Did you work anywhere else/pursue your education before returning to work at Hendrix? Where? 

Yes, I worked in Dallas at a doctor’s office and the office of two attorneys. In Conway most of my previous work time was at the University of Central Arkansas in the football office and athletic department. I have taken some classes at UCA and I’ve been involved in a free lance writing project, but my most of my career has been as a homemaker, and my greatest education after Hendrix has been acquired through my experiences as a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother and the lessons learned through those rewarding experiences.

What was your title at the college and what did your responsibilities include? 

I was Assistant to the Executive Vice President and Dean of Advancement. My responsibilities were to support Ellis Arnold and his Advancement division, which includes alumni, development, and communication work to advance the college.

How long did you work for the college? 

Ten years.

How have you seen Hendrix change? 

Hendrix has changed in so many ways. Today’s students who read some of these changes will probably laugh and think I am fabricating tales of our campus life, but I will share a few changes anyway! When I was a student, the enrollment was about 400-500 students, with few students from states other than Arkansas, although we had a small number of international students. Freshman Orientation lasted through about the first nine weeks, and freshmen had to wear green beanies, memorize the names of all upperclassmen and call them by name any time the upperclassman met them and demanded “Button, Freshman,” take weekly written tests about campus trivia such as “What kind of flowers are planted in front of the Bookstore?” Galloway housed the freshmen and sophomore women and Raney housed the junior and senior women. I lived in Galloway my freshman, sophomore, and senior years, the latter time as a resident assistant. Rules were very strict for the women students, such as curfews around 10:00 p.m. on weeknights, and we had to “sign out” to list our destination (such as “Library”) on a tablet in the dorm lobby whenever we left the dorm after about 6:00 p.m. and on weekends.

There was one campus phone on each floor of the women’s dorms, and one long distance phone available on the first floor. Of course there were no cell phones or computers.

We were not allowed to wear shorts or pants out of the dorm. We had required athletic shorts for physical ed classes, but we had to wear raincoats to conceal the shorts as we walked from the dorm and to the gym and back. There were very few cars on campus. A small number of women students may have had cars their senior year when they went to practice teach in schools. On Sunday mornings a big white school bus from the Conway First United Methodist would pick up women students in front of Galloway and Raney to take us to church. We were required to wear hats and gloves to church, and it was understood that we should attend regularly.

A major change occurred on campus during my sophomore year - football was discontinued. The board’s decision for this change was announced at a convocation (convocations required our attendance every week). Another major announcement at a convocation was the news of a large monetary gift to the college from Mr. H.F. Buhler. The library was subsequently named for him. With the recent opening of the SLTC, Buhler is now vacant.

During the time I have worked here, I have seen great growth in enrollment and an increased number of out of state students. I’ve seen the construction of Acxiom Hall, the Art Buildings, DW Reynolds, the Murphy Building, the Butler Plaza and fountain, the WAC, the Corner Apartments, the Village, and the Student Life and Technology Center. Programmatic changes I’ve seen include the Odyssey program, many more opportunities for study abroad and undergraduate research, the establishment of the Miller Center and the Crain Maling Center.

What did you enjoy most about working at Hendrix? 

I like the cultural environment, the beautiful campus, the friendly faculty and staff, the contact I enjoy with my alumni friends, and most of all, the inspiring students. Part of the soul of Hendrix has not changed since I was a student. Some of our greatest assets are caring professors who truly want students to succeed and to experience learning as individuals and as teams. Their interest in their students extends long after commencement. People are happy to work here. I do believe Hendrix is a very special place on earth, a place we love, where we are privileged to spend some of the best times of our lives.

What is the funniest story that you have from either your time as a student or staff member? 

During my time as a student – the Great Train Wreck. Learn more.

Another recollection from my student days which seems funny now: Male students were not permitted past the swinging doors in the dorm hallways. When maintenance personnel came for dorm repairs or dads came to carry heavy boxes or furniture to rooms for the female residents, we always had to announce loudly, “Man in the hall!” to warn female students who might not be properly dressed that they should stay in their rooms until they heard the announcement of the men leaving the hall.

Define the Hendrix Experience. 

A few years ago a frantic parent called our office. She was driving to a College Fair and at the last minute was substituting for her husband, who had to cancel his commitment to represent Hendrix at the fair. The lady asked me what she could tell people at the fair that really makes Hendrix different from other colleges. The example that came to my mind for her was a student at that time: he was a varsity soccer player, a soloist in the Candlelight Carol Service, and he had just been accepted into med school, a great example of “unto the whole person.” The Hendrix experience encompasses our students’ achievements that range from those from international leaders such as Jo Luck, executive director of Heifer International, to students who encourage recycling and serve on mission teams. In addition to “unto the whole person,” the Hendrix experience exemplifies the saying, “Think Globally, Act Locally.”

What are your interests outside of Hendrix? 

I spend time with my family. My husband (whom I met here when we were both freshmen) and I have five grandchildren in Fayetteville, Memphis, and Atlanta, and their ages are 2 to 13. We love to spend as much time as possible with them. I am blessed to have my mother in Conway and we cherish our time with her. We are active members of Conway First United Methodist Church and we enjoy time with many college and community friends. I enjoy walking, working crossword and jigsaw puzzles, reading, cooking, needlework, and membership in some women’s organizations, including an educational organization, an investment club and bridge club.

What is your favorite cafeteria meal? 

Honolulu chicken!

What is your favorite place on campus? 

Greene Chapel

In the parking lot of The Village at Hendrix, Justin Warren '09 points to his car. "I rock a Sentra," he said, pointing to a well-worn Nissan. But it's all he needs to carry his trusty Ibanez acoustic-electric guitar. Warren is a one-man show.

Surveying Market Square before setting up to perform a brief set of original songs at Village Books, Justin is blown away by how different his alma mater looks after only one year.

"This is crazy ... I can't believe this," he said, admiring ZaZa Fine Salad and Wood-Oven Pizza Co. and envying the Hendrix students who get to live in the loft apartments above the two commercial buildings.

After his set at Village Books, Warren, a theatre major, will join fellow Hendrix alumni in Cabe Theatre for a reading of Hendrix alumnus Werner Treischman's new play Disfarmer about the life of eccentric and iconoclastic photographer Mike Disfarmer of Heber Springs.

When Your Hendrix Odyssey: Engaging in Active Learning was introduced in 2005, the Little Rock native wasn't sure he even wanted to go to Hendrix.

"I really didn't want to go to college in Arkansas," admitted Warren, who attended Episcopal Collegiate School.

But Justin's father told him there was a "pretty good liberal arts school in Conway."

He's glad he listened.

"From the first moment I stepped foot on campus, I felt like I was home," he said.

"I'm so thankful I came here. I did stuff here I never dreamed of."

Justin was in the first class to graduate under Your Hendrix Odyssey. During his four years at Hendrix, he studied abroad for a semester in London, performed Shakespeare with a group of Hendrix students at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, and enjoyed an active campus social life that included Ghost Roast, concerts in the Burrow, and working with visiting playwrights like Rebecca Gillman.

Hendrix also offered an outlet for Justin to perform music.

"I used to play at Coffeehouse and Red Light Revue," he recalled.

The opportunity to play music was important to Warren. His grandmother was a church music minister and his mom "sang all the time."

"I started playing guitar when I was 15," said Warren. "I used to listen to a lot of Nirvana and Incubus, and it kind of evolved out of that."

Justin soon began writing and recording his own songs at home on a four-track recorder. In addition to guitar, he accompanied himself on bass, piano, and drums.

Fortunately his parents approved of his musical pursuits.

"That's one of the really cool blessings in my life. They're supportive of anything I do as long as it's fairly constructive," he said.

Warren's first album is called Violet and he recently completed a follow-up titled Every Which Way. Both were recorded at his home studio, which consists simply of a laptop and a microphone, he said.

"My newer stuff is kind of Prince-inspired and kind of John Mayer-ish," he said. "And vocally, Seal is a pretty big influence."

In addition to his Hendrix campus performances, he has also performed in Little Rock at Juanita's and has appeared with Ocean, a former college band, at Riverfest.

Now that he's completed college, Justin balances his passion to perform music with his work as youth director at First United Methodist Church in Little Rock.

Though he went to a United Methodist college, he didn't plan on working for the church.

"It wasn't calculated at all ... just coincidence, which is kind of funny," he said. "I wanted to give back to my community, so I applied for a lot of nonprofit jobs."

Like his college choice, he's glad it happened the way it did.

"It's really cool. My group is very open and very mission-oriented," he said, adding that he meets with about 30 to 50 students each month.

"I'm getting a lot out of it," he said. "It's a true church family. I actually feel like I fit in."

At 23, Justin's journey is just beginning. He's writing new music and continuing to perform live theatre.

"At this point, I don't know where I'm going next," he said. "I kind of take it one day at a time."

For more information, visit www.justinwarrenstudios.com.

By Kristin Putchinski ’97 

Brent and Kristin after their Chesapeake Bay swimI walked onto the Hendrix Water Warriors team my freshman year at Hendrix because my older sister swam in high school and I wanted to be like her. I had never swum competitively and Coach Jim Kelly welcomed me, like any sucker, by asking the whole team "who wants to swim the mile?" I didn’t know what that meant, so I volunteered. Little did I know that long-distance swimming is the event they put at the END of every swim meet. It’s boring for spectators (if indeed, there are any by the time you’re finished) and truly a test of mental ability if you’re the swimmer.

