Owl & Spade Power of Place Fall 2019 - Warren Wilson College
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Owl & Spade
Power of Place Fall 2019
A Magazine for
the Alumni &
Friends of
Warren
Wilson
College
Owl & Spade Magazine
e s t. 1 9 2 4
MAGAZINE STAFF Trustees 2019-2020 COLLEGE LEADERSHIP
EXECUTIVE EDITOR William Christy ’79 PRESIDENT
Zanne Garland Chair Lynn M. Morton, Ph.D.
Lachicotte Zemp CABINET
Managing Editor
Vice Chair Paul Bartels, Ph.D.
Madeline Wadley ’12
Interim Vice President for Academic
Jessica Culpepper ’04 Affairs
Editors Secretary
Mary Bates Belinda Burke
Melissa Ray Davis ’02 Michael Condrey Vice President for Administration
Morgan Davis ’02 Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer
Mary Hay Matt Edlund
Jay Lively ’00 H. Ross Arnold, III
Carmen Castaldi ’80 Vice President for Enrollment
Rowena Pomeroy
Heather Wingert Donald R. Cooper Zanne Garland
Nate Gazaway ’00 Vice President for Advancement
Creative Director Steve Gigliotti
Carla Greenfield Cathy Kramer
Mary Ellen Davis
Vice President for Applied Learning
David Greenfield
Photographers Suellen Hudson Paul C. Perrine
Mary Bates William A. Laramee Vice President for Student Life
Elsa Cline ’20 Anne Graham Masters, M.D. ’73
Morgan Davis ’02 Debbie Reamer
Pete Erb Anthony S. Rust Alumni Board 2018-2019
Zaldi Ero George A. Scott, Ed.D. ’75
Zanne Garland Lewis Sutherland Erica Rawls ’03
Casey “Red” Herring ’21 Jean Veilleux President
Corey Nolen Lucy Wheeler ’92
Lydia See Adam (Pinky) Stegall ’07
Reggie Tidwell Ex-Officio Vice President
Joel B. Adams, Jr.
Elizabeth Koenig ’08
Cover Art Alice Buhl
Secretary
Lara Nguyen Kathy Campbell ’78
Howell L. Ferguson Dennis Thompson ’77
Lead Contributor Ronald Hunt Advising Past President
Melissa Ray Davis ’02 Elizabeth Huse
Lynn Morton Doug Ager ’07
Contributors Bridget Palmer Jennifer Cummings ’06
Debra Allbery Candace Taylor Morgan Geer ’94
Kelly Ball Lyn O’Hare Clay Gibson ’08
Mary Craig Erica Rawls ’03 MaggieMae Farthing ’14
Renée Danger-James Ona Sunshine Hogarty ’13
Jill Doub Molly Johnson ’06
Jake Frankel ’02 Kam Kammerer ’69
Zanne Garland Three Merians ’94
Jay Lively ’00 Kendra Powell ’99
Marla Hardee Milling (Black Mountain News) Jeannie Pfautz ’04
Lynn Morton Serena Shah ’10
Mark Newman Jimmy Stultz ’05
Madeline Wadley ’12 Mark Tucker ’89
Keri Willever ’95
Warren Wilson College Mission Erin Worthy ’04
The mission of Warren Wilson College is to provide a distinctive undergraduate and
graduate liberal arts education. Our undergraduate education combines academics,
work, and service in a learning community committed to environmental responsibility,
cross-cultural understanding, and the common good.
Owl & Spade Sustainability
(ISSN 202-707-4111) is published by Warren Wilson College for alumni and friends.
Editorial offices are maintained at the Office of Advancement, CPO 6376, P.O. Box This publication is printed on
9000, Asheville, NC 28815. To report address changes or distribution issues, please recycled stocks containing
call 828.771.2052. Comments, letters, and contributions encouraged. 100% post-consumer waste.
Contents
O w l & S pa d e M a g a z i n e - V o lu m e 9 5 - 2 0 1 9
photo courtesy of the Warren Wilson College Archives
FEATURES: Power of Place
21 29 35
A Powerful Place: Powerful Proximity: A Place for Craft:
Modeling Conservation Warren Wilson College The New Master of Arts
& Climate Action for a & Black Mountain College in Critical Craft Studies
Changing World
A Letter From the President | 1 NEWS MILESTONES
Power of Place | 13 Scholarships | 41
..............................
Excellence by Design | 15 Alumni News | 42
PROFILES Liberating Discourse | 17 Faculty & Staff News | 45
Relevant Role Model | 3 Mentors & Mentees | 18 MFA News | 47
Practical Idealist | 5 .............................. In Memoriam | 48
Intentional Adventurer | 7 Alumni on Campus & Retirements | 51
Creative Critical Thinker | 9 Around the World | 19
.............................. ..............................
125 Years of Warren Wilson Warren Wilson Siblings | 39
College: Then & Now | 11
A Letter From the President
D
ear Alumni and Friends, highlight another strategic imperative: our commitment to
academic excellence through work done by talented and
It has been an honor to serve as Warren Wilson dedicated faculty, staff, and students. These innovators
College’s President during its 125th year are investigating new solutions to climate change,
(called the quasquicentennial, I’ve learned). As curating never-before-seen exhibitions, and creating craft
I thought about the institution’s beginnings in 1894 as the programming that honors the past and looks to the future.
