on undergraduate research.” Through her own hands-on approach to teaching and her support of the annual Science Seminar, now in its 61st year, Boatman has throughout her teaching career been a booster of serious research among science students.

The following tributes, written on the occasion of Boatman’s retirement in June, speak not only to her dedication to teaching and research but also to her impact as a mentor and friend.

Bansi Kalra, professor of chemistry
It’s a privilege to have known Sandy for more than three decades. First and foremost Sandy has been dedicated to her students, to Hollins, and to women’s education. As a teacher, she was attuned to the needs and abilities of her students and always tried to help each and every one of them learn chemistry. She extended her organic chemistry class hours, adding two extra days of 45-minute classes at 8:00 a.m. I don’t know of any other class on campus that meets five days a week.

Sandy believes in students to be active learners and has made students in her biochemistry classes study papers published in peer-reviewed journals and then present them in class.

She believes strongly that the best way of educating students in chemistry is to get them involved in laboratory research and has mentored a large number of them—from first years to seniors—during her tenure at Hollins. One of her students, Mary Beth Hatten ’71, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS)��in May 2017, recognizing her distinguished and continuing achievements in original research, a unique honor for both Mary Beth and Sandy.

She worked hard to obtain funding for research and analytical instruments for the chemistry labs at Hollins. She wrote successful grant proposals, traveled with former president Maggie O’Brien to raise funds for lab instruments, and attracted funds for the department from alumnae.

Sandy has a genuine compassion for her students. She can spend hours on end helping a student get the required information for applying to a professional school or to modify a procedure to carry out a research project in her lab or talk to a shy international student and make her feel comfortable.

I have found Sandy to be a person whose love for knowledge is boundless. She was trained as an organic chemist, but she learned and carried out research in virology, has learned and been teaching biochemistry for a long time, and would learn and teach a subject if any student(s) needed to take it. Her compassion and genuine concern for students have made her one of the most respected and loved professors, and her honesty, support, and straightforwardness have made her a dear friend to me.��

Dan Derringer, associate professor of chemistry and chair
This past spring, a number of Sandy’s friends, colleagues, students, and closest companions, gathered for a celebration to remember her long and fruitful career as a professor of chemistry. Each of us was given an opportunity to say a few words to and about her. When it was my turn, I opened my remarks by telling her about an article I had seen on Forbes.com. It was a piece about millennials and their tendency to hop from job to job. I told her that citing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the author of the article wrote that these days an average worker stays at his or her job for about four years and that the workforce’s youngest employees stay for only about half that time. I turned to Sandy and said, “Imagine, two to four years!” Then I asked her, “What would one of those workers think or say about you, seeing as how you have just completed your 51^st��year here at Hollins?”

When I came to Hollins, which at this point was more than 25 years ago, Sandy had already been here for about a quarter of a century. With that many years behind her, it was easy for her to be the kind of person she was for me. At the gathering, I told her that I had never properly thanked her for her able mentorship over the years and that I would be remiss if I did not do so that day. After giving her a heart-felt embrace, I thanked her for all she taught me. The things I learned from her are too numerous of course to list here; suffice it to say Sandy had a huge hand in my success as an instructor. Over the years, and largely by her example, she taught me how to think with greater clarity, to speak with greater eloquence, and to write with greater persuasiveness.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Sandy is a rock and that the chemistry department has enjoyed a firm foundation because of her presence in it. I will sorely miss Sandy’s humor, her kindness, her infectious smile, her good judgement, and her enormous intellect.

Ellen George Smith ’80, retired family physician
Professor Sandy Boatman was my first chemistry professor at Hollins. Initially I did not know I would major in chemistry, but I quickly realized that chemistry was both fascinating and challenging.

Professor Boatman is wise and learned, but equally important, she takes complex issues and walks students through them, so we can successfully learn and reach our goals. Having both an excellent researcher and teacher is hard to find. Her willingness to encourage me to present our research at a conference was valuable and confidence building. I am certain that I would not have been as good a family doctor and medical teacher without the guidance and mentoring of Professor Boatman.

Her willingness to allow students to call her “Sandy” gave a collegiality that is not available everywhere. She invited me to her home and taught me to play bridge, an important part of my liberal arts education. I was so impressed when she, Harriet Gray, and (the now-late) Caren Diefenderfer came to our home volleyball games.

