Drive Safer Nov. 29 in Memory of Cullum Owings ‘03

Cullum Owings

On the Sunday following Thanksgiving in 2002, Cullum and Pierce Owings were driving from their home in Atlanta back to Lexington where both were students at Washington and Lee. The brothers were three miles from the Lexington exit on I-81 north when their car was struck from behind by a tractor-trailer. Cullum, a senior business administration major, died in the accident; Pierce ‘06, a freshman at the time, had only minor injuries. Sunday, Nov. 29, will mark the fifth annual national observance of Drive Safer Sunday in America. The event is sponsored by Road Safe America, an organization founded by Cullum and Pierce’s parents, Stephen and Susan Owings of Atlanta, in Cullum’s honor. The organization is designed to bring awareness of the hazards of highway travel and provide statistics and safety tips to drivers. Its goals include better driver training for all drivers and limiting the top speed for large trucks. The Road Safe America Web site includes an electronic petition, urging the administration to order activation of speed governors set at 65 mph on all large commercial vehicles. The site also features a video in which the Owingses tell their story. Be careful on the highways this holiday.

Armchair Golf Blog Spotlights W&L’s Langan

Matt Langan

Matt Langan, a senior on the Washington and Lee golf team from Prospect, Ky., showed up this week with a q-and-a interview in the Armchair Golf Blog. It’s an interesting interview, and you can read it at this link. Matt does a particularly good job of relating the particular challenges that go with playing Division III sports at a college with demanding academics. For instance, he talks about the upcoming spring season and the various issues that seniors who aren’t looking at the Professional Golf Association tour in their futures will be juggling: “Our spring season—the one that really matters—will be dependent on how well the seniors (including myself) are able to focus on golf amidst the pressures of finding a job, applying for graduate schools, and/or wanting to soak up the last available bit of the college lifestyle.“

Overheard in a Chat Room

Back in late October when the Virginia gubernatorial race was in its final stages, the Washington Post held a live chat during which Post polling analyst Jennifer Agiesta, a 2000 alumna of Washington and Lee, joined a fellow staffer in answering questions from readers. We just happened across the transcript of that chat recently and found that it reveals a couple of interesting asides between Jennifer and fellow W&L alums. You can read the entire transcript here but you’ll have to scroll down a ways to find the interchanges. It’s kind of fun, though, to read a chat visitor from Georgia beginning his or her question by saying that she or he had attended Washington and Lee and U.Va. and then for Jennifer to respond with “Hello to a fellow General.” Later on there is another visitor who identifies him/herself as “Another General in Virginia” and begins the question with “Hello from the Commerce School (just kidding…)…” In her answer, Jennifer allows as how she’d like to be typing from the C-School library. The bottom line? Wrote Jennifer, “…who knew there were so many W&L alums lurking out there?”

W&L Visiting Professor Joins Hall of Fame

Caesar Andrews

When it comes to Hall of Famers from Grambling University, you’re apt to think football. Caesar Andrews, the Reynolds Distinguished Visiting Professor in Washington and Lee University’s Department of Journalism and Mass Communications, didn’t play football for the Tigers of legendary head coach Eddie Robinson. (Caesar was at Grambling at the same time as Washington Redskins Super Bowl quarterback Doug Williams.) Earlier this fall, Caesar was inducted into Grambling’s Hall of Fame from the College of Professional Studies where he received a degree in journalism. After an illustrious career in journalism, culminating with a Pulitzer Prize at the Detroit Free-Press, Caesar has spent the fall in Reid Hall, teaching a course on copy editing and a course he designed called “Covering Classic Journalism.” Along the way he talked about the future of newspapers in a lecture in Stackhouse Theatre. If you miss it, you can watch Caesar’s presentation on our YouTube Channel at this link.

Services Set for W&L Alumnus Killed in Afghanistan

Chris Coffland '88

Chris Coffland, a member of Washington and Lee’s Class of 1988 and a captain of the 1987 Generals’ football team, was killed Friday (Nov. 13) by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. He was 43. According to media reports out of Baltimore where Chris lived, he was killed when his vehicle was hit by an IED on his way to investigate another IED blast. Two other people in the vehicle also died. Chris came to W&L after graduating from Gilman School in Baltimore. He played both football and lacrosse and was a running back for late head coach Gary Fallon’s football Generals. After playing behind W&L star running back Kevin Weaver on the 1986 team, Chris was the starting tailback on the 1987 squad. Coach Fallon said this about Chris, who had been the third-leading rusher and top return man in 1986 in the media guide prior to the 1987 season: “[Last year] Chris did everything for us but clean the balls. He ran from three different positions each week and this year we want him to focus on one position. Chris is super tough, so I know he’ll give it his best shot.” Chris led W&L in rushing that fall and scored five touchdowns. A psychology major at W&L, Chris had played football in Finland and coached in Australia. He’d also studied anthropology in graduate school, according to comments from his family. The Baltimore Sun’s story reported that Chris has joined the Army Reserve a month before he turned 42, which was the enlistment cut-off date. He was an Army intelligence officer and had been deployed to Afghanistan just two weeks ago. Chris’s body arrived Saturday night at Dover Air Force Base. WBAL-TV in Baltimore reported that Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon has ordered city flags lowered in Chris’s honor. Here are links to some other tributes to Chris in Maryland media:

• The Daily Times of Salisbury, Md.
• WBAL-TV
• WJZ-TV
• ABC2-TV (includes video)

UPDATE (11/17): The funeral service for Chris will be held on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 11 a.m. in Baltimore’s Cathedral of Mary Our Queen (5200 N Charles Street) followed by a reception at Gilman School (5407 Roland Avenue). Visitation will be on Friday, Nov. 20, from 12 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at Lemmon Funeral Home, 10 W Padonia Road in Timonium, MD. The family is establishing a memorial fund at Gilman School and has asked that donations be made there in lieu of flowers.

UPDATE (11/17): A Facebook fan page has been created for Chris. Go to Facebook and search “Chris Cofflland.”

UPDATE (11/19): Roanoke Times writer Doug Doughty has a piece about Chris in his notebook today. You can read it here. In addition the current “From the Sidelines” blog by W&L Sports Information Director Brian Laubscher has a posting about Chris.

UPDATE (11/20): Baltimore Sun has an extensive feature on Chris’s life. Read it here.

Fashion Statements

Erin Mullaney

If you want to know what the best dresses from the international collections are going to be in 2010, Erin Mullaney of Washington and Lee’s Class of 1998 is the person to ask — about that or any other fashion questions you have. As the buying director for Browns, the prestigous United Kingdom store, Erin’s opinions on fashion are  widely quoted in major fashion magazines, including Vogue and Elle. And a blog called Chic-Chic-Store.com reported in a feature called Model Citizens that “back in September of 2008, Erin was already investing in transparent sheer blouses before sheer/transparency became The Big Trend on the Spring/Summer 2010 runways…” After starting as a consultant at Christian Louboutin, Erin became a buyer at Harrods and at Selfridges before becoming buying director at Browns.