Asheville Farm School to the present moment, I recognized How has place shaped us? How have we shaped this place?
that the primary unifier of each educational chapter has How can we harness the energy of the community we nurture
been this location and the work that sustains all that has at Warren Wilson to continue improving our world as we face
happened here. It’s powerful that one place means so much the challenges of this particular time in our history?
to so many people. But there’s much more to the power of
this place than the sum of all our historical records. I can’t tell you that these questions will be answered within
the pages of this magazine. However, the questions are
Here in the Swannanoa Valley of the Blue Ridge Mountains, meant to inspire you to join us in exploring new ways to
we educate bright, passionate, hard-working students understand ourselves in the context of our time and place.
in one of the most biodiverse regions of the world. The Our new Center for Integrated Advising and Careers pushes
natural beauty here is spectacular – unparalleled in higher our students to reflect regularly, to chart their paths, to
education, in my opinion. The history of this place is change course as they continue to refine who they are. This
culturally dense. Rich narratives develop here. We learn the work is central to the identity of what our College offers
value of stories from the past while we create our own new students – the ability to test and hone their theories of
stories. And in this place, we feel a daily sense of awe for themselves and the world through practice. We hope that,
the land that surrounds us. It’s no wonder we themed our upon graduation, our alumni continue to reflect throughout
quasquicentennial year Power of Place. their lives, to recognize those who came before them, and to
pave the way for those who come after we are all gone.
Fine Arts Division Chair and Professor of Art Lara Nguyen
painted the cover of this magazine. On this year’s All-In for That provocation and reflection is what I hope you will
WWC Giving Day in April, donors voted for their favorite find in this publication dedicated to celebrating the Power
places on campus, and the winning view would serve as of Place at Warren Wilson College and our predecessor
the inspiration for the cover art in this Power of Place issue schools. If you are reading this letter, your participation in
of the Owl & Spade. We are thankful for the nearly 500 our community has helped shape who we are. We hope that,
donors who collectively gave more than $100,000 that day as a part of our continuous community, you will come back
and selected the gorgeous view of the white barn from to this place – in body and in spirit – and continue to feel its
Dogwood Pasture. impact on your life.
This magazine explores the connections that make us In community,
who we are and who we will become. Over the past year,
we held a Power of Place lecture series, which brought
speakers to campus to galvanize our community around our Lynn Morton, President
strategic imperatives of innovative land management and
just, sustainable practices. The features in this magazine
Profiles
Saleem Hue Penny ’01 | Relevant Role Model
Lisa Gonzalez ’02 | Practical Idealist
Kim Wright ’81 | Intentional Adventurer
Ashley Rogers ’04 | Creative Critical Thinker
Ambassador for Play:
Defender of Childhood
Profile by Melissa Ray Davis ’02, portrait by Morgan Davis ’02
A
s Vice President of volunteers with several community and there aren’t lines on it, and
Community and organizations. Penny is a 2019 here’s a charcoal crayon, a can of
Educational Cave Canem Fellow and received a whip cream, some silly putty, and a
Partnerships at the Pushcart Prize nomination in 2017 pencil. Go.’ I already had the bravery,
Chicago Children’s for his poem “Sunset, Before,” a but not necessarily the confidence
Museum, Saleem poignant juxtaposition of power and to try.” A Chemistry major, Penny
Hue Penny ’01 envisions “a world vulnerability as the spectre of a white stretched even further in grad school,
where children are respected, lifted mob looms on an interracial couple. earning master’s degrees in both
up, and valued, our childhoods are He leads writing salons in Cook Psychology and Social Work.
embraced, and we don’t stray too far County Jail with ConTextos, where
“I hope people don’t take their time
from those lessons that childhood he uses personal memoir writing
[at Warren Wilson] for granted,”
teaches us.” Both his work and as a violence prevention model.
Penny said, adding that Warren
service have tremendous range – from And through Open Heart Magic, he
Wilson’s strong community is a very
museum to prison, community center performs interactive, therapeutic
rare thing. “The majority of what I do
to hospital. But he still returns to a bedside magic for hospitalized
is try to create community wherever
common touchstone: “ambassador children. “I just want to suspend
I am. But there’s never been one
for play” and “defender, preserver disbelief for a little while and feel
like the College. People rise to the
of childhood.” that magic is still in the world and
occasion because of how this place
that there’s still something that could
“What we as the United States of has shaped them.”
bring people together.”
America do and do not value about
children is something that I’m Penny recently had the police called
very keenly aware of,” Penny said, on him while he sat in his car with Saleem Hue Penny ’01
explaining that the United States his napping son in front of the
is the only United Nations member is Vice President of
condo he owns. “If you don’t create
that has not ratified the Declaration something from this, it eats you Community and Educational
of the Rights of the Child. “To say alive,” Penny said, so he channeled Partnerships at the Chicago
that we, as political leaders, cannot that experience into “Napping Children’s Museum. His
unequivocally say children’s lives While Black,” his forthcoming
matter – why is that so hard?” poem “Sunset, Before” was
dialogue project with the Sweet
Water Foundation. “We have a lot nominated for the Pushcart
A parent of preschool twins
himself, Penny designs and leads of conversations about teens and Prize, and his chapbook The
community engagement initiatives the police and about adults and the Attic, The Basement, The
and access programs at the Chicago police, but we don’t have a lot of
Barn is available through
Children’s Museum. “When you conversation about children birth
through five and the police.” Tammy Journal.
design something well, whether
it’s an exhibit, a program, or a play
Warren Wilson College was the first
structure,” he said, “whatever the
place where Penny said he felt he
thing is, it can live on past you.”
had intellectual freedom. “College
Beyond work at the museum, Penny was the first time where somebody
writes poetry and music, and he said, ‘Here’s a blank piece of paper,
3 / WARREN WILSON COLLEGE
PROFILE
Saleem Hue Penny ’01 | Relevant Role Model
O W L & S PA D E / 4
Lisa Gonzalez ’02 | Practical Idealist 5 / WARREN WILSON COLLEGE
PPR
ROOFF II LL E
E
Lead by Following:
Planting Community Seeds
Profile by Melissa Ray Davis ’02, portrait by Reggie Tidwell
“I
’ve learned that there are a lot “I feel really lucky that I went here in this peaceful, calm,
of leaders in the world,” Lisa conscious environment, because then I was able to go into
Gonzalez ’02 said, “but we need the big wide world, the urban centers that I’ve lived, and
followers too. You can’t always still maintain this peaceful energy and positive attitude.”
be the leader; you have to learn
to follow other people, especially That attitude brought her success in a variety of settings.
