R Connections

This past September, Rich Russo ’76 hiked LaPlata Mountain, the 5th highest peak in Colorado.

Submitted by: Rich Russo

Matt ’12 and Ashley Vanden Avond Muza ’13 own a home in Green Bay where they live with their 2 daughters; Madalynn Marie and Meredith Mae. Both work for United Healthcare with the Medicare and Retirement department where Ashley is a telecommuting Team Lead. She recently traveled to Illinois to present to many of the members the company services.

Submitted by: Ashley J. Muza

(1) Brie Terrell ’03 and Heather Braund Kotleski ’03 each celebrated renewing their 10th wedding anniversary vows in Costa Rica.

(2) Heather Braund Kotleski ’03 and Mandi Gausewitz ’03 vacationing in Costa Rica, September 2019.

(3) Brie Terrell ’03 and Heather Braund Kotleski ’03 each celebrated renewing their 10th wedding anniversary vows in Costa Rica.

(4) Mandi Gausewitz ’03, Heather Braund Kotleski ’03 and Brie Terrell ’03 enjoy hibachi with their husbands during a recent couples vacation to Costa Rica.

Submitted by: DevStudent

John Michael “Mike” Pepio, 76, of Oceanside, CA, passed away peacefully on September 18, 2019 in Oceanside, CA after a valiant battle with a rare neurological illness.

Submitted by: DevStudent

Art Lundeberg

520-296-9281 / [email protected]

Dear Class of 1955: This will be my last Class Agent letter. During the years, I have tried to write articles that would appeal to our times at Ripon. I have received several email comments (and phone calls) commenting on the letters, which I have greatly appreciated and welcomed. However, I was disappointed in the lack of response to the spring letter re: going home for Christmas from Ripon. I had hoped that would have been fun and of interest to us. 

I do thank FRANCES JOANNES WINANS ’55 and BILL IHSSEN ’55 for their comments, as requested in the letter, but those were the only responses I received. I also thank everyone in our class who took the time to send me an email during the past years. I always looked forward to hearing from  everyone. I enjoyed renewing old friendships.

As always, I wish a very happy Christmas and holiday season to all.

ART LUNDEBERG ’55

Submitted by: Art Lundeberg

Deborah Johnson Van Slyke

480-284-5564 / 619-889-5061 / [email protected]

DELORES GREY HOLDEN ’60: “When I opened our copy of this current issue, I was surprised to see a photo of myself on page 3. My guess is that it was taken while I was in my senior year. In my years (1956 through 1960) Ripon’s curriculum offered classes that would fulfill the minimal requirements needed for a teaching license in either Illinois or Wisconsin. That included a two-hour course in cooperatives required by Wisconsin. I taught for one year in Plymouth, Wisconsin, then the following year in Oklahoma. Several years of substitute teaching all over Chicago, including going to an elementary school in a ghetto neighborhood the day after the riots ended. I received an M.A. in special education after raising our two sons and then worked for the Northwest Suburban Education Organization where I was the provocation all coordinator.”

JANET GORN ’60 of Montclair, Virginia retired with 40 years of federal government service as a diplomat in the field of civil nuclear energy and nonproliferation. In honor of her distinguished professional career on the staff of the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Congressional Research Service and the Brookings Institution, and civil society contributions, she was named a Lifetime Achiever by the Marquis Who’s Who in America. Having traveled to 38 countries and 49 states, she is not planning to travel for a while.  However, retirement has not slowed her down. In 2019 she was elected to the office of program director on the Virginia State Board of the League of Women Voters (LWV), joined the board of directors of the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial Foundation and is contributing to the George Mason University Women’s Leadership program. She also is president of the Kings Highway Republican Women’s E-Club (the first virtual club in Virginia), vice chairman of the National Federated Republican Women’s (NFRW) Literacy Committee and the NFRW Membership Committee Working Group on the Virtual Club concept.            

