Newsletter XI. Summer 2008
Five Women Receive Honors Medallion at 2008 Commencement
(L-R) Christina Ritter, Kimberly Mitchell, Alyssa Walden, Meaghan HIll. Not pictured: Kelly Furrow Meador. Kimberly Mitchell, a native of New Jersey, majored in pre-professional science and plans to study veterinary medicine eventually. After graduation, Mitchell planned to return to her job at Parkway Veterinarians in Marmora, N.J. and take additional classes to prepare for vet school. Of her experiences in the honors program, Mitchell writes, "I really enjoyed varying aspects of the Honors Program. Out of all my classes I had my freshman year, I can vividly remember my honors class in Leadership and the projects we had to work on about great leaders in history. I researched Jimmy Carter and learned how active he still is in his community; mainly working with Habitat For Humanity. I also enjoyed and learned a lot from our culture experiences we had a chance to experience. I would say trying the Indian Food was the most interesting of the trips." Mitchell's advisor, Dr. Chris Aylesworth, writes that Mitchell "has been one of the most, if not the most, dependable and capable Natural Sciences and Mathematics work-study students (with Carol Love). She is capable of independent and accurate lab preparation, and I know Carol has thoroughly enjoyed that independence. From my perspective, my first impressions were of Kim's academic productivity, and because of that and her familiarity with my A&P (Anatomy & Physiology) coursework, I invited her to be a Practicum student for one of my lab sections. Her easy nature and knowledge base were extremely beneficial to student learning during those labs. Aside from her direct academic work, I know Kim has been involved in humanitarian endeavors with Rev. Wes Astin, and numerous other activities like Big Buddy Little Buddy. She will always be there when needed and she has never been anything but pleasant to be around! Alyssa Walden, a native of Halifax, Va., majored in English and minored in journalism, also serving as editor-in-chief of The Iron Blade. Almost immediately after graduation, Walden enrolled in the master's program in multimedia journalism at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her aim, she says, is to be managing editor of a metropolitan newspaper. Dr. Lana Whited, honors program director and Walden's advisor, called her "the perfet student: always prepared, always the first to volunteer for presentations, always the one who set the standard for the rest of the class. When I had to be away from journalism class, I often asked Alyssa to take over for me. When Alyssa e-mailed me during summer 2008 to say she was the first student in the master's program at VCU to sign up for fall classes, I laughed and wrote, 'Of course you were.'" Of the highlights of her work in the Boone Honors Program, Alyssa wrote, "Picking just one highlight is way too difficult. Besides many of the cultural outings which I will always remember, I really enjoyed working on honors enrichment projects and exploring different areas more deeply. The highlights of the program for me, though, are all the honors seminar courses. Though rigourous, it was nice to be in classes with students with similar ambitions and also a great opportunity to bond with students in the program. I also really enjoyed working with the incoming honors students through O-team the past two years."	For the second year in a row, five graduates completed requirements for the Boone Honors Program. The five most recent recipients are Meaghan Hill, Kelly Furrow Meador, Kimberly Mitchell, Christina Ritter, and Alyssa Walden. Meaghan Hill majored in biology and minored in chemistry. In spring 2008, Hill presented the results of her senior seminar project on the use of cranial sutures for determining the age at death from skeletal remains. She also completed an internship with the Ferrum College Water Quality Project. Hill's advisor, Dr. Jason Powell, says, "Although I deliberately do not have 'favorite' students, it is difficult not to think of Meaghan as a favorite. She does everything with enthusiasm and energy that is sometimes rare and difficult to find."A resident of Burnt Chimney, Va., Hill says that graduate school is a possibility for the future but that she is excited about getting job experience in the sciences first. She considers the highlight of her work in the honors program to be the opportunity to honors enrich courses, "to go deeper into subjects that interest" her. She also says she feels her participation in the program strengthened her writing and public speaking skills. Kelly Furrow Meador, of Boones Mill, Va., graduated with a degree in liberal arts, also completing an elementary endorsement through the Teacher Education Program. In the spring, Meador successfully completed a student teaching assignment in first grade at Lee Waid Elementary School, under the supervision of Nancy Cannaday. Nancy Beach, 2007-08 director of the Teacher Education Program, says of Kelly that she "is an exemplary pre-professional who will represent Ferrum College and the Teacher Education program well. We look forward to seeing her emerge as a leader in the field, and are pleased with her progress as a student teacher. Kelly's creativity and ability to problem-solve are just a couple of her many positive characteristics that have made her a standout student in the program." Christina Ritter majored in health sciences and plans to attend nursing school and eventually to become a Physician's Assistant. She visited South Africa twice during her Ferrum College career and hopes eventually to return to the continent to do medical work. Ritter also participated in a study abroad trip to China. For Ritter, the highlights of the Boone Honors Program were "the thought-provoking classes that brought up issues that have helped me determine what I want to do in my life and the outings that we have had." Ritter's favorite outing, she notes, was hearing the Soweto Gospel Choir at the Jefferson Center in Roanoke in spring 2007. Dr. Lana Whited, honors program director, who taught Ritter in several classes, says, "I was always pleased to see Christina's name on my class roll, and her academic work was generally letter-perfect, as she holds herself to very high standards. I particularly admire Christina's resolve to help others and her tendency to view the rest of the world in terms of connections, not differences. She is a graduate who will take Ferrum's mission of 'Not Self, but Others' to the far corners of the earth." Christina is originally from Rocky Mount.
