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ConnectionA Publication of Lindenwood University for the AlumniFall 2014Vintage Rocker Page 8Homecoming Schedule Page 16-17Alumni Memories Page 18Evans to Retire Page 3
President’s MessageThe Lindenwood Way A True StoryMany years ago a young man had just completed his PhDdegree and was no less than buoyant about beginning hisfaculty service at a remarkable liberal arts college in St.Charles, Missouri. He could not quite put his finger on it,but there was something very special about the social andmoral atmosphere at the little college with a visage that borean uncanny resemblance to published pictures of some of theEastern Ivy League schools. He just could not get over how beautiful and distinguished thecampus looked and how warm and real his future students and faculty colleagues had beenduring his job interviews in May.In late July, he and his wife and tiny daughter loaded their U-Haul truck for the move.He would drive the large vehicle, and his family members would follow in their redMaverick. The packing and loading had been arduous, and the drive spanned severalhundred miles. It was not an easy relocation. Nonetheless they were happy travelers,brimming with excitement about starting their new life at LC. What is more, they had beenfortunate enough to find a St. Charles home they could rent from a Lindenwood facultymember who had recently retired.The College had kindly offered the new professor 500 to underwrite moving expenses– a fairly standard amount at the time but remarkably generous considering the financialchallenges Lindenwood was facing then. It was a good thing that Dean Howard Barnetthad granted the relocation subsidy, because the young family had just left graduate schooland had only enough money in reserve to get through the rest of July, August, and maybea week or so beyond the end of August. Perhaps that would be sufficient since the firstpaycheck would surely be coming through after two weeks on the job, which wouldhave been about mid-September (back when the semester did not start until September1) – except that . . . . Imagine the neophyte’s chagrin when he learned that Lindenwoodissued paychecks only once a month! Providently, however, the destitute newcomersreceived a reprieve when parents and grandparents awarded the new PhD a total of 150in graduation gifts. Now it would be possible to eat and keep the utility services on untilthe end of September, when the first payday would take place.The fledgling LC family felt fortunate to be renting a home that was within walkingdistance of the college, and its owner did not require a lease. The latter “advantage” turnedout to be a problem. In the third week of August a real estate agent knocked at the doorand said he was there to give a commercial buyer a tour of the premises! The newcomershad not even known the property was up for sale. The next day the buyer paid cash for thehouse, with a closing date in 30 days. Another move would be necessary, but alas therewas no money available to relocate again so soon. Suddenly the world had become bleak.When the Lindenwood community learned of the surprising turn of events and thenew faculty member’s predicament, there was a stir on campus. Less than a week later,LC Vice President Richard Berg summoned the young professor to his office to let himknow that the administration had decided to grant additional money to cover the newround of moving expenses. The world was good again, especially when a small army ofLindenwood professors and administrators showed up to help on moving day.That unexpected compassion and unusual degree of decency exemplified the essence ofwhat had attracted the faculty member to Lindenwood. He realized then that the Collegewas more than an institution. It was a cohesive community with values that represent thebest that humanity can become. Now he clearly understood what people meant when theyspoke of “The Lindenwood Way.”Although 40 years have passed, Lois, Laura, and I have never forgotten that specialkindness and what it stands for. It was also the best character lesson a future LindenwoodPresident could have received.I look forward to seeing you at Homecoming!Veryy sincerely yours,CONNECTIONEDITORScott Queen (’99, ’07)ASSISTANT EDITORElizabeth Wikoff (’00, ’01)COPY EDITORS/CONTRIBUTING WRITERSChristopher Duggan (’00, ’12)Rachel Johnson (’04, ’10)Daniel Newton (’09)Julie Beard (’14)OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONALADVANCEMENTSusan MangelsVice President forInstitutional AdvancementDonna BaberDirector of Planned GivingJane Baum (’82)Athletics Development DirectorKate O’Neal (’07, ’08)Director of Advancement ServicesMary Reuter (’92, ’06)Assistant Vice President andExecutive Director of CommunityRelations-BellevilleClaire OldermanSpecial Projects CoordinatorVicki SchraderGrants ManagerJulie Sydow (’12)Alumni Relations and Special EventsCoordinator-BellevilleElizabeth Wikoff (’00, ’01)Director of Alumni RelationsConnection LV SXEOLVKHG E\ WKH RIÀFHV RI 3XEOLF Relations and Institutional Advancement atLindenwood University. Connection is mailedfree of charge to Lindenwood alumni. Storyideas are welcome and should be forwarded to:Director of Alumni RelationsLindenwood University209 South KingshighwaySt. Charles, MO 63301or via email at alumni@lindenwood.edu.&KDQJH RI DGGUHVV QRWLÀFDWLRQV VKRXOG EH VHQW WR WKH 2IÀFH RI OXPQL 5HODWLRQV at the address above.7KH OXPQL 2IÀFH WHOHSKRQH QXPEHU is (636) 949-4975.On The CoverPresident James D. Evans, PhD,recently announced he is retiringafter 41 years of service to Lindenwood.James D. Evans, PhDPresident2 See story on page 3.