Words cannot express the love and appreciation I have for Sandy Boatman. I wish her all the best in her well-deserved retirement.��

Lauren Chin ’17, St. George’s University Medical School, class of 2023
Sandra “Sandy” Boatman is an institution of Hollins science and chemistry. A fond memory I have was turning the corner into her office with a chemistry experiment in hand that had a different result from what we had predicted. She��would respond with, “Oh, that is interesting,” along with a change to the experiment, meaning that I would be in the lab for hours on end and into the weekend. Many times Professor Boatman would walk into the organic chemistry lab when I was decked out��with gloves, full lab coat, and googles on top of my glasses and proceed to tell me how ridiculous I looked, which I did. But at the end of the day she was always there when I needed her. Professor Boatman inspired generations of women in science. She provided us with confidence to speak up when we were right and corrected us when we were wrong.�� She taught me valuable lessons beyond chemistry, about life and myself. I will be forever grateful for having her guidance during my time at Hollins.

Nancy Peterson: “A Hollins Icon”

Before her retirement in June, Nancy Peterson spent 46 years with the riding program, many of them as director. During her tenure, Hollins riders earned 19 individual IHSA national championships, two team national championships, and four Fitch Trophy/Cacchione Cup Individual National High Point Rider championships. Teams qualified 12 times for IHSA Nationals, and won the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship 20 times. Peterson herself won ODAC Coach of the Year honor five times. The Virginia Horse Shows Association named her 2004 Horseperson of the Year. In 2012, she was named to the association’s Hall of Fame. In 2016, she received the J. Arthur Reynolds Sportsmanship Award.

What follows are some of Peterson’s own reflections on her long career, along with accolades from others who learned from her or worked with her.

Peterson’s history with Hollins
My love for Hollins started at a very early age, as I grew up right across the road. After school each day I would ride my horse over to Hollins and ride with the Hollins riders. After graduating from Roanoke College, I became Guy “Red” Burkholder’s assistant, stayed in that position, and grew as a teacher, rider, and an individual. In those years, being a professional horsewoman was not exactly what my parents had in mind for their daughter, but with determination and grit I made it work.

Peterson on her students
The joy of this job is the students themselves. Seeing them grow from (sometimes)��struggling��first-year students to confident, well-rounded adults at graduation is a reward. In this business you educate just as much as other faculty, but it’s a different type of progression. I consider [riding] a complement to their complete education, whether the student is a new rider or an accomplished rider who enters the gates as a wonderful junior rider and leaves ready to become a professional horsewoman.

Ada Hubbard Cosby ’81
Nancy Peterson is a Hollins icon. Those of us lucky enough to ride with her left Hollins not only better equestrians but also better people. She guided us with unwavering devotion and commitment.

For many of us, our equestrian lives had consisted of competing in an individual sport. At Hollins under Nancy we became members of a team, which she led with exceptional horsemanship, humor, and honor. She expected our best and brought it out of us while understanding and managing college girls who often made decisions based on impulse rather than thoughtful consideration.

My years at Hollins were some of the best in my life. I continue to look back on all that shaped me and realize much of it came from the four years I spent in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Nancy Peterson was a major contributor in my years at Hollins.

I thank you, lovely Nancy, for giving so much of yourself to me and so many other fortunate Hollins girls. From beginners to accomplished competitors, you gave it your all.��

Elizabeth “Liz” Brownlee Kolmstetter ’85
Hollins + Riding + Nancy = Hollins Magic. You know Hollins Magic—that unique combination of people, place, dedication, excellence, learning, support, and passion at Hollins. The Hollins riding program reflects the very essence of Hollins Magic, and to me—and hundreds of you—it is because of Nancy Peterson. I can’t imagine my Hollins experience, or describe it as I have at dozens of career talks, without including the large role that riding had for me. Nancy was my first instructor—that one-of-a-kind voice coaching rider and horse to work as one. No matter what level a rider was, Nancy only had words of encouragement. She challenged us to do more, try harder, and push ourselves to be the best we could be, and to get up and try again when we found ourselves on the ground. Nancy knows and cares about the “story” of every horse and every rider, and she dedicated her life to making the riding program reflect her passion for excellence—and Hollins Magic.