CHARLES MORGAN ’60 of The Villages, Florida: “I enjoy golf three to four times a week. Living in The Villages is great. We, however, miss our grandkids and their athletic activities in New Jersey. You wouldn’t believe how great they are!”

Submitted by: Deborah Johnson van Slyke

Wayne Wolfgram

313-882-1712 / [email protected]

Greetings, Classmates! I hope this finds everyone doing well.

LARRY HAMILTON ’63 of Dallas, Texas ([email protected]): “Ripon organized a Career Discovery Tour that included about 15 students exploring potential future career paths.The group spent a couple of days in Dallas staying at my recently completed Lorenzo Hotel. I met up with them on a Saturday night and led a little walking tour of downtown Dallas starting at the Lorenzo, then walking to the nearby Aloft Hotel, a conversion of a historic 1925 building that we completed in 2009. There we all had a drink at the bar (with our bartender not checking IDs). Then we moved to the Dallas Power & Light complex where we had dinner at its Indian restaurant, Spice in the City, and the students got to see a historic complex that we had converted into loft apartments in 2005. After dinner, we resumed the walking tour down Main Street to the former Municipal Building (where Lee Harvey Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby in 1963, our graduation year) at which point I excused myself and the students ventured on to explore the Deep Ellum neighborhood on their own.

“The following morning we had a nice brunch that I hosted at Lorenzo Hotel, and a few local alumni also attended. I think all of us elders found the students to be very impressive. They certainly seemed to be a cut above the likes of me at that age. The following day, while the students were off to other exciting venues, I had the pleasure of a brief meeting with Acting President Ed Wingenbach and Vice President for Advancement SHAWN KARSTEN ’09, so I was fortunate enough to get a good dose of Ripon College for a few days in March.”

SUSAN RITTER KALANGES ’63 of Chester, Virginia ([email protected]): “All’s well in Chester, Virginia. We always seem to be busy — with a little travel in the States (I haven’t been overseas for awhile), our organizations (need to cut down on those), our daughters who live close by and trying to downsize all our ‘stuff’ — just in case we need to downsize our living quarters one of these days! Hope to make it to our 60th reunion! Best to all!”

SUSAN KELLER MATTHES ’63 of Carson City, Nevada ([email protected]): “Here in the West, our spring often was mixed with snowfall in the mountains and rains in the valleys. Many of the peaks in the Sierra Nevada are still white and so lovely against a blue sky. Our water supply for the summer should be quite adequate here in the desert.

“Juergen and I revisited Utah and the Moab area this spring to finish up with a boat trip on the Colorado and a jeep trip into the Paradox salt extrusion areas. Here there’s a layer of 5,000 feet of salt below the earth’s surface which pushes up to the surface on occasion — a result of an inland sea which covered much of this area way back when! The forces of the earth are indeed interesting and beautiful!

“Relaxing time on our patio at Red Cliffs Lodge overlooking a quiet section of the river, listening to birds and watching rafters and kayakers float past completed our Moab visits. Flaming Gorge was another interesting, though not nearly as popular, stop for a few days in the upper northeast corner of Utah. Utah is certainly a state that has much to offer visitors of all interests.

“Value the positives of each day — and protect your health. Both are important! Happy summer days!”

DAN SCHULTZ ’63 of Silver Spring, Maryland ([email protected]): “I know that at our age most people are looking to downsize — selling the family home and moving into a smaller home or condo or into a retirement community, etc. We, on the other hand, acquired our winter home in Florida two years ago in Palm Beach Gardens; and over this past winter renovated a lakefront home on a small lake in Wisconsin that we will use for our getaway place in the hot summer months when you don’t want to be in Florida and would rather not be in the Washington, D.C., area where our primary home is. Hard to beat: Washington, D.C., in the spring and fall when it is beautiful here; Florida in the winter months; and a Wisconsin lake in the hot summer months. Our Wisconsin place is particularly special to me as it is on Lake Ripley, the lake where I spent my youth at our family summer home that ultimately became my folks’ primary home when my dad retired. Bookends of my life, so to speak.