After 41 Years at Lindenwood, Evans Stepping DownLindenwood University PresidentJames D. Evans, PhD, has announced hisretirement effective May 31, 2015. Whenhe bids farewell for the last time to thecampus that has grown and thrived underhis successful leadership, he will haveserved the university for nearly nine yearsas its top executive.Evans leaves Lindenwood, however,with 41 years of service as a Lindenwoodemployee. Prior to his 2006 appointment tothe presidency, he held positions as provost,dean of faculty, dean of sciences, dean ofsocial sciences, professor, and assistantprofessor.“Many years ago, I would dream ofthe kind of university I would wantLindenwood to be if I were ever given thechance to serve at its helm for a few years,”Evans said. “Now I have lived that dream.”Evans said he is proud of all thatLindenwood has become under hisdirection.“Developments that have made methe proudest include our first doctoralprograms, our award-winning studentnewspaper (The Legacy), significantimprovement in faculty and studentcredentials and achievement, enhancedcommunity outreach, construction of astudent center (and) NCAA Division IImembership,” he said.Another significant Evansaccomplishment included the launch of aday college in Belleville, Ill. While otheruniversities struggled to stay afloat, Evansprovided the leadership necessary to expandLindenwood’s scope and reach. Addingto LU’s well-established acceleratedevening programs offered at the site ofthe former Belleville West High School,he established a full-service campus thatwould meet the needs of college-boundyouth from the Metro East region. Today,Lindenwood University-Belleville enjoysa full-fledged NAIA athletics program aswell as expanding academic day programsthat attract nearly 1,000 residential studentslocally, nationally, and internationally.Evans also acted on his goal to establishthe university’s first full-fledged nursingschool. Brokering an innovative partnershipwith St. Charles Community College,he oversaw the acquisition of a beautifulformer high school building in DardennePrairie, Mo., where nursing courses arenow offered at the associate, bachelor’s,and soon-to-be master’s degree levels.The School of Nursing and Allied HealthSciences plans to expand healthcare degreeAlumni Merit WinnerRemembers Presidents,FacultyAssociation meetings and functions,and she represented alumni interests onthe University’s Board of Directors andserved on the Board’s Fundraising andDevelopment Committee. A member ofthe Sibley Heritage Society, she has beenan enthusiastic and articulate supporter ofher alma mater in the community for manyyears, as well as a familiar face and willingvolunteer at alumni events.Lewien received a bachelor’s degree incommunications in 1985 from Lindenwoodas well as two master’s degrees–one inwritten communications (2004) and theother in nonprofit administration (2007).“The growth of this wonderfulcollege and change and improvementat Lindenwood over the years has onlyincreased the value of my degrees,” shesaid.Lewien is employed as grantsadministrator for the Community andChildren’s Resource Board of St. CharlesCounty. The board awards funds toagencies serving the unmet mental healthneeds of children and youth in St. CharlesCounty. Additionally, she provides contractgrant writing services for a national firm inRochester, N.Y.She is very involved in her community,and in her spare time she serves as a boardmember for the Five Acres Animal ShelterJanet Rucker Lewien (’85, ’04, ‘07) hasearned one degree each at LindenwoodUniversity during the tenure of threedifferent presidents. It only begs thequestion, “Will you be back in school for afourth degree when Lindenwood has a newpresident next year?”Gently, Lewien says no. But it is not fora lack of love of the institution. In fact, herlove of Lindenwood knows no bounds.“The instruction I received from myprofessors really changed the focus of mylife,” she said. “I can honestly say thatpeople like Michael Castro, Peter Carlos,Geri Blasi, and Sheryl Guffey caused me tothink differently. They caused me the thinkthat anything is possible with my life.”Lewien was honored at commencementMay 17 as the recipient of the 2014 AlumniMerit Award for Service to Lindenwood.She has been a member of theLindenwood Alumni Board since 2007, andshe served as president of the associationfrom 2009 through 2013. As president, sherepresented the alumni voice to PresidentJames D. Evans, as well as at AlumniJames D. Evans, PhDofferings beyond nursing in the near future.Evans said his greatest challenge hasbeen prioritizing the many opportunitiesLindenwood is blessed with at any giventime.