Alumni Awards

Meet Our Alumni

• <div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/2963-homecoming-contest"></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p><a href="https://www.ehc.edu/live/image/gid/68/width/650/4903_IMG-1479.JPG" class="lw_preview_image"><picture class="lw_image lw_image4903 lw_align_left lw_column_width_half"><source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/500/height/376/4903_IMG-1479.rev.1540254881.webp 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/68/width/500/height/376/4903_IMG-1479.rev.1540254881.webp 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/500/height/376/4903_IMG-1479.rev.1540254881.JPG 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/68/width/500/height/376/4903_IMG-1479.rev.1540254881.JPG 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><img width="500" height="376" alt="Friends reconnecting on Homecoming Day, 2018." src="/live/image/gid/68/width/500/height/376/4903_IMG-1479.rev.1540254881.JPG" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/500/height/376/4903_IMG-1479.rev.1540254881.JPG 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/68/width/500/height/376/4903_IMG-1479.rev.1540254881.JPG 3x" data-max-w="3088" data-max-h="2320" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a>Homecoming is about alumni coming back to visit friends and see their old college. They want to hear what’s going on at Emory & Henry! They want to see what’s new on campus! They want to know about current students and what they’re doing!</p><p><strong>But how much do you know about alumni?</strong></p><p><strong><a href="/live/blurbs/1269-more-emory-henry-alumni-stories" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CLICK HERE</a> to find a bunch of stories about former students.</strong></p><p> If you will share your favorite E&H alumni story on social media, you’ll be in the running for great prizes: an E&H blanket and more!!</p><p> So read a cool story…share that story with your friends…and screen shot it to share with the alumni office: 276-944-3516 or <a href="mailto:alumni@ehc.edu">alumni@ehc.edu</a>.</p><p> And let’s get to know our E&H alumni this Homecoming!</p><p>  </p><p> Please note: This contest is only for current students…not alumni. Sorry! :)<br/> Please include your name and current class year when you submit your entry. </p></div><a href="/live/profiles/2963-homecoming-contest" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/2082-nathan-grinstead"><picture class="lw_image"><source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/138,51,766,679/4183_IMG_2845.rev.1527692777.webp 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><source type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/138,51,766,679/4183_IMG_2845.rev.1527692777.jpg 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/138,51,766,679/4183_IMG_2845.rev.1527692777.jpg" alt="Nathan Grinstead, E&H Class of 2011." width="345" height="225" data-max-w="628" data-max-h="628" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/2082-nathan-grinstead"><p> Nathan Grinstead (E&H ’11) is an inspector for the Department of Environmental Quality.</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> Nathan Grinstead is an inspector with the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). He conducts above ground and underground storage tank inspections to ensure compliance with federal and state laws and regulations. </p><p><br/> It is a job that requires more than a casual acceptance of a little dirt and tight spaces. He also has to have great people skills. He spends a great deal of his time interacting with other environmental agencies and cooperating with local government officials.</p><p><br/> He says his coursework at Emory & Henry gave him a solid foundation for upholding the laws and regulations of the DEQ, as well as an appreciation for the importance of his work regarding environmental impacts. “I gained a wealth of knowledge pertaining to water quality and the importance of biological diversity. My work experience at the DEQ has given me a full understanding of how important it is to have clear and concise regulations that protect our environment. My current position allows me to enforce those regulations to ensure facilities and stakeholders remain in compliance, helping to prevent future pollution incidents from occurring. I continue to expand my knowledge every day and strive to be a committed public servant to protect citizens of the Commonwealth and the environment.”</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/2082-nathan-grinstead" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/1744-melvin-dillon"><picture class="lw_image"><source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/346,345,1076,1074/3151_dillon.rev.1518206768.webp 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><source type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/346,345,1076,1074/3151_dillon.rev.1518206768.jpg 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/346,345,1076,1074/3151_dillon.rev.1518206768.jpg" alt="Melvin Dillon" width="345" height="225" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/346,345,1076,1074/3151_dillon.rev.1518206768.jpg 2x" data-max-w="730" data-max-h="729" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/1744-melvin-dillon"><p> Melvin Dillon is part of the Vinyl Revival</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> Melvin Dillon (E&H ’06) is a musician himself, and used to play at venues in the Emory area while a student to make a little extra money. But as he got to know the industry, there were things that bothered him about the business of music. Says Melvin, “Soul Step Records is known because of our unwillingness to do business that serves our bottom line. We do everything in service to our artists. I think that’s why we’ve grown in such a short time.”</p><p> According to the Soul Step Records website, Melvin’s goal was simple; he wanted to give artists the ability to make vinyl records (so that music can be “listened to the way music should be…”). The thing that sets him apart from other music companies is that Soul Step pays all the upfront costs, and then profits are split evenly between the company and the band. “Our number one goal with each release is to have enough to fund another record. I have yet to take a dime from sales; every profit for Soul Step goes back into building up for another release. …Our relationship with our artists is paramount to us.”</p><p> And his good intentions are resulting in good business.