“As we get older, our lives seem to become a series of falls. My wife fell riding her bike in February and broke her wrist and severed a tendon. One of my sisters fell last month and fractured her hip. And a number of our friends have experienced falls of one magnitude or another. En garde, and watch your step!”

All the best everyone. Let’s all stay in touch. Until next time.

WAYNE

Submitted by: Wayne Wolfgram

Pat Ostrom Kohnen

925-201-7377 / [email protected]

Greetings Classmates: It is time for the fall class letter, but I am enjoying summer. Life is still great here at Stoneridge Creek. I finally saw “Hamilton,” which was wonderful (I did my homework first). I wonder if some of you made it to Alumni Weekend. It is hard to imagine that we graduated 55 years ago. 

I have another Road Scholar trip planned with my friend, Cleve, for October. We will travel to Oahu and Kauai. I did not receive any information from classmates to share this time. It has been fun to see a few classmates on Facebook. If you participate in Facebook, consider asking me to be a friend.

JANE “JAN” WREDE ’64 of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, published a second edition of her field guide “Trees, Shrubs and Vines of Texas Hill Country.” The comprehensive plant chart “makes tips about color, scent, flowering period, height, site preference, and wildlife and livestock utilization easily accessible.” The book is available on amazon.com.

I encourage each of you to donate to the Ripon Fund. I know that many of you have given for a long time, but it is also not too late to start. I am really grateful for my experience at Ripon. I just completed the PATRICIA OSTROM KOHNEN ’64 and JAMES B. KOHNEN ’64 Summer Chemistry Student Research Fund.

Remember that if you visit San Francisco, I would like to meet you or have you come to visit me at Stoneridge Creek. I am very near the Livermore Valley Wine area; we have 50 wineries.

PAT KOHNEN

Submitted by: Pat Ostrom Kohnen

John C. Hyde

414-530-4041 / [email protected]

Donna and I enjoying pleasant weather here in Pensacola. I’m  flying to our Conover, Wisconsin, house for two weeks to see daughter, Terrell, hubby Brendan and granddaughters Helena, Julia and Georgia. Also will see Trevor Hyde and wife Phyllis and sons Tristan and Cian. Tristan is the first grandchild to attend college. He will start at Illinois Wesleyan University this fall.

Donna and I are celebrating our anniversary this August by going to New Orleans which is only three hours by car and seeing Queen with Adam Lambert and spending a few days in the French Quarter.

JOHN HYDE ’65

JACKIE ALCORN ’65: “I’ve travelled more in the last three months than any time in my life. In April, I flew to Stuttgart, Germany, where my son is stationed with the Navy. His family included me on a cruise out of Venice to Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Ravenna, Italy. I took a trip by myself to Malta where I lived from 1954-1956. I stayed in an Airbnb that seemed like a cross between an art and a history museum. The present occupants of the house where I lived with my parents invited me in and showed me all through the house. I saw where I used to take horseback riding lessons and the beach where I had my 13th birthday party. It was like a time warp —  going back in time, but without my parents and school friends.

“After another week with my son and three grandchildren, I returned to Virginia for a few days before flying to Washington state where my oldest granddaughter graduated from Whitman College in May. From there, I flew to California to spend a couple of weeks with my friend from Ripon, Jane Person. I always enjoy my time with Jane. My granddaughter, Jackie, and her boyfriend drove down from Seattle, picked me up at Jane’s and drove me to Yosemite where we spent a couple of days. It is a must-see for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet. They took me back to Jane’s from where I flew back to Seattle from my grandson’s high school graduation in June. I was able to attend several concerts that two of my grandsons participated in.

“From Seattle I flew to Colorado where my youngest daughter and her family took me tent camping in four national parks: Grand Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde, Black Canyon and Rocky Mountain. I’m finally home in Virginia Beach but getting ready to drive to New Hampshire where my entire family gets together each July for a couple of weeks by a lake.”