people you’re trying to help.” When After earning her bachelor’s degree in Environmental
she first started her work in food Studies with a concentration in Environmental Education,
systems, Gonzalez said she wanted to “save the world and Gonzalez went on to bring hands-on lessons in gardening
bring people out of hunger,” but she realized, “that was my and cooking to children as a teacher at a Waldorf school
privileged perspective going into it.” in Florida. She later joined the University of Maryland
Gonzalez believes that you can’t simply plop down Extension, where she held positions as a Gardening for
a garden in a low-income community and then leave, Nutrition Educator and then a Family and Consumer
expecting community members to take care of it for Sciences Extension Agent, while earning her Master
free. “Projects that are successful are the ones that are of Science degree in Nutrition and Integrative Health.
community-driven,” she said. “And you can’t think that Now, she is a District Food Systems Specialist with
you know what the community needs; you have to ask the University of Florida IFAS Extension. She supports
them, and you have to engage them in the process from schools, communities, and farmers to build strong food
the beginning.” systems throughout Southeastern Florida.
Frequently, community problems stem from much larger, “It is not about me, not about what I want, not about
systemic issues. That’s why Gonzalez is also active in my career,” Gonzalez said. “This country cannot be
political advocacy, and she likes to cut directly to the sustainable if all we’re thinking about is ourselves. We
source. “Back in the day, I used to protest and go to have to step aside and think about other people, what they
marches, but now I just make appointments with my need, what the environment needs, what the world needs.”
senators,” she said.
Gonzalez used carrots as a metaphor. Before, she had
always just pulled them up to eat a few months after
Lisa Gonzalez ’02 is a District
planting the seeds. But carrots are actually biannual, Food Systems Specialist with the
so out of curiosity, she let one grow for its full life cycle. University of Florida Institute of Food
“By the time that carrot finally flowered and produced and Agricultural Sciences Extension,
seeds, it was humongous, and it looked just like Queen
Anne’s Lace, which is wild carrot.” She explained that, like
where she supports schools,
the carrot, you cannot know a community from a communities, and farmers to build
one-time meeting, you have to put in the time and work strong food systems throughout
to better understand how your service can support existing
Southeast Florida.
community-driven efforts.
Gonzalez said her time at Warren Wilson College and on
the Environmental Leadership Crew built her character.
O W L & S PA D E / 6
Legal Rebel With A Cause
Profile by Jake Frankel ’02, portrait by Zaldi Ero
I
n a field often defined But it wasn’t until decades later that belonging, and curiosity. They’ve
by combativeness, Wright had a chance to travel abroad been good guideposts for everything
Kim Wright ’81’s for the first time and experience I’ve done since,” Wright said. “Warren
collaborative approach international cultures and cuisine in Wilson gave me the experience of
to law has earned her their native lands. living in a diverse community and
the honorary title of empowered me to do what I do now,
“Legal Rebel” from She had been busy. Her first child which is to try to build community on
the American Bar was born during her sophomore year, a bigger scale.”
Association (ABA). A leader in the and she played a role in bringing up
Integrative Law movement, she a total of 16 children in the years
travels the globe and works with a that followed. After graduating
wide range of partners to redesign from Warren Wilson with a double Kim Wright, J.D., ’81 is a
legal systems so they are more major in Business Management and leader in the Integrative
holistic and humane. International Studies, she earned
her law degree from the University of
Law movement. She
She traces her skills back to her Florida and maintained a successful travels the globe to
days at Warren Wilson, where she holistic law practice. redesign legal systems
complemented her cross-cultural
that are more holistic
communication classes with life in In 2008, at age 50, with her children
the International Dorm and learned raised, Wright hit the road in search and humane.
from the diverse perspectives of of inspiring new legal models. Her
her housemates. documentary film project featuring
interviews of over 100 legal pioneers
“Warren Wilson ruined me in the led to her first ABA bestselling book,
best way,” Wright said. “Professors Lawyers as Peacemakers: Practicing
like Bill Mosher encouraged Holistic, Problem-Solving Law. She
curiosity. My experience there gave published her second book, Lawyers
me the courage to ask questions as Changemakers: The Global
and empowered me to appreciate Integrative Law Movement, in 2016.
different ways of living.”
Publication opened a wealth of travel
Wright was the first person in opportunities, and she hasn’t seen
her family to go to college. She the need for a permanent address
came to campus at a time when since. She wove together a global
it was filled with students from 50 movement by connecting lawyers,
countries, and it felt a world away consulting, training, and advocating
from her small town upbringing in for values-based approaches to law.
St. Cloud, Florida.
“Integrative law is about getting
“Warren Wilson was as different along as diverse people, which I
as I could get at the time. The learned a lot about at Warren Wilson.
Appalachian Mountains were The school fostered three values that
downright exotic,” she said. have stood the test of time – dignity,
7 / WARREN WILSON COLLEGEPROFILE
Kim Wright ’81 | Intentional Adventurer
O W L & S PA D E / 8Ashley Rogers ’04 | Creative Critical Thinker 9 / WARREN WILSON COLLEGE
PROFILE
Telling Untold Histories
Profile by Melissa Ray Davis ’02, portrait by Reggie Tidwell
M
ost plantation museums Rogers said that when people tell children, “You can
showcase the decadent lives of do anything,” they don’t actually mean anything.
the wealthy plantation owners, But at Warren Wilson she was told, “You can do
romanticizing the “Old South,” anything, and here’s a shovel.” She started digging.
but the Whitney Plantation
After moving to New Orleans, Rogers learned about
instead serves as a memorial to
the Whitney Plantation, which had not yet opened. She
the enslaved people who lived
immediately wrote to them – a plantation museum that told
and died there. The narrative
the narrative from the perspectives of enslaved people
is told from their perspectives, the art installations and
was precisely the history she had hoped to tell. She
memorials are dedicated to them, and the exhibits
asked to volunteer. Instead, after a national search, the
encourage visitors to understand the wider context of
Whitney Plantation hired Rogers as Director of Museum
slavery. Ashley Rogers ’04 is the Executive Director.