</p><p> One of his current artist/clients is starring in <em>Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway</em>, and most of the music he is recording is currently featured in TV and film. Another client is Holy Ghost Tent Revival, and he says getting to know them years ago, and seeing the struggles they had with traditional means of recording, served as much of the inspiration for his company.</p><p> Because he loves the artist aspect of the music business it allows him some great opportunities, including the fact that with each release they do 100 vinyl records in a special color – while the rest of the run is in the traditional black vinyl.  One album garnered particularly interesting success with the cover art. “When I was releasing my third album, Matt Duncan’s <em>Soft Times</em> I saw the artwork that was done by Robert Beatty. It was this psych-tarot card freaky artwork. Truly beautiful …After seeing the tarot card artwork - I went to the pressing plant I was using and said I wanted to put a tarot card INSIDE the record. After much trial and error, and even going as far as accidentally setting a pressing machine on fire, we were able to conjure a way to make this happen. The results were stunning and we had mentions from tons of music and vinyl publications. These 100 records we made for that project  will pop up on eBay  – typically going over a hundred dollars. Crazy.”</p><p>  </p><p> Melvin says his time at E&H helped prepare him for a business model that breaks the mold. “The big keyword is service. It’s hard to be a student of Emory and not have service of others instilled into you. The heart of this company is service. I think that Emory helps you understand the value in giving back. Many of my fellow alumni who are in position to do so find some way to give back. It’s something that I’m proud of. I’ve been very fortunate to find a job with a phenomenal company that puts me in the position to do this. I feel that it’s my duty to find a way to give back. I’m happy that Soul Step fills that need.”</p><p>  </p><p> Melvin spends only part of his week with Soul Step, and is also a manager for Apple Computer.</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/1744-melvin-dillon" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/2864-kelly-steele"><picture class="lw_image"><source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,114,750,864/6649_1A3D5553-3A82-41FD-9147-BA67509933FB.rev.1564602478.webp 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><source type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,114,750,864/6649_1A3D5553-3A82-41FD-9147-BA67509933FB.rev.1564602478.jpg 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,114,750,864/6649_1A3D5553-3A82-41FD-9147-BA67509933FB.rev.1564602478.jpg" alt="Kelly Moss Steele, E&H Class of 2002" width="345" height="225" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,114,750,864/6649_1A3D5553-3A82-41FD-9147-BA67509933FB.rev.1564602478.jpg 2x" data-max-w="750" data-max-h="750" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/2864-kelly-steele"></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> Sales Training Manager for Bristol-Myers Squibb. E&H Class of 2002.</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/2864-kelly-steele" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/155-"><picture class="lw_image"><source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/gid/2/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,450,490/27_abe1975e59116cf763b1821b22668003_f74661.rev.1491319536.webp 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><source type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/gid/2/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,450,490/27_abe1975e59116cf763b1821b22668003_f74661.rev.1491319536.jpg 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/2/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,450,490/27_abe1975e59116cf763b1821b22668003_f74661.rev.1491319536.jpg" alt="Dr. Ken Noe poses with one of his Auburn grad students, Peter Thomas (E&H, '08). In addition to the flag of his home state in the bac..." width="345" height="225" data-max-w="450" data-max-h="490" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/155-"><p> Dr. Ken Noe ’79 Writing Book on the Weather’s Impact on the American Civil War</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> When Dr. Ken Noe (’79) was growing up in Elliston he remembers that weather played a huge role in the work done on his grandfather’s farm. “If rain was coming, we dropped everything else to put up hay.” He thinks this experience planted a seed in the back of his mind about the impactful influence of weather. Later, his interest in weather grew when he took a geography course at Emory & Henry with Dr. Ed Bingham.</p><p> But even he could never have predicted that he would now be writing a two-volume book on weather’s impact on the American Civil War.</p><p> Ken is the Draughon Professor of Southern History at Auburn University. He is the author or editor of seven books, and he has published scads of articles, essays and chapters about the Civil War. He is a decorated history professor serving at West Georgia College before heading to Auburn. He was a Pulitzer Prize entrant and won the 2003 Kentucky Governor’s award, the 2002 Peter Seaborg Book Award for Civil War Non-fiction, and the 1997 Tennessee History Book Award. He has won several teaching awards, has served as president of the Alabama Historical Association, and is serving on the Advisory Board of the Society of Civil War Historians. He has even been a consultant for the NBC series <em>Who Do You Think You Are? </em></p><p> But in all his prolific writing and research and publishing even he is surprised that his biggest and most industrious work to-date will be about weather.  “Meteorologists are still trying to work out why the weather during the Civil War was so unusual. They dealt with incredibly snowy and rainy winters and droughts in the summer that affected Southern food supplies. There were dust storms, flooded rivers, and only two hurricanes. It had a profound effect on many campaigns.”</p><p> His research on weather has already taken several years, and he still has a few years left before he publishes. And even he was amazed to realize just how much information he had accumulated. “Very little has been written about Civil War environmental history. It is only now becoming part of the conversation about Civil War history.”  </p><p> Ken says that even in a field of study like Civil War history where so many things have been written, there is still new area for research and a lot of topics that haven’t been covered.  