When I called PHIL HOLM ’65, he enjoyed discussing Ripon’s undefeated football team our junior year. Classmate JIM CAHOON ’65 was our quarterback and DICK BENNETT ’65 was a receiver. Phil also mentioned PETE COOPER ’65 who was on the team. Phil and Pete were on our golf team. Phil mentioned that he just sold his successful awards business that was started by his parents in the ’30s.

Phil and I talked about Dick Bennett’s success as a college basketball coach, taking Wisconsin to the Final Four, and what happened this year when Dick’s son, Tony, the basketball coach at the University of Virginia, lead his team and won the NCAA National Championship this year.

RETT HUMKE ’65 and JEANNE HYDE HUMKE ’66: “Our grandson, Basil Humke, is to begin college in the fall.” I talked to Jeanne when they were visiting their son, Ryan, and his wife, Carly, in Vermont. Jeanne and Rett were taking a 3+- week trip in the camper when I talked to Jeanne. Part of the trip was to Quebec, Canada, where Jeanne said that knowledge from Rett’s Ripon French class got them through! Their daughter, Kristen, and husband, Eric, have two daughters in college. Nicole, the oldest, who will be a senior next year, had a wonderful trip Florence, Italy.”

MARY KROENING ’65: “Not much has changed since our last class letter! My knee is replaced and is working like it’s supposed to. I’ve been doing a lot of exercising and decided to work with a personal trainer to keep progressing. I’ve been volunteering at the arboretum as usual and am working on the planning committee for our Ukulele Festival in Aurora on Aug. 25. I decided to concentrate on the uke instead of storytelling. The band is my happy place! Our son, Dave, and grandson, Trevor, are here for a short visit from Alaska. Trevor is 6’3″ — I’ve never felt so short! We all went to see “Hamilton” yesterday and loved it. There’s a wonderful Hamilton exhibit in Chicago which John and I plan to see sometime soon. Trevor’s kind of “Hamiltoned” out or else we’d take him before he flies out of here next week. We are hoping to see Carole Coop Atherton and Malarkey when they come to town this summer. We always enjoy catching up with them.”

SUE PURTELL KULLICK ’65 from Hamilton, Montana, and her husband are planning a summer wedding for their daughter at their home. She and her husband have four children. The oldest is highly ranked in the U.S. Tennis Association. They have nine grandchildren, all of whom will be at the wedding. She and her husband are celebrating their 53rd anniversary. She mentioned that Ripon classmate, MARK LEDGER ’65, gets out there a few times each year for the Western Sustainability Exchange. She is planning to be at our Ripon 55th year reunion in 2020.

CHARLIE LARSON ’65: “We haven’t got a lot planned this summer-fall, but there are a few things. Next weekend we are getting together with 12-15 of my former tennis players to celebrate one of the players, BILL FIEDLER ’82, being inducted into the Ripon College Athletic Hall of Fame. Some of these players I haven’t seen in decades. It should be a lot of fun.

“Karen and I always take a train trip (usually out west through the mountains) each summer. This year we are traveling east to Charlottesville, Virginia, in September. We are looking forward to seeing a different part of the country. Have a great summer!”

I had an interesting phone discussion with JANE PERSON ’65. She says that classmate JACKIE EADY ALCORN ’65 is doing a lot of traveling. Jackie’s son is in Germany, grandkids in Seattle and there is an annual New Hampshire bash with the Peace Corps. Jane is always full of energy and news. Our Ripon College President, Zach Messitte, stopped at Jane’s house for lunch with a Ripon alumni representative. 

WIN RYDER ’65: “Mary and I went to Egypt in January, loved it and recommend it highly.

Went to Naples, Florida, in February and Turks and Caicos in March. Made it through the Michigan winter. We live on Lake Michigan and it gets brutal. In summer, the kids and grandchildren are here. In September we are going to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Poland.”

