SWU Alumni E-News - March 2015

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Alumni Board members:

The spring meeting for the National Alumni Board will be April 11, 2015, 9 a.m.- 2:30 p.m.

Grandparents Day at SWU, hosted on Friday, March 20, will be a time for making family connections while getting a taste of campus life, sharing meals with grandchildren, touring the historic campus and taking in a ballgame or a musical production. There will be plenty of opportunities to enjoy free time together and several activity choices on that day. Read more>>

Save the date!

March 18 - Dr. Joshua Paul ('85)- Build and Bridge - Haiti Report, 10 a.m., Newton Hobson auditorium
March 20 - Grandparents Day/Preview Day - SWU Central campus swu.edu/grandparentsday
May 22-24 - SWU Alumni Golf Tournament, Jekyll Island, Ga.
April 3 & 4 - Warriors on the Road - Baseball @Barton, Wilson, N.C.
April 6 - Preview Day, 9 a.m. Details
June 19 - Preview Day, 9 a.m. Details
Sept. 21 - Southern Honors Golf Tournament, The Cliffs at Keowee Vineyards
Oct. 30 & 31 - Homecoming

Can you believe it's been 50 years since the movie version of "The Sound of Music" was released? The Von Trapp family will come to life on the stage at SWU starting March 20. Click here to order tickets online while they last. All dates and prices are listed on the graphic above. The Division of Fine Arts has several performances lined up for spring, offering something for every taste – from classical to jazz. View the complete schedule.

Honoring spring graduates

Southern Wesleyan University’s Alumni Association is planning receptions across the state to celebrate all of our spring graduates. Receptions will begin at 6 p.m. Here are the dates and locations:

Tuesday, April 14 – Columbia learning center
Thursday, April 23 – Greenville learning center
Monday, April 27 – Charleston learning center
Tuesday, April 28 – Central, The Founders, Dining Commons bldg.
Thursday, April 30 – North Augusta learning center

For details, contact Joy Bryant at the Alumni Center, (864) 644-5385 or email jbryant@swu.edu.

Career Opportunities

Alumni in the Myrtle Beach area or those wanting a reason to move to the beach, this may be your chance.

SWU Alumnus Scott Payseur, president and founder of Ground Zero Ministries, is looking to hire a detail-oriented, organized self-starter who works well with people in various personal and professional settings. The Marketing/Community Relations Director is responsible for developing and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with local media as well as business partners and event sponsors. Positive relationships with the media and the support of local businesses are integral to the overall impact and success of Ground Zero. This position lends well to an individual who is not only passionate about the ministry but is also excited about inviting others to join Ground Zero financially to impact a generation. Send resume to scott@mygroundzero.com or call 843-945-9440 ext. 201.

SWU Career Services online

Simmons Family Endowed Scholarship

The Simmons Family Christian Endowed Scholarship has been established to assist SWU students who hold memberships within the South Carolina District of The Wesleyan Church and are fulltime ministry and missions majors.

Pictured in front from left are Shelby Jean Simmons, Rachel Lavonia Simmons and Mary Jo Simmons, who established the scholarship. Standing behind them are Dr. Lisa McWherter, vice president for advancement; Rev. Joey Parris, Greenville First Wesleyan Church; and Rev. Buddy Rampey, superintendent of the S.C. District of The Wesleyan Church. Read more>>

SWU names Strickland as provost

SWU named Dr. Tonya Strickland as provost. Strickland comes to the university from Bainbridge State College, an institution in the University System of Georgia, where she has served as vice president for academic affairs and as a tenured professor of English since 2010. Read more>>

Government leadership honored

SWU students Austin Johns-Paradise of Westminster and Jonathan Leveille of Simpsonville talk about their college experiences with S.C. Rep. Davey Hiott, right, as Marty Atcheson, left, SWU's senior vice president of finance, looks on.

Hiott, who is a 1983 Southern Wesleyan graduate, serves House District 4, which covers the Pickens area. Atcheson is a 1979 graduate Read more>>

Special offer promises added value for SWU Alumni

After more than a year of negotiations with Nationwide, we are proud to announce an official affinity program has been approved for our alumni. Over the course of the next year, SWU alumni will receive special offers crafted specifically for SWU Alumni. All Alumni can be confident that no private information was released in the partnership. Alumni will receive communications through e-mail and/or home address. We are excited SWU alumni can now receive great discounts, and special offers. SWU Alumni will continue to seek out opportunities that will provide added value to being an alumnus of Southern Wesleyan.