He has grad students asking new questions about the role of religion, the prison industries during the war, the role of friendship, and one young man, who is an E&H grad, is looking into camp life.</p><p> Even though we have just passed the 150^th anniversary of the American Civil War, Ken points out that this conflict still has implications for current events; and he marvels that most conversations over the past 18 months have quickly moved from history to current topics like the Confederate flag, U.S. prisons, and race relations. He says his field has gotten so tangled with politics that there is a declining interest in Civil War history among the public. “But this event still has much to teach us. It was a great turning point in American History and opened up questions that are still being answered about equality of humankind, the status of women, states’ rights. I don’t know how we can answer all these questions unless we go back to the beginning.” He consistently stresses to his students the importance of going back to primary source information rather than depending on how the stories have been told and passed down.</p><p> Ken actually majored in education at Emory & Henry and still remembers panicking when he realized he didn’t want to be a junior high school teacher. “I had a lot of electives leftover and started taking history classes late in my college experience. I realized what I wanted to be was a historian and teach at a higher level.” A conversation with Patsi Trollinger (’72) reassured him that most alumni do not stick to work within their major. And a conversation with Dr. Gene Rasor in the history department led to a phone call which ended with Dr. Rasor telling Ken he had an interview with the history department at Virginia Tech.</p><p> The rest, as they say, is history.</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/155-" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/2554-jess-daddio"><picture class="lw_image"><source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/417,0,1781,1365/6047_53503806_306647530022179_877872142568390656_n.rev.1552061143.webp 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/417,0,1781,1365/6047_53503806_306647530022179_877872142568390656_n.rev.1552061143.webp 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/417,0,1781,1365/6047_53503806_306647530022179_877872142568390656_n.rev.1552061143.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/417,0,1781,1365/6047_53503806_306647530022179_877872142568390656_n.rev.1552061143.jpg 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/417,0,1781,1365/6047_53503806_306647530022179_877872142568390656_n.rev.1552061143.jpg" alt="Jess Daddio, E&H Class of 2013" width="345" height="225" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/417,0,1781,1365/6047_53503806_306647530022179_877872142568390656_n.rev.1552061143.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/417,0,1781,1365/6047_53503806_306647530022179_877872142568390656_n.rev.1552061143.jpg 3x" data-max-w="1364" data-max-h="1365" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/2554-jess-daddio"><p> Jess Daddio, E&H ’13 – always working, but she’s not likely to be found in an office.</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p><a href="https://www.ehc.edu/live/image/gid/68/width/1000/6048_54049565_992585280938743_4455543676382216192_n.jpg" class="lw_preview_image"><picture class="lw_image lw_image6048 lw_align_left lw_column_width_full"><source media="(max-width: 500px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/500/height/334/6048_54049565_992585280938743_4455543676382216192_n.rev.1552061210.webp 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/68/width/500/height/334/6048_54049565_992585280938743_4455543676382216192_n.rev.1552061210.webp 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(max-width: 500px)" type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/500/height/334/6048_54049565_992585280938743_4455543676382216192_n.rev.1552061210.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/68/width/500/height/334/6048_54049565_992585280938743_4455543676382216192_n.rev.1552061210.jpg 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(max-width: 800px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/800/height/534/6048_54049565_992585280938743_4455543676382216192_n.rev.1552061210.webp 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(max-width: 800px)" type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/800/height/534/6048_54049565_992585280938743_4455543676382216192_n.rev.1552061210.jpg 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(min-width: 801px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/1000/height/667/6048_54049565_992585280938743_4455543676382216192_n.rev.1552061210.webp 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(min-width: 801px)" type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/1000/height/667/6048_54049565_992585280938743_4455543676382216192_n.rev.1552061210.jpg 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><img width="1000" height="667" alt="Jess Daddio, E&H Class of 2013." src="/live/image/gid/68/width/1000/height/667/6048_54049565_992585280938743_4455543676382216192_n.rev.1552061210.jpg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/1000/height/667/6048_54049565_992585280938743_4455543676382216192_n.rev.1552061210.jpg 2x" data-max-w="2048" data-max-h="1365" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a>Jess Daddio is a freelance photographer, videographer, and journalist.</p><p> She is the former travel editor for Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine. She is a regular contributor to the REI Co-op Journal, and her articles have appeared in Outdoor Retailer Magazine, Elevation Outdoors Magazine, and the Matador Network.</p><p> Some of her most recent commercial clients include IMBA Trail Solutions, Farm to Feet, Harrisonburg Tourism, and Sigora Solar.