“Plans after retirement are to remainas productive each day as I have beenthroughout my life,” Evans said, “and toattend to all of the matters I have postponedover the years. There is much more to belearned and many more good things to bedone.”Lindenwood University Board ChairmanJim J. Shoemake said he has appointed aboard search committee to begin lookingfor Evans’ replacement. In a recent addressto the Lindenwood faculty, Evans said thesearch would be collaborative in nature.Collaboration has been a hallmark ofLindenwood under his management.Alumni Merit Award winner Janet Rucker Lewienand Alumni Board President Judy ForstmannBrownand the St. Charles County DomesticViolence Board. She has served on theCampus “Y” Board and the St. CharlesCounty Arts Council.A native of Texas, she and her husband,Jerry, live in St. Charles. They have twochildren, Lisa and David, and one grandson.Lisa’s husband, Mark, is also a Lindenwoodalumnus.3
Building Forever FriendshipsAuthor’s Project was a Labor of LoveBy RACHEL JOHNSONRachel Morgan, a LindenwoodUniversity alumna (’13) and currentgraduate student in the LindenwoodUniversity School of Education, haswritten a children’s book, Building ForeverFriendship: Strategies to Help Your Friendwith Autism or Other Special Needs atSchool. The book addresses scenarios thatchildren may encounter at school wheninteracting with peers who have specialneeds.4The project originated two years agowhen Morgan’s daughter, Paige, a secondgrader at at the time, encountered childrenmimicking behaviors characteristic of thosewith autism. She was upset by their actionsbecause her brother, Adam, then in fourthgrade at the school, has autism.“Paige came home and she was reallyupset and angry, and she wanted me to goto the school and talk to the kids,” Morgansaid. “I told her I didn’t think they werebeing mean, they were just trying to figureit out. I suggested that educating the kidsmight mean more coming from her, sothat’s what she did.”Morgan selected an existing book thatexplored the relationship between twosiblings, one with autism, and their homelife. She sent the book to school with herdaughter, who, with the permission ofadministrators, read the book to all secondgrade classes and answered students’questions.Six months later, Morgan’s daughterapproached her again and pointed out thather classmates now understood special
Rachel Morgan (‘13) with children(from left) Paige, Adam, Collin, and Hailey.needs interactions at home but still hadquestions about school interactions.Morgan searched for an age-appropriatebook on the topic and was unable to findone, so she decided to write one at herdaughter’s urging. In fact, Paige wrote theintroduction.“My hope for this book is that teachersand counselors can use it as a platform fordiscussion within their own classrooms,”she said. “I hope it promotes brainstormingand an open dialogue among studentsand helps them find ways they can bettermanage situations at school.”In addition to her own family’sexperiences with autism, Morgan has astrong background in special education.She holds an undergraduate degree inbehavioral psychology from WesternMichigan University and a master’sdegree in education with an emphasis inearly interventions in autism and sensoryimpairments from Lindenwood. She’scurrently in her third year as a graduateassistant for Lindenwood’s AutismSpectrum Disorders Program whilepursuing a doctoral degree in educationwith an emphasis in andragogy at theschool.Morgan also served for more than eightyears providing family service coordinatorand marketing services for First Steps,Missouri’s early intervention system thatprovides services to families with childrenup to 3 years old with disabilities ordevelopmental delays.In her spare time, she oversees the AdamMorgan Foundation, which she founded in2008 to provide resources, equipment, andinterventions to families raising childrenwith autism spectrum disorders, andConsultants for Children, LLC, which shefounded in June 2009 to assist in creatingcollaborative partnerships between families,educators, administrators, and communitiesin an effort to promote positive outcomesfor individuals with disabilities in allaspects of life.To learn more about the AdamMorgan Foundation, visit www.adammorganfoundation.org. To learn moreabout Consultants for Children or to order acopy of Morgan’s book directly, visit www.cfc-stl.com. Published by Rose Dog Books,the book is also expected to be availablethrough various traditional and onlineretailers by the end of 2014.5
