ALLIANCE, Ohio — As they celebrated their 50^th class reunion, three members of the Mount Union Class of 1962 reflected on something else they had in common.

At different points in the last 50 years, Dodie Davis ‘62, Larry Horton ‘62 and William Banfield ‘62 each served as alumni directors at the University of Mount Union. The first to serve in this capacity was Banfield, who was hired to serve as alumni director by Dr. Carl Bracy from 1964 to 1970.

“Those six years launched me into a 35-year career in collegiate fundraising,” Banfield said. “If I majored in anything at Mount Union, it was socializing — so it was a natural fit for me.”

After leaving Mount Union, Banfield worked at a number of other universities in alumni and development capacities. He is now retired.

“It’s nice to be back,” Banfield said of being in Alliance for the 50^th reunion. “I think there will be a lot of people who will forget that we had three alumni directors from this class.”

Larry Horton was the next member of the Class of 1962 to serve as Mount Union’s alumni director, running the office from 1970 to 1975. Prior to returning to his alma mater, Horton worked as a junior and senior high social studies teacher for several years. Horton learned from Banfield that there was an opening at Mount Union in admissions and after calling and talking to president Ronald Weber, he learned the alumni director position was open as well. Horton was interviewed for the alumni position and got the job.

“I loved working with the staff at Mount Union,” Horton said. “We had wonderful people. I have a lot of great memories of working with alumni around the country.”

Although he noted that many things have changed on Mount Union’s campus since he worked in the alumni office, Horton is still proud to be a Mount Union graduate.

“Mount Union was a great school and it still is today,” he said. “I’ve marveled over the years about how it has grown, physically, in enrollment, athletically and academically. It’s just a tremendous place.”

Though she was the last of the three to serve in the role of alumni director, Dodie Davis had the longest career at Mount Union, beginning as dean of women in 1968. As dean of women, Davis took care of all non-academic items involving students, including orientation, student organizations, Greek life and housing. She served in that role until 1987, when she became alumni director.

“It seemed like a natural move because I would then be working with a lot of former students and new alumni I had known as students,” Davis said.

During her time at Mount Union, Davis saw a number of changes and challenges stemming from current events.

“The 1969-1970 academic year was a really difficult year on many campuses because of the May 4 Kent State tragedy,” she said. “The Vietnam War was very intense and men were faced with the draft if they weren’t in college. Mount Union made it through that time with the help of lots of good people.”

Despite daily confrontations in the quad during that time period, Davis said members of the Mount Union staff kept things running smoothly between students and staff.

“Faculty members were close with students and helped us get through that period of time,” she said.

During the fall of 1970, Mount Union saw positive changes with the opening of the Timken Building, which gave students a place to recreate. Also during that time, Title IX came into play and curfews for women were done away with.

“We made a lot of social changes in that period of time,” Davis said.

Davis recalled traveling the country to organize alumni events, with stops including the west coast, Florida, New York City, Pittsburgh and Cleveland. She ran all class reunions and got to know a lot of people that way. During her time at Mount Union, Davis was a part of the early Schooler Lecture presentations, which started in 1989. Also as alumni director, Davis was active with Stagg Bowl festivities.

“In the early days (of the Stagg Bowl), people thought we might not be there again,” she said. “That was always a really special time. Football success made a big difference in that alumni who live all across the country have been able to follow along and feel good about that.”

Davis said she had an opportunity to interact closely with many students during her time as alumni director.

“It was a really fun job,” she said. “I really enjoyed working with college-aged students. One of the joys for me is to see how they’ve gone on to be very productive citizens in their communities.”

Davis, of Alliance, retired from the alumni director position in 2003. She now enjoys playing bridge and volunteering in her free time.

“It’s fun to be in charge of your own calendar,” she said. “I’m enjoying retirement a lot.”

Although each of the three served as alumni director at different points in their careers, all agreed on one thing — they couldn’t believe it has been 50 years since they graduated.