I loved riding at Hollins! I loved getting away from my studies and just getting to the barn and immersing myself in that world. I started riding at Hollins when Nancy was bridging the program “between barns” and implementing the next generation of riding at Hollins after Guy “Red” Burkholder retired. I was part of the cohort that rode and showed in the outdoor ring or the lower field in almost any weather. I was lucky to be there for the grand opening of the glorious Kirby Riding Ring (spoiling us ever since). The riding program grew better and stronger under Nancy’s leadership, and her absolute love for the riders, the horses, and the community put Hollins riding on the map like never before.

I wasn’t a national champion and never advanced beyond Intermediate showing. But in 1983, I won “Schooling Hunter Division Champion” while riding my beloved Hollins horse, Holy Smoke. I remember the feeling like it was yesterday. I felt the way Olympians must feel when they win the gold—and there was Nancy jumping up and down waiting for me as I rode out of the ring with her big smile and her “I knew you could do it—wonderful, wonderful—great job, Liz!” That glorious long ribbon is in my home office as one of many reminders of my Hollins Magic.

To this day, the first stop I make when I return to Hollins is to the barn—in the hopes that Nancy will be there, along with Liz and Elise, of course. Nancy, your legacy will forever be part of the very essence of riding at Hollins and the Hollins Magic we are all lucky enough to carry with us always.

Paula P. Brownlee, former Hollins president (1981-1990)
Presidents are not supposed to have favorite departments in their college.��Of course not!��However, now that it is many moons since I was at Hollins, I want to confess that, in fact, I did have one or two secret favorites.��I’m alluding here of course to the Hollins riding program under the fabulous leadership of Nancy Peterson.

My hidden favoritism was linked directly to Nancy herself.��When I arrived at Hollins in the summer of 1981,��the old barn with its small riding ring had burned down the year before.��I soon met the then-riding Instructor, sunny and cheerful and immensely knowledgeable, filling me in on the program and its physical needs.��She was and is the Nancy we know and cherish: passionate about her students and about building a community out of the riding students and staff, and��passionate about each one of the horses and their well-being.

The Hollins riding program year by year has gone from strength to strength; knowledgeable riders can speak to that amazing,��consistent accomplishment. I am not a rider (alas!) but can recognize the kind and effective leadership that so nurtured this long and��splendid riding program. To this day, whenever I get back to campus, I always visit the barn, hoping so much to see Nancy and her great colleagues, Liz and Elise, whom I have known for so long.��Nancy Peterson leaves a long-lasting legacy fully in keeping with Hollins’ highest aspirations.

Focus on Philanthropy

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Donor Spotlight

Suzanne McCormick Taylor ’64: “How to live a purposeful life”

Our lives unfold in phases over which we have little control. If we are fortunate—and I am surely that—we are blessed with people, experiences, challenges, and trials that make us more loving human beings.

Learning who we are is an endless process. In the last third of my life there is so much left to do. When he was a bit older than I am now, my father told me that he had “figured it out.” When I asked him to explain, he said, “You do the most that you can, the best that you can, for as many as you can, for as long as you can. That is it.”

That is how he taught me to live a purposeful life. The other huge lesson Papa hammered into my head and heart happened when I was about to graduate from Hollins in 1964. He reminded me that I was a truly blessed individual and therefore would��“owe” in this life. He explained that I was born to two parents who wanted and loved each other and me, that I had good health, intelligence, and creative abilities. Therefore,��I would be obligated always to give back.

I asked him how I would do that. He said, “At least four years in the classroom in appreciation for those four years at Hollins,” which included 1962 at the Sorbonne in Paris. With this encouragement, I became a teacher and spent many years at that before morphing into a professional fundraiser. My husband, Bob, and I raised four sons.

Giving back to Hollins has come naturally. My gift from my IRA will be the last of many gifts made to my beloved alma mater. I encourage you to make your own gifts and to remember that Hollins is an ever-changing, dynamic place that educates women to be their best selves and to make a difference in the workplace, community, at home, in the studio, or wherever we find ourselves. Levavi Oculos.