Operations. They later promoted her to Executive Director.
“As a white woman who is a scholar of slavery and who’s
“The biggest thing that I want people to get from the
also running a major slavery museum, how I became
experience is that I want them to look around at the world
interested in this topic is a thing that people want to know
differently. We’re not going to be able to teach them
all the time,” Rogers said. “But I don’t really know. People
everything,” Rogers conceded, but she said, “I want
are curious because they think there’s an expectation that
people to buy books. I want them to read the newspaper.
white people wouldn’t care about it – because a lot of
I want them to look around at what’s happening.”
them don’t. I think, to me, I don’t know how you could not
be fascinated by it. I don’t know how you could not care
when it’s so central to our history. It explains so much of
what’s happening right now and always will.”
Rogers started reading slave narratives when she was Ashley Rogers ’04 is Executive
10, but Warren Wilson College was where Rogers first Director of the Whitney Plantation
did original research on slavery. Dr. Philip Otterness then
introduced her to the field of public history and museum
in Wallace, Louisiana, one of the
studies. The rest is history: Rogers eventually earned first plantation museums to tell
her Master of Arts in Public History at Colorado State the story of the people enslaved
University while working as the Assistant Director for there rather than the owners who
Denver Regional Museums, and now she is enrolled in the
Ph.D. program at Louisiana State University.
enslaved them. She is currently
earning her Ph.D. from Louisiana
“I wanted to come back to the South and work in a
State University.
plantation site interpreting slavery, but I thought I was
going to have to invent that from the ground up. I
thought I was going to have to get a job at a plantation
and then be like, ‘Surprise. We’re going to talk about
slavery,’” Rogers said. She later explained, “There’s a
great erasure in this country of the history of slavery. We
really downplay its significance. What happens when
those stories aren’t told? The oppressor wins, right?
The oppressor’s narrative gets to be the narrative if the
oppressed don’t have a voice.”
O W L & S PA D E / 10AT H L E T ICS
FAR M
BRYSO NCH APE L
For 125 years,
Warren Wilson College has educated generations of students
to lead lives of dedication, meaning, service, and beauty
– lives that matter. We’re ringing in the College’s 125th
anniversary with a series of events celebrating our history that
focus on what it means to be located physically, ecologically,
and culturally within the overlapping communities that make
up this special place. As we reminisce about the past, we
look forward to an exciting future at Warren Wilson College!
Photography by Genevieve Gualtiere �16, Casey “Red” Herring �21, Reggie Tidwell,
and the Warren Wilson College Archives
ST U DE NTS290
NEWS
his lecture to bring a 30,000-foot
perspective to conservation efforts. He
Commemorating Warren used this perspective to make a case for
opportunity, hope, and progress. Zooming
Wilson’s 125th Anniversary: in, he revealed Warren Wilson College’s
campus: a place full of ecological
Power of Place Lecture Series
290 diversity and wildlife that is an educational
incubator for future conservationists.
Heather Wingert
Leutze then shifted to a wider view of
0
0
the United States to show before and
0
after maps of land reconfiguration due
29
“When I applied for the presidency at Warren Wilson
to privatization and changes in bird
College in 2017, I was fully aware of Warren Wilson’s migration routes due to climate change.
strong sense of place in the beautiful Swannanoa Valley, These maps demonstrated the need for
policies that promote state and federal
close by the vibrant city of Asheville, in the ancient conservation funding for investment in
southern Appalachian mountains. For nearly two years, I public lands. Rooted in his connection to
special environmental places, Leutze’s
have personally experienced the daily wonder of the gem advocacy work secures public land along
that is our land - nearly 1,200 acres of farm, garden, the Appalachian Trail for all to enjoy.
forest, and core campus. It is exceedingly rare for a college
“There are so many different
to sit on this much land, but beyond that, our land is our
ways of looking at our place.
classroom, our place of discovery, our source of joy and How many of you have been on
solace, and a central part of our future as well.” the River Trail at Warren Wilson
- President Lynn Morton, Ph.D. College? That’s where it’s
happening. That’s where these
0
350
connections are taking place.”
290
To commemorate the 125th anniversary successes in the South Bronx with
- Jay Leutze, Zooming Out: Our Place
of Warren Wilson College and its green infrastructure projects, policies,
in the Conservation Cosmos, Power of
0
predecessor schools, a Power of Place and job training. According to an article
Place Lecture
lecture series launched in the 2018-2019 in The New York Times in 2016, Carter’s
academic year with a focus on what it investment in a coffee shop in the
The 32nd Harwood-Cole Memorial
means to exist physically, ecologically, South Bronx transformed a dormant
Literary Lecture presented a deeper
and culturally within a place. Over the neighborhood into a “community hub and
perspective on how passion for place is
course of five months, three lectures drew tinderbox for creativity.” Steps away from
often connected to personal and societal
more than 700 community members to the coffee shop, Carter’s face appears in
assumptions that can lead to a cognitive
campus. Each lecture sparked reflection a mural with words that read, “You don’t
dissonance between environmental
and dialogue, inspiring attendees to be have to move out of your neighborhood
conservation and race. Ornithologist and
conscious of the nuances of place and to live in a better one.” Her message
author J. Drew Lanham, Ph.D., combined
its relationship to history and people of about community building, people, and
3500
bird photography and poetic prose from
32
different backgrounds. connection in urban planning was a
his award-winning book The Home Place:
powerful launch to the series.
00
The series began with Peabody Award Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair
winner Majora Carter, who delivered a In the spring, Jay Erskine Leutze, author with Nature to give attendees a new
timely message about the significance of of Stand Up that Mountain: The Battle perspective about race and identity in
improving under-resourced communities to Save One Small Community in the relation to place, specifically in nature.
