2009 ANNUAL HOMECOMING/ALUMNI WEEKEND

TMC has scheduled its annual Homecoming and Alumni Weekend together this year on the first weekend in November—November 6-7, 2009. Put this date on your calendar now so you will be sure not to miss it.

November 7 will mark the beginning of basketball season, making the homecoming/alumni event held in conjunction with the opening games of the season.

Class and group reunions, a music concert, annual meeting of the Alumni Association, homecoming activities, an alumni luncheon, presentation of Outstanding Alumni awards and more are being planned to provide an exciting kick-off of the Bears’ and Lady Bears’ basketball season. Come home to TMC on November 6-7!
 

The Truett-McConnell College Alumni Association presented its annual Outstanding Alumnus and Outstanding Young Alumnus awards during the Alumni Awards Luncheon held on Saturday, October 25, 2008, in the TMC Residential Restaurant on campus.

The luncheon was the culmination of the events of Alumni Weekend 2008 and featured an attendance of about 100 alumni and guests. Truett-McConnell’s eighth president, Dr. Emir Caner, brought greetings to the group and briefly shared his vision for the college, including the establishment of a World Missions Center on the campus.

The outstanding alumni awards were presented by Dr. Johnathan Gray, outgoing president of the Alumni Association. Award recipients had been chosen by the Alumni Executive Committee from nominations received from TMC alumni.

The Outstanding Alumnus Award for 2008 went to Ryan A. Bowman (class of 1994). After graduating from TMC with an Associate in Arts degree, he continued his higher education at Berry College in Rome, receiving a Bachelor of Business degree in 1996.

Bowman has been with the Chick-fil-A organization for the past 18 years, serving as a unit team member, a team leader, a temporary operator and staff member in the home office. Currently he is Senior Leadership Consultant and a member of the Leadership Development Team of Training and Development. This team is charged with championing the development of leaders throughout the organization. He has presented Chick-fil-A’s leadership and business models to many different audiences and in several countries in addition to the United States, including Romania, Thailand, Kenya and Ukraine. He states: “My life goal is to encourage others to reach their potential by using their God-given gifts for the Kingdom.”

Ryan and his wife, Beth, have been married for seven years; they have a four-year-old son, Andrew, and a one-year-old daughter, