Virtually Shorter
May 2007

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Alumni body expands Spring commencement exercises were held Saturday, May 5, at the Winthrop-King Centre, where 380 individuals became Shorter College alumni. An estimated 180 students received degrees during the 10 a.m. ceremony, and Dr. Jamil S. Zainaldin, president of the Georgia Humanities Council, was the keynote speaker.

At the 2 p.m. ceremony an additional 200 students received degrees. Mr. David Hankerson, county manager for Cobb County and member of the Shorter College Board of Visitors, was the featured speaker for the afternoon ceremony. For a listing of degrees presented at each ceremony, visit http://www.shorter.edu/about/news/news_home.htm.

Remember when...then tell us! If sharing your memories with fellow alumni could be done with the click of a button, wouldn’t you do it? Well, wait no longer because it’s that simple with Shorter’s new Web community for alumni: Hawkspace. By creating a free account (which only takes a few minutes), you can reminisce about the Daisy Chain, Rat Week, Midnight Breakfast, Sherwood Forest Days, Sophomore Sabots or whatever tradition you remember from your time on the Hill. Then, watch online as other alumni share and discuss their favorite traditions as well.

With a Hawkspace account you can also submit alumni news, update your contact information and register for upcoming alumni events. However, to take advantage of these new services, you must set up your own alumni account.

To add your memorable Shorter tradition, visit hawkspace.shorter.edu and click on "Register". Once you have logged in, you can edit your profile, share class updates, add to tradition discussion boards and stay in the loop with Shorter events.

It's time to raise the roof! Construction continues on Shorter’s newest building – a residence hall to provide living space for an additional 48 students. This project was announced in mid-March with a target date for completion set at Aug. 15, 2007. If you visit the Rome campus you’ll see the three-story apartment-style building behind the Sheffield-Thompson building and west of Roberts Hall.

However, for frequent updates and photos of the progress, you may also follow the construction online at http://www.shorter.edu/about/construction.htm.

Periscope receives national praise Shorter College’s student newspaper, The Periscope, earned a first place with special merit award in the 2006 American Scholastic Press Association competition. The Periscope competed against other publications from colleges and universities across the United States with 1,001 to 1,700 students. Shorter’s entry included newspapers produced during the 2006 calendar year, which spanned two academic years.

The Periscope earned 970 of 1,000 points, with top scores in art, advertising, illustrations, editing and creativity. The “special merit” designation is awarded to a publication that scores more than 900 points and, in the opinion of the judge, is an outstanding overall example of a scholastic publication in format, content and presentation. This is the first year Shorter’s newspaper earned the special merit honor.

“You have an excellent school newspaper, which shows the talents of your editors, reporters, writers, photographers, layout designers and adviser,” the judge wrote on the comment sheets.

This recognition follows a second place award in Layout and Design that The Periscope received from the 2006 Georgia College Press Association competition in February.

The newspaper is available online at www.theperiscope.org .

Serving others, Shorter-style Lives of strangers will be changed this summer because of the serving hands and hearts of Shorter College students. Please keep them in your prayers as they travel and work around the world. Four Shorter students have been selected by Georgia Baptist Collegiate Missions to fill short-term summer posts abroad. Erin Miller will serve as a missionary in India; Bonnie McNulty in Prague, The Czech Republic; Cassie Murdock in Spain; and Elisabeth Watts in Nicaragua. Additionally, Lauren Harper has been selected as a counselor at Camp Pinnacle, a missions camp experience sponsored by the Georgia Baptist Woman’s Missionary Union.

Funding for these mission trips was raised throughout the school year. The students raised an all-time high of $8,500 to support mission projects.

Students excel at honor society convention Shorter College seniors took home two of the 22 presentation awards at the annual national convention of Alpha Chi, the national college honor society. Kimberly Markham received the Johnny and Frances Williams Prize in Performing Arts for her performance of two piano selections.

Shorter’s students were among 175 students on the scholarly program presented to 400 delegates in San Antonio.

DeWitt elected AAUW state president-elect Shorter College’s Dr. Patricia DeWitt has been elected Georgia’s president-elect for the American Association of University Women (AAUW). In this role she will lead the organization within the state of Georgia on its mission to “advance equity for women and girls through advocacy, education and research.

” Nationally, AAUW has more than 150,000 members and 1,500 branches. “I am excited to be a part of the AAUW leadership, and I especially look forward to working with other women across the state,” said Dr. DeWitt. “Our tradition is to be a group of educated women helping others, and we still have a lot to do in the economic, political and social spheres.”

At Shorter, Dr. DeWitt serves as assistant vice president for planning and institutional effectiveness.

Russian artists exhibit at Arnold Gallery Shorter was one of only four Georgia colleges that had the opportunity to exhibit artwork from students in Yekaterinburg, Russia, earlier this spring. Three faculty members from the Ural State Academy of Architecture and Arts visited the campus in April and displayed artwork created by their top students.