Fast forward a bit. I swam for three years with the team, stupidly neglecting it my senior year, but never lost my love of being in the water. After college, I taught swim lessons at the "Y" in New Orleans and tried to keep up the shape I was in through sporadic month long re-dedications to swimming the mile. I moved to Baltimore in 2000 and joined a Masters Team for two years, but the 5:45 a.m. practices stopped working after awhile and eventually, I let that go, too.

Suddenly, it’s 2007. My life is different than I ever imagined it would be. Pursuing a career as a songwriter and musician, I had taken a flying leap in 2004 into the world of self employment and being an entrepreneur (something I believe Hendrix wholeheartedly prepared me for!), but wasn’t spending too much time thinking about my health. A family member’s health scare prompted me to get back in the pool. That first time was like returning to an old, familiar house. However, progress was disappointingly slow. Throughout this time, there were a few visits home to Texas, where I was lucky enough to be able to catch a dinner with my old swim team mate, Brent Spear ’97 (who is now a practicing dentist in Fort Worth).

In the Fall of 2009, I decided that I wanted to do something momentous, to commemorate the year. I had heard about The Great Chesapeake Bay Swim, an open water event. There were two options: the 4.4 mile swim-across-the-bay swim and a one-mile swim. Before I even signed up for the swim, I started telling myself and other people what I was doing as a form of self-imposed accountability. I saw Brent again in January 2010 and we talked about the swim. He decided that he wanted to travel to Baltimore and swim alongside me.

I kept a log of my progress. It was slow through the winter, but as spring approached, I was regularly slogging through a mile. Brent and I kept in touch through emails and texts – encouraging each other with accounts of our workouts and simultaneously renewing our friendship. I won’t say it felt like old times, because it was something better. It was my friend from times past, becoming a good friend again at a different chapter in our lives.

Brent made his travel plans to visit Baltimore. If all went according to plan, Brent’s brother, Brad Spear ’94, was going to pick him up the night before the swim and they would ride out to the Bay early in the morning. I was going to be rolling in at 2:30 a.m. the night of the swim from a gig in Virginia.

We met up on the shores of the Chesapeake early in the morning of June 13^th. We put on our numbered caps and our ankle bracelets that contain a computer chip to log our start and end times. I was running on adrenaline and very little sleep. I was in the second wave of swimmers (the one-milers go in heats of 100 swimmers) and Brent was in the fifth wave. I went down to the shore and heard the yell to "go!" It was all legs and arms and mass confusion for the first 500 yards as we all navigated the half foot chop in the water and aimed for the distant buoys. The only thing I remember about the swim itself was turning the corner that marked that I was a third of the way through. The singular thought in my mind was: "kick, pull, kick, pull, breathe ... repeat." Finally, the shore was in sight. Those last few yards seemed to pass very slowly, but I felt the water become shallow and I stood up and ran onto the beach.

As I passed the barrier that recorded my time (29 minutes and 6 seconds), I was overcome by the feeling of wanting to do the swim again immediately. It was thrilling. I returned to my friends who had come to cheer us on and waited for Brent to finish with his group.

Our times qualified us to attempt the 4.4 mile swim ACROSS the Chesapeake Bay next year and Brent and I made plans to swim together again. I recently joined another Masters Team to get myself in shape for that event. (The longer swim usually takes approximately three hours to complete.) Even though Brent and I live 1,300 miles apart, it was a wonderful opportunity to re-connect over our shared interest that began during our time at Hendrix. Just another example of how the Hendrix experience stays with you.

Kristin Putchinski '97 is a full-time musician, songwriter and composer who performs as ellen cherry, a project she began while at Hendrix. She has released five original works produced by her label and studio, Wrong Size Shoes, based in Baltimore, Md.

Share your Voice

Submissions for Alumni Voices should be e-mailed to the editor at plotkin@hendrix.edu. We are interested in publishing alumni-written essays that either reflect on your time at Hendrix or discuss how the Hendrix experience influenced the course of your life. To be considered for the spring 2011 edition of Hendrix Magazine, your essay should be received by Jan. 5, 2011.

Story by Rob O'Connor '95
Associate Editor 

Ben Nichols' classmates at Hendrix might be surprised at how things turned out for the quiet, shy kid who kept mostly to himself.

Nichols, who graduated in 1996, is a professional musician. He is the songwriter and lead singer for Lucero, a band he formed in Memphis, Tenn., shortly after graduation.

Lucero has recorded seven albums in its 13-year history and toured extensively, winning a hard-earned and rabid fan base through high-adrenaline shows that split the sonic difference somewhere between Johnny Cash and The Clash.

Though his musical background is primarily in punk rock, "Lucero kind of blurs the lines," Nichols said. "But there are too many rules in punk rock ... We just do it our way."

Nichols' personal songwriting influences include Tom Waits, while the band collectively conjures impressions of indie-rock cult heroes The Replacements as adeptly as it does classic rock and roll warhorses like Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band.

In a review of the band's 2006 album Rogues, Rebels, and Sworn Brothers, Stephen Deusner of Pitchfork Media (www.pitchfork.com) writes, "With abrupt shifts in tempo and style and a foundation in rock lore, Lucero's brand of country rock remains unpretentious as ever. But the range and impact of Rogues, Rebels suggest the band has greater ambitions and the chops to realize them."

"I knew music was definitely something I wanted to pursue," said Nichols, whose musical path began with piano lessons when he was very young. He later played saxophone in junior high school band. Around the same time, he got a bass guitar, started learning rock and roll songs and started writing his own songs.

But while he played in a Little Rock band called Red Forty as a student, Nichols never took any music courses at Hendrix or performed on campus.

"I was kind of leading a dual life," said Nichols, who lived on campus, including two years in East Hall and a year in Couch Hall, before his senior year, when he and his roommate Matt Hoffine '96 lived in the Front Street Apartments.

Going to Hendrix was not part of his original plan.

"At first, I wanted to go to school out of state because I thought that was my one chance to get out of Arkansas," he said, adding that Hendrix was the best value of all the schools he was accepted to. "Lucky for me I ended up at Hendrix. I ended up not only appreciating the school, but I also ended up appreciating where I was from more as well."

As a student, Nichols' two hobbies were music and comic book illustration. Among his favorite illustrators and their works are Joe Sacco's books on Palestine and the war in Bosnia, Eric Powell's The Goon, Darwyn Cooke's series based on the crime novels of Richard Stark, and Mike Mignola's Hellboy.

While he didn't perform music on campus, he did pursue his aspiration to be a comic book illustrator through an independent study with former Hendrix art professor Don Marr. The result was a 10-page comic book Nichols illustrated with pencil and India ink, which he later sent to several publishing companies.

"I still have all the rejection letters," he laughed, adding that he hopes to self-publish a comic book one day.

After graduation, Nichols helped with his family's business, Nichols Furniture in Little Rock, before moving to Memphis with the hope of starting a band. He met a guitarist who shared his background and interest in starting a band.

"We wanted to do something different, something more roots-oriented," he said. "So I decided to try to write a bunch of country songs and start a pseudo-country band," Nichols said.

"We took it step by step, first writing songs, then trying to get a live show," he continued.

Lucero played its first concert in April 1998 in a warehouse in downtown Memphis across from the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated 30 years earlier and now the site of the National Civil Rights Museum. The band continued to play live shows until "we started to catch on."

And catch on they did.

Lucero has played some of the country's largest outdoor music festivals, including Austin City Limits Festival, Bonnaroo (Manchester, Tenn.) and Coachella (Indio, Calif.), as well as Memphis in May and Little Rock's Riverfest. The band has played with music icons such as the Black Crowes and Cheap Trick, as well as a veritable who's who of modern bands, such as The Black Keys, The Drive-by Truckers, The Hold Steady and The White Stripes.

The band is part of the 2010 Austin City Limits Music Festival in October. The festival will give Nichols an opportunity to visit with his brothers Matthew, a Southwestern University alumnus and Austin attorney, and Jeff, a filmmaker who used some of Lucero's music in Shotgun Stories, his first feature film.

"Both of my little brothers have excellent taste in music," Nichols said. "But I think they were both surprised to actually like my band as much as they did."

No one is more surprised by the band's success and longevity than Nichols.

"In the back of my head, I knew I really wanted to do this but I never thought I'd make a living at it," Nichols said. "It's insane ... We just had our 13-year anniversary."

Not only did the self-employed professional musician not take any music classes as a student, he didn't darken the door of the Business Department either.

"I never took any economics or business courses, but I wish I would have," said Nichols, who now has two limited liability corporations (Lucero, the band itself, and Liberty & Lament, the band's record label) and one sole proprietorship (Empty Road Music, the publishing business).

"Even though we appear to have this gypsy lifestyle, when it comes down to it, we're small business owners in Memphis, Tennessee," Nichols said. "Heaven forbid ... I never thought we'd do anything that legitimate."

Nichols was a history major at Hendrix and credits some of his early excitement about history to Hendrix alumnus James A. "Charlie" Brown '69, who was Nichols' history teacher at Little Rock Central High School.

His faculty adviser at Hendrix was Dr. David Larson, and he enjoyed European and Russian history classes. He still recalls one of his essays from his senior comprehensive exams focusing on the origins of World War I.

Until three or four years ago, his mother kept waiting for him to apply his degree and be a history teacher, Nichols said. But his parents understand that he is following his own path, he added.

"My folks get it, and they are really supportive," Nichols said. "But they are very happy I have a degree from Hendrix."

His experience as a history major has informed his work as a musician, he said.

"I always looked at history as storytelling," explained Nichols. "I always pictured using my history background as a source of stories."

As a traveling musician, he continues to enjoy history and storytelling.

