Author: Otterbein Editorial Staff

For the Love of Otterbein: Students Share Their Gratitude

As 2020 came to an end and the impact of the pandemic on colleges and universities continued to create barriers for our students, President John Comerford had an idea: create a fundraising initiative that would directly address the challenges our students are facing and serve as a path for Otterbein to emerge as strong as possible from the pandemic. From this idea, the For the Love of Otterbein: The Time is Now initiative began and will span throughout 2021.

The initiative is focused on protecting and investing in every student’s opportunity to experience an Otterbein education. Many alumni and friends have already answered the call to action and supported a number of needs, which cover two overarching themes: needs for today and needs for tomorrow.

To learn more about how you can make a difference through your support, please visit For the Love of Otterbein, The Time is Now. or contact our Development team at 614-823-2707.

TIA ’21
COLUMBUS, OH

“Thank you for supporting me in the opportunity to meet and learn about so many diverse people and expand my knowledge of business so that I may pursue a successful career.”

Mitchell ’17
Dayton, OH

“I feel it is important to support this initiative for many reasons. I always enjoyed going to class and interacting with my professors and classmates. I also cherish the time and memories made from campus activities and groups. I want future students to have similar opportunities while we adjust to these current limitations.”

President John Comerford

“The caring on this campus is palpable. And when the pressure has come, we have risen to it together as a campus community. We are here to ask you for your help. We believe that Otterbein can and should emerge from this stronger, not weaker.”

Taylor ’22
Sanford, ME

“Thank you so much. With your help, I am able to continue my schooling towards my dream job of working in a wildlife sanctuary. I am a junior zoo and conservation science and biology double major and I am currently interning at the Ohio Bird Sanctuary, where I get to care for the living collection of native Ohio birds and help care for birds in rehabilitation. Without your support, I would not have this amazing opportunity for hands-on experience.”

Logan ’21
Williamston, MI

“Donor support has allowed me to study in the Netherlands at Maastricht University. Over the course of four months, I made friends from all over the world and immersed myself in the culture of various European countries. I will never have an opportunity like this again in my life, and your donation helped me make the most of it! I have already accepted a position as an analyst in Fifth Third Bank’s Financial Sponsors Group after graduation.”

Thank you, donors!

The Heather Walker MSN’18 Memorial Scholarship was created this year after Heather passed away in July 2020. A wide circle of family, friends, and coworkers came together to establish permanent support for nurse anesthesia students who will follow in Heather’s footsteps. Led by the incredible generosity of Melanie and Bunk Walker, Brian Garrett DNP’14, and Alaina Dunkelberger MSN’17, this fund has already raised over $45,000 in scholarship support. If you are interested in making a gift in memory of Heather Walker, visit www.otterbein.edu/give and designate “Other,” then “Heather Walker Scholarship.”

An alumna from the ’70s decade has documented a $200,000 planned gift to establish the Pay it Forward Scholarship once the gift is realized. The donor received a full scholarship to Otterbein as a senior in high school and would like to pay it forward by helping a student who wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend college without incurring significant debt.

Otterbein has received a generous planned gift from the Sandra Paul Living Trust to support the Ken and Sandra Paul Annual Scholarship Fund. Sandra Rubino Paul ’46 passed away in 2019 and supported the University over many years with her husband, Ken Paul ’49, who passed in 1996. Her support also helped to fund the Memorial Stadium fencing and visitor seating in memory of Ken.

Barbara K. and Morton J. H’00 Achter made an additional generous commitment to support the Dr. Barbara Chapman Achter Nursing Scholarship. Barbara was instrumental in establishing the first nursing program at Otterbein and served as the chair of the nursing department during her tenure.

Otterbein has received a $25,000 gift from the Huntington Foundation to support the Huntington Five Cards Fund for Columbus City and Urban District Students. The foundation has committed $100,000 total in support for the fund.