“I didn’t think we’d ever get that old,” Davis said. “It’s doesn’t seem like it’s been 50 years, that’s for sure.”

“It is a little unnerving because back in the 60s, when I would see the 50-year class come in, they looked incredibly old, and I sure don’t feel that way,” Banfield said.

“The amazing thing is that when I was alumni director and these classes would come back, to me as a young person those folks seemed ‘old.’ Now that I’m at that age, I don’t feel that old,” Horton said.

During the recent 50^th reunion, the three alumni directors, dressed as the “Three Amigos,” made a presentation to Anne (Zimmer ’95) Graffice, director of alumni relations and university activities, and her staff.

ALLIANCE, Ohio — When recent Mount Union graduate Judy Thoma first started classes in 1991, she had no idea what was in store for her future.

This year, 22 years after she began school, Thoma has a bachelor’s degree from Mount Union and many memories of her time as a student. Thoma, originally from Malaysia, is the wife of Dr. James “Jim” Thoma, associate academic dean and professor of human performance and sport business at Mount Union. After getting married in Malaysia, the Thomases moved to the United States with two children — Louise ’04 and Jonathan. Their youngest, Andrea, was born in Alabama.

After moving to Alliance, Jim began teaching at Mount Union and Thoma did a number of jobs out of her home, including catering, sewing and babysitting nine children. But Thoma, who enjoys being active, soon grew tired of the same routine and decided to take some classes at Mount Union.

“I always wanted to earn a degree,” she said.

Thoma started out taking three courses, but found the demands of coursework somewhat challenging due to the transition to college classes and limitations with the English language.

“It was stressful because you want to do the best you can,” she said.

The next semester, Thoma took two classes but still faced challenges. Originally an early education major, she decided after an observation that teaching wasn’t for her. She then struggled to decide what major she should pursue.

“I listened to my kids complaining about me not understanding them,” she said. “I think there are cultural differences — what I want them to be is different than how they are. They said, ‘Mama, we are now in America. It applies there (Malaysia) but it doesn’t apply here.’ I looked through all the available majors at Mount Union and found American studies. I took this path because I wanted to know more about American culture.”

Thoma enjoyed the American studies major and learning about pop culture, gender, teenagers, marriage and relationships in the United States.

“American studies was a perfect fit for me to become more aware of what’s going on in America,” she said. “Before it was like I was living in my own world because that’s what I was comfortable with. I learned about it bit by bit without being frustrated.”

Thoma continued taking a class or two at a time for the next several years, until her daughter Louise encouraged her to become a full-time student, which she did for her last three semesters.

“She said, ‘I know you have good grades but you will never be a real student if you don’t become full time,’” Thoma recalled.

As a full time student, Thoma immersed herself in her studies, often staying at the library until 2 a.m. She also enjoyed interacting with other students while on campus.

“I talked to a lot of people,” she said. “One semester, my goal every morning was to say ‘Hi’ to as many students as I could. I loved it. The students teach you a lot of things. They are all different but they bring in all their own little things.”

Thoma said one secret to her success as a student was not being afraid to be herself. She became known to other students as someone who went above and beyond for class projects and skits, volunteering to play the role of a mother, a protestor and a gangster on different occasions.

“That’s how I see my life,” she said. “Why hold back? It’s part of learning. You want to see how far you can go — how daring and how true to yourself you are. If you care all the time about what other people think, then you can’t move out of your box.”

Now that she has earned a degree, Thoma sees herself working at a job that allows her to be active.

“I’m a people person. I have my degree so I can do whatever I want.”

Though she now has a bachelor’s degree, Thoma sees her education as far from being completed.

“I’m already looking at graduate school,” she said. “Education is very important to me and education doesn’t just mean academia — it can be anything. I think if you learn new things every day, it makes your life full.”

Thoma’s family members are proud of her accomplishments at Mount Union.

“I have to admire her for the dedication and energy she put into it,” Jim said. “She felt like she was a normal student. The students that know her treat her just like anybody else.”