1907 Scholarship awarded for the first time

Funded by ADA, scholarship has school spirit component

The 1907 Scholarship was funded in the fall of 2017 by a group of ADA alumnae and is is awarded annually to a rising second-year undergraduate student. The recipient of the award, which references the year in which ADA was founded, must demonstrate exceptional leadership, character, and initiative in school affairs. Because the scholarship is funded by ADA, a group known for its school spirit and frivolity, the application process requires students to submit interpretations of their school spirit.

The scholarship’s first recipient is Tori Carter ’21, a native of Halifax County, Virginia, who learned about Hollins when she was in elementary school. One of her cousins was applying to Hollins at the time. When Carter was old enough to begin her own college search, she knew she only wanted to go to Hollins. The 1907 Scholarship allowed her to continue exploring her interests, open doors, increase access, and branch out. She plans to major in creative writing, and after graduation wishes to continue her experimentation with writing in a graduate program.

Sandra Boatman Scholarship Challenge

Honors retiring chemistry professor

An anonymous alumna has pledged to match dollar for dollar up to $250,000 to fund a full scholarship ($500,000) in honor of Sandra Boatman, professor of chemistry. Boatman retired in June after 51 years of teaching excellence (see tribute on page 5). As of July 1, $100,000 had been pledged to the challenge, which means to date a total of $200,000 (with the match) has been committed. If you are interested in making a gift or pledge, please contact Suzy Mink, vice president for external relations, at minks@��Ĵ�ý.edu.

New student village project moves ahead

Gifts received to date toward $10 million goal

Planning and preparing the site for the new student apartment village continues at a strong pace. Demolition of the East Campus Drive houses took place in July to make way for the construction of 10 apartment buildings designed to house 96 students. The cost of the project is $10 million. To date, Hollins has received the gift of a full house, the village green, several bedrooms, porches, and common rooms. The following opportunities are available:

Name a building: �� $500,000

Name an apartment:�� $200,000

Name a common room:�� $100,000

Name a kitchen�� $ 50,000

Name a porch�� $ 35,000

Name a bedroom:�� $ 25,000

For more information, please contact Suzy Mink, vice president for external relations, at minks@��Ĵ�ý.edu or (202) 309-1750.

Suzy Mink��’74 has been named vice president for external relations, a position she has committed to for the next two years. Mink will concentrate on setting the strategic direction of the Office of Institutional Advancement and on external advancement efforts on behalf of the university.

Reunion 2018 Class Gift Totals
Includes gifts and pledges for all purposes made between July 1, 2017, and June 2, 2018.

1953

Reunion Gift Chair: Jean Fabish
Total Commitment: $99,411
40% participation

1958

Reunion Gift Chair: Wyndham Robertson
Total Commitment: $2,757,363
62% participation

1963

Reunion Gift Committee
Susan Barth Dobbs, chair
Anne Cross Cooney
Sally Dukes Folcher
Amelia “Mimi” Ridenhour Fountain
Carolyn Wilson Long
Florence Cabaniss Parnegg
Total Commitment: $194,830
47% participation

1968

Reunion Gift Committee
Louisa Condon Barrett, cochair
Cathy Strause Plotkin, cochair
Tricia Thrower Barmeyer
Clark Hooper Baruch
Page Trout Ciordia
Terry Jones Eddy
Susan Farley Ferrell
Diana Gibson Garner
Joan Livingston Guzzetti
nne Hipp Habeck
Twig Whitmore Hickam
Ibby Seale Jeppson
Zelime Gillespie Matthews
Ginny Mann Maye
Charlotte Kelley Porterfield
Courtney Goode Rogers
Vicky Watt Sheldon
Julie Greenfield Six
Cameron McDonald Vowell
Sally White
Pam Jackson Winton
Total Commitment: $1,951,247
54% participation

1973

Total Commitment:��$229,208
23% participation

1978

Reunion Gift Chair: Alexandria Stathakis
Total Commitment: $702,450
26% participation

1983

Reunion Gift Chair:��Susan Arnesen Hammock
Total Commitment: $23,030
25% participation

1988

Total Commitment: $51,336
18% participation

1993

Reunion Gift Committee
Sindhu Hirani Blume, chair
Valerie James Abbott
Punky Brick
Christina Flores Dimacali
Mollie Eller Garrett
Suzanne Rushton Harper
Total Commitment: $69,298
25% participation

