Remembering Adam and Kristin

 

Family and friends of Adam Burchett '02 and Kristin Shelton '04, with their check for the Traveller Safe Ride program.

A group of alumni and friends gathered at the Hotchkiss Alumni House earlier this month to honor two of their classmates, Adam Burchett ’02 and Kristin Shelton ’04, who died in a tragic automobile accident a decade ago.

The accident inspired a student-led initiative that created the Traveller Safe Ride Program. Those who returned for the Nov. 13 event made a $5,500 donation to that program in honor and memory of Adam and Kristin.

More than 80 donors from the classes of 2000 through 2005 contributed to the fund. Those who attended (and are pictured above): Thomas, Cindy, Chase and Mary Burchett (Adam’s parents, brother and sister); Charles and Judith Shelton (Kristin’s parents); David (’02) & Kristen French; Evan James ’02; Clayton Kennedy ’02; Baxter Lee ’02; Jimmy Miller ’02; Blair Newman ’02; Tom Radcliff ’02; Louis (’02) and Jessie Sterchi; David Thornhill ’02; Damian (’03) and Emily Horan (’04); Richard (’03) & Jessica Morse; Stacey Gearhart ’03; Serena Carr Debergh ’04; Kelly McFarlane ’04; Tyler Tokarczyk ’12, Traveller Steering Committee; Richard Saum ’11, Traveller Steering Committee; and Jarrett Brotzman ’11, Traveller Steering Committee.

 

First-Year Students Help Kids with Cancer

 

From left, members of W&L's Class of 2014: Garrett Koller, John Paul Beall, Andrew Seredinski and Alexander Baca. (Photograph by Jae Yi.)

In 2008, Alex Baca started Alexander’s Auction, a biannual event that raises money for Special Love’s camps and outings for children with cancer who are being treated at hospitals in the mid-Atlantic region.

Alex, a member of W&L’s first-year class, from McLean, Va., knows firsthand what it means for these children to enjoy the kinds of activities that normal kids — i.e., those not suffering from cancer — take for granted. He survived childhood leukemia, missing both kindergarten and first grade while he battled the disease.

Not only did he create the auction, but Alex also volunteers each summer as a counselor at Camp Fantastic, in Front Royal, Va., joining medical personnel and others who give their time so that the children can have a chance to feel normal and enjoy life. “The children enjoy friendship and fun while receiving medical treatment, and the National Institutes of Health are involved in management of the medical aspect of the camp. I know how hard these kids have it and how much they need support. Camp Fantastic is a supportive world in which the children do not feel different or isolated from their peers.”

And this past Saturday, when Alexander’s Auction was held in McLean, Alex got some extra support, too, when his three W&L residence-hall suitemates — Garrett Koller, John Paul Beall and Andrew Seredinski — all volunteered to help stage the event.

Chris Coffland Continues to Inspire

Chris Coffland '88

A year after he was killed in Afghanistan, Washington and Lee alumnus Chris Coffland’s story continues to resonate in several different ways. Chris was a member of the W&L Class of 1988 and co-captained the 1987 Generals’ football team.  He had joined the Army Reserve a month before he turned 42, the enlistment cut-off date. An intelligence specialist, he had volunteered for the mission on which he and two others were killed by an improvised explosive device. The alumni magazine published a story about Chris in the Spring/Summer 2010 issue, written by fellow alum Greg Esposito, Class of 2000.

This past Monday in Arlington, Chris’s friends and family gathered for a memorial service on the first anniversary of his death. As reported by WBAL television in Baltimore, the service was the first time that many of Chris’s family members met those with whom he served. And the event was also where the family announced plans for the Christopher Coffland Memorial Fund, which will raise money to help soldiers returning from combat.

As Chris’s sister, Lynn, told the TV station: “My brother was a hero, but his pain ended when he died. These [returning soldiers] have to live every day with that.” A website for the fund is currently under construction.

Meantime, as W&L’s ODAC champion football team plays Thomas More College on Saturday in the NCAA Division III tournament, they will continue to get motivation from Chris, as they have in recent weeks. Earlier this fall, Col. Lee Cummings ’86, a former teammate of Chris’s, delivered a special brick to Coach Frank Miriello and the football team. Athletic director Jan Hathorn told the story on the W&L Sidelines blog of how Lee had carried the brick during an eight-mile march that he and fellow soldiers in the Boston area staged this fall. They each carried in their backpacks bricks adorned with the names of their fallen brothers. Lee’s brick has Chris’s W&L No. 6, his name and the phrase “Lest they be forgotten.”

The brick resides in the Generals’ locker room, where players touch it on their way to practices and games. Lee had one rule for the brick: “Can’t touch it unless you are going to bring it!” He delivered the brick prior to the Emory & Henry game on Oct. 9. Since then, the Generals have won six in a row.