</p><p> Jess says her mentors at Emory & Henry prepared her for the work she is doing today. “My teachers at E&H taught me much more than their syllabi suggested. Through their unconditional support and guidance, I learned that it’s not enough to dream big. You have to put in the hard work, you have to flounder, you have to fail, and still you have to show up day in and day out in order to make that dream become reality. Without them, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”</p><p> Jess is a 2013 graduate of E&H. When she’s not behind the camera, she can usually be found playing in the woods by bike or by foot. You can learn more about her at <a href="https://www.jessdaddio.com/?fbclid=IwAR32MgacNSYJLwEFhparqrr0UmbfUBMCB07PSKSbYDh8K2JvLu1XKAqa_oY" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-lynx-mode="hover" data-lynx-uri="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jessdaddio.com%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR32MgacNSYJLwEFhparqrr0UmbfUBMCB07PSKSbYDh8K2JvLu1XKAqa_oY&h=AT25wmqp3vyjyzjMKWiiUY_x5n5o_dIscoK7qbMnii3tDcUkd1LzWh5u-ZQIJ3q0NDC7J17kaNROxXR3WGcTIM0fFbGXzcz7pfo7smkI2PBdEeylIgY2vczfrAEqJ7CDaa0">https://www.jessdaddio.com/</a>. </p></div><a href="/live/profiles/2554-jess-daddio" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/3005-natalia-sutherland"><picture class="lw_image"><source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,14,714,728/5663_Natalia_Sutherland.rev.1542303444.webp 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><source type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,14,714,728/5663_Natalia_Sutherland.rev.1542303444.jpg 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,14,714,728/5663_Natalia_Sutherland.rev.1542303444.jpg" alt="Sutherland, Natalia (E&H Class of 2017)" width="345" height="225" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,14,714,728/5663_Natalia_Sutherland.rev.1542303444.jpg 2x" data-max-w="714" data-max-h="714" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/3005-natalia-sutherland"><p> Natalia Sutherland is a medical student at <a href="https://medicine.vtc.vt.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Virginia Tech Carilion Medical School</a>.</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> Life is not multiple choice</p><p> Natalia Sutherland is starting her second year at <a href="https://medicine.vtc.vt.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Virginia Tech Carilion Medical School</a>. She smiles widely when she talks about the other students in her cohort. “They’re from Duke and Johns Hopkins and Clemson and Vanderbilt…there are only 3 of us from liberal arts colleges.”</p><p> But this is what seems to give her an edge. Natalia is among the top tier of students in her class and she says, “You can tell Dr. Fleet I give her all the credit for that!”</p><p> She says her E&H Biology professor, Dr. Christine Fleet, insisted on project-based classwork that forced students  to truly understand and apply what they were learning in class. Granted, there are tests in medical school that are multiple choice, but Natalia says she feels like she has an advantage over many of her classmates because Emory & Henry gave her a framework for truly understanding the science.  She says it’s one thing to memorize the answers…but it’s another thing altogether to truly understand causes and effects and how systems in your body interact. She says Emory & Henry prepared her to be that well-rounded learner.</p><p> She beams when talking about how much she’s enjoying medical school, and about the work she did at E&H to prepare her for what she’s doing now. “I’ll come back to campus and talk to prospective students and families any time! Emory & Henry was a great place to get ready for medical school!”</p><p> Natalia is also the recipient of the <a href="https://medicine.vtc.vt.edu/giving/morgan-harrington.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Morgan Dana Harrington Scholarship</a>, and she expresses great honor in representing that award.</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/3005-natalia-sutherland" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/1946-brooklyn-belk"><picture class="lw_image"><source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,28,347,376/3466_BrooklynSawyersBelk.rev.1520453426.webp 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><source type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,28,347,376/3466_BrooklynSawyersBelk.rev.1520453426.jpg 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,28,347,376/3466_BrooklynSawyersBelk.rev.1520453426.jpg" alt="Brooklyn Sawyers Belk E&H 2002." width="345" height="225" data-max-w="347" data-max-h="348" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/1946-brooklyn-belk"><p> Brooklyn Sawyers Belk is an Assistant United States Attorney for the Department of Justice, United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee.</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> Brooklyn Sawyers Belk is an attorney with Weinberg Wheeler Hudgins Gunn and Dial in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a Partner of Counsel, & Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer.</p><p> She was formerly an Assistant United States Attorney for the Department of Justice, United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee.  Sawyers Belk was admitted to the United States Supreme Court bar in November 2015. She is also an adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee (UT) College of Law, where she teaches trial practice and interviewing and counseling. Additionally, she teaches a host of undergraduate history and pre-law courses. </p><p><br/> Sawyers Belk graduated from Emory & Henry College in 2002 and serves on the College’s Board of Trustees. She obtained a Master of Arts degree in history in 2004 from East Tennessee State University and is a 2006 graduate of the UT College of Law. </p></div><a href="/live/profiles/1946-brooklyn-belk" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/2485-catherine-wiedman"><picture class="lw_image"><source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,115,1876,1989/5777_Catherine_Wiedman_Headshot.rev.1545251220.webp 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,115,1876,1989/5777_Catherine_Wiedman_Headshot.rev.1545251220.webp 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,115,1876,1989/5777_Catherine_Wiedman_Headshot.rev.1545251220.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,115,1876,1989/5777_Catherine_Wiedman_Headshot.rev.1545251220.jpg 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,115,1876,1989/5777_Catherine_Wiedman_Headshot.rev.1545251220.jpg" alt="Catherine Wiedman, E&H Class of 2017" width="345" height="225" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,115,1876,1989/5777_Catherine_Wiedman_Headshot.rev.1545251220.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,115,1876,1989/5777_Catherine_Wiedman_Headshot.rev.1545251220.jpg 3x" data-max-w="1876" data-max-h="1874" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/2485-catherine-wiedman"><p> Catherine Wiedman is the Communications Coordinator for the Fairfax Bar Association.