1998

Reunion Gift Chair:��Sara Dettmer Blakeney

Total Commitment: $19,935
17% participation

2003

Reunion Gift Committee
Lindsey Mann Field, chair
Lindsey Fitts Copeland
Maggie Magdalen Hackett
Total Commitment: $25,816
15% participation

2008

Reunion Gift Chair:��Miranda Dennis
Total Commitment: $11,695
19% participation

2013

Reunion Gift Committee
Kelsey Breanna DeForest, chair
Liam Hudson
Claire Mason McCown
Kathryn Michele McDowell
Mollyemma Townzen Teague
Meghan Brown Veal
Total Commitment: $10,320
28% participation

2016

Reunion Gift Committee
Pavithra L. Suresh, chair
Kayla N. Deur
Hailey M. Hendrix
Lela M. Ijames
Jeanne “Scout” Louise Moran
Tayler L. Morris
Wibecka A. Oliver
Haley L. Ortiz
Maya S. Rioux
Caroline R. Rottkamp
Auburn B. Smith
Total Commitment: $1,998
26% participation��

Grand Total:��$6,147,937

This year’s award winners

Hollins Rock Award
Highest participation in giving among the 10 most recent reunion classes
Class of 2013, with 28%

Catherine Orgill West Award
Highest participation in giving to the Hollins Fund
Class of 1958, with 62%

Tinker Mountain Award
Largest total gift to the Hollins Fund
Class of 1968, with $765,368

President Nancy Oliver Gray Award
Highest total giving to Hollins for all purposes
Class of 1958, with $2,757,363

Alumnae Connections

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President Lawrence continued her travels last spring with visits to alumnae events in Charlottesville and Richmond.

Charlottesville

Lorrie Hannan Smith ’92 with hostess Barbara Beaman Sieg ’65

Vesta Gordon ’64 and Joyce Galbraith Colony ’50 with President Lawrence

Richmond

Tiffany Anne Brown ‘10, Sarah McCaig ’07, and Kimmie Lockett ‘10

Hosts Ted Price and Carol Bayne Price ’66 with President Lawrence

Aerica Bruce’11 and Hannah Irvin ’12

Marcail Moran Waskom ’02, Savon Shelton Sampson ’04, Carey Wodehouse ’03, Meika Downey, 17, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Harris Oglesby ‘03

Richmond chapter cochairs Ashlee Kneip Ligon ’06 and Lorrie Noggle ’06 with Director of Alumnae Relations Lauren Sells Walker ’04 and hostess Carol Bayne Price ‘66

Temple Forsberg Martin ’58, President Lawrence, Elizabeth “Buffy” Seydel Morgan ’08

Reunion 2018: “Inquisitive minds, spirit, spunk, and love”

Those words from 50^th reunion speaker Sally White ’68 summed up the essence of this year’s gathering. Punky Brick ’93, who delivered the remarks on behalf of her class, added these words of wisdom and solidarity: “Like all roads, each of ours has its own twists and turns, high points and low valleys, but in our hearts, we all travel together.” www Read the entire remarks and see highlights at , including photos of the following award winners:

Kelsey DeForest ’13, recipient of the HAVE Award, which honors alumnae who exemplify excellence in volunteering for Hollins through a specific project or for overall spirit
Judy Lambeth ’73, who received the Rath Award, for the alumna whose participation in the life of Hollins has been extraordinary
Hollins Athletic Hall of Fame inductees Cathy Strause Plotkin ’68, Caroline McGehee Pascual ’98, and the 1977 field hockey team

Early Birders

Participants in this year’s reunion bird walk were rewarded with the sights and sounds of several of the species that make their home on campus.

Jean Holzinger participated and wrote about her experience.�� You can also view from the walk as well as Professor Wilson’s photos of campus birds.

Alumnae Profiles

Beth JoJack ’98 interviewed two Hollins alumnae.

The Way Life is Lived

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In her new memoir, Mary Carter Bishop M.A. ’89 brings to light a family secret and explores the pressures—cultural, religious, and economic—that kept it hidden so long.

By Martha Park M.F.A. ’15

In her application to the graduate creative writing program, Mary Carter Bishop asked Hollins to unbolt her brain. Writing for newspapers had locked her into a “tight, utilitarian prose,” Bishop says, “and for good reason. Our readers are in a hurry.”

