Alumni from near and far gathered on campus Friday through Sunday, April 11-13, for the annual University of Lynchburg Westover Alumni Weekend.
The weekend was packed with events and activities, starting Friday morning at Shellenberger Field with a men’s and women’s track and field meet. Alumni also were invited to watch men’s and women’s tennis matches.
The Daura Museum of Art presented “The Art of a Scientist: The Works of Marie Tiner,” an exhibition of artwork by the mother of Dr. Elza Tiner, a Latin professor at Lynchburg, and several alumni gave presentations over the weekend.
Dr. Steve Smith ’88, ’93 MEd, director of the Central Virginia Governor’s School, talked about the development of artificial intelligence, longtime physics professor Dr. Julius Sigler ’62, ’15 DSc presented “A Personal LC Journey,” and Dr. Clifton Potter ’62 and Dr. Dorothy Bundy Potter ’64, both longtime history professors, gave a talk about “The Hopwood Years, 1903-1910.”
Lynchburg’s Center of Career Engagement Opportunities, or CEO, invited current juniors and seniors to its new signature event, “Conversation Starters.” The opportunity for students to network with alumni and members of the alumni board started with some training.
“Students were taught how to construct elevator speeches and start conversations,” said Christine Harriger, the CEO’s executive director. “They also learned how to circulate around the room to meet people from a variety of industries and backgrounds.
“Overall, this was a great learning opportunity for students. Networking is the number one way to get and sustain a job. Learning how to make connections and keep in touch with others is the key to work in any industry.
“These skills are critical to learn since students will continue to reinvent and market themselves for the future world of work.”
Harriger said the event “exceeded expectations and set the bar high for all our annual career events. The population was evenly distributed between area employers, alumni, faculty, and students, with 50 individuals in attendance.”
As a result, Harriger plans to make “Conversation Starters” a regular event during Westover Alumni Week.
“Employers and alumni were grateful to attend, and it generated new interest in working with the University of Lynchburg,” she said. “Faculty were pleased to see the learning components incorporated into the reception.”
Over the weekend, a Service of Remembrance was held to honor Westover Society members who had passed away, and a bust of the late Dr. Shirley Rosser ’40, a longtime physics professor, was unveiled in the Drysdale Student Center West Room.
Created by Richard “Dick” Pumphrey ’74, a longtime art professor at Lynchburg, the sculpture will be permanently installed in the lobby of Hobbs-Sigler Hall.
Alumni also attended informal meals and receptions; a chamber orchestra concert; and a presentation about the upcoming annual Student Scholar Showcase. Photos were taken of classes that were officially in reunion: 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975, and 1980.
A highlight of Westover Weekend was the annual Alumni Awards and Westover Society Dinner, held Saturday evening in Hall Campus Center’s Memorial Ballroom. The following awards were presented:
Jim Wilson ’66 received the T. Gibson Hobbs Memorial Award, named for a member of the Class of 1904 who was a devoted trustee and board president. Lynchburg’s highest alumni honor, it has been given since 1948 and recognizes alums who provide exceptional service to church, community, and alma mater.
Wilson served two years with the U.S. Forest Service and a year in Volunteers in Service to America, or VISTA, with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Now known as AmeriCorps, VISTA was part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty.
He served in the U.S. Army for two years, including a tour in Vietnam, and was a city planner in Alexandria, Virginia, for more than 30 years.
Wilson said he received “four blessings” from Lynchburg: “Magic happened” when he met his wife, Rebecca Carter Wilson ’68. He joined the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), which was instrumental in the founding of Virginia Christian College, now University of Lynchburg.
Wilson thanked Lynchburg for giving him the “best roommate ever” in Mike Walker ’66. Lastly, physics professor Dr. Shirley Rosser ’40 inspired a decades-long interest in astronomy through an intro class that Wilson initially thought was “frivolous.”
The Kenneth R. Garren Alumni Award was presented to Aaliyah Osborne ’23, ’25 MEd. Presented annually and named for Lynchburg’s president from 2001-20, the award recognizes a graduate student who excels academically, mentors peers, participates in conferences, and promotes their program to prospective students.
Osborne, who has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Lynchburg, will graduate from Lynchburg again in May with a Master of Education in higher education leadership studies, with an emphasis in student services.
Among numerous other accomplishments and honors, she created the Moodle course for all 14 sections of GS 104, College Success Strategies.
Haleigh Casey ’25 received the John G. Eccles Student Leadership Award. Established in 2016 by the Lynchburg Alumni Association Board, the award honors former Dean of Students John Eccles for his service to Lynchburg from 1998 to 2016.
It’s given to a student who shows exceptional leadership through active participation in student activities, dedication to Lynchburg, and engagement with the alumni association. It also celebrates a student who embodies Eccles’s integrity, sense of humor, and passion for leadership.