By way of the Columbus Foundation, Otterbein has received a generous gift of more than $25,000 from the John G. and Winifred R. Hoyt Trust Fund. The gift supports the Hoyt Endowed Student Loan, which was created through a $100,000 planned gift from the couple in 1999.

Friends of Otterbein Marcia Pollock Farabee and her husband, Paul, have documented a bequest designated to the H. Robert Pollock Speech Education Award in honor of Marica’s late father and alumnus, Robert Pollock ’48, who was an educator and professor of speech at Ashland College.

An anonymous donor has given $20,000 to support Otterbein’s Academic Support Center and Disability Services, which helps students develop and strengthen the skills necessary to attain their academic goals. The center facilitates the development of learning strategies and skills in partnership with peers and professionals through tutoring, academic coaching, supplemental instruction, academic courses, and other learner-focused services.

Through the generosity of Lois Abbott Yost ’52, a loyal annual supporter who passed away in 2020, Otterbein will receive a planned gift for the Abbott-Yost Scholarship, established in 2017 to support a student majoring in communications, education, or music.

Nancy and Obie ’55 Obenauer of Bluffton, SC, have made a generous donation of $25,000 to the Nigel Chatman Student Emergency Fund. This fund will be used to help students with emergency needs such as food, toiletries, books, utilities, car repairs, and more. Otterbein is proud of what Nigel represented and wants to continue helping others like him achieve what they are also striving toward. Their incredible gift has pushed the fund over the threshold for fund endowment at Otterbein, making it an endowed fund which will ultimately keep the emergency-based fund active at the University in perpetuity. We cannot think of a better way to help celebrate Nigel’s incredible spirit and passion for Otterbein every year. To support the fund, please visit www.otterbein.edu/give and choose “Student Emergency Fund” as your designation.

New Otterbein Composition Combines Music and Environmental Conservation

Otterbein University guest artist, baritone, and lyricist Daniel Neer headlined a concert with an environmental message, framed in context by conservation experts, in March. Water Music: Art Song in Recital featured the world premiere of a grant-funded commission, with a pre-concert discussion and post-concert talkback with Otterbein Zoo and Conservation Science program faculty and representatives from Polar Bear International.

Polar Bear, a commissioned piece supported by grants from Ohio Arts Council, Puffin Foundation West, and The Johnstone Fund for New Music, is a musical response to the global issue of climate change. It is a chamber music work for baritone and trombone by Sara Carina Graef, set to text by Neer.

“The piece is improv in nature, with lyrics that depict a polar bear searching the Arctic for food as the ice slowly disappears beneath him,” Neer explained.

Baritone Daniel Neer (right) performs the original composition Polar Bear, accompanied by trombonist Peter Gooch.

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Otterbein Partners with Central Ohio Employers to Offer Scholarships

Otterbein University is partnering with major employers in central Ohio to offer a special educational benefit — The Otterbein Advantage Scholarship. Through this exclusive program, employees of partnering organizations and their dependent children can qualify for a scholarship that provides the excellence of a private university education at public school prices.

“Most employers offer educational benefits for employees, but not to their dependents,” said Otterbein President John Comerford. “The Otterbein Advantage Scholarship allows companies to offer a benefit to both employees and their dependents and gives Otterbein access to a new group of prospective students.”

Partners include Nationwide Children’s, OhioHealth, Franklin County, City of Westerville, Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA), g2o, and Knox Community Hospital. More partnerships are being negotiated.

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Otterbein Named Voter Friendly Campus

Volunteers reach out to fellow students at a voter registration and education event on Constitution Day, Sept. 17, 2020.

Otterbein University has been named a Voter Friendly Campus by national nonpartisan organizations Campus Vote Project and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA). The designation recognizes efforts to break down barriers and empower students with the information and tools they need to participate in the political process. Fall semester, Otterbein’s Center for Community Engagement and a group of student Democracy Fellows organized voter registration drives and educational outreach about voting options in Ohio.