</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> Catherine Wiedman graduated from Emory & Henry in 2017 with degrees in Mass Communications and Philosophy.</p><p> She has wasted no time putting her education to work, and in August of 2018 she became the Communications Coordinator for the Fairfax Bar Association (FBA). The FBA is a professional organization with more than 2,000 practicing attorneys who serve in the Commonwealth of Virginia.<br/><br/> Catherine’s job is to oversee all digital and print media relating to the FBA, draft weekly newsletters to membership, and design flyers, programs, informational sheets, and other marketing materials for organization events. She is also in charge of social media posts and the organization’s website.  And she designs and oversees content for a quarterly magazine.</p><p> Catherine’s college experiences included serving as Editor-in-Chief of the Whitetopper and interning as a reporter for the <em>Smyth County News & Messenger</em>. But she says those things really helped prepare her for what she’s doing in the professional world. “There’s no way to really prepare for the world after graduation, but my experiences at E&H, specifically in the Mass Communications department, definitely provided me with the knowledge and confidence I needed to land this position and succeed in it. My job allows me to use many of the skills I gained in college and express my creativity in order to help people. I think that really exemplifies what we were taught in the MCOM department (but don’t tell Dr. Finney I said that!).”</p><p> (Dr. Mark Finney, by the way, is a mass communications professor at Emory & Henry.)</p><p> She is also busy in her community serving as a volunteer kitten snuggler at the Fairfax County Humane Society.</p><p> Catherine says the best thing about her job is the chance to make a lasting impact on her community.</p><p> “The work I do for the FBA directly affects our efforts in the community. I communicate with our members to gain donations for our Pro Bono program and recruit volunteers for court tours. The FBA offers many wonderful benefits to Fairfax County, and every day I get to communicate those programs in effective and creative ways. Attorneys also send us gift baskets sometimes; that’s pretty great.”</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/2485-catherine-wiedman" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/792-bronie-reynolds"><picture class="lw_image"><source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,499,543/565_bronie.rev.1505403379.webp 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><source type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,499,543/565_bronie.rev.1505403379.jpg 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,499,543/565_bronie.rev.1505403379.jpg" alt="Bronie Reynolds (E&H '84) poses with Mike Young (E&H '86)" width="345" height="225" data-max-w="499" data-max-h="543" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/792-bronie-reynolds"><p> Did you ever wonder who picks the best referees in the country? Turns our Bronie Reynolds (right, E&H ’84) is one of those people.</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><blockquote><p> She picks the refs who make the big calls. </p></blockquote><p> Bronie Reynolds (E&H ’84, E&H Hall of Fame basketball point guard) laughs with glee as she recalls how Dave Thomas used a dust spray around the edges of the E&H basketball court. “He took such good care of the King Center…and we all knew if you got much beyond the court lines during a game, you’d slide all over the place because he had dusted over there!”</p><p> These days Bronie is looking at basketball from a different vantage point. She is one of a handful of people who evaluate basketball referees. She works for Charlene Curtis – former basketball standout and Hall Of Famer from Radford University who selects and assigns the Women’s Basketball Officials for the ACC, Big South, Southern and Colonial Conferences.  Bronie has known Ms. Curtis for a long time. “Coach Curtis, as I refer to her since I worked under her as her Graduate Assistant Coach at Radford University in 1984, is also responsible for the evaluation of the officials for those conferences.  She has to hire Neutral Observers, like me, to help her fulfill the expectations of each conference to have the best officials on the floor for every game. “</p><p> During the summer, she attends a camp where new officials try to break into conferences like the ACC and current officials try to vie for a better spot on the referee totem pole. Bronie says it’s very competitive. “Every year they’re all evaluated – so they have to be on their best game. They have to stay in shape physically, they must know the rules, and they need to appear invisible on the court. There is always someone trying to get their spot.”</p><p> She has a “day job,” too. She is Business Manager for Blue Spiral Consulting and an Insurance Consultant for Blue Ridge Insurance Services. However, throughout the year she watches tapes of games and attends games, and she gets to watch a lot of her favorite sport. “I get paid to watch basketball! Who can complain about that!?”</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/792-bronie-reynolds" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/2494-cortney-halsey"><picture class="lw_image"><source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/43,37,595,589/5791_IMG_1051_1.rev.1546634866.webp 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><source type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/43,37,595,589/5791_IMG_1051_1.rev.1546634866.JPG 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/43,37,595,589/5791_IMG_1051_1.rev.1546634866.JPG" alt="Cortney Halsey ('15) and Jeremiah Jessee ('15) in full academic regalia." width="345" height="225" data-max-w="552" data-max-h="552" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/2494-cortney-halsey"><p> Dr. Cortney Halsey is an occupational therapist who is serving her alma mater as a devoted career mentor.</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> Cortney Halsey finished at E&H with a B.S. in Biology in 2014. In 2017 she completed a doctorate of Occupational Therapy in the charter class of Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences (MDCHS) at Mary Baldwin University.</p><p> She is currently working full time as an occupational therapist embedded into the Pre-employment Readiness and Education Program (PREP) at Wilson Workforce and Rehabilitation Center (WWRC). The position is the first of its kind. Cortney feels blessed to be in this recently created position. “ In collaboration with the OT department, we submitted a position proposal to the Department of Aging and Rehabilitation Services (DRS). The position was approved soon after I completed my doctoral experience at the center.”