35
within the larger urban revitalization Wilderness Along the Appalachian Many Warren Wilson students read
00
conversation. Carter shared about her Trail, used topographic maps during Lanham’s book as part of their classes
13 / WARREN WILSON COLLEGE092
Power of Place
in Conservation Biology and Psychology
of Sensing and Perception.
Through revitalizing neighborhoods,
protecting public lands, and poetic
truth-telling, Carter, Leutze, and Lanham
celebrated place as something we all can
92
influence through advocacy, education,
00
inspiration, and conservation.
090
2
photo by Zanne Garland photo by Zanne Garland
“Warren Wilson College is in the
005
inspiration game. We want every
single person who walks onto this
2
3
009
campus to be inspired – by our
students, our work, our place.
Through The Power of Place Lecture
Series, we’ve been introduced to a
community that fought to make their
neighborhood what they want it to be
rather than what other people think
it should be. We’ve learned about
efforts to protect landscapes that are
not only beautiful but also essential to
0053
23
photo by Casey “Red” Herring ’21 the cultural and ecological integrity of
00
the region. And tonight, we’ve heard
from a truth-teller who turns science
into poetry and shows us that life
experiences make people see nature
53
in different ways.”
00
- Dave Ellum, Ph.D., Dean of Land Resources
O W L & S PA D E / 14NEWS
Helping Students
Build Their Dreams Morton and Kramer’s vision for the
Center for Integrated Advising and
Integrated Advising for Applied Learning Careers was to transform the space
Melissa Ray Davis ’02 in Jensen’s first floor to create a
welcoming and supportive environment
Warren Wilson College’s unique Applied Learning Cathy Kramer.
for students, as well as provide offices
integrated education model provides This fusion allowed the staff and
for the new Integrated Advising
students with a diverse array of applied missions of each area to become
Coaches and the other departments
learning opportunities that stretch more clearly aligned and provide
housed there. The Center brings
far beyond academics: hands-on seamless, student-centered service.
under one roof all of the resources
community engagement opportunities,
“No matter their major or interest, the students need to support their goals.
work crews, research, professional
Center will transform the way we serve Students who are struggling can get
internships, fellowships, study abroad
our students, providing them with help through tutors, peer coaches,
possibilities, and more. The possible
the foundation they need to find their academic support, study labs, or an
combinations of these experiences
passions and the tools to enable them accommodation plan. They can use the
are multitudinous. In Fall 2018, the
to change the world, one engaged Textbook Exchange or visit the Career
College opened a new Center for
and conscientious citizen at a time,” Closet for professional clothes and
Integrated Advising and Careers with
President Morton said. shoes for their next interview. They can
Integrated Advising Coaches who help
get career advising or find out about
students find the ideal experiences Now, Integrated Advising Coaches
shadowing or internship opportunities.
to complement their studies in a serve in addition to faculty Academic
sustained, one-on-one advising Advisors, and they make sure students Coaches also prepare students for
relationship that spans the full length of know all of their options. Integrated whatever comes next, be it graduate
each student’s undergraduate career. Advising Coaches are able to combine school, a new job, travel, or nonprofit
their wide perspective of everything service. They help students articulate
“Integrated Advising is a far more
the College has to offer with their and document the value of their
intentional way to make sure every
personal understanding of what each Warren Wilson experiences and build
single student has conversations built
student wants to achieve. They can impressive résumés and portfolios full
on an advising curriculum,” Associate
ensure that each student’s experience of their achievements. Coaches make
Dean of Career Development Wendy
is equitable and comprehensive. excellent references, too, because
Seligmann said. “Before, it really took
Integrated Advising establishes a they have watched their advisees
a student making a choice to come
consistent structure for reflection, integrate all of their varied experiences
in and seek out those conversations,
connection, guidance, and support. throughout their time at the College.
but now every single student is having
these conversations a few times “With our Integrated Advising “This way, the conversation about what
a semester.” Coaches, low-income or first- you want to do following graduation is
generation college students have a with the same person you talked about
The foundation for the Center began in
person who is trained in all areas of your first semester classes with, who
2017 when President Lynn M. Morton,
the College to help them navigate all has seen you grow and develop and
Ph.D., brought together several
of the aspects of a college change, and has seen you come back
departments that were previously
environment that may be from an internship with fresh ideas.
in separate divisions. Academic
challenging or new to them,” They’re going to know your strengths,
Support, Retention, Advising, and
Associate Dean of Integrated your personality, who you are,”
Careers joined the Applied Learning
Advising Brooke Millsaps said. Seligmann said.
Division, led by Vice President for
15 / WARREN WILSON COLLEGEExcellence by Design
“My experiences at Warren Wilson have been
incredibly diverse. And I am so grateful that the fact
that I am a Global Studies major doesn’t keep me from
being the Cattle Boss. That is a liberal arts education!
While I was in Mexico, I got to see the convergence
of my different passions at Wilson come together in
a beautiful way. And as I leave Wilson, I know that I
am not limited. I am fully equipped to think critically.”
– Anne Clare Courtway ’18, now working for Heifer International
photo courtesy of Anne Courtway �18
photo by Casey “Red” Herring ’21
The Center for Integrated Advising and Careers and the new Integrated Advising Coach positions were
made possible through philanthropic gifts from Trustees, former Trustees, alumni, and parents of alumni.
More than $250,000 has been raised as of June 2019 to launch the Center. If you would like to help support
Applied Learning and Integrated Advising, please visit: warren-wilson.edu/owlandspade2019
O W L & S PA D E / 16NEWS Liberating Discourse
called the “Truth-O-Meter.” The PolitiFact team was
awarded the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting
in 2009.
“Bill Adair’s journalistic integrity and his leadership
in the practice of fact-checking have provided
much-needed tools to bridge what feel like
impossible chasms in our national conversations
today,” Warren Wilson College President Lynn
M. Morton, Ph.D., said. “Dedication to truth and
willingness to consider other points of view are two
photo by Reggie Tidwell
values we encourage our students to build
in themselves.”