Boerding Defines CommitmentAlumna Spent 60 Years Teachingat St. Peter Catholic SchoolMarcella BoerdingBy RACHEL JOHNSONIt’s not uncommon for people to spenda good portion of their careers working forthe same company, but Marcella Boerdingtopped that increasingly rare professionalfeat this past May when she retired afterspending her 60-year career as an educatorat St. Peter Catholic School in St. Charles.The lifelong St. Charles resident alsoattended the school for 12 years as astudent. That means the 78-year-old hasspent the better part of 72 years at the sameschool--many of those years inside thesame classroom.Boerding reported as a second graderto what is now Room 9 of St. PeterElementary School in 1942. She completedher elementary education in 1950 and thenattended St. Peter High School. It was justbefore her 1954 graduation that she was seton the path to her lifelong calling.“The high school principal at that time,Sister Cyprian, asked me in March if Ihad any plans for what I was going to doafter graduation,” Boerding recalled. “Sheasked me if I’d consider teaching in theelementary school. I knew there was nomoney for me to go to college, so I gladly6accepted the position. I started that fall.”Boerding initially taught third grade, thena combined class of second and third grade,before settling into the role of second-gradeteacher for the past 50 years. Beginning in1964, she also led students in preparationfor the Catholic sacraments of HolyCommunion and Reconciliation. She citedthat role as one of her favorite parts of thejob.“I always treasured attending Massand receiving the Eucharist, so leadingsacramental preparation was a joy to me.”Boerding also continued to further herown education while serving as a teacher.She took summer, evening, and weekendcourses at Webster University at thebeginning of her career and then enrolledat Lindenwood. She graduated fromLindenwood with an undergraduate degreein elementary education in 1974, but alsoenjoyed ongoing professional developmentopportunities through the college.“I took different workshops with Dr.Jane Wilhour, head of the EducationDepartment, that always gave me helpfulideas,” Boerding said. “They were greatsources of information for things I couldtake back to my classroom.”Boerding also credited her religiousmentors, the parents of her students, andher own family for supporting her throughher six decades of service, though she notedit didn’t seem like that many years hadpassed.“For the first 40 years, there werereligious Notre Dame Sisters in the schoolwho had so many good ideas, who were sowilling to share, and who brought such awonderful atmosphere to the school,” saidBoerding. “After that, it was great to havethe encouragement of my sister and of theparents at the school, who were alwaysvery helpful. Everyone’s love and supportmade me a little sad to retire.”Boerding may have given up her fulltime position, but St. Peter CatholicSchool will not be without her entirely. Atthe request of Principal Tammi Rohman,Boerding will volunteer during this schoolyear with elementary school children inneed of extra resources.“I know I’m going to miss the schoola lot, and I’m appreciative Ms. Rohmanasked me back to volunteer,” said Boerding.“I’m really looking forward to it.”
New Deans Take Helm for LCIE, Distance LearningTwo new deans, Willie Broussard andDr. Gina Ganahl, have joined the ranks ofthe Lindenwood leadership structure tohead the Center for Distance Learning andthe College for Individualized Education,respectively. Both began their new jobs atthe beginning of May.Broussard’s will be in charge of onlinedegree programs, which were recentlyrecognized at the bachelor’s level by U.S.News and World Report among the best inthe nation. Previously, Broussard servedsince 2009 as associate director of theDivision of Distance Learning at LamarUniversity in Beaumont, Texas. He isworking toward an EdD in curriculum andinstruction from the University of Houston,Texas, and he has as an MBA in humanresource management from the Universityof Phoenix.Ganahl replaced Dan Kemper, longtimedean of the University’s popular acceleratedevening programs, who retired this spring.Since 2005, Ganahl has served as associatedean for the School of Professional andContinuing Studies at the University ofMissouri—St. Louis. She has workedin higher education since 1988, holdingpositions at the University of MissouriDr. Gina GanahlWillie Broussardin Columbia, John A. Logan CommunityCollege in Marion, Ill., and the Universityof Southern Illinois in Carbondale. She hasa PhD in education from the University ofMissouri, as well as a master’s in marketingeducation and a bachelor’s in marketingand business administration from theUniversity of Missouri and the Universityof Illinois in Urbana, respectively.“With Dean Broussard’s commitment toexpanding our offerings and his expertisein the area of customer service, the futureof the Center for Online Learning holdsgreat promise,” said Dr. James D. Evans,President of Lindenwood University. “Dr.Ganahl is an accomplished and successfuleducator who understands our regionas well as the goals of our accelerated,ev
challenges Lindenwood was facing then. It was a good thing that Dean Howard Barnett had granted the relocation subsidy, because the young family had just left graduate school and had only enough money in r