BARB BRADFORD SEWALL ’65 and TED SEWALL ’66 spend March and April in Venice, Florida, each year. Their sons, TOM SEWALL ’93 and GREG SEWALL ’95, are Ripon grads. Greg’s wife is also a Ripon grad. Tom is an attorney and Greg is a surgeon. Ted enjoys fishing and hunting with his sons.

JIM THORSEN ’65: “I want to thank CRAIG FERRIS ’65 for his article about GREG THOMPSON ’65. Well-done, Craig. Nancy and I attended the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. Our grandkids’ high school band participated in ceremonies at three beaches, Sainte-Mere-Eglise and the American Cemetery. Everywhere on the Normandy Coast we saw U.S., British, Canadian and French flags. The French have not forgotten their liberation from Nazi rule. An emotional trip, to be sure. Have a great summer.”

LARRY TICE ’65: “Ready to enjoy another Wisconsin summer … ready to have a few more “water fights“ and pool “splashes” with the grandkids. I’m still in Chicago, still not far from where you seemingly hung out as a kid. (Seems like yesterday since I’ve had some eye surgery and other “invasions” of the “body politic“ that I’ve lost some energy and am slowing down. Hope I get the energy back.) I’m semi-retired yet; exercising with MinJa along Chicago‘s beautiful lakefront. And, what a series of venues offered by the lakefront: from Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis” at Millennium Park to (old guys) 

Rolling Stones at Soldiers Field to still ongoing controversies between “friends of the park” vs Obama library Conservators. Minja is “happy“ to be retired and stays In touch with family in South Korea.” 

Submitted by: John Hyde

Bob Martin

[email protected]  

Dear Classmates: I suspect that, like a lot of you, I left Ripon with a feeling that I could have done a lot more, not only for myself but for the College. So when VICKY PORTH TOBIAS ’68 urged me in 2005 to become Class Agent, I accepted. Since then, I’ve been writing these letters for 14 years, as well as coordinating three class reunions. Particularly after our 50th reunion last year, I felt that I was able to finish some things that I left undone in 1968. With that in mind, I’m happy to report that the class agency reins will pass to PETER UHRIG ’68 once this letter is published.

I chose Peter not only on the recommendation of classmates but also because he has been a steadfast supporter of the College and our class, through annual giving, reunion attendance and contacts with friends from 1968. He is also facile with the written word. I wish him all the best, and thank all of you for the support you’ve given me over the years.

College News: The College celebrated Commencement on May 19 with the graduation of 152 seniors and the keynote address by Marc Edwards, a University Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering at Virginia Tech. Called the “plumbing professor” by Time magazine, he is best-known for leading the research group that uncovered both the 2001-2004 lead crisis in Washington, D.C., and the 2014-2016 water disaster in Flint, Michigan.

JOHN HERMES ’68 and Cynthia Cortright were married on May 4, 2019. John reports: “I met the love of my life at Ripon on Feb. 7, 1965. We had a wonderful marriage. On June 7, 2016, Susan lost her six-year battle with cancer. I do and will always miss her. Fortunately for me, after a couple of years, I met Cynthia. She has a doctorate in music from the University of Oklahoma and is a wonderful piano player and person.” Congratulations to John and Cynthia.

As we go to press, Sun magazine is considering a submission from TOM SELSOR ’68 for its “Readers Write” section. I have condensed it here. It’s a great narrative about a young student’s intellectual journey, with Ripon in a strong supporting role:

“It was late September 1965 and I was entering my sophomore year as a psychology major at Ripon College, having hitch-hiked there from my hometown of Berkeley, California. I had registered for an elective English course in 19th Century American Literature, and at the recommendation of my professor, William Martz, had gone to the campus library that morning to begin reading Billy Budd, Sailor. It was the last and shortest novel of Herman Melville’s, never published in his lifetime, and found in his attic after his death.