Dialogue across difference has been one of
President Morton’s initiatives at the College. Every
year, the whole campus gathers to hold deliberative
dialogues – a curriculum designed to ensure that
all viewpoints are heard on a controversial topic.
Countering
The College also holds a series of trainings and
workshops to embed deliberative dialogue skills
into the campus culture.
Fear with Facts Adair writes about accountability in journalism and
digital media. He has published articles in The New
Pulitzer Prize-Winning PolitiFact Founder York Times, The Washington Post, Poynter, and
Bill Adair Speaks on Campus the Nieman Journalism Lab. He is also founder of
a global association of fact checkers called the
Melissa Ray Davis ’02 International Fact-Checking Network.
“Some people seem to revel in fear – and share that fear with others in Adair’s son, Miles �20, is currently a Warren Wilson
destructive ways,” Commencement Keynote Speaker Bill Adair said to College student. Adair described how impressed
the Warren Wilson College Class of 2019. Adair explained that this fear he was that on his son’s move-in day, one of the
can often be exploited by politicians. But he spoke of an antidote: facts. people helping families carry boxes into the dorm
was the College’s president. “Warren Wilson is a
Adair is the founder of the Pulitzer Prize-winning website PolitiFact.
role model for how communities should work,”
He encouraged the class of 2019 to “establish a better community” by
he said.
making a point to explore and understand other points of view, to talk to
people outside of their regular connections, and to make friends outside “Our world can sometimes look pretty bleak, filled
of their usual community. with misunderstanding and darkness. But with facts
and friendship, we can bring light back to the world
“Plant seeds for more understanding and humanity every place you can.
and make it over,” Adair concluded.
You never know where they will sprout,” Adair said. “Here’s where the
facts come in. You may decide that your new friend doesn’t have the
facts right on tax policy or immigration. […] Have a gentle conversation Bill Adair’s complete speech from the 2019
about it. But remember that it’s also possible that they have their facts Commencement can be found at:
right and you don’t. One conversation at a time, one fact at a time, we warren-wilson.edu/owlandspade2019
can rebuild trust and understanding.”
Adair is currently the Knight Professor of the Practice of Journalism “Plant seeds for more
and Public Policy at Duke University and Director of the DeWitt
Wallace Center for Media & Democracy, where he conducts understanding and
research on fact checking in the Reporters’ Lab, experimenting with
new ways of presenting fact-based information through digital and humanity every place you
mobile technologies.
can. You never know where
Adair launched PolitiFact as a pilot project for the Tampa Bay Times in
2007. The website grew into the largest fact-checking effort of all time. they will sprout.” – Bill Adair
PolitiFact has served as a model for fact-checking around the world
and is known for rating officials’ public statements for fact on a scale
17 / WARREN WILSON COLLEGEMentors and Mentees
Nourishing Relationships
Building Local Food Systems Together Jay Lively ’00
On any given Saturday morning, you’re likely to find Robin Lenner ’05 and Molly Nicholie ’99
strolling through the farmers market in downtown Asheville, flanked by fresh vegetables and
bright flowers on one side of the street and handmade goods and grass-fed beef on the other.
Lenner and Nicholie support the market’s local farmers and small businesses through their
work at the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP), which manages the Asheville
City Market.
Their shared Warren Wilson College experience helps nurture a work environment that
values collaboration and teamwork. It also makes for a lot of “That’s so Wilson” moments
and plenty of laughter. While stories of making superhero costumes or handing out
deodorant to student volunteers keep things light, the two work diligently to improve lives across
Western North Carolina – from farmers to restaurant owners to children in public schools. The two
acknowledge the important role that Warren Wilson has played in food system work across the region
for more than a century, and they are honored to
help continue to build that legacy.
“You think about Warren Wilson heritage as the
Farm School. People came to farm and do good
work,” said Nicholie, who now serves as Program
Director for the Local Food Campaign at ASAP.
“They saw the value of working on a farm, feeding
your community, building something to leave for
the next generation.”
While Nicholie started at ASAP in 2004 and
Lenner in 2011, the two originally met in 2002 at
photo by Morgan Davis �02
Warren Wilson when Lenner was a student. They
reunited in 2011 when Lenner returned to Warren
Wilson as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer with
the Service Learning Program (now the Center for
Community Engagement). During that year, Lenner
said she was excited to connect Warren Wilson
students with ASAP for volunteer and internship
opportunities, while personally reconnecting with
Molly Nicholie �99 and Robin Lenner �05
Nicholie, who was serving as the Growing Minds
Education Coordinator and living on her own farm
“As a team, we have built a lot of institutional knowledge at ASAP [...]
in Madison County.
working together in partnership,” Nicholie said. “I do a lot with farmer
“When I finished my AmeriCorps year, I reached training and technical assistance, and Robin is the event coordinator,
out to Molly to see if there were any job so we work together really closely on events like the farm tours and
opportunities at ASAP,” said Lenner, who serves farmers markets.”
as the ASAP Event Coordinator. “They were
And for those who appreciate sipping a cup of coffee as they peruse
looking for someone to help coordinate their
one of the 40-plus farmers markets in Western North Carolina, chances
Business to Farming Conference. I was able
are ASAP was instrumental in creating that experience. While you’re
to jump in and take on that role.” The two have
there, you will likely see Warren Wilson alumni selling veggies, flowers,
worked closely ever since.
free-range eggs, grass-fed meats, and more.
“Coming into ASAP, my background was in
“It’s really fascinating to be a part of food systems work in Asheville
environmental education and trail work, not so
because there are so many Warren Wilson connections,” Nicholie said.
much working in an office environment,” Lenner
“[From] working with area chefs who I went to school with, to farmers
said. “So, I’ve appreciated absorbing a lot of
[who] are alumni, to students who I know from volunteering at the
Molly’s experience and methods that have helped
farmers market [...] local food systems are about relationships and
me grow professionally.”
a sense of place and community. And so much of that applies to
Officially, Nicholie is Lenner’s supervisor, but she Warren Wilson, too.”
hoto by Morgan Davis
quickly pointed out that they have learned a lot
from each other. She said that is necessary in Lenner returned to school this fall to pursue a Masters in Education in
such a collaborative work environment. School Counseling at Western Carolina University.