Photo by Bob Crawford

For two decades, Bishop had been climbing the journalism ladder: from writing obituaries at The Richmond News Leader, to graduate school at Columbia University’s School of Journalism, then to work at the Charlotte Observer, and finally the Philadelphia Inquirer, where Bishop was assigned to a team of reporters covering the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster.

“Our editors put a small army of reporters and photographers on the story for weeks,” Bishop says, “We tracked down workers, meeting them at their homes when they got home from work, sometimes in the middle of the night.” The Philadelphia Inquirer staff, including Bishop, was awarded a Pulitzer for their work. By 1982, ready for a break, Bishop rented a cabin outside Lexington, Virginia. “I hadn’t planned to stay, but I did,” she says, “and I never returned to big-city journalism.”

When Bishop was offered a position at what was then The Roanoke Times & World-News, covering Lexington and surrounding counties, she jumped at it. “I didn’t know much about it, but my savings had run out,” Bishop says. After working for papers in larger cities, Bishop wasn’t sure there’d be much news to cover. “I’d forgotten that wherever there are people, news is all around and lots of it runs deep.”

Bishop ran a one-woman bureau out of Lexington until her move in 1987, which brought her to Roanoke, and to Hollins. “The reading as well as the writing at Hollins woke me up,” Bishop says, “From the back of [Professor of English] Richard Dillard’s American lit class, I marveled at his mind, his wit, and his casual, self-effacing style. In writing workshops with [English professors] Cathy Hankla [’80, M.A. ’82], and Jeanne Larsen [M.A. ’72], I wrote my first and only short stories.”

Bishop published one of those short stories in Elvis in Oz: New Stories & Poems from the Hollins Creative Writing Program, an anthology that featured writing by such Hollins graduates as Annie Dillard ’67, M.A. ’68, Madison Smartt Bell M.A. ’81, Natasha Trethewey M.A. ’91, Jill McCorkle M.A. ’81, and Lee Smith ’67. The protagonist in Bishop’s story, “Offerings to Jackie O,” was inspired by her half-brother Ronnie, a brother she didn’t know she had until she was in her early 30s. While applying for a passport, Bishop discovered her mother’s secret there in the government paperwork—that the quiet, lanky boy who’d once slept in the barn was not a cousin, as she’d been told, but her mother’s first child, conceived when her mother was a teenager.

Ronnie was 10 years older than Bishop and had spent much of his childhood with a foster family or in a boys’ home, but when he was a teenager, he spent some time in Keswick, Virginia, where Bishop’s parents worked in the estates of wealthy heirs and heiresses. Bishop finally reunited with Ronnie during her first semester at Hollins, visiting him in the Vinton barbershop where he worked.

When she returned to the newsroom, Bishop says, “I probably was more observant in my reporting, with a keener eye and ear, than I was before Hollins.” Her career after Hollins saw several highlights: In 1989, Bishop received a George Polk Award for her coverage of illegal pesticide use; in 1995, The Roanoke Times published her special report on the history of urban renewal in Roanoke—a devastating, blow-by-blow account of a community all but leveled by racist housing policies and displacement; and in 2001, Bishop won a federal grant to do research on eugenics survivors. “I left the paper and never went back,” she says. “I interviewed about 30 survivors and planned to write a book about them.”

But when her elderly parents’ health began to fail, Bishop stepped back from her research in order to care for them until they passed away. When Bishop returned to her work, she wondered where to focus her attention. Ultimately, she settled on Ronnie. “Other people have written about eugenics; if I didn’t write Ronnie’s story, nobody would ever know about him,” she says.

Don’t You Ever takes its title from the instruction Bishop’s mother gave Ronnie never to call her “mama.” And though there’s nothing Bishop could have done to change Ronnie’s fate, she takes responsibility for his abandonment, caring for him in the last years of his life, through a rare hormonal disorder that caused his limbs and his facial features to grow long and distorted (a fact illustrated poignantly by Ronnie’s driver’s license photos, included in the book’s chapter headings, which show his face changing dramatically over time).