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Faculty and Staff Earn National Grants for Otterbein Efforts

Otterbein has recently received grants from prominent foundations and federal programs to support research, academic studies, and community education. Faculty and administrators pursue grants to support the mission of Otterbein, enhance faculty achievement and student learning, and strengthen social justice in the central Ohio community.

Recruiting and Preparing Undergraduate Mathematics Majors for Teaching Careers in Urban High-Need Schools

AMOUNT

$1,185,537

(Intended amount, over five years)

 

AWARDED BY

National Science Foundation’s Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program

RECIPIENTS
Principal Investigator: Jeffrey Smith (Mathematics)
Bethany Vosburg-Bluem (Education)
Allison McGrath (Education)

The grant will fund activities and programs to address the shortage of highly qualified mathematics teachers, particularly in urban, high-need schools.

“This is an important opportunity for Otterbein to reinforce our ongoing commitment to Columbus City Schools and other districts. It will ensure future Otterbein students have the support they deserve,” said Wendy Sherman Heckler, provost and senior vice president. “This grant will have a lasting and positive impact for Otterbein students and future students at our partner schools.”

Inclusive Excellence 3 Learning Community

AMOUNT

$30,000

(Over two years)

 

AWARDED BY

Howard Hughes Medical Institute

RECIPIENTS
Principal Investigator: John Tansey (Chemistry)
Kathryn Plank (Academic Affairs and Education)
Brandon Sinn (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology)
Michael Hudoba (Engineering)
Jennifer Bechtold (Student Success and Career Development)
Carrigan Hayes (Chemistry)
Jennifer Bennett (Biology)

Otterbein will work alongside other institutions to dig deeper into the root causes of educational inequities and develop strategies to address these challenges by adopting an inclusive, equitable, and anti-racist stance. Grant funds from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute will support learning activities that promote the development of an inclusive perspective.

Pack Lecture Discussion Sheds Light on Inequality in Education

(Clockwise) Nikole Hannah-Jones and Jonathan Kozol participate in a virtual discussion with Andy Chow ’08 and Desmond Fernandez ’21.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and bestselling author and educator Jonathan Kozol, two civil rights champions of different generations, brought their unique perspectives to the Vernon L. Pack ’50 Distinguished Lecture Series at Otterbein University on April 12. The discussion, Confronting the Truth about Inequalities in America’s Schools, was an honest and unflinching look at race and education. Andy Chow ’08, Ohio Statehouse reporter for Ohio Public Radio and TV, moderated the discussion and Desmond Fernandez ’21 served as emcee.

The topics of the conversation included school segregation, funding models, teacher preparation, and more. At times, the discussion was personal. Kozol shared his past experiences teaching Black children in the early 1960s when his activism got him fired. Hannah-Jones shared her choice to enroll her child in a predominantly Black public school.

Both speakers criticized the current funding model for creating inequality in public schools because schools in affluent areas benefit from more funding from property taxes. Kozol noted that, “This (funding model) is not a mistake, this was intentional.”

The speakers also discussed the role of teachers in both the problem and the solution. “You can’t teach what you don’t know yourself. One of the biggest problems is finding educators who know how to teach anti-racism and who believe it themselves,” Hannah-Jones said.

“Most teachers in our system don’t see Black children as having the same will to learn as White students,” Kozol said. In his career, Kozol made a point of getting to know his Black students and their families outside of the classroom.

Marketing major Harold Walston ’21 attended the virtual event. “From a personal perspective, it was eye opening and comforting to know that such a conversation was happening on such a public platform. Information that I knew growing up as a Black child and into a young Black adult that I always thought was privy to just Black people, was being shared in an open dialogue,” he said. “There was a sense of communal understanding among the virtual audience and moderators.”

Desmond Fernandez ’21 asks a question as Andy Chow ’08 listens.

Read more about the founder of the lecture series

Vernon Pack ’50 Reflects on Creating Distinguished Lecture Series

by Dana Madden Viglietta ’96

At 95 years old, alumnus Vernon Pack ’50 shows no signs of slowing down. Pack, a former social studies teacher, still leads day trips throughout Ohio where he imparts his unique and vast knowledge about Ohio history with curious attendees. Knowledgeable about well-known facts to tidbits that even history buffs might not know, Pack takes delight in sharing his knowledge with others.