"That's one of the nice parts of being on the road ... reading in the van," he said.

Nichols is currently reading the second of Shelby Foote's three-volume history of the Civil War. Each of the books is about 1,200 pages each, he said.

"It's very impressive," said Nichols, who took Civil War history with former Hendrix professor Dr. Mark Schantz.

Nichols is also a fan of the writer Cormac McCarthy.

"I've read all is his Westerns," he said, citing McCarthy's Border trilogy, The Road and No Country for Old Men.

"Blood Meridian was my favorite," he said. "Someone gave the book to me, and I've read it three or four times."

In addition to Lucero's seven-disc catalog, Nichols wrote and recorded The Last Pale Light in the West, a solo album of songs inspired by his favorite McCarthy novel.

The solo album is a somber cycle of songs including The Kid, Toadvine, and The Judge based on characters from the book. Unlike the road-worn and weary rock songs he writes mostly in first person for Lucero, the solo album allowed Nichols the opportunity to write in a more narrative voice.

The album's stark instrumentation consists mostly of Nichols' acoustic guitar, alongside keyboards and steel guitar, and evokes the austere imagery readers experience reading McCarthy's work.

"It was a fun experiment," he said of the project.

Nichols would like to do more solo albums in the future, but Lucero is his first priority.

"Right now, everything I'm writing is just going into Lucero," he said.

The band's most recent album is 1372 Overton Park. The album's title celebrates the Memphis loft that was the band's longtime home base. Located upstairs from a former drug store, the band lived and rehearsed there for 10 years because "it was cheap," Nichols said. The space also enjoys another connection in Memphis musical history. Elvis Presley rented it to use as his personal karate dojo.

The new album features an expanded sound for the band courtesy of veteran Memphis musicians Rick Steff (Hank Williams Jr., Dexy's Midnight Runners, Pete Townsend and Afghan Whigs) on keyboards and saxophonist Jim Spake (Al Green, John Hiatt, Solomon Burke and Cat Power).

"That they'd even give us the time of day is really cool," said Nichols of the opportunity to work with the legendary Memphis musicians.

One of the songs on the new album, The Devil & Maggie Chascarillo, is based on Love & Rockets, a comic book by The Hernandez Brothers, another favorite of Nichols, which features "excellent storytelling and artwork."

Lucero tours nationally this fall with punk legends Social Distortion and will then record an album of new material.

"It's a constant cycle of record, tour, record, tour," he said.

Nichols' life on the road with Lucero is chronicled in the 2005 DVD Dreaming in America.

As far as his business plan for the next five to 10 years goes, he sees Lucero "doing the same thing hopefully...touring and recording albums."

Instead of being a professor lecturing to students in the classroom, Nichols sings songs he's written to fans who follow the band's music and flock to hear them at outdoor festivals and in smoke-filled bars. He's quite content with the how things have turned out so far.

"I haven't used my degree in any official way, but I appreciate my college experience every day," he said. "I'm doing pretty much exactly what I want to with my life right now and making a small living at the same time...I guess I can't really argue with that."

For more information on Lucero, visit www.luceromusic.com.

By Rob O'Connor '95
Associate Editor 

Commercial & Community

Across a newly redesigned Harkrider streetscape — featuring four lanes, two roundabouts, and a median — sits Market Square, the commercial center of The Village at Hendrix.

Market Square includes an open green space that is already being used for community events, including the 2010 Conway Symphony Designer House, a local farmers' market, arts programs, outdoor movies and musical performances. For more information on Village events, visit www.hendrix.edu/village.

The open lawn off Market Square is framed by two multi-story mixed-use buildings with upper-floor loft apartments, which house 130 Hendrix students, as well as new commercial tenants, Panera Bread and Za-Za Fine Salad & Wood Oven Pizza Co. (owned and operated by John Beachboard '01).

Village Books — the new Hendrix College bookstore — opened in Market Square in late July. The new 4,900-sq.-ft. location easily offers twice as much space as the former bookstore location inside Hulen Hall. In addition to course textbooks, Village Books has a trade and reference section, new release and children's books, as well as sale books and school spirit items. There is also a coffee and tea bar and seating for students and customers from the community to relax.

One instantly recognizable fixture of Village Books is assistant manager Barbara Jensen, who has worked for Hendrix since 1981. DeeDee Allen is the manager and Clare Walter '10, is the evening manager.

Village Books is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Residential

The Village is for more than students and diners. Conway residents old and new — including Hendrix alumnus Dr. David Baker '84 — are making their home in the Village. Three homes now have full-time residents; and two spec homes are complete (with two more awaiting construction this fall). Four homes that have been sold are currently under construction; and two are sold and are awaiting construction to begin. For more information on property in the Village, contact Beth Tyler, Director of Sales and Marketing, at 501-730-5048 or e-mail tyler@hendrix.edu.

Economic & Environmental Development

Southwestern Energy Co. will complete a new regional headquarters (housing up to 500 employees) on a 12-acre site adjacent to The Village by the end of the year. The corporate office location will be connected to The Village by an environmental watershed project which will reclaim, redirect, and widen Gold Creek, as well as purify and recycle water from the site. In addition to its environmental benefits, the watershed will serve as an outdoor classroom and will offer unique hands-on learning opportunities for Hendrix students interested in biology, botany, chemistry, and environmental studies. With 12.7 miles of walking trails, boardwalks, and foot bridges, the watershed will provide additional recreational opportunities for Village residents, Southwestern Energy employees, and the Hendrix community.

When Paige Spivey '14 of Murfreesboro, Tenn., moved into Veasey Hall on Aug. 17, 2010, she was continuing a tradition that began more than a century ago. Paige is the fourth generation of her family to enroll at Hendrix College.

Her great-grandmother, Florence Hamilton Matthews, who earned an A.B. degree in 1910, was the first. Mrs. Matthews' daughter, Mary Estelle, was a 1948 graduate and so was Mary's husband, John W. Spivey Jr. 

Five Spivey children attended Hendrix. John W. Spivey III is a member of the Class of 1974, as is his wife Cathy McLendon Spivey. Thomas M. Spivey graduated in 1975, James R. Spivey in 1976, and Susan Spivey Freydl in 1979.

Paige's father, David W. Spivey, is a member of the Class of 1987 and her mother, Ronda Edmonson Spivey, graduated in 1989.

Four of Paige's cousins graduated from Hendrix: Mary Beth Spivey Tabor '00, Margaret Spivey Chicka '02, Matthew Spivey '05, and Clair Spivey '07.

Paige told us about these relatives when she applied for admission, but after doing our own research we discovered that Florence Hamilton Matthews' son, J. Thomas Matthews Jr., also attended Hendrix, graduating in 1940. In addition, we found that a niece and nephew of John Spivey Jr. attended Hendrix: Helen Spivey Baber Dunn '68 and Harold Baber '64. Two of Helen Dunn's cousins are also Hendrix alumnae: Patsy Hull '50 and Greer Grace '75; and Harold Barber's son, Jonathan Baber, graduated in 2001.

If we had more time to search, maybe we could even find a connection between Paige and one of the 76 other new Hendrix students with legacy ties to the College. Welcome, one and all, to your new Hendrix family!

By Natalie Atkins
Staff Writer

Jack grew up in North Little Rock and graduated from Hendrix with a B.A. in history and political science. In 1975, he received a master of arts degree in teaching from Vanderbilt University and began teaching seventh- and eighth-grade American History in Nashville, Tenn. He currently serves as Senior Development Officer at Hendrix.

Jack is married to Sarah Weir Frost '72. They have two children, Allen Frost who is a graduate student at Stanford University and Kate Frost Walker, a teacher in Rogers. Jack enjoys reading and traveling. He is currently enjoying studying art history and combined this interest with his travels during a recent trip to Italy and France. Jack and Sarah just welcomed their first grandchild.

Life as a Student

As a student, Jack participated in the choir, madrigals, theatre, Leonard Brenske's cafeteria scrap room crew, Young Democrats and Hardin Hall's Animal Alley intramural squad.

In 1970, the choir took a five-week trip to Europe. Jack had dreamed all his life of going to Europe. He says, "It was everything and more." The group sang in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria and also visited Paris. They spent three weeks in Vienna, where they performed at a symposium with three other American choirs. The groups performed separately and also practiced together to perform Mendelssohn's Elijah in The Mozart Concerthaus. One of the more interesting performances of the trip took place in Interlaken, Switzerland. The group was prepared to present a traditional college repertoire, including religious and spiritual songs, but on this particular occasion when the curtain opened, their stage began to move them forward toward a casino audience!

Life as an Employee

Jack first served the college in a professional capacity from 1976 until 1988 in the Office of Admission. He then worked for the investment firm now known as Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and briefly for First Commercial Investments in Little Rock. In 1995, he returned to the Office of Admission. He served there for 14 years before leaving his position as Senior Associate Director of Admission and Director of International Recruitment to join the development staff in August 2009. Altogether, Jack has served Hendrix College for 27 years.

Initially, he says what he enjoyed most about working at Hendrix was pitching the College to prospective students, then seeing those students enroll and flourish at the College. "Today, working at Hendrix means working with a different constituency, but the charge I get still stems from helping the College to advance a mission I so wholeheartedly believe in," he says. "Seeing my alma mater get the recognition she so richly deserves means a lot to me."

According to one high school counselor, Jack will do anything to get Hendrix a little extra publicity. The night before a visit to a high school in Northwest Arkansas, Jack was robbed at his hotel. He arrived at the school the next morning to applause from the student body and a copy of the local paper which read "Hendrix Employee Robbed at Local Inn." It may not have been intentional, but Jack drew attention to Hendrix that day and he continues to help put the College in the spotlight through his dedicated service.