All of Bishop’s writing—whether journalism, fiction, or memoir—exemplifies a reporter’s eye for accuracy and clarity, and a novelist’s attention to the psychological import of objects, clothing, gestures, and expressions. These gifts are just as evident in Don’t You Ever, from Bishop’s description of her mother’s thick, fleshy ankles and her pronunciation of words like pretty (priddy) and sweetheart (swee-dart); her father’s droopy eyes, love for animals, and his childhood nickname for Bishop—Pie, short for Sweetie Pie—the nickname Ronnie still used when he and Bishop first reunited in his Vinton barbershop.

Bishop knew her brother for only three years before his death, but his story troubled her own, casting into new light everything closest to her: her home, her family, and her life’s own trajectory out of poverty and the lush hills of Keswick. As she got to know Ronnie, Bishop toed the line between reporter and sister, curious about Ronnie both as a subject and as long-lost family, someone at once totally unknown and strangely familiar.

“If Mom and Ronnie were here now and read the book,” Bishop says, “I think they’d quibble over details, but I believe they would feel vindicated by their stories being out there. Ronnie would probably say: ‘Pie, what the hell you writing about me for? Don’t you have anything better to do?’ And I’d say: ‘No, I don’t.’”

Bishop notes that her time at Hollins affected her decisions as she crafted her memoir. “Dillard back then talked a lot about how American writers are stuck in a structure of the narrative arc in the middle and an ending that neatly ties up all the loose threads. This, of course, is not the way life is lived.” Dillard’s comments were ringing in Bishop’s mind as she wrote the book’s final lines. It’s an ending that does not offer any conclusions or tidy lessons but feels true to the way Bishop is still—and might always be—thinking about her family, their story, and her own.

Martha Park is a writer and illustrator from Memphis, Tennessee. She received an M.F.A. from Hollins’ Jackson Center for Creative Writing and was the Philip Roth Writer-in-Residence at Bucknell University’s Stadler Center for Poetry.

��

Summer 2018 – Hollins Magazine

Early Birders

Participants in this year’s reunion bird walk were rewarded with the sights and sounds of several of the species that make their home on campus.

Q&A with Nicole Oxendine ’03

This year’s Distinguished Young Alumna Award winner has been recognized for her dance expertise and her business and leadership acumen.

At the Beginning

Kacee Eddinger ’14

A Year of Confidence

President Lawrence reflects on her first 12 months in office and believes Hollins has never been more prepared to face the uncertainties of higher education and the world at large.

Editor’s Note: Summer 2018 Issue

Books by Hollins Authors: Summer 2018

In the Loop: Summer 2018

“Working for a more inclusive society”

Jennifer Barton Boysko ’89 delivers commencement address

STEM students benefit from NYU summer internships

Pilot program preps students for postgraduate success

Faculty news

New hires in chemistry and mathematics

Sandra Boatman: 50 Years of Hollins Science

Nancy Peterson: “A Hollins Icon”

Focus on Philanthropy

Donor Spotlight

Suzanne McCormick Taylor ’64: “How to live a purposeful life”

1907 Scholarship awarded for the first time

Funded by ADA, scholarship has school spirit component

Sandra Boatman Scholarship Challenge

Honors retiring chemistry professor

New student village project moves ahead

Gifts received to date toward $10 million goal

Reunion 2018 Class Gift Totals Includes gifts and pledges for all purposes made between July 1, 2017, and June 2, 2018.

1953

1958

1963

1968

1973

1978

1983

1988

1993

1998

2003

2008

2013

2016

Grand Total:��$6,147,937

This year’s award winners

Hollins Rock Award Highest participation in giving among the 10 most recent reunion classes Class of 2013, with 28%

Alumnae Connections

President Lawrence continued her travels last spring with visits to alumnae events in Charlottesville and Richmond.

Charlottesville

Richmond

Reunion 2018: “Inquisitive minds, spirit, spunk, and love”

Early Birders

Alumnae Profiles

The Way Life is Lived

In her new memoir, Mary Carter Bishop M.A. ’89 brings to light a family secret and explores the pressures—cultural, religious, and economic—that kept it hidden so long.

Reunion 2018 Class Gift Totals
Includes gifts and pledges for all purposes made between July 1, 2017, and June 2, 2018.

Hollins Rock Award
Highest participation in giving among the 10 most recent reunion classes
Class of 2013, with 28%