Lunch and Learn events planned

The Alumni Office is pleased to announce a partnership with First Citizens for a series of money management lunch and learn events – March Money Management Madness Mondays. On March 23 and 30, there will be lunch and learn sessions on money management for our young alumni. These lunch and learn sessions will be hosted in the cafeteria beginning at 11:30 a.m. Each session will be only 20 minutes and there will be three sessions each Monday – 11:30 a.m., Noon and 12:30 p.m. For more information contact the Alumni Office at (864) 644-5385. No reservations are required, just bring your lunch over and join the Money Management learning session, in the area designated in the cafeteria.

Athletics

Moving in day

SWU baseball players moved into the new clubhouse March 3 at Dr. Keith Connor Baseball Field. The goal is to raise $100,000 to complete the three phases of this exciting new project. Find out more about the Homerun Legacy and exciting renovations in store for Dr. Keith Connor Field!

Tickets:

Tickets for baseball games are $5 for adults and $2 for students (elementary-college). All SWU staff, faculty and students with ID will be admitted for free.

Schedules for upcoming games:

Alumni News

Business journal features SWU alumnus

Upstate Business Journal interviewed Ray Lattimore ('82) about Marketplace Staffing, the company he founded 19 years ago. Lattimore shared his insights about leadership and inspiration from his years as a student at SWU, then known as Central Wesleyan College. Read more>>

Darl Fowler (’51) welcomed a new great-grandson into the world when Arthur Braxton Thompson was born Dec. 18, 2014 to parents Scott and Britta Thompson and big sister, Adeline Grace. Britta is daughter of Larry Fowler and granddaughter of Darl (’51) and Mary Fowler (’51).

Nathan ('10) and Brittany Buchanan Jolly ('10) announce the birth of Aspen Faye Jolly, March 8, weighing 5 lb. 9 oz. and 19. inches long.

SWU 2014 Psychology graduate and current research assistant Gordon Overholtzer has just been accepted to Georgia State University Neuroscience Institute’s doctoral program. Gordon will begin this program in the fall.

Adegbuyi Ogunbule, a 2012 BSBM graduate from the Charleston learning center, opened Sweet Savor African Restaurant and Cuisine, the Charleston area’s first Nigerian restaurant, along with his wife Dayo. They are located at 5060 Dorchester Rd. Their web address is sweetsavorafricanrestaurant.com.

Teachers of the year
Amy Bonnett (09’) was named Teacher of the Year at James Island Elementary (Charleston County School District)
Deidre Pearson (13’) was named Teacher of the Year at EXCEL Academy @ Morningside Middle (Charleston County School District)
Ruth Butka (13’) was named Teacher of the Year at Whitesville Elementary (Berkeley County School District)

Father - daughter named Teacher of the Year
Amanda (Link) Harris ('08) ('14) was named Walhalla High School's Teacher of the Year and her father, Dale Link ('85), was named Teacher of the Year at Tamassee-Salem Middle/High School. Amanda earned BA degree in English Education and her Master's of Education in Classroom Leadership from SWU. Dale is a Religion graduate. Both schools are part of the School District of Oconee County.

Morgan Harper McKenzie, ('07) and Greg Fish ('03) completed their national board certification, becoming two of three SWU graduates within the School District of Pickens County to earn the honor this academic year. McKenzie, an Elementary Education graduate, is a first-grade teacher at East End Elementary School in Easley and Fish, a MED graduate, is a teacher at Easley High School.

SWU graduate helping combat leprosy
Darren Schaupp, a 1991 SWU graduate and director of program operations for American Leprosy Missions, headed to Myanmar in early March to meet with government officials and officials with Novartis Foundation, as a project gets underway to combat the transmission of leprosy in that nation. Schaupp calls the partnership with Novartis a “game changer” in the fight against leprosy. Visit leprosy.org for details and to provide support. Read more>>

SWU professor to lead Israel tour

Paul Jordan, professor of computer science, will be leading a 10-day Community Bible Church study tour of Israel, along with Jay Harlan and Daniel Jachens Oct. 2-11. Tour highlights include the Sea of Galilee, Mount of Olives, the Garden Tomb and the City of David. For details, contact Jordan at (864) 644-5034 or email pjordan@swu.edu. More details, including an itinerary, can be found at http://faithbasedexpeditions.com. On the upper right corner, enter code CBC1015.

Wesleyans to join with Billion Souls Network in 500-year recognition

On Oct 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed 95 theses to the All Saints Church door in Wittenberg, Germany. Southern Wesleyan University alumni have a fantastic opportunity in 2017 to travel to Germany and mark this momentous event. Details are coming. Read more>>

Class Ring Special

Order online with promo code swualumni and receive a $50 discount and Herff Jones will send a gift to SWU in your honor. Go to the Herff Jones website.

Alumni Walk bricks are $125. Proceeds support SWU's Promise Fund, which helps to increase fund scholarships and financial aid, invest in state-of-the-art classroom equipment, expand our campus ministries and enhance other student activities. Click here to order your brick!

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