By Rob O’Connor ’95
Associate Editor 

If Carolyn Laux Eastham’s life were a meal, then she started with dessert.

While most of her generation settled into careers, with an eye toward eventual retirement and the opportunity to travel, Carolyn quickly began living in far-flung countries and experiencing fascinating cultures, from Katmandu to the Congo, after graduating from Hendrix in 1972.

Her adventure began when she met Alan Eastham at Hendrix. She was a senior, and he was a junior.

She chose Hendrix "because it was smaller." She attended Sacred Heart, a Catholic school in Morrilton, where she grew up. There were 28 students in her high school class, she said.

"I felt like I’d be better in a smaller school," said Carolyn. "And my mother, for some reason, was big on Hendrix."

Alan graduated from Hendrix in 1973 with a degree in philosophy and returned briefly to his hometown of Dumas to work for his father’s radio station. He took the Foreign Service exam and enrolled in law school at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. The couple married in 1974. During Al’s first semester, he was offered a position as a junior officer in the Foreign Service.

"Al told them, ‘Let me finish this semester,’ and off we went to Washington," Carolyn recalled. He later completed law school in Georgetown, while stationed in Washington, D.C.

Alan’s first overseas appointment was in Katmandu, Nepal, where the couple lived for three years. During that period, Carolyn, who was an English major, taught English as a Second Language (ESL).

The Easthams celebrated their 36-year anniversary in August, just as Alan was beginning a new role as Senior Fellow for International Relations and International Programs at Hendrix.

Though his title reads Senior Fellow, in many ways, he considers himself a freshman faculty member.

"That’s exactly what I am," he said. "It’s not appropriate for me to have an academic title. [But] I’m sort of waived in on life experience, I suppose."

That life experience includes Foreign Service assignments in Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, France and Washington, D.C. He became involved in African affairs in 1989 when he was assigned to the embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, which was followed by a similar assignment in Zaire. As Special Negotiator for Conflict Diamonds, he negotiated the Kimberley Process Agreement regulating the global trade in rough diamonds. From 2005 to 2008, Eastham served as Ambassador to the Republic of Malawi. From 2008 until his retirement this year, he was U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Congo.

This fall, Alan is teaching two courses in the Politics Department, U.S. Foreign Policy and Comparative Politics – Africa. In the spring, he will teach a topics course on south Asia.

In addition to his course load, he will work closely with the Office of International Programs.

"I think I can add value by assisting students who would like to study or do research overseas, by reviewing project proposals for feasibility and practicality," he said, adding that he also hopes to be able to offer career advice for students who may want to work in U.S. agencies, the Foreign Service, or other agencies with an international presence.

Study abroad opportunities for Hendrix students have come along way since Eastham was a student in the early 1970s. At that time, he said, Hendrix offered one program in Graz, Austria, which was mainly for German majors.

"Compared to the vast richness of what is available now, that’s a terrific change," he said.

Alan is very appreciative of the role that Hendrix has played in his career.

"Though I can’t attribute a specific thing to Hendrix, I learned some skills that were very important to my Foreign Service career here," he said.

"A U.S. Embassy is like a small village. In some ways, it’s like dorm life," said Alan, who lived in Martin Hall for two years. "You have to get along with colleagues and peers."

"I learned how to learn and learned a framework for how the world operates," he said.

"I developed the ability to do the work assigned, to get the job done and see it through. I can’t tell you how important that is.

"And if you have a good liberal arts education, then law school is no problem," Alan said.

Carolyn thinks the transition to Hendrix is a perfect fit for her husband.

"He’s always enjoyed working with young people and mentoring the younger officers," she said. "New officers don’t usually get that, and he was really good at it. I knew he’d like dealing with students after seeing him with those young officers."

Carolyn is beginning a new role too. She now works for the Girl Scouts in North Little Rock. Fall is a busy season focused on recruiting new scouts in the schools, she said.

"All my friends are retiring," said Carolyn. "So I’m kind of doing it backwards."

During their life in the Foreign Service, Carolyn was active in the communities where they were stationed, usually some form of volunteer service to help meet local needs.

She was also busy raising children and helping them adjust to a new culture every three years. The Easthams have two sons. Mark is a senior at Elon University in North Carolina, and Michael is a junior at James Madison University in Virginia.

It was an interesting way to grow up, and the family’s life has left a lasting impression on their sons.

"From the time Michael was born in 1989 in Nairobi, Kenya, until 1999, we moved from one post to another," said Al. "He didn’t really live in the U.S."

"They love to travel," Carolyn said. "My older son says he can’t imagine staying in one place."

During Al’s appointment as U.S. Ambassador in Malawi, Carolyn took her sons to Kilimanjaro. She watched as the boys got to the summit.

"That was thrilling," she said.

"They were kind of sorry to see this life come to an end," she said. "Now it’s on their dime if they want to move around."

"They got a dose of the U.S., too," she said, noting their time in Washington. "And they know about Arkansas, too. As kids, they came home (to Morrilton) every year."

During one post, families were not permitted, so Carolyn and her sons lived briefly in Morrilton with her family. And while Al was stationed in Islamabad, Pakistan, families were evacuated, so she and her sons returned once again to Morrilton.

The Easthams have kept up with Hendrix through the years. Their closest connection is Carolyn’s sister, Ann Laux Turney ’75. Ann worked for Hendrix from 1984 until 2005 and is now Director of Development for the College of Pharmacy at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Ann and her husband David live in Conway.

Hendrix presented Alan with the Odyssey Medal for Global Awareness, which is awarded to alumni who immerse themselves in cultures in other countries or distinct regions within this country through service, study, or research. The medal was presented during commencement and afterward, he gave the commencement address for the Class of 2007.

Carolyn has stayed in touch with several Hendrix friends, including a close friend and former roommate, Susie Roll Daniel ’72, and Grace Ellen Rice ’71.

With her mother in Morrilton and her sister in Conway, Carolyn said she is "glad to be close to home."

"We’re just happy to be back in Arkansas," she said. The couple now lives in Pulaski County. "There really is no better place to be ... it has everything."

"I want to see this country and travel in the U.S.," she said. Seeing Eureka Springs and hiking Pinnacle Mountain are at the top of the list, along with visiting national parks in the West and touring California.

"Every three years, we’ve made a new start," she said. "Maybe in three years, we’ll get the itch, but I don’t think so. After that many years, I think it’s time to do something else."

In addition to their work in the classroom, Hendrix faculty members engage in research and professional activities that expand their expertise and enrich their teaching. Here is a sample of this year’s professional activities of Hendrix faculty.

Fred Ablondi, associate professor of philosophy, served as Vice-President of the North American Spinoza Society. He also published "Epistemic Vagueness?" in Think 8, "Millar on Slavery" in the Journal of Scottish Philosophy, "What We Talk About When We Talk About Lowe" in The Red Sox and Philosophy, and "James Beattie" in International Society for Scottish Philosophy.

Jon Arms, professor of Spanish, compiled and published Lecturas suplementarias: Español 120, University Readers.

David Bailin, adjunct instructor of art, exhibited work in the West Coast Drawings: Drawings VIII exhibit at the Davidson Galleries in Seattle, Wash., and exhibited work in the Ten Year Celebration: Solo Exhibition Artists Retrospective exhibit at The Visual Arts Center of the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science in Sioux Falls, S.D. He was also represented by Koplin Del Rio Gallery in Culver City, Calif., and Erdreich White Fine Arts in Boston, Mass.

Jay Barth, M.E. & Ima Graves Peace Professor of Politics, published "Arkansas: Still Swingin’ in 2004," which appeared in the American Review of Politics and was reprinted in Readings in Arkansas Politics and Government; "Arkansas: More Signs of Momentum for Republicanism in Post-`Big Three’ Arkansas" in the American Review of Political Science and was reprinted in Readings in Arkansas Politics and Government; "The Media, the Medium, and Malaise: Assessing the Effects of Campaign Media Exposure with Panel Data" Mass Communication and Society (with L. Marvin Overby); and "Arkansas: He’s Not One of (Most of Us) " in A Paler Shade of Red: The 2008 Presidential Election in the South (with Janine Parry and Todd Shields). He has also presented "Rules of the Game: An Advocate’s Guide to the Arkansas Tax and Budget System" at the 2009 Low Income Advocates Leadership & Community Development Conference in Little Rock and "The Local Story: The Graduation Challenge for the LRSD" at the Little Rock School District Greater Graduation Summit.

Keith Berry, professor of economics and business, published "Sub-Optimal Generation Portfolio Variance With Rate of Return Regulation" in Technology and Investment.

Eric Binnie, professor of theatre arts, served as editor of ExChange, the Journal of Alexander Technique International.

Jim Bruce, professor emeritus of sociology, served as Parliamentarian of the Arkansas Sociological and Anthropological Association.

Carl Burch, associate professor of computer science, served as Nifty Assignments Chair at the Conference of the Consortium for Computing Sciences, Mid-South Region, where he presented "Object-Oriented Space Physics – A Nifty Assignment" and "Django, a Web Framework Using Python – Tutorial Presentation." He also presented "Python for Programmers" at the Python Arkansas Conference.

Chris Campolo, associate professor of philosophy, presented "Deep disagreement in a multicultural world" at the Ontario Society for the Study of Argumentation at the University of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario.