One of the leading architectural, artistic and design schools in Russia, Ural State Academy filled Shorter’s Arnold Art Gallery with creative and expressive pieces from Russian college and elementary students. Members of the Shorter community had the opportunity to discuss the art with the three faculty members during a reception on April 20.

SPORTS NEWS

Hawks qualify for track, field nationals Several Shorter College track and field athletes have posted times to qualify for the NAIA Outdoor National Championships. Dustin Mitchell is Shorter’s latest national qualifier. While recently competing in the Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville, Tenn., Mitchell ran the 13-mile course in 1:16:41, a time that qualifies him for the full marathon at the NAIA Championships in Fresno, Calif., May 24-26.

Other recent Shorter national qualifiers include Nate Scott in the 110-meter hurdles (14.69), Remy Charpentier in the 800-meter run (1:53.02), and the men’s 4-by-400-meter relay team of Derricus Johnson, Charpentier, Kevin Cone and Andrew Rodriguez.

In addition, Shorter’s Missy Duke brought home the conference Freshman of the Year award. Four players were named to the All-Conference team, three to the All-Conference 2 nd Team, and two to the All-Freshman team. Four were recognized with All-Academic honors.

For a listing of these award recipients and a recap of the Lady Hawks’ season, visit athletics.shorter.edu. Be sure to then check back for updates on the Lady Hawks’ results during the Region XIII tournament that begins May 8.

Hawk named low medalist of region tournament Joe Butler’s college athletic career will continue even though he graduated on May 5. By finishing five under, he earned low medalist at the Region XIII/SSAC golf tournament held April 29-May 1, which now qualifies him for nationals later this month. Additionally, Butler was named SSAC Player of the Year and qualified to the All-Conference and All-Region teams.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW FOR THESE UPCOMING ALUMNI EVENTS

For more information on the events below, visit Hawkspace, call the Alumni Office at (800) 868-6980, ext. 7353 or (706) 233-7353 or e-mail sgraves@shorter.edu.

Shorter Alumni Night at the Rome Braves Game
Saturday, Aug. 18, at State Mutual Stadium
Pre-game picnic begins at 5:30 p.m.; Game begins at 7 p.m.
Cost: $17 per person for picnic and game ticket
Limited tickets available; pre-registration required by Monday, Aug. 13

Homecoming & Alumni Weekend
Sept. 28-29
This year's theme is "Plug In," so be sure you get plugged in to all the exciting events happening during the weekend! Registration booklets will be mailed this summer.

Professional Studies Day at Shorter Hawks Football Game
Saturday, Oct. 6

Reunion celebrating 40 years of the Shorter Chorale
Nov. 9-10

Alfred E. Shorter Society Dinner
Saturday, Nov. 17

SHORTER ALUMNI BENEFITS

Liberty Mutual: Savings on auto and homeowner’s insurance to Shorter alumni

For a free, no-obligation rate quote, call Beth Blalock at (770) 924-6464 x 206 or e-mail Beth.Blalock@LibertyMutual.com.

"I've switched my homeowner's and automobile insurance to Liberty Mutual. Not only does Shorter receive a portion of my payments, but coupled with the discount for alumni, I've realized an annual savings of more than $1,300. I've also made a new friend in Beth Blalock, who
is Liberty Mutual’s quote representative for Shorter.”
Shorter alumnus Clark Samples (’71)

Shorter College Alumni Association
Platinum Plus MasterCard Credit Card

"The Bank of America credit card is a wonderful tool for alumni to promote Shorter through name recognition. Every time I present the card, a new person sees the Shorter College name, and often asks about the college.
Shorter alumna Patsy Drummond (’62)

Travel Benefits: Savings on resort vacation
condominium rentals for Shorter alumni

To review available locations and dates as well as booking information, visit www.alumnitravelbenefits.com/shorter.asp or call (888) 729-3842. Use Shorter’s code AGA-002.

"We had a wonderful trip to Disney World! The condo through Alumni Travel Benefits was beautiful; it exceeded our expectations in every way!”
Shorter alumna Tina Chapman (’04)

Got news? Maybe a new job or a new baby? Recently married? Share the good news with your friends through class notes in Shorter magazine. E-mail your news to ckirby@shorter.edu . Be sure to include your full name, class year, e-mail address, mailing address and phone number. Please let fellow alumni know that they can subscribe to Virtually Shorter by visiting Shorter's alumni web community Hawkspace. You also can reach the Alumni Office at (800) 868-6980.

Virtually Shorter is compiled by the Office of Institutional Relations. If you have questions, comments or suggestions for our e-newsletter, e-mail Tracy Batchelor at tbatchelor@shorter.edu.

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