O W L & S PA D E / 18alumni on campus & around the world Reconnecting with a WWC alum instantly reminds you of the power of this place. This year we celebrated 125 years of Warren Wilson College with local alumni gatherings, events around the country on Giving Day, Homecoming, and much more. Thanks for all the memories over the years! Here are a few of our favorites from 2018-2019.
A Powerful Place
Modeling Conservation & Climate Action for a Changing World
Melissa Ray Davis ’02
Recent conservation initiatives, experimental programs, and groundbreaking
research have proven that Warren Wilson College is a leader for sustainable
land management, building on the College’s long legacy as a model for land
stewardship and environmental innovation. But what good is a model if no
one sees it? Warren Wilson College is establishing new initiatives to share that
model with the region and beyond and is using its applied learning philosophy
to spread hope and meaningful action against the backdrop of climate change.
T
he Blue Ridge Mountains of Nestled in the heart of the Blue
Western North Carolina are Ridge Mountains, Warren Wilson
one of the most biodiverse College is uniquely placed to
non-tropical regions in the meet these challenges. With over
world. These mountains contain more a thousand contiguous acres of
plant species than any other similarly- working farm, garden, and forest,
sized area in North America and more the College’s hundreds of students
salamander species than any other work and conduct original research
place in the world. Home to the highest on the land every day. Hundreds of
peaks east of the Mississippi River, these hands and minds mean hundreds of
mountaintops and hollers hold unique potential solutions.
microclimates and ecosystems, habitats to
a myriad of flora and fauna species found
nowhere else in the world. Land As Learning
Climate change and its rising temperatures
Laboratory
threaten these unique mountain
microclimates, the only remaining homes “This year, I have personally Dean of Land Resources to integrate
to several endangered species that need experienced the daily wonder of the land management at the College.
cooler southern climes to survive. The gem that is our land – nearly 1,200 Morton explained that a central land
extreme weather patterns formed as acres of farm, garden, forest, and manager with accountability for land
a result of climate change are causing core campus. It is exceedingly rare management and a structure to support
alternating floods and droughts in the for a college to sit on this much land, land resources was critical to creating
region – sending water raging through the but beyond that, our land is our and implementing the College’s vision.
river valleys and wildfires tearing down the classroom, our place of discovery,
our source of joy and solace, and a “Warren Wilson College wouldn’t
mountainsides. In this threatened context,
central part of our identity and history. be Warren Wilson College without
the incredible biodiversity of the region has
I know that land is a central part of our the land. Without the land, we’d be
a potentially devastating capacity for loss.
future as well,” Warren Wilson College every other college,” Ellum said. “The
Like many unique ecosystems around the President Lynn M. Morton, Ph.D., said land is so important as an applied
globe, the Blue Ridge Mountains have a when she announced her creation of a learning laboratory, as a place where
vital need not just for conservation, but new Dean of Land Resources position our community gets out and enjoys
for research into what actions actually in spring 2018. themselves recreationally. It’s an
help. And realistically, landowners need aesthetic side of the campus. The land
examples of practices that will make President Morton appointed is integral to what we do – it has been
conservation a financially viable option Professor of Ecological Forestry since our founding as the Asheville
for them. Dave Ellum, Ph.D., to serve as the Farm School.” He added that “to make
21 / WARREN WILSON COLLEGEinnovative land management,” Ellum
said. “We want to become the hub
for sustainable land management
for Western North Carolina, so that
landowners can come here to learn
these techniques from us and
our students.”
Seeing the Forest,
Not Just the Trees
Trees are extremely effective at
combating climate change – they pull
vast amounts of carbon dioxide out
of the air. Yet throughout the world,
forested land is diminishing at alarming
rates. Warren Wilson College has
operated for several decades under a
series of forest management principles
that model how sustainable forestry
might be enhanced across the region,
increasing carbon sequestration as
a result.
“We have four objectives for forest
management, and we prioritize them
in this order,” Warren Wilson Forest
Manager and Forestry Crew Supervisor
Shawn Swartz said on a recent Green
Walkabout – a public tour of sustainable
practices on campus. “The first is
photo by Reggie Tidwell ecosystem health, restoration, and
protection. The second is education –
a dean’s position around land shows at you,” Ellum said with a grin.
we’re a college, so it’s a living laboratory
that the College is committed to the “Community outreach was my number
for us. Recreation and aesthetics is
land, and we understand how important one objective coming in, to get the
third – we have a lot of people, not just
the resource is.”
ourselves, who are using the forest trails
“It is exceedingly rare for a and have a sense of investment in it.
But the new deanship isn’t about land
management alone. Ellum has focused
college to sit on this much And then last is utilization of products,
a great deal of his energy on creating land, but beyond that, our land both timber and non-timber.”
new initiatives and partnerships to is our classroom, our place of Swartz said the College never meets
promote and improve Warren Wilson’s discovery, our source of joy any lower objectives by hurting one of
outreach and community involvement.
By integrating farm, forest, and garden
and solace, and a central part the higher objectives. “The products
that we have are generated as by-
landscapes within one system, the of our identity and history.” products of protecting the forest. Same
College’s sustainable land management – President Lynn M. Morton, Ph.D. with recreation and aesthetics – we’re
model is a particularly useful example not going to hurt educational objectives
for landowners. word out that we want involvement from
in order to make sure the public has
the community. We want to help with
places to walk.”