Stella Capek, professor of sociology, presented "Caught Up In The Mix" at the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) meetings in Victoria, British Columbia and "Notes On A Sustainable World: Some Lessons from Environmental Sociology" to the Alpha Kappa Delta International Sociology Honor Society at the University of Arkansas. She co-organized and presided for a Thematic Session on the New Politics of Community titled "Environmental Justice and Immigrant/Refugee Communities" at the American Sociological Association annual meetings in San Francisco, Calif. Additionally, she served as advisor to the Endometriosis Association. She also performed as a dancer and reader in the dance piece "Listening to Self—Other—and the Earth" for the 3rd Annual Breast Cancer Benefit Dance.

Andres Caro, assistant professor of chemistry, received the Research Corporation Cottrell College Science Award ($44,869 for January 2009-January 2011) for his research on reactive oxygen species and CYP2E1-dependent oxidation of mitochondrial DNA in liver cells. He also received $611,861 from National Institute of Health’s IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence for 2010-2015. He served as Assistant Professor of Research Service at the Little Rock Campus of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Hope Coulter, adjunct English faculty, was honored as a past winner of the Porter Prize at the Literary Fund’s 25th Anniversary Gala in Little Rock. She also addressed a 4th-grade Writer’s Workshop at Booker Arts Magnet Elementary School in Little Rock.

Bland Crowder, M.E. and Ima Graves Peace Professor Emeritus of English, American Literature and the Humanities, published "’inapprehensiveness’ Wrongly Apprehended" in The Journal of Browning Studies.

Jenn Dearolf, associate professor of biology, is conducting research on "Effects of prenatal steroid treatment on guinea pig ventilatory muscles" funded by $554,244 (2006-2010) from the National Institutes of Health, Idea Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence. She was selected to Project Kaleidoscope’s Faculty of the 21st Century (F21) group, reviewed Marine Mammal Science, and served as secretary for the Division of Developmental and Cell Biology of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology.

Andrea Duina, assistant professor of biology, received additional funding for his research "Analysis of the role of histone H3 in transcription elongation." He previously received funding from the NSF RUI program for 2006-2010, which has now been extended for 2011-2013, for $473,089. He co-organized the 17th Annual Southeastern Regional Yeast Meeting at the Clinton Presidential Center and served as adjunct Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UAMS. He also reviewed two grant applications for the National Science Foundation, Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, Genes and Genome Systems Cluster.

Bob Dunn, professor of physics, is working on group research on "Noninvasive Prospecting for Lunar Ores and Minerals," which is funded by $114,358 over three years (2007-2010) from NASA EPSCoR. He is also working on joint research on "Geophysical Tools for Exploring the Moon and Mars" funded by the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium. He received the NASA EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Development Award in the amount of $11,940 for his research "Hurricane and Volcano Infrasound/Seismic Emissions." He also served as a Senior Fellow in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Robert Entzminger, Provost, Dean of the College and Professor of English, served as chair of the Associated Colleges of the South Council of Deans for 2009-2011.

Karen Fannin, assistant professor of music, served as Music Director of the Little Rock Wind Symphony. She also published "The Battle Pavane by Tielman Susato" in Teaching Music Through Performance in Band (GIA Publications). She presented "The Art of Pacing: In Preparation, Rehearsal, and Performance" at the Arkansas Bandmasters Association Conference. She conducted a faculty performance of Igor Stravinsky’s Histoire du Soldat for the Arkansas Governors School. She also guest conducted Northwest High School Honor Band in Tacoma, Wash.; ASBOA Region VII Honor Band in Conway; and the ASBOA Region III Honor Band in Hot Springs. Additionally, she taught a clinic at the Northwest Wind Conductors Symposium in Tacoma, Wash.

Gabriel Ferrer, associate professor of computer science, published "Encoding Robotic Sensor States for Q-Learning Using the Self-Organizing Map" in the Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges. He served as the regional board chair for the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges, Mid-South Region and chair of a review panel for the NSF-STEP program. He is also co-conducting research funded by $20,000 from the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium on "Development of Algorithms to Mitigate the Effects of Lunar Dust on Robot Exploration" and "Development of Algorithms for Cooperating Multirobotic Systems" funded by a 3-year renewable $15,000/year grant from the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium.

Ansley Fleming, adjunct music faculty, was a guest organist for a concert by the University of Arkansas at Monticello Chamber Choir in Little Rock. He also presented a guest piano recital at the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

Nancy Fleming, professor of music, selected, prepared and accompanied eight students for the Collegiate Honor Choir at the biennial conference of the Southwest Division of the American Choral Directors Association in Denver, Colo.

Peter Gess, adjunct instructor of politics, presented "Presidential Scholars Program: International Educational Initiatives from Rwanda’s Vision 2020" with Gilbert Ndayambaje at the NAFSA Region III Conference in Dallas, Texas. He received $438,300 from The Council for American Overseas Research Centers’ Critical Languages Program for the China Summer Language Institute and $1,000,000 from the Clinton Foundation for the Rwanda Scholars Program.

Melissa Gill, visiting assistant professor of art, presented an exhibition entitled "Already Enlightened: New Works on Paper by Melissa Gill" at the Trieschmann Fine Arts Gallery. Her work was also included in a juried group show of the Mid-America Print Council Members Exhibition at the Elzay Gallery, Ohio Northern University.

Anne Goldberg, assistant professor of anthropology, published "Another Side of Costa Rica: Two Arkansans Share Their Story of the Women of San Luis" in Arkansas Life (with photography by Maxine Payne).

Tom Goodwin, Elbert L. Fausett Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Julia Mobley Odyssey Professor, received the 2010 CUR Fellow award for $25,000. He has published "Male and female developmental differences in chemosensory investigations by African elephants (Loxodonta africana) approaching waterholes" in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology (with Christen Merte and Bruce Schulte); "The elephants of Addo: An undergraduate research adventure" in Journal of the Elephant Managers Association (with L.J. Broederdorf, Jordana Meyer, Elizabeth Freeman and Bruce Schulte); "Monitoring African elephant chemical communication and hormone activity in Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa" in the Journal of the Elephant Managers Association (with Jordana Meyer, Elizabeth Freeman and Bruce Schulte); "The Garden of Green Organic Chemistry at Hendrix College" in Changing the Course of Chemistry: Green Chemistry Education; "Prospecting for mammalian chemical signals via solventless extraction techniques: an elephantine task" in ChemoSense (with Bruce Schulte); "Greener Solutions for the Organic Chemistry Teaching Lab: Exploring the Advantages of Alternative Reaction Media" in the Journal of Chemical Education (with Lallie McKenzie, Lauren Huffman, James Hutchison, Courtney Rogers and Gary Spessard); and "Sexual dimorphism in the performance of chemosensory investigatory behaviours by African elephants (Loxodonta africana)" in Behaviour (with Helen Loizi., L.E.L. Rasmussen, Anna Whitehouse and Bruce Schulte).

Karen Griebling, professor of music, served as President of ARVIOLAS (Arkansas Chapter of the Viola Society). She has also been working on a CD devoted entirely to original compositions. It will be produced by Vienna Modern Masters.

Liz Gron, professor of chemistry, published "Green analytical chemistry: Application and education" in Green Chemistry Education: Changing the Course of Chemistry and "Breathing dry cleaning" in Chemistry for Changing Times. She served as chair of the conference committee for the 13th Annual Green Chemistry and Engineering Annual Conference in College Park, Md., and co-organizer of EcoFest in Conway. She also served as the coordinator of the Thanksgiving Turkey Basket Project at St. Peter’s Food Pantry in Conway and as the faculty sponsor of "Ridin’ Dirty with Science," a science outreach with the Boys and Girls Club of Faulkner County. She received an ACS Student Chapter - National Meeting Travel Grant and has been working on research on "Educating Green Citizens and Scientists for a Sustainable Future" funded by $199,000 from the National Science Foundation –DUE-CCLI-Phase I.

Joyce Hardin, Judy and Randy Wilbourn Odyssey Assistant Professor of Biology, served as President of the Arkansas Academy of Science and as a member of the Tree Board for the City of Conway.

Jane Harris, professor of religious studies, spoke on "Faith and Word" at Second Presbyterian Church in Little Rock; "Elaine Pagels’s Adam, Eve, and the Serpent" to a Forum Class at First United Methodist Church in Conway; and "The Deuteronomistic History" at the Faithbuilders Sunday School Class at First United Methodist Church in Conway. She was also the Keynote Speaker at the Women’s History Month Celebration at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Ark. She presented a teaching workshop to the Associated College of the South at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla.

Courtney Hatch, assistant professor of chemistry, received the Corporation for Science Advancement’s Cottrell College Science Award for her research "Heterogeneous processing of mineral aerosol by reactive gases in the Earth’s atmosphere." The award is for $45,000 (2010-2012). She also received $168,700 from the NSF Atmospheric Chemistry Program for her research "Collaborative Research: Laboratory and theoretical studies of mineral aerosol heterogeneous interactions with mixtures of atmospheric gases at relevant temperatures and humidities" (2009-2012). She also attended Atmospheric Science Collaborations and Enriching Networks (ASCENT) in Steamboat Springs, Colo., and published "Water uptake on humic and fulvic acids: Aerosol and thin film measurements" in Atmospheric Environment (with Kelly Gierlus, James Zahardis, Jennifer Schuttlefield, and Vicki Grassian). She presented the lecture "The impacts of atmospheric mineral dust aerosol: A link between land, air and oceans" at the University of Central Arkansas Department of Chemistry Seminar Series and "Impacts of mineral dust aerosol heterogeneous chemistry on ocean bioproductivity" at the Fall 2009 American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco, Calif.