Casey is a Westover Honors Fellow, captain of the women’s soccer team, a Peer Assisted Supplemental Study — PASS — tutor, and president of the Student-managed Investment Fund, or SMIF.
Distinguished Alumni Awards were presented to Susan Rickert ’60 and Karen Shafer ’68. The award honors alumni for exceptional contributions to professional, academic, or service fields, including dedication to their alma mater.
Rickert, who was featured in the Fall 2024 Lynchburg Magazine, was active in the Civil Rights Movement. In the early 1960s, while teaching at Biggers Elementary School in Lynchburg, she helped integrate Camp Kum-Ba-Yah and the Lodge of the Fishermen.
She joined the Peace Corps in 1964 and served as a teacher in Tanzania for two years. “Those two years were the epitome of my life’s purpose,” Rickert said.
In 2000, after raising her children, Rickert returned to Tanzania. During visits over the next 23 years, she founded and supported schools and helped create college scholarships in the country she considers her spiritual home.
“You’re never too old, it’s never too late to live your passion,” Rickert said.
Rickert said coming to Lynchburg College was her life’s “turning point” and that when she arrived on campus as a first-year student, she immediately thought, “I’m home.” She said she felt that way when returning to campus for Westover Weekend.
Shafer has worked in various capacities in the theater and arts world. She started the AKF — Aunt Karen’s Farm — Foundation for Culture and Environment. The 160-acre, rural farm hosts urban writers, playwrights, and composers, giving them a peaceful environment in which to focus on their creations.
Shafer said she “learned how critically important teamwork is” during her time as a theatre major, and that “success only comes when everyone comes together and collaborates.”
She said theatre professor Dr. Robert Hailey was a “second father” to her, and that Lynchburg faculty also encouraged her to overcome her anxiety and get on a Greyhound bus to New York City, where she lived for 55 years and worked in the “not-for-profit arts and entertainment sector.”
The M. Carey Brewer Alumni Award was presented to John Marks ’10, a widely published historian and a senior staff member for the American Association of State and Local History in Washington, D.C.
Named for Lynchburg’s seventh president, the award recognizes young alumni who have made outstanding contributions to society in such areas as civic engagement, religious life, or service to their alma mater.
Marks has been widely published in TIME, Smithsonian magazine, The Washington Post, and other publications.
He is the author of “Black Freedom in the Age of Slavery: Race, Status, and Identity in the Urban Americas,” coeditor of “Race and Nation in the Age of Emancipations: An Atlantic World Anthology,” and author of the forthcoming “Thy Will Be Done: Americans’ George Washington, Slavery, and the Fight for American Memory.”
Marks said it was at Lynchburg that he “learned how to be a historian” and how to “think critically and support my ideas with evidence.”
Honorary Alumni Awards were presented to Jon Waters and Frank Whitehouse Jr. Established in 1986, the award recognizes non-alumni for exceptional interest, dedication, or service to Lynchburg.
Waters has been Lynchburg’s athletic director for more than a decade. Under his leadership, vast improvements have been made to athletic facilities, and additional athletic programs — golf, beach volleyball, and others — were established.
Hornet athletes have achieved an extensive list of accomplishments under his tenure, including NCAA Division III championships in women’s soccer and baseball, two National Collegiate Equestrian Association national championships, 47 Old Dominion Athletic Conference championships, and 35 NCAA tournament appearances.
Waters said being named an honorary alumnus was “humbling.”
Whitehouse, a professor of management and marketing, has taught at Lynchburg for more than 40 years. Among many accomplishments, he has published numerous journal articles and papers, contributed to textbooks, presented at conferences, and served as a visiting professor in Austria numerous times.
Whitehouse’s marketing and economics white papers, published on LinkedIn, regularly receive hundreds of views, with one being read nearly 600 times. As Lynchburg’s longest serving faculty member, he carries the ceremonial mace at Commencement and other events.
In a humorous address, Whitehouse said he’d “taught at least 352 classes” at Lynchburg and “had the pleasure and joy of seven sabbaticals while I’ve been here. … I’ve attended 324 faculty meetings, some of which were actually interesting. …
“I’ve taught pretty much every class in the business curriculum at one time or another, [and] most importantly, while I’ve been here, best I can estimate, I’ve had the great joy of teaching more than 9,800 students. They have been the love of my life, other than my wife.”
Whitehouse added that he was “absolutely thrilled” to receive the award.
On Sunday, an invitation-only brunch was held for members of the Founders Society, donors who have given a minimum of $100,000 to Lynchburg, and the Hopwood Society, donors who have included the University in their estate plans.
You can make a gift to Lynchburg here.