In 2002 at the request of the University, Pack created an endowed fund that established the Vernon L. Pack ’50 Distinguished Lecture and Scholar-in-Residence Program. The endowment provides funding for a distinguished lecturer to visit campus to address important current topics that reflect on ethical, spiritual, and social issues.

In a recent interview, Pack shared, “The series has challenged me over the years to learn more about various topics presented at my alma mater. I firmly believe that the lecture series has been beneficial to many students. Bringing to the campus talented speakers for the various departments, I feel certain, has added salient information to each department’s curriculum.”

His experience teaching in Columbus Public Schools offers him a unique perspective on this year’s lecture, which focused on the intersection between race, equity, and education with lecturers Nikole Hannah-Jones and Jonathan Kozol. “As a retired public school teacher, I look back at my nearly 30 years in the classroom. I realize that hearing these two persons’ thoughts could have helped me during the final several years after desegregation was implemented within the Columbus schools. No college course in racial matters was offered by Otterbein, [at the time], so I was not prepared for the problems that occurred at two of the Columbus schools,” said Pack.

At Otterbein, Pack majored in history and was a member of Zeta Phi fraternity. He received a master’s degree in education from The Ohio State University and later served in the Navy for nearly three years. As a lifelong learner, Pack is already looking forward to next year’s lecture, which will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Vernon L. Pack ’50 Distinguished Lecture Series.

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Alumni Volunteers Lead through Unprecedented Year

Since July 1, 2020, more than 220 alumni have volunteered their time in service to Otterbein. That’s more volunteers than the previous one-year period, despite the obstacles presented by the pandemic.

These dedicated Cardinals have spoken in the classroom, shared insights in alumni programming, led class reunion efforts, raised funds, served on boards and councils, and so much more. Otterbein is made better by the contributions of our volunteers, led by the committed members of our Alumni Council.

Icilda Watkins Dickerson ’88 will complete her term as the first chair of a reimagined, future-thinking Alumni Council, serving during the most challenging year in recent history. Additionally, Dan Gifford ’88, P’21, P’23 will finish his term as the Alumni Council trustee. Our sincere gratitude goes out to these two alumni for their leadership and service.

Also completing terms on Alumni Council are: Chris Cargill MBA’16, Mark Curtis ’91, Eric Farnbauch ’90, Christy Boyd Farbauch ’88, Pete Klipa ’89, Nancy Case Struble ’79, Jack Whalen ’66, and Karen Persson ’68 Whalen. Thank you all for your unwavering support Otterbein.

Biomechanics Institute Offers Interdisciplinary Opportunities for Students

Biomechanics Institute at Otterbein

The Point at Otterbein is now home to the Biomechanics Institute, a new learning laboratory equipped with cameras and specialized software to study movement. The lab is the result of an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Departments of Health and Sport Sciences and Engineering.

A camera set-up encompasses the entire room, giving researchers the ability to study motions that require a large space, such as throwing, jumping, and running. Body markers are placed onto the subject at key points, such as joints and major muscle groups, to record movement. The resulting data helps health and sport sciences students see beyond the skin in assessing movement, while engineering students interpret the data and look at how they can apply that information to new technology.

Motion Capture Diodes

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And the award goes to …

Since Alumni and Family Engagement started our series of Cardinal Fly-By, Inside the Nest, and Between Two Cards videos, we’ve heard from countless alumni and friends around the world who have enjoyed connecting with campus with each episode. And it seems the critics agree with them!

Our video series has been recognized with a Pride of CASE V Award by a panel of higher education peers. We earned a silver award in the Alumni Relations: Pivot category, which recognized the many creative ways institutions shifted programming in response to COVID restrictions.

Video Series

Thank you to the many campus partners, alumni, and parents who contributed to these video projects — and thank you for watching.