J. Brett Hill, assistant professor of anthropology, published "What Difference Does Environmental Degradation Make? Change and its Significance in Transjordan" in The Archaeology of Environmental Change: Socionatural Legacies of Degradation and Resilience. He also co-edited (with Christopher T. Fisher and Gary M. Feinman) The Archaeology of Environmental Change: Socionatural Legacies of Degradation and Resilience. He also co-presented "Archaeoclimatology and Ancient Mediterranean Landscape Dynamics" to the American Association of Geographers – Section for the International Network of Research on Coupled Human and Natural Systems in Washington, DC.; "If You Flake It, They Will Come: Obsidian Circulation and Postclassic Occupation in the Mule Creek Region" to the Society for American Archaeology in St. Louis, Mo.; "The Structure and Dynamics of Social Networks in the Prehispanic Southwest" to the National Science Foundation at the Human and Social Dynamics conference in Arlington, Va.

Alice Hines, C. Louis and Charlotte Cabe Distinguished Professor of English, received an ACS Faculty Renewal Grant for $11,805.

Ty Jaeger, Hendrix-Murphy Writer-in-Residence, published "Scissors, Paste, & the Dead," "Aloha Girls," "Transparency & Desire," "The Christian Motorcyclist Kills My Dog" and "The All Wet Romance" in The Exquisite Corpse Annual. His story collection Our Love Stories Are Ghost Stories was a finalist for the 2009 Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction (University of Georgia Press) and a semi-finalist for the 2009 St. Lawrence Book Award (Black Lawrence Press).

James Jennings, Cynthia Cook Sandefur Odyssey Professor of Education and History, published "'Level Five Culture' in High-Achieving, High-Poverty Schools" in Teaching Children of Poverty.

Randy Kopper, professor of chemistry and natural sciences area chair, is currently conducting research on "Reduction of Peanut Anaphylaxis by Treatment with Activated Charcoal" funded by $73,098 (2007-2009) from the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network.

Jeff Kosiorek, visiting assistant professor of history, reviewed The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Environment, which appeared in Environmental History. He received the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati Fellowship from the Massachusetts Historical Society for summer research and was selected as an alternate for a research fellow position at the David Library of the Revolution. He also served as a referee for the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography.

John Krebs, professor of music and humanities area chair, performed at the World Saxophone Congress in Bangkok, Thailand (with Karen Griebling, Hendrix and Jackie Lamar, UCA). He also performed at the North American Saxophone Alliance at the University of Georgia. He serves as treasurer for the Arkansas State Music Teachers Association.

Lisa Leitz, assistant professor of sociology, co-organized and presided over the workshop "The Effects of the Iraq War on the U.S. Military and Peace-Making" at the American Sociological Association annual meetings in San Francisco, Calif. She also published "Women and War" in The International Encyclopedia of Peace and co-published "From Infanticide to Activism: The Transformation of Emotions and Identity in Self-Help Movements" in Social Movements and the Transformation of U.S. Health Care. She has appeared on BBC One, CNN American Morning, and Flashpoints Pacifica Radio KPFA. She was selected to participate in the Periclean Faculty Leadership Program, for which she receives $4000 (+$1000 travel stipend). She also lectured on "Oppositional Identities: The Military Peace Movement’s Challenge to Pro-Iraq War Frames of Patriotism and ‘Support the Troops’" at the Young Scholars in Social Movements Conference, University of Notre Dame.

Matthew Lopas, associate professor of art, exhibited his work "Panoramic Interiors" at the McKinney Avenue Contemporary in Dallas, Texas. He was also represented by Greg Thompson Fine Art in North Little Rock and Ober Gallery in Kent, Conn. And, he was interviewed on WRR 101.1, Dallas NPR, on "Art Matters" with Quinn Matthews.

Erik Maakestad, associate professor of art, had his works included in "Exploring The Works of Arkansas Sculptors," a juried exhibition at The Arkansas Studies Institute in Little Rock. He was also represented by Lovely Fine Arts in Naperville, Ill.

Tim Maxwell, professor of psychology, served as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for Annual Editions: Psychology (McGraw-Hill/Dushkin).

Jay McDaniel, Willis T. Holmes Distinguished Professor of Religion and Nancy and Craig Wood Odyssey Professor, was invited to teach a five-day course on Buddhism and Christianity at the Vancouver School of Theology. He also lectured on "Whitehead and Education" and "Process Philosophy and Engaged Education" to graduate students at Harbin Normal University; "Process Philosophy and Its Contemporary Relevance" at Beijing International Culture Studies University; "Process Philosophy and Engaged Education at Hendrix College in Arkansas" at Tianjin Normal University; "Whitehead’s Philosophy and Its Contemporary Relevance" at Peking University; "Whitehead’s Philosophy and its Contemporary Relevance" at Beijing Normal University; and "Process Philosophy and Postmodern Parenting" at the IBM Office in Shanghai, China.

Ralph McKenna, professor of psychology, served as a reviewer for A History of Psychology: Diversity, critical thinking, and social applications.

Kristi McKim, assistant professor of English and film studies, presented "Cinephilia as Sensual Film History in The Dreamers" at the Southern Illinois University Department of Cinema and Photography and "Ephemeral Style: Intimate Scale and Subjectivity in Doris Dörrie’s Cherry Blossoms" at the 2009 World Picture Conference at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla. She also reviewed Ingmar Bergman’s The Magic Lantern, which appeared in Film International.

Rod Miller, associate professor of art, presented "Perelandra: The Synoptic Lewis" at the Perelandra Project Colloquium, St. Stephen’s house in Oxford, England.

Amanda Moore, director of the library, received a grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council for the Mills Collection Project. She was selected to participate in the Frye Leadership Institute at Emory University. She also served as Public Relations Committee Chair for the Arkansas Library Association and President and Past President of ARKLink: A Consortium of Arkansas’ 47 Academic Libraries.

Matt Moran, Judy and Randy Wilbourn Odyssey Associate Professor of Biology, served as sub-editor for Annals of the Entomological Society of America. He also lectured on "The Biodiversity of Costa Rica: A Conservation Success Story" at Sam Houston University.

Britt Anne Murphy, associate librarian, served as Associate Editor of Arkansas Libraries. She is also an Executive Board Member of the Arkansas Library Association.

Rick Murray, associate professor of biology, co-published The role of foxg1 in the development of neural stem cells of the olfactory epithelium. He also co-presented "Neurogenin1 in the developing dorsal root ganglion in the mouse" and "Mash1 dependent progenitors in the developing mouse nervous system" to the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience and "Dorsal root ganglion-specific promoter elements of the mouse neurogenin1 gene" to the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago, Ill. In 2005, he received a five-year $668,489 grant for his research "Molecular regulation of nociceptive neuron development" and recently received $24,976 for his research "Neural Fate Determination in the Mouse Dorsal Root Ganglion." Both projects have been funded by the National Institutes of Health’s Idea Network for Biomedical Research Excellence. He is an adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences at UAMS.

Ann Muse, associate professor of theatre arts, volunteered at the Boys and Girls Club in Lehi Reservation, Scottsdale, Ariz. She also served as the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Respondent to Private Lives at ASU—Beebe.

Maxine Payne, associate professor of art, served as chair of the Professional Practices Committee for the College Art Association. She also exhibited a photo installation at Cornell College.

Jenn Penner, assistant professor of psychology, presented "The Effects of Site Provisioning on Cache Pilfering Rates in Eastern Gray Squirrels" at the Animal Behavior Society Annual Meeting in Pirenópolis, Brazil. She also served as associate editor for the Journal of Psychological Inquiry and hosted the 26th Annual Arkansas Symposium for Psychology Students at Hendrix (with Leslie Templeton).

Jennifer Peszka, associate professor of psychology, had research referenced in Time magazine’s December 2009 edition. She also co- presented "The Effect of Console/Computer Game Play on Sleepiness and Sleep Hygiene" and "Chronotype, Sleep Hygiene, and Academic Performance in High School and College" at the 23rd Annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (SLEEP) in Seattle, Wash. She published "Online Academic Integrity" in Teaching of Psychology (with David Mastin & Deborah Lilly).

Aleksandra Pfau, assistant professor of history, published "Protecting or Restraining? Madness as a Disability in Late Medieval France" in Disability in the Middle Ages: Reconsiderations and Reverberations. She presented "Distinguishing Physiological Illness from Supernatural Phenomena in Late Medieval France" at the Texas Medieval Association Conference at the University of Texas in Austin. She also served as an expert commentator in "Human Rights, Royal Rights and the Mentally Disabled in Late Medieval England" presented at the Compass Interdisciplinary Virtual Conference. She received a grant to attend "Disease in the Middle Ages," a NEH Summer Seminar for University and College Teachers at Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine in London, England.

Rebecca Resinski, associate professor of classics, published "Revising Pandora (and Rewriting Eve) in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Wonder Book" in Asterisks and Obelisks: Classical Receptions in Children’s Literature.

Mary Richardson, instructor of speech, was elected Vice President of the Arkansas Communication and Theater Arts Association.

Brigitte Rogers, visiting assistant professor of dance, served as Assistant Choreographer for The Producers with the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre.

Lyle Rupert, professor of economics and business, served as secretary of the Executive Committee of the National Conference of Governor’s Schools. He also lectured on "Arkansas Governor’s School" to the Faulkner County Retired Teachers Association and conducted choir, hand bells and chamber orchestra in Kee/Carr’s "Repeat the Sounding Joy."