South Africa native addresses students at spring Honors Banquet
A former apartheid activist and expert in international human rights spoke to students and faculty at Ferrum College on Thursday, March 27.  The Boone Honors Program sponsored the event at 7:30 p.m. in the Blue Ridge Mountain Room.  The event was held in conjunction with the campus-wide theme of social and economic justice, which is being coordinated by the School of Social Sciences this year.  Dr. van ver Vyver's topic was the treatment of juveniles in the criminal justice systems of the United States and South Africa. Progressive nations judge criminal acts in terms of the motivation and reasoning capability of the offender, said van der Vyver, whereas more primitive nations judge the offender according to the seriousness or heinousness of the offense. By this measure, van der Vyver said, the United States has a primitive criminal justice system. Dr. Johan van der Vyver, a professor of international law and human rights at Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Ga., is an expert in human rights law and has been active in the promotion of human rights in South Africa for years.  While in South Africa, Dr. van der Vyver was an outspoken critic of the practice of apartheid, a system of legalized racial segregation of the nonwhite population.  As a former resident of South Africa, he was once a professor of law at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Dr. Lana Whited, professor of English and director of the honors program, said the goal of van der Vyver's visit was to make students more aware of examples of social and economic injustice outside the the United States. Graduating seniors Meaghan Hill, Kelly Furrow Meador, Kimberly Mitchell, Christina Ritter, and Alyssa Walden were also honored at the banquet. The meal was provided by Ferrum College Food Services.	Dr. Johan van der Vyver
Honors students and faculty see Hansel & Gretel . . . the Blind Boys of Alabama . . .
Nawab Indian Restaurant has become a favorite dinner destination for honors outings. On Sunday, Sept. 30, 2007, a group of students and faculty dined at Nawab prior to attending Opera Roanoke's performance of Hansel & Gretel. (L-R) Tiffanie King, Greer Frith, Ashley Hale, Meaghan Hill, Tember Long, Alyssa Walden, Kimberly Mitchell, Autumn Spencer, Cierra Lancaster, Camille Bower, Whitney Scott, Benjamin Pittsley, Lindsay Bowyer, Teri Lynne Surfacr, Maggie Allison, Jamie Stone, Heather Marshall, Roger Keaton, Dr. Lana Whited, Dr. Kevin Reilly. The honors program covers all costs of outings.	For the second time in four years, the honors program sponsored an outing featuring the Grammy award-winning "soul gospel" group the Blind Boys of Alabama, who performed at the Jefferson Center on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2007. Founded in 1939 at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind, the "Boys" were touring long before Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and others began performing music in a similar vein. This has become a favorite honors outing for many.
and STOMP!
A group of students, faculty, and friends of the Boone Honors Program enjoyed the high-energy percussion performance of STOMP! at the Roanoke Civic Center on Tuesday, April 1, 2008. Prior to the show, the group had dinner at Red Robin. (L-R) Nell Fredericksen, Greer Frith, Dr. Tina Hanlon, Dr. Lana Whited, Roger Keaton, Maggie Allison, Whitney Scott, Ashley Hale, Dr. John Bruton, Autumn Spencer, Meaghan Hill, and Kimberly Mitchell. Not pictured: Dr. Leslie Lambert, Jamie Stone.
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