</p><p> Her responsibilities in the position include serving young adults with disabilities as they pursue independent living and vocational opportunities. Her special interests include sensory integration, assistive technology, and community integration. Cortney also represents WWRC in the DRS sponsored Autism Project and is a core member of the Autism Advocacy Partnership at the center. She supports academic institutions, as a project mentor for MDCHS’s Community Practicum course and precepts Level I OT Students from MDCHS and James Madison University.</p><p> She also works per diem at UVA-Encompass Health, an inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Charlottesville, as an occupational therapist for adults with acute neurological and orthopedic impairments.</p><p> Cortney doesn’t let being busy get in the way of supporting her alma mater. She was the Lyceum Keynote Speaker at E&H’s cognitive community team’s annual Autism event last year. In the summer of 2018, she collaborated with a current E&H student on a summer internship project at WWRC. Cortney says she loved getting to know Sarah Ingram, and the experience was also important for her as a new professional. “It is evident that servant leadership remains an Emory & Henry core value. Sarah, like most E&H students I can imagine, provide tangible and contextual resources through the understanding of place, thus she was able to provide current and future clients with tangible resources and education. Accessibility to resources, experiences, and opportunities will support potential and resiliency for all abilities. Sarah’s presence at our center and E&H’s commitment to service will provide this access to so many.”</p><p> Cortney used her E&H undergrad years to the fullest extent, not only excelling as an accomplished academic student, but also as a well-rounded athlete (she played softball) and campus leader (student director of orientation, member Delta Omicron Pi, Hope Award winner 2014, Homecoming Queen 2012). She says her E&H experience prepared her for the world of work she finds herself in now by “instilling a love for innovation, desire for life-long learning and  joy in trials or barriers. Emory & Henry challenged me to be a spark and not someone’s flame. The greatest reward may be the moments someone chose to change their life with one of your tools and their unique self, rather than your gifts alone attributing to that change. I am humbled by this principle every moment as an Occupational Therapist,” says Cortney.</p><p> In 2018, Cortney married college sweetheart Dr. Jeremiah Jessee (E&H re’15, ETSU Pharmacy School ’18). Jeremiah is a pharmacy resident at Sentara Rockingham Memorial Hospital in Harrisonburg, VA and will be taking a second year Oncology residency later this year.</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/2494-cortney-halsey" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/2706-zach-hupp"><picture class="lw_image"><source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/438,0,1298,859/6403_IMG_3293.rev.1558644302.webp 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><source type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/438,0,1298,859/6403_IMG_3293.rev.1558644302.JPG 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/438,0,1298,859/6403_IMG_3293.rev.1558644302.JPG" alt="Zach Hupp and fraternity brother, Dale McGlothlin, at Zach's advancement ceremony." width="345" height="225" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/438,0,1298,859/6403_IMG_3293.rev.1558644302.JPG 2x" data-max-w="860" data-max-h="859" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/2706-zach-hupp"><p> Zach Hupp is a public affairs specialist for the U.S. Coast Guard.</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> Zach Hupp is a Petty Officer 3^rd Class for the U.S. Coast Guard and serves as a Public Affairs Specialist.</p><p> “I work in the Public Affairs office of the First Coast Guard District with two other petty officers, and the three of us are the primary spokespeople for the Northeast region of the U.S., including Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, most of New York and parts of northern New Jersey. My team is responsible for telling the Coast Guard story; some days that means taking photos or videos of our cutters and stations around the Northeast, some days we are doing live on-camera interviews about cases involving the Coast Guard, and some days we are flying on helicopters as part of a response to a national disaster. With each of those things, we are the ones that make sure the Coast Guard looks good.”<br/><br/> Zach is no stranger to military service; his grandfather retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1970 after serving for over 20 years. “When I was in high school, I thought it would be cool to follow in his footsteps. But when I told him my plan, he sat me down and said, ‘I have seen what the Marines can do to a young boy, and I want more than that for you.’ To me, that meant I was going to college instead!”</p><p> So he landed at Emory & Henry, but his junior year he decided to join the Coast Guard.  But there was a hitch: he was carrying a little too much weight to meet the Coast Guard’s physical qualifications.</p><p> So, he finished his Emory & Henry Mass Communications degree, and then worked for awhile as a financial analyst for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a team-member of CGI Federal. He loved the work and his team, but he never stopped thinking about the Coast Guard, so he got in shape– and lost about 75 pounds.