“I started reading at 8 a.m., skipped two psychology classes and finished about 9 p.m. The next morning I walked into the administration building to request a change in my major from psychology to English. I thought a psych major would teach me the mysteries of human behavior and thinking and identity. But nothing so far in over a year had even suggested the mystery and depth of this short novel of the complex moral dilemma between Man’s Law and God’s Law, between the head and the heart.

“The woman behind the desk appeared confused and nervous. ‘I think you need approval from your psych advisor to do this,’ she said. ‘You’d better talk to her first.’ I said ‘No, I’ve already made my decision. Please change my major to English.’

“In an entire year at Ripon as a budding psych major, I had never found anything remotely as absorbing and charged with depth and insight as this dilemma of true innocence vs. guilt, good vs. evil, innocence vs. guilt.

“Three years later, I would enter graduate school at the University of Wisconsin and later graduate with a doctorate in 19th Century American Literature. My advisor at Wisconsin was Merton M. Sealts Jr., who had joined with Harrison Hayford from Northwestern University to edit the definitive edition of Billy Budd, Sailor. And what was my 265-page dissertation titled? ‘A Thematic and Structural Analysis of Billy Budd, Sailor.’

“Thanks, Ripon College, Herman Melville, and professors Martz and Sealts, for setting me on the right track for a rewarding career of learning, discovery and teaching.”

All the best,

BOB

Submitted by: Bob Martin

I’ve been married to Kris for 39 years. Two daughters Jennifer and Jessica. Retired in July after 38 years as a trial lawyer. I’ve lived in Apple Valley, Minnesota for 34 years.

Submitted by: David Albright

Ronald Bolding has been named CEO of Pilgrim Place, a continuing care retirement community in Claremont, CA, having just completed eight months as the interim president and CEO.

Bolding most recently was president and CEO of the not-for-profit Inter Valley Health Plan, a senior health plan headquartered in Pomona, CA, for 12 years. During that time, he provided strategic vision and expertise to this $290 million enterprise, which services more than 22,000 members.

Bolding is a graduate of Ripon College, WI, with undergraduate degrees in economics and history. Upon graduation, he entered the U.S. Navy, serving 28 years in active duty and reserve, retiring with the rank of captain. He was awarded both the Navy Commendation Medal and the Joint Service Commendation Medal.

Following his military career, Bolding worked in the management of healthcare institutions, including extensive responsibilities for infrastructure and facilities.

He is a former vice chairman of the board of Mt. San Antonio Gardens life care community in Pomona, CA, and a current board member of the Claremont Senior Foundation, among other volunteer activities.

Submitted by: DevStudent

Left to Right: Scott Nyquist ’69, Rick Brandt ’69, Frank Anders ’69, Art Scarlett ’69, Rob Handeyside ’69, Mason Sherwood ‘68, Steve Leitschuh ’69.

Submitted by: DevStudent

Candace North’04 on a hiking tour of Mont Blanc, a 108mile trek around the highest peak in the Alps. Mont Blanc lies on the border of Italy, France, and Switzerland.

Submitted by: DevStudent

ERC Starting Grant for Zachary Chitwood on investigating the role of the monastic federation of Mount Athos in the Middle Ages

A comprehensive database will include the inhabitants and visitors of Athos over a period of 700 years and paint a new picture of the monastic republic and its manifold connections

8 October 2019

Mount Athos – a peninsula in northern Greece, inhabited for over 1,000 years only by monks, UNESCO World Heritage Site, and from time immemorial a melting pot of the peoples of the Eastern Mediterranean and Russia: in the Middle Ages this monastic republic was a place of retreat for Orthodox believers on the one hand, but on the other hand also connected with the medieval world in diverse ways beyond the walls of the monastery. The monks cultivated close relations with the Byzantine Empire, rulers in the Balkans, the Caucasus as well as in South Italy, and later also the Ottoman Empire. A new research project will investigate these connections and relations of the inhabitants and visitors of Athos and will transform the way the Holy Mountain is viewed. Dr. Zachary Chitwood, a researcher in Byzantine Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), has received a EUR 1.5 million ERC Starting Grant of the European Research Council for this project.