“I think it’s great and it speaks to her determination to follow through with the things she starts,” Louise said. “Her turning point was deciding to go full time which I really encouraged her to do because she was spending way too much time on one class. She did it, and she got done faster and excelled.”

ALLIANCE, Ohio — Two University of Mount Union professors will have an opportunity to share about their field at the American Sociological Association’s annual meeting in Denver, CO in August.

Susan Denning, director of stewardship and grants who also teaches part-time in the Department of Sociology, and Dr. Kathleen Piker-King, professor and chair of the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, will conduct a workshop based on Denning’s grants course, which is seldom offered at the undergraduate level.

The pair was given a rare invitation to present the workshop, which will focus on giving teaching professionals and researchers tips on teaching grant-writing courses. Participants will receive materials they would need in order to create a grant-writing course and develop different aspects of the class. Denning began teaching the course three years ago at Piker-King’s request.

“I saw a skillset she had that we could use,” Piker-King said. “I saw it was a wonderful way of taking her expertise and giving our students the skills that would give them increased marketability.”

Denning’s course models grant-getting aspects by giving students experience in the various stages of grant writing.

“They have an opportunity to be a grant-maker, interview various organizations in Alliance and be on that side of the table in looking at what makes a good grant,” Denning said. “They also have partners in the community of non-profits who need money to achieve a goal and as a result of that, they get the experience of writing a grant as well as giving a grant.

Both Denning and Piker-King are looking forward to an opportunity to discuss Mount Union’s sociology program with other professionals. They noted that the workshop ties in to the responsible citizenship portion of Mount Union’s mission.

“I’m eager to profile the exciting program that we have in sociology at Mount Union and to let other sociologists across the country see the level of excellence that we have here at Mount Union in this program,” Piker-King said.

“I am excited because I’m at a stage in my career where I’d like to think that I can help prepare the next generation of grant writers,” Denning said. “The opportunity to reach professionals and educators who are working with the next generation means that I can pass on what I know.” 

A group of University of Mount Union students will travel to Japan for two weeks in May as part of a travel seminar offered at the University. While abroad, students will learn more about Japanese culture and language as well as earn three course credits.

Dr. Hamako Furuhata-Turner, professor of foreign languages and cultures, is the faculty member leading the trip, and Cheryl Paine, documents librarian, is also accompanying her and the eight students on the trip.

Throughout their two-week stay, the group will visit various cities in Japan including Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara and Osaka. The group will make stops at Japanese universities and elementary schools, one in which a Mount Union graduate is the principal. They also see tourist attractions such as the Imperial Place, Tokyo Tower, Mt. Fuji, Kiyomizu Temple, Heian Shrine, Osaka-Osaka Castle and Kiyomizue-Temple. In addition, the group will meet up with three Mount Union students who are studying abroad at Kyoto University.

In addition to learning more about Japanese language and culture, students will learn about what goes into traveling abroad – including securing a passport, immigration regulations, airport policies, medication and health insurance.

Follow along as the students blog throughout their journey and experience at blog.mountunion.edu.

ALLIANCE, Ohio — This spring, a group of generous University of Mount Union alumni are challenging alumni, parents and friends to double their impact by donating to the Mount Union Fund.

As part of the Pride of Purple Challenge, gifts made to the Mount Union Fund through June 30 will be matched dollar for dollar in support of financial aid and scholarships, technology enhancements on campus, faculty/staff development, library resources and co-curricular activities.

“It’s always important that we have people participate and support the institution, and this encourages them to give as it doubles the impact of their gift to the students,” said Kimberly Terrill ’99 Rodstrom, director of the Mount Union fund.

Rodstrom said the Pride of Purple matching challenge is the first matching fund drive to be offered at Mount Union.

“These alumni believe passionately in supporting the University and they want to share their passion with others,” she said.

For more information on the Pride of Purple Challenge, visit www.mountunion.edu/pride, contact The Mount Union Fund at (330) 823-2092 or email osslercj@mountunion.edu.