</p><p><a href="/live/image/gid/68/height/667/6402_IMG_3288.JPG" class="lw_preview_image"><picture class="lw_image lw_image6402 lw_align_left lw_column_width_half"><source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/500/height/667/6402_IMG_3288.rev.1558644278.webp 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/68/width/500/height/667/6402_IMG_3288.rev.1558644278.webp 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/500/height/667/6402_IMG_3288.rev.1558644278.JPG 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/68/width/500/height/667/6402_IMG_3288.rev.1558644278.JPG 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><img width="500" height="667" alt="Zach Hupp at a military ceremony with his family and fraternity brother, Dale McGlothlin." data-caption="Zach Hupp at his military advancement ceremony with his daughter Lennox, wife Olivia, and fraternity brother, Dale McGlothlin." src="/live/image/gid/68/width/500/height/667/6402_IMG_3288.rev.1558644278.JPG" title="Zach Hupp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/500/height/667/6402_IMG_3288.rev.1558644278.JPG 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/68/width/500/height/667/6402_IMG_3288.rev.1558644278.JPG 3x" data-max-w="2400" data-max-h="3200" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a>In the Coast Guard, he has served on an 87-foot patrol boat (Coast Guard Cutter HERON) in Virginia Beach, VA. He has done a lot of Search-and-Rescue and Law Enforcement work and eventually was sent to school at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Charleston, SC to train and qualify as a Coast Guard Boarding Team member. “That qualification was my first real step towards law enforcement. I was also taking every opportunity to become as knowledgeable as I could about the Coast Guard.”</p><p> He was eventually deployed to Patrol Forces Southwest Asia (PATFORSWA), which is a forward-deployed unit consisting of six 110-foot patrol boats and a shoreside support unit based in Manama, Bahrain. Zach says he didn’t know what to expect there. “There is no real way to describe how hot it gets in the middle east, short of experiencing it first-hand. While there, I was stationed on Coast Guard Cutter MAUI with 21 other crew members. We patrolled the Arabian Gulf, often making stops in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Qatar, and Oman. Some of our missions there included escorting Army and/or Navy vessels through the gulf, interdicting migrants and drugs, collecting pattern-of-life data, and building community with the local fishing fleet.”</p><p> Zach liked law enforcement, but he found himself taking pictures and videos in his spare time until one day he left the Middle East and went to the Defense Information School located in Fort Meade, Maryland. He took a course to become a Public Affairs Specialist, and transferred to Boston, Massachusetts, and that’s where he is stationed now.</p><p> “Being in public affairs for the Coast Guard is important to me because it lets me use my skills to tell people all of the great things that the smallest branch of the armed forces does. I have been able to meet senators, congressmen, and many other prominent political figures just in the first six months of being in Boston. I have prepared senior officers for on-camera interviews on national television. I get to write the press releases, take the pictures, and go on camera for major events in our area. I spent two weeks as gathering information and imagery during and after Hurricane Florence, traveling between the storm-ravaged Conway, South Carolina and the flooded towns of eastern-North Carolina. All of that comes back to being able to be a story teller, to be a voice when otherwise there may not be. I love being able to use my skills in a way that makes a difference, and as cliché as it sounds, I get to highlight the great things that the men and women of the Coast Guard do every day.”</p><p> And it all started with a little Mass Communications 101 course at Emory & Henry.</p><p> “When I was at Emory, I started as a math major. It wasn’t until my 4^th semester that I took MCOM-101 with Dr. Teresa Keller and found out that communications was pretty fun! I switched majors. Because the classes at Emory make you so well rounded, I attribute a lot of my success in press releases to the fact that Dr. Kasoma never gave me an easy grade in Writing, Reporting, and Editing. I attribute my love for making videos to Dr. Keller always driving me to do better. I am thankful every day for the education I was able to get at Emory & Henry; from the professors who always saw through my excuses and knew I could give more effort, to the lifelong friends I met along the way. I always tell people that an education from Emory is more than ‘paying for a degree,’ but rather it’s the experiences of a small school in a beautiful area that makes it so unique. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words: In the end, my degree is but a few lines of text culminating from a million memories.”</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/2706-zach-hupp" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/2053-mike-fintel"><picture class="lw_image"><source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,720,720/4097_image.rev.1525119131.webp 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><source type="image/png" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,720,720/4097_image.rev.1525119131.png 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,720,720/4097_image.rev.1525119131.png" alt="Mike Fintel, E&H Class of 2009." width="345" height="225" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,720,720/4097_image.rev.1525119131.png 2x" data-max-w="720" data-max-h="720" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/2053-mike-fintel"><p> Mike Fintel is making a difference in higher education.</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> Mike Fintel wants to make a difference.</p><p> With a degree in Business Management it seemed pretty obvious what he would do after college. And when he landed a plum job with the Shelor Corporation in Montgomery County, Virginia, he was off and running.</p><p> His business background got paired with his soccer experiences as he was first given responsibilities with one of Shelor’s more athletic projects. Mike was General Manager and then Sales and Marketing Manager for the Pulaski Yankees, running historic Calfee ballpark in Pulaski and overseeing marketing for the new Jackson Park Inn hotel and Al’s on First restaurant. He increased sales revenues for the baseball park, and saw an uptick in group sales.</p><p> Soon after that, he was offered a promotion in the company with more responsibility and opportunity. Things were exactly on track!</p><p> And that’s when he walked away.</p><p> Mike said his inner voice was telling him to make a change. “It just didn’t feel like that was what I was supposed to be doing. I wanted to make a difference.”</p><p> In 2017, Mike was inspired by a fellow E&H Classmate <em>(Chris O’Connor)</em> to join Big Brothers, Big Sisters as a mentor with an elementary school in a rural town. It was through this mentorship that Mike decided to follow his heart to higher education.  </p><p> He is now an Admissions Counselor at Roanoke College and Mike says work doesn’t seem like work any more. “I am driven by the thought of waking up each morning, knowing that I can help students envision the achievable dream of attending college. Work no longer seems like a chore.”</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/2053-mike-fintel" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/1815-christina-druen"><picture class="lw_image"><source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/233,0,1593,1361/3301_IMG_2692.rev.1518713658.webp 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/233,0,1593,1361/3301_IMG_2692.rev.1518713658.webp 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/233,0,1593,1361/3301_IMG_2692.rev.1518713658.JPG 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/233,0,1593,1361/3301_IMG_2692.rev.1518713658.JPG 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/233,0,1593,1361/3301_IMG_2692.rev.1518713658.JPG" alt="Christina Druen, E&H Class of 2016" width="345" height="225" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/233,0,1593,1361/3301_IMG_2692.rev.1518713658.JPG 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/233,0,1593,1361/3301_IMG_2692.rev.1518713658.JPG 3x" data-max-w="1360" data-max-h="1361" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/1815-christina-druen"><p> And on top of all this….she can really sing!</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><div> Christina Druen currently works as a graphic designer for K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc. In this role, she creates various print materials, social media graphics, videos and other materials for the Food City stores and events they sponsor including the Food City Family Race Night, Food City 500/300, and their Annual Golf Tournament. Before coming to K-VA-T, Christina worked as a Marketing & Design Coordinator for Southwest Virginia Community Health Systems (SVCHS) where she aided in the re-branding of the organization, designed print materials and helped manage their website and social media. Right before graduation, she landed a job working for a NASCAR K&N team, Martin-McClure Racing as their Public Relations Representative. In this role, she managed the team’s social media accounts, escorted drivers to all appearances and helped manage the “Racing for 90.7 and Emory & Henry” project. Simultaneously, she worked for Dogwood Marketing located in Abingdon, Virginia, as a graphic designer and sales representative before coming to SVCHS. </div><div><br/> In her spare time, Christina works as a Marketing & Design Consultant to help smaller local businesses and non-profits with their marketing needs. She has completed work for Family Promise of Bristol, Garic Stephens and Lavelle Manufacturing, Borderline Billiards, Apple Ridge Photography, First Bank & Trust, Emory & Henry College, Clinch Valley Printing, and more. </div><div><br/> Christina also serves as a board member for the American Advertising Federation of Southwest Virginia. As the Communications Team Leader, her responsibilities include getting information out about their events, managing and updating their website, creating graphics and content for their social media platforms, writing press releases, creating email campaigns and aiding in planning events. </div><div><br/> During her time at Emory & Henry, Christina worked as an Events and Operations Intern for the Academy of Country Music in Los Angeles, California, and a Volunteer Captain for the Annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Los Vegas. She also interned for a popular local band, Annabelle’s Curse, as well as Family Promise of Bristol as their Communications Intern. On campus, she was the Director of EHC-TV, President of Alpha Psi Omega, President of the E&H Choral Department, Treasurer and Founding Member of the AAF Student Chapter, Business Manager of the Whitetopper, Manager of The Sphinx, House Manager and Volunteer Coordinator for the McGlothlin Center for the Arts, Graphic Design Intern for the Admissions Office, and Writer for The Odyssey Online. </div><div><br/> Christina resides in Abingdon, VA. When she’s not working, you can catch her at Borderline Billiards bar-tending and shooting pool. </div></div><a href="/live/profiles/1815-christina-druen" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/838-matt-reedy"><picture class="lw_image"><source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,309,309/727_Matt_Reedy.rev.1506974745.webp 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><source type="image/png" srcset="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,309,309/727_Matt_Reedy.rev.1506974745.png 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,309,309/727_Matt_Reedy.rev.1506974745.png" alt="Matt Reedy E&H '00" width="345" height="225" data-max-w="309" data-max-h="309" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/838-matt-reedy"><p> We don’t often get to meet a real live hero. So, meet Matt Reedy!</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p style="text-align: left;" align="center"> Matt Reedy (’00) was one of only ten people in the country chosen as a 2017 Community Hero by the ICMA.</p><p style="text-align: left;" align="center"><br/> The award was presented by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA). Matt is the Recreation Manager of Centers, Camps, Programs, and Youth Advisory Board for the City of Oak Ridge,Tennessee.</p><p style="text-align: left;" align="center"><br/> The award is part of ICMA’s “Life Well Run” initiative that intends to spotlight local government officials for outstanding work done ethically, efficiently, and effectively. </p><p style="text-align: left;" align="center"><br/> According to the press release, a member of Matt’s Youth Advisory Board had particularly great things to say about his work for the Oak Ridge community:  “As a mentor, Matt believes in each board member more than they believe in themselves… he is always eager to turn the hushed, half-hearted suggestion of a quiet student into action.”<br/><br/></p><p> Matt has been with the City of Oak Ridge for 11 years, and part of his work is making sure local youth learn about governmental processes through participation and service. <br/><br/> Watch for news of a video that ICMA will be making about Matt’s work and his award. Read more about the Community Heroes and the Life, Well Run initiative at ICMA’s website: <a href="http://lifewellrun.org/lwr-recognizes-community-heroes/">lifewellrun.org/lwr-recognizes-community-heroes/</a>.</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/838-matt-reedy" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>