Mount Athos, as the entire peninsula is today called after its highest peak, is with an area of around 336 square kilometers somewhat larger than Munich. In this area are today found 20 monasteries of Orthodox monks and, in addition, numerous smaller monastic settlements. Here live around 2,300 monks; women and female animals are forbidden from entering. After the first settlements in the ninth century, this isolated region on the eastern finger of the Chalkidiki Peninsula experienced an influx of monks from the entire Byzantine Empire and beyond. Greeks from the European and Asian halves of the Byzantine Empire, Georgians from the Caucasus, Bulgarians and Serbs from the southern Balkans, Moldovans and Wallachians from the northern Balkans, inhabitants of Rus’ in the east and even non-Orthodox Christians from southern Italy came to Athos, the “Balkans in Miniature”, so it has been called.

Entries of perhaps 10,000 to 20,000 persons as a basis

“For the first time we will comprehensively analyze what role the monastic communities on Mount Athos played in the medieval society of the Eastern Mediterranean,” explained Dr. Zachary Chitwood regarding the project. He and his team will first collect data for the period between roughly 850 and 1550, i.e., from the time of the first documents that have survived in the archives of Athos until the founding of the last significant Athos monastery, Stavronikita. For this period of 700 years, all monks who lived upon the Holy Mountain, every benefactor, and every visitor will be collected in a database.

“We would like to include in this database any person that had anything to do with the Holy Mountain,” said Chitwood. According to rough initial estimates it might encompass between 10,000 and 20,000 persons attested by documents. “On the basis of these data we will be able to analyze how the monastic community of Athos was embedded within larger networks of economic interests, church leadership, intellectual exchange, and patronage.”

The acts and documents of monastic archives, which to a large extent are already published, will serve as the basis for these inquiries. Especially innovative is the use of commemorative lists, which to date have hardly been noticed by scholars. These documents encompass the names of monks, church hierarchs, and benefactors, who after their death were mentioned regularly in commemorations. The database will later be accessible to other researchers, so that it can be used within all of humanities scholarship.

Thematic focus on wealth, ethnicity and gender

Chitwood is placing three aspects or leitmotifs at the front and center of his analysis: wealth, ethnicity, and gender. Despite some reservations regarding monastic wealth, the Athonite monasteries into the Late Middle Ages accumulated the largest amount of land in the Byzantine world, with possessions that were greater than those of the wealthiest aristocratic families. This property stretched not only across Greece, but over the entire Balkans. In scholarship there has even been talk of “Switzerland Syndrome”: the monastic republic of Mount Athos was a sort of tax haven, where the wealthy could invest their money advantageously.

The second central leitmotif is the ethnicity of the communities. Almost every Orthodox church was represented on Mount Athos by a monastery – and even today one finds considerable ethnic variety. “But at present we have no means of statistically measuring this as precisely as possible and documenting it at certain points in time,” said Chitwood, also mentioning that the database will provide future foundations for discussing ethnicity in Byzantium at a more profound level.

Finally, Chitwood’s team will also investigate the “absence of women” on Athos. To date it is not known in what context and why the prohibition arose that females are not allowed to tread the region. “Our goal is to understand the historical background and to recognize the concrete circumstances as well as the exceptional cases that actually occurred,” Chitwood explained. In the context of the question of gender the political role of eunuchs, at times quite important for Byzantium, will also be analyzed. They as well from a certain point in time were no longer able to tread upon Athos.

First ERC Grant in the Humanities at JGU

Zachary Chitwood, born in 1983 in the USA, initially studied at Ripon College in Wisconsin. There followed a course of study of medieval and Byzantine history at the internationally-renowned Princeton University and finally a dissertation on Roman law under the Macedonian dynasty. In 2012, Zachary Chitwood came to Germany, first as a post-doc at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and from 2016 as a lecturer in Byzantine Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz under Professor Johannes Pahlitzsch. The five-year research project, “Mount Athos in Medieval Eastern Mediterranean Society: Contextualizing the History of a Monastic Republic (ca. 850-1550)”, is the first ERC grant in the humanities at JGU. Besides Chitwood, who as a Byzantinist will focus on Greek sources, a Slavicist and a Kartvelologist, a specialist for Georgian language and culture, will also work on the project.