Loyal West Virginian

Loyal West Virginians Frederick '56 and Joan Stamp

At halftime of last Saturday’s football game between West Virginia University and the University of Cincinnati, in Morgantown,  Judge Frederick P. Stamp, a 1956 Washington and Lee alumnus, was honored with his wife, Joan, as “Most Loyal West Virginians.”

The recognition was part of WVU’s 63rd annual Mountaineer Week.

Judge Stamp, who had a private practice in his hometown of Wheeling for 30 years, was nominated to the U.S. District Court by President George H.W. Bush in May 1990.  He assumed senior status on the court in November 2006. In addition, he has served in the state legislature, as president of the WVU Board of Regents and on the WVU College of Law Visiting Committee. Joan Stamp, who owns a jewelry design business, currently serves on the WVU Foundation Board of Directors.

The Most Loyal West Virginian designation exemplifies faithfulness to the ideals and goals of the state of West Virginia through business, professional and civic achievement, as well as support for WVU.

W&L at the Richmond Marathon

W&L Development Officer Sydney Brooks at the finish line of the Richmond Marathon (her first marathon).

We can identify at least four members of the Washington and Lee community among the finishers in Saturday’s running of the SunTrust Richmond Marathon, plus 13 other W&L-connected runners in the event’s half marathon and three more in the 8K.

We undoubtedly have missed runners who work at W&L but may not have listed Lexington as home. And we’re sure that plenty of alumni were participants, too. So drop us your name and results by commenting below. And if there are some group photos of Generals runners, we’d welcome those.

Here are the finishers we found (and you can look up their places and times here on the marathon’s database):

In the marathon, Laura Ball, a junior from Eldersburg, Md., finished 752 overall (out of 4,952 runners). She was joined on the course by Sydney Brooks, regional development officer for the West and Midwest; Tom Contos, director of planning and University architect; and Louise Uffelman, managing editor of the university’s alumni magazines.

In the half marathon, the W&L-connected finishers were Alex Shabo, a junior from Hingham, Mass., who finished 573 (out of 6,605 runners); Catherine McCulloch, a junior from Dallas; Louisa Phillips, a sophomore from Charleston, S.C.; Anne Masich, a junior from Raleigh, N.C.; Fran Elrod, coordinator of co-curricular activity for the Shepherd Poverty Program; Caroline Helms, a senior from Charlotte. N.C.; Caroline Bovay, a senior from Gainesville, Fla.; Susan Wager, assistant director of the Lenfest Center; Noel Price, a sophomore from Nashville; Scott Boylan, professor of accounting; Mary Galbraith, a sophomore from Rochester, N.Y.; and Tilden Bowditch, a sophomore from Williamsburg, Va.

The three competitors in the 8K were Emily TenEyck, a junior from Cincinnati, Ohio, who finished 745 (out of 4,549); Katie Tonneman, a senior from Fair Haven, N.J.; and Kim Ruscio, wife of W&L President Ken Ruscio.

An all-time record of 16,106 runners participated in the weekend’s events.

And, by the way, congratulations to all.

Wireless Explosion

For the past two years, Washington and Lee’s Information Technology Services, in collaboration with the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, has surveyed incoming first-year students to find out what kinds of technology they are bringing to campus. Those of us in the manual-typewriter and clock-radio generation of college students can only look in awe at what we’re seeing on campus today, especially the explosion in wireless devices.

For instance, about 60 percent of the entering students this fall brought smart phones with them. Smart phones are defined as those cell phones that offer data service, including Web browsing and e-mail. That represents a significant increase of 21 percent over just one year ago. As Jeff Overholtzer, director of strategic planning and communications for ITS, indicates, this is only the beginning. “We expect the increase in ownership of smart phones to continue. Virtually all students use cell phones, and use them in many ways, including texting (99 percent); the Web (61 percent); Facebook (59 percent); e-mail (55 percent); personal calendar (45 percent); and music (34 percent).”

When it comes to computers, only two out of 466 entering students did not bring one. On the other hand, 36 students brought two more more computers. And laptops now represent almost 99 percent of the total computers. While Macs had been in a steady climb in recent years, that trend leveled out this year, with about 61 percent of students bringing Macs.

The number and variety of wireless devices continue to grow, and as Overholtzer notes,  students overwhelmingly prefer to use their laptops in wireless mode rather than plugging into the W&L network. In addition to the smart-phone surge, other wireless devices include the iPod Touch (36 percent of first-years) and the Xbox 360 gaming device (20 percent of first-years). First-years also brought Rokus (for streaming movies over the Internet) and wireless printers.

One device that appeared on the survey for the first time is the iPad, but only 10 students brought them. The same is true with the e-readers like Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook, with just 5 percent of the entering students using them.