John Sanders, professor of religion, published "Theological Muscle-Flexing: How Human Embodiment Shapes Discourse About God" in Creation Made Free: Open Theology Engaging Science. He also presented "Can Classical Theism Support Creativity, Adventure, and non Conformity? A Reply to Process Theists" and "Divine Relationality and Theodicy in The Shack" to the American Academy of Religion in Montreal; "Something Old, Something New: Reflections on Evangelical Scholarship in Light of the Open Theism Controversy" to the Society of Evangelical Scholars in Montreal; and "What an Omniscient God Does Not Know" at Carroll University in Waukesha, Wis. And, he lectured at the Theta Phi Fall Forum at Asbury Seminary.

Lawrence Schmidt, professor of philosophy, was invited to lecture at Heilongjiang University in Harbin, China. He also presented "Critique: the Heart of Hermeneutics" at Jilin University in Changchun, China, and "Gadamer, Hermeneutics, and Tradition" at Shandong University in Jinan, China.

Andrew Scott, assistant professor of classics, was selected to participate in the 2009 American Numismatic Society’s Eric P. Newman Graduate Seminar in Numismatics in New York.

Allison Shutt, associate professor of history, chaired the first African Studies Association conference in New Orleans, La., where she co-organized a series of panels titled "Theatres of Class and Conflict in Zimbabwe" and presented "Insult Laws and Contentious Authority in Zimbabwe." She also presented "Debating Manners and Politics in Federation-era Southern Rhodesia" at the Northeastern Workshop in Southern Africa (NEWSA) in Burlington, Vt., and the "Last Lecture" at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Conway.

Deb Skok, associate professor of history, reviewed "New Women of the Old Faith: Gender and American Catholicism in the Progressive Era," by Kathleen Sprows Cummings, in the American Historical Review.

J. Aaron Simmons, assistant professor of philosophy, published "Teaching Plato with Emoticons" in the APA Newsletter on Teaching Philosophy (with Scott F. Aikin); "Revisiting Gender Inclusive God-Talk: A New, Wesleyan Argument" in Philosophy and Theology (with Mason Marshall); "Vision Without Image: A Levinasian Topology" in Southwest Philosophy Review; "Moments of Intense Presence: An Interview with David Wood" in the Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory (with David Wood); "From Necessity to Hope: A Continental Perspective on Eschatology Without Telos" in Heythrop Journal (with Nathan R. Kerr); and "Continuing to Look for God in France: On the Relationship Between Phenomenology and Theology" in Words of Life: New Theological Turns in French Phenomenology. He also reviewed Before the Voice of Reason: Echoes of Responsibility in Merleau-Ponty’s Ecology and Levinas’s Ethics by David Michael Kleinberg-Levin. He presented the lecture "Heavenly Minded and Earthly Good: Evangelical Christianity and Environmental Ethics" at Central Methodist University; "Environmentalism and Evangelical Politics" at the University of Central Arkansas; "Social Justice in an Environmental Age" at Rhodes College; "Navigating the Postmodern World: A Discussion of Kierkegaard and Levinas: Ethics, Politics, and Religion" at the Faulkner County Public Library; "Fecundity, Fidelity, and Expectation: Reflections on Philosophy and Fatherhood" to the Arkansas Philosophical Association; "Reading Levinas and Derrida After Audi: An Argument for the Viability of Foundationalism in New Phenomenology" and "So Now What: A Commentary on Carlson’s Rule-Circularity and the Justification of Deduction" at the MidSouth Philosophy Conference in Memphis, Tenn.; "Levinasian Otherism and Modest Foundationalism" to the North Texas Philosophical Association; and "Between Walzer and Levinas: Political Viability as a Regulative Constraint on Environmental Philosophy" and "Thoughts on Kierkegaard and Authenticity: A Commentary" at the Eastern Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association in New York, N.Y. He also served as the Humanities Advisory Editor for CultureFrame and a referee for Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, History of Philosophy Quarterly, and Routledge Press.

Chris Spatz, professor emeritus of psychology, published Basic Statistics: Tales of Distributions, 10th edition and Instructors Manual with Test Bank for Basic Statistics: Tales of Distributions, 10th edition. He also published "Hendrix College – In the Beginning" in Occasional Papers, a publication of the United Methodist Church of Arkansas Historical Society. He co-presented "Statistics: What Students Know on Day 1 (And Their Grades Later)" at the Southeast Teaching of Psychology conference in Kennesaw, Ga.

Damon Spayde, assistant professor of physics, published "Strange Quark Contributions to Parity-Violating Asymmetries in the Backward Angle G0 Electron Scattering Experiment" in Physical Review Letters.

Tom Stanley, Bill and Connie Bowen Odyssey Professor of Economics and Business, published "Publication Selection Bias in Minimum-Wage Research? A Meta-Regression Analysis" in the British Journal of Industrial Relations (with Hristos Doucouliagos); "Efficiency Wages, Productivity and Simultaneity: A Meta-Regression Analysis" in the Journal of Labor Research (with Eric Krassoi-Peach); "Could It Be Better to Discard 90% of the Data? A Statistical Paradox" in The American Statistician (with Jarrell, S. B. and Hristos Doucouliagos); "Picture This: A Simple Graph that Reveals Much Ado about Research" in the Journal of Economic Surveys (with Doucouliagos, Hristos); and "Meta-regression models of economics and medical research" in Evidence-Based Decisions and Economics. He also presented "Are Recreation Values Systematically Underestimated? Getting Beyond Publication Selection Bias" at a DARE Seminar at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo., and "Introduction to Meta-Analysis: Short Course" to the Central Arkansas Statistical Association. He co-organized the Meta-Analysis of Economics Research (MAER-Net) Workshop and Colloquium at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Ore., where he also presented "Is Health Care a Luxury? Regions, Aggregation, Publication Bias and the Winner’s Curse" (with Ellie Wheeler, Hendrix College, and Joan Costa-Font, LSE) and served as instructor at the EPA-funded Training Workshop On Meta-Analysis. He was invited to seminars at the Economics Departments of Deakin University, Melbourne University and La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, and Waikato University in Hamilton, New Zealand. He is the Associate Editor of the Journal of Economic Survey, serves on the Editorial Board of Economics Research International, and has been a visiting professor at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia, London School of Economics, and visiting Fellow at Wolfson College at the University of Cambridge. He has received $400,000 from the EPA STAR program for his ongoing project "Meta-Regression Analysis of Recreation and Valuation and Demand Elasticities: Identifying and Correcting Publication Selection Bias to Improve Benefit Transfer."

Dorian Stuber, assistant professor of English, served on the Editorial Advisory Board for the Bryn Mawr Review of Comparative Literature.

David Sutherland, Associate Provost and professor of mathematics, lectured and presided over the induction of new members at the Pi Mu Epsilon chapter at North Dakota State University in Fargo, N.D., and Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, La. He also presided over student undergraduate research presentations, Pi Mu Epsilon awards ceremony and lectured at the Mathematical Association of America’s MathFest 2009 in Portland, Ore., part of his duties as president of the national council of Pi Mu Epsilon honorary mathematics society.

Marianne Tettlebaum, assistant professor of philosophy and religious studies, received an ACS Faculty Renewal Grant for $8,000.

Todd Tinsley, assistant professor of physics, co-published "Muon decay in a linearly polarized laser field" in Physical Review D. He, along with a student, received $2,500 to research "Neutrino production of an electron-positron pair as it travels through magnetic field." He also presented the lecture "Hacking into supernovae with a desktop computer" at Reed College in Portland, Ore., and "Sports Science and Medicine" at the Science Café in Little Rock.

Alex Vernon, associate professor of English, published "Spirit of Summer" in Soirée. He also reviewed The Gun and the Pen: Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner and the Fiction of Mobilization by Keith Gandal, which was featured in The Hemingway Review. He served as Contributing Editor of WLA: War, Literature, & the Arts and was appointed to a three-year term on the MacArthur Military History Museum Commission by the Little Rock Mayor and Board of Directors.

José Vilahomat, associate professor of Spanish, published "Sátira híbrida y sujeto menipeo: la literatura cubana y latinoamericana actual" [Hybrid Satire and Menippean Subject: Contemporary Cuban and Latin American Literature] in Espéculo. Revista de estudios literarios. He also presented the "Study Abroad Programs in Castile and Leon, Spain" workshop at Florida International University in Miami, Fla.

Carol West, professor of English, received the Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad, funded by an $87,805 grant from the U.S. Department of Education and supplemented by $3,500 from the Africa Network’s Luce Foundation grant, to support five weeks of curricular development activities in Senegal and The Gambia for fifteen participants. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Africa Network.

Daniel Whelan, assistant professor of politics and international relations, published "The Reality of Western Support for Economic and Social Rights: A Reply to Susan Kang" in Human Rights Quarterly (with Jack Donnelly) and Indivisible Human Rights: A History. He also served as Senior Editor of Human Rights & Human Welfare.

Robert Williamson, assistant professor of religious studies, lectured on "The Book of Joshua" at Second Presbyterian Church in Little Rock. He also presented a series of lectures on "The Book of Genesis: Creation Stories" at Second Presbyterian Church in Little Rock and a lecture series on "Wisdom Literature" at First Presbyterian Church in Conway.

Ann Willyard, assistant professor of biology, received an Arkansas Academy of Science Undergraduate Research Award for $500. She reviewed grant applications for the National Science Foundation and Austrian Science Fund and manuscripts for New Forests journal. She also lectured on "Integrating phylogenetics and population genetics: examples from the hard pines" at Cornell University.

Ann Wright, associate professor of physics, attended a "Women in Robotics & Engineering" workshop at the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Titusville, Fla. See http://www2.hendrix.edu/astronomy/ksc/ksctrip.html for photos from her visit to the Space Center.