An ERC Starting Grant is the most generous form of financing of the EU given to young researchers. ERC Starting Grants support outstanding researchers at the start of their careers, when they are building their own research team or program. In addition to scholarly excellence, applicants must demonstrate that their projects possess a groundbreaking approach and are feasible in order to receive funding.

See more here.

Submitted by: Devstudent

Leilani Kupo ’98 had been named an ACPA Diamond Honoree. The Diamond Honoree Program, established in 1999, is a way for those that care about students – and the research, scholarship, and programs that promote student development and success – to help advance our association’s efforts. Diamond Honorees are “Championed” by dedicated individuals who recognize their specific contributions and choose to raise funds in honor of each Diamond Honoree’s outstanding and sustained commitment to higher education through student affairs and student development. Those funds are then utilized to help sustain the ACPA Foundation in its support of the research, scholarship, and programs that advance our field as a whole. You can read about Leilani’s work below.

V. Leilani Kupo, Ph.D. (Kanaka Maoli) [she/her/hers] was raised away from her ancestral land of Maui and depended on her ‘ohana [family] to teach her ancestral knowledge from afar. Receiving her B.A. from Ripon College (WI), M.Ed. from James Madison University (VA), and Ph.D. from Bowling Green State University (OH) in Higher Education Administration were points of great celebration for her ‘ohana.  These experiences also helped Leilani understand the ways in which education and schooling both liberated and caused trauma to her, her ‘ohana, and her community.

Leilani currently serves as the Associate Dean of Students for Educational Equity and Access, Learning Support, and Transition Programs/ Director of the Calvin E. Bright Success Center at the University of California, Merced. Leilani has served as a scholar-practitioner in student affairs since 2000.  Throughout her professional practice, she has centered serving students, community needs, and her cultural values in her practice.

Leilani has served ACPA in a number of capacities throughout her career, serving as a CWI Directorate member, CWI Emerging Scholar in Residence, selected as one of ACPA’s 2014 Emerging Scholars, and currently serves on the Governing Board as Member-at-Large Representative for Mid-Level.

Submitted by: DevStudent

See the message below from Diedrich Jewelers:

All the way from Carmel, IN, these Ripon College alumni visited us with their original receipt from the engagement ring Bob sold him 50 years ago! Doug and Linda took a trip to Ripon to celebrate the anniversary of their engagement. Such great memories about meeting at The Spot, babysitting for professors’ families, and their time in Ripon. We especially love the receipt details.

Submitted by: DevStudent

Submitted by: DevStudent

Does Ripon College have ghosts?

That’s difficult to confirm, noted Assistant Professor of Sociology Marc Eaton, who’s taught a course on “Sociology of the Paranormal.”

But over the years, stories have been told of such ghostly encounters.

“As far as my determination goes, I can’t say for certain whether it [the college] does or doesn’t; it certainly is rumored to have a lot of ghosts,” he said. “There’s a lot of folklore on campus about certain places being haunted and all that, but I can’t say for certain whether it is or is not a haunted location definitively.”

He added Ripon College is known for its connection with ghosts, pointing to an article several years ago listing Ripon College as the No. 2 most haunted college in the Midwest.

“I think it’s widely known among the students that there are stories, but I think that among paranormal enthusiasts, I guess you could call them, the college is pretty rumored to have ghosts,” Eaton said.

Read the full story, including many tales told by current and former students about ghostly experiences they had on the campus, in the Oct. 31, 2019 edition of the Ripon Commonwealth Press.

Submitted by: DevStudent

Submitted by: DevStudent