“You can’t call yourself a model just education in the community, and we
because you’re doing good work. You’re want the community to help educate Ellum explained that these four
not a model unless people are looking us. We want to truly be a model for principles and their order of priority were
O W L & S PA D E / 22put in place in the 1980s by Alan Haney, are likely to be cut. In order to prevent also tapping the trees for sap to produce
Ph.D., the College’s first Forestry Professor deforestation – and carbon increases black walnut syrup.
and founder of Warren Wilson College’s as a result – landowners need a forestry
Many recent experiments have involved
Environmental Studies Program. Haney’s model that is economically viable.
determining effective propagation
forest principles have guided the College’s
Warren Wilson College has a model to techniques for wild medicinal plants that
intentional forestry endeavors ever since.
show them. For several decades now, were overharvested nearly to extinction
“The other philosophy of our forest is that students, faculty, and staff have used in the past. Trays full of economically
we never go out and look for products. the College Forest to develop innovative important plants like ginseng, wild
That’s not a sustainable way to manage,” ways to make profitable forestry a reality ginger, goldenseal, black cohosh, and
Ellum said. When trees are cut, he through non-timber forest products. ramps are grown from seed in shade
explained, they are cut individually or in houses on campus and then propagated
“One of the things we’re doing with the
small patchy disturbances, and only when throughout the College Forest and
forestry program here is developing
cutting protects the forest’s ecological beyond. The College has started to
innovative, scale-appropriate,
health. “The management drives the sell these “Guaranteed from Seed”
entrepreneurial endeavors that
products. The products don’t drive seedlings to the public and distribute
landowners can use to bring value to
our management.” them to landowners, “so that they can
their land until their timber is due,” put them back out on their land and get
Ellum does recognize, however, that Ellum said. Through these projects, the economic value and the biodiversity
the products do drive the management students learn not only sustainable
value from it,” Ellum said, all while
in many other forests. To inspire the forestry – they gain business and
protecting natural populations from
widespread adoption necessary for marketing skills as well.
overharvest and extirpation.
climate action, landowners need models
that show how sustainable forestry can The Shitake Mushroom Project, initiated Some non-timber forest products have
be profitable. during Haney’s time, is one of the early proven more viable than others, but
examples of Warren Wilson’s non-timber that, Ellum said, is part of the point.
forest product research. Mushrooms are Landowners do not have the time or
Non-Timber a crop that can be grown on the forest
floor in the shade of the trees. Over the
resources to experiment and figure out
Forest Products decades, the shitake operation was
what works, but the College does –
donations and grants fund the research.
refined with experiments oriented to the In the end, after students work out the
goal of improving yield. The Forestry difficulties and streamline the process
Crew has tested other mushroom through experimentation, the College
species too, like maitake, chicken of the can show landowners proven models
wood, oyster, lion’s mane, reishi, and for profitable forestry and prevent
wild-harvested turkey tail. deforestation in the region.
Not to mention truffles, an extremely Ellum asserted that even if an individual
profitable crop. The Forestry Crew experiment fails, the College is still
established a hazelnut tree plantation doing its job: teaching students
on the College’s land recently, and the through applied learning. Curiosity,
tree roots are inoculated with black research, experimentation, and work are
perigord truffle mycorrhizae. Swartz graduation requirements, and Warren
says it will take a few more years for Wilson College’s land is a classroom,
the plantation to mature, and then they laboratory, and workplace.
will know if truffles are a viable crop in
photo by Mary Bates these mountains.
“Warren Wilson College
One of the major causes of deforestation The Forestry Crew has developed other
is that forests frequently become an non-timber products in the College wouldn’t be Warren Wilson
economic drain on landowners. Timber Forest as well. Recently, they thinned College without the land.
takes decades to mature, which means out other species in a pawpaw tree
decades of property taxes with no profit. stand on Jones Mountain and planted Without the land, we’d be
Landowners sell their forested land for ramps across the forest floor. They have every other college.”
development or other more lucrative also experimented with black walnut
uses, and in the end, unprofitable forests trees – not just harvesting the nuts, but – Dean of Land Resources Dave Ellum, Ph.D.
23 / WARREN WILSON COLLEGEphoto by Reggie Tidwell
A Quest for and setting aside acreage for habitat
in the Conservation Reserve Program.
crops, never returning them to the soil.
Commercial grazing, Hamilton
Carbon-Neutral Because livestock farming usually clarified, is continuous, which is not
Cattle produces a very large carbon footprint, sustainable. Recent regenerative
the College is using several regenerative agriculture studies have suggested that
farming methods in an effort to reduce to achieve sustainability and maintain
“This land has been tended by young that footprint. a carbon-neutral agricultural operation
people stewarding the land for 125 with livestock, farmers must reduce
years,” Interim Farm Manager and Farm “Right now, we’re operating as a livestock numbers dramatically below
Crew Supervisor Virginia Hamilton ’13 regenerative model in the Southeast conventional commercial numbers and
said during a recent Green Walkabout for an integrated crop and livestock practice rotational grazing so that the
tour. “There’s this power of lineage that system,” Hamilton said. She explained plants have time to grow back.
we have here. When we think about that most farms specialize in either
growing crops or farming livestock, but Hamilton cited studies that show
power of place, I’ve always found that
at Warren Wilson, all of the grains that promise that this managed grazing
lineage to be really special, and it was
students grow on College land are kept technique may mitigate the carbon
something that was very inspiring to me
on the farm to feed the animals. footprint of a farm. “You’re capturing
as a student, being the latest in this long
carbon from the atmosphere – plants
line of students who brought something,
“To be doing both of them on the same are turning that carbon into plant tissue.
took care of this place, and added their
piece of land is quite unique, and we’ve There’s a massive potential for carbon
own little thing to it.”
found that it has been really beneficial sequestration when you’re doing
The College Farm is committed to to our system,” Hamilton said. She managed grazing.” To test these ideas,
sustainability and habitat conservation, explained that farms operating on a the land resources team plans to test
and that goes beyond avoiding strictly plant-based system remove the 10 years of soil samples taken from the
pesticide use, maintaining organic natural plant-growth stimulators that College’s pastures to determine how
farming practices, keeping buffers grazing animals provide and export all much carbon was sequestered due to
and riparian areas along waterways, of those nutrients and carbon with their the College’s rotational grazing method.
O W L & S PA D E / 24You can also read