Leslie Zorwick, assistant professor of psychology, presented "Working relationships in legal settings: The role of status, warmth, and competence" to the Southwestern Psychological Association in Dallas, Texas. She also served as an expert witness in Spurlock et al. v Fox et al. (U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee). The case was a NAACP-backed lawsuit against a 2009 Metro Nashville school re-zoning plan. She was a Conference Submissions Reviewer in the Personality/Social Area for the Southwestern Psychological Association Annual Meeting.

As the fall semester began, Hendrix welcomed 15 new faculty members, including two visiting faculty members from China and five Hendrix alumni. Returning to Hendrix are Carmen L. Hardin '96, who was director of multicultural and international student affairs from 2000 to 2006 and Dionne Bennett Jackson '96, who served the College as coordinator of Academic Support Services from 2000 to 2007. Other Hendrix graduates joining the faculty this year include Cheri Prough DeVol '90 in Theatre Arts and Dance and Cory Ledoux '00 in English, along with Alan Eastham '73, former U.S. Ambassador, in Politics and International Relations (Related story, Coming Full Circle).

In addition to the new faculty, Hendrix is also pleased to welcome the new associate director for the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Programs in Literature and Language. Shin Yu Pai, who began work in early August, was most recently assistant curator for acquisitions for the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University-San Marcos.

New Tenure-Track Faculty

Christopher Camfield
Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science
Ph.D., University of Cincinnati, 2008
B.S., University of Cincinnati, 2002

Victoria Evans
Instructor of Kinesiology
D.P.H., Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, UAMS, 2011 (anticipated)
M.P.H., Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, UAMS, 2005
B.S., University of Central Arkansas, 2002

Carmen L. Hardin
Instructor of Politics
Ph.D., University of Arkansas, 2011 (anticipated)
J.D., William H. Bowen School of Law, UALR, 1999
B.A., Hendrix College, 1996

Dionne Bennett Jackson
Assistant Professor of Education
Ed.D., Baylor University, 2010
M.S., University of Central Arkansas, 1999
B.A., Hendrix College, 1996

Christopher Marvin
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin—Madison, 2008
B.S., Ball State University, 2002

Sabbatical Replacements

Cheri Prough DeVol
Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts and Dance
M.F.A., University of Texas at Austin, 1993
B.A., Hendrix College, 1990

Mark DeVol
Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts and Dance
B.F.A., Theatre, Kent State University, 1996

Other New Faculty:

Alan Eastham
Senior Fellow in International Relations and International Programs
J.D., Georgetown University School of Law, 1982
B.A., Hendrix College, 1973

Diane Henson
Visiting Instructor of Kinesiology
M.S.E., University of Central Arkansas, 1978
B.S., University of Central Arksansas, 1977

Lingchen Kong
Visiting Scholar from East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai
Department of Economics and Business
Ph.D., Remin University of China, 2003
M.S., Tianjin University, 1995
B.S., Beijing Wuzi University, 1987

James Lang
Visiting Assistant Professor of Kinesiology
Ph.D., Penn State University, 2010
M.S., University of Iowa, 2002
B.S., University of Iowa, 1999

Cory Ledoux
Visiting Instructor of English
ABD, Rice University
M.A., University of Tulsa, 2003
B.A., Hendrix College, 2000

Amrita Puri
Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology
Ph.D., University of California, Davis, 2008
B.S., B.A., University of New Orleans, 1993

Songhe Wang
Visiting Exchange Faculty from Heilongjiang University in Harbin, China
Ph.D., Shanghai International Studies University, 2008
M.A., Heilongjiang University, 1998
B.A., Heilongjiang University, 1988

Ann York
Visiting Instructor of Education M.S.E, University of Central Arkansas, 1986
B.S.E, University of Central Arkansas, 1971
 

As my 10th year as president of Hendrix begins, the College stands at a pivotal moment. We have reached most of the ambitious goals the Trustees set in 2003. Now, we are in a strong position for future advancement as we begin the second decade of the 21st century. This is a good time to reflect on what we have accomplished together for Hendrix. We have:

• Redesigned the curriculum and moved from a three-term academic calendar to a semester calendar.
• Introduced Your Hendrix Odyssey: Engaging in Active Learning, an innovative component of the curriculum that combines critical thought with action.
• Become nationally recognized as a leader in engaged liberal arts and sciences education. In August, U.S. News & World Report listed Hendrix as the nation’s No. 1 “up-and-coming” liberal arts college for the second consecutive year.
• Raised more than $99 million toward our $100 million goal and expect to complete A Commitment to National Leadership: The Hendrix Campaign by Dec. 31, 2010.
• Enrolled 1,469 students for the fall semester, setting a new record and surpassing the Trustees’ enrollment goal of 1,300. In 2001, our enrollment was about 1,000.
• Increased our full-time faculty to maintain a 12-to-1 student-faculty ratio, adding new positions in art, biology, chemistry, classics, computer science, film studies, history, international relations, mathematics, philosophy, politics, psychology, public health, religion and Spanish. More than 40% of our faculty has been hired in the last six years.
• Added new majors in allied health, American studies, biochemistry/molecular biology, chemical physics, classics, environmental studies, and kinesiology, and a master’s degree program in accounting.
• Added new facilities including all new buildings for the science and art programs, a new home for the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Programs in Literature and Language, the Wellness and Athletics Center and adjacent playing fields, new student residences houses and apartments, and the Student Life and Technology Center, which opened in January and is the first LEED Gold-certified building on an Arkansas college campus.
• Added the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, the Miller Center for Vocation, Ethics and Calling and the Crain-Maling Center of Jewish Culture, the first of its kind at a United Methodist college.
• Developed a large part of Phase I of the Village at Hendrix, a neighborhood that will influence the footprint of the College for the next 100 years.

Each of the items on this list enriches the educational experience of Hendrix students. None of these achievements would be possible without the support of alumni, parents, friends and the United Methodist Church.

Your generous support has allowed us to conduct a successful campaign in the middle of an economic downturn. We are grateful for your gifts and inspired by your confidence in Hendrix and your commitment to our mission.

We recognize your contributions in the Honor Roll of Donors, which begins on Page 39. Please review this list and join me in thanking those whose generosity has made Hendrix’ success possible. If you are among our loyal donors, I thank you for your long-term support. If your name has not yet been added to the list,

I encourage you to give to Hendrix and its mission to change the lives of those who can change the world.

J. Timothy Cloyd, Ph.D.
President 

By Rob O'Connor '95
Associate Editor

Meghan Kerin '13Your Hendrix Odyssey: Engaging in Active Learning encourages students to see their undergraduate education as one stop on a lifelong journey of self-discovery.

Since Hendrix Odyssey was launched in 2005, the College has awarded more than $1.45 million in competitive grants to support hands-on learning projects that help students explore their academic interests and pursue their passions.

Hendrix Magazine is proud to highlight just a few examples of talented graduates whose musical journeys began at Hendrix. Each one exemplifies the value of engaged learning and the liberal arts in preparing students to lead successful professional careers and live fulfilled personal lives.

For Ben Nichols '96, Hendrix Odyssey didn't formally exist when he was a student. Yet he is seeing the world from the concert stage at Austin City Limits Music Festival, Bonnaroo, and Coachella. For Justin Warren '09, a member of the first class to graduate under the Odyssey Program, the journey is just beginning.

The entrepreneurial and artistic spirit of these musical alumni is alive and well with Hendrix students today like Meghan Kerin '13.

Meghan, a sophomore pre-med major from Russellville, plays electric guitar and sings in Poisonwood, a "melodic" metal band.

This summer, she completed an Odyssey project, earning credit in the Professional and Leadership Development project category for organizing and promoting a 10-day concert tour. Hendrix Theatre Professor and rock guitarist Danny Grace '77 was her faculty adviser on the project.

"It went really smoothly, which surprised me," she said of the tour.

Much of the band's initial exposure came from the Internet, she said. The group sold much of their music through iTunes, as well as in person at local shows.

"That's one reason we could afford to tour," she said of the music sales.

Meghan also promoted the band on YouTube.com. Like a modern day Joan Jett, she has been performing covers of metal songs on electric guitar since she was 16 under the name "Meghan the Metal Queen." She has had more than 3 million views.

On tour, Poisonwood played shows in Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston, Texas, as well as Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach, Fla. The six band members traveled in an SUV, pulling an equipment trailer, and stayed in hotels along the way.

After expenses (including paying for merchandise the band will continue to sell), the group cleared about $500. Not exactly Metallica-level millions, but Meghan is grateful for the learning experience and the opportunity to perform.

"I was surprised by how much promotion it really requires," she said. "And I realize now how important it is to make connections with venues and make a good impression. That was the biggest lesson."
It was also a very musically rewarding experience for the band, she said.

"At our Wednesday show in Houston, we made a transition as a band. I felt like we really connected for the first time on stage," she said. "We gave the best show we've ever given ... we were like a force."
To earn Odyssey credit, the project required 100 hours of work.

"That wasn't difficult," she said. One of the most difficult logistical challenges of the tour was identifying a place to play on an off-night between bigger markets like Austin and Houston. "It takes a lot of patience and perseverance to do that."

For her next Odyssey project, Meghan is considering something in the Artistic Creativity category, possibly a solo instrumental "neoclassical meets metal” guitar project. She also wants to volunteer at a hospital to support her pre-med major.

"Pre-med is the main reason I came to Hendrix," she said, but music will always have a place in her life.

"Music is not the most stable career, but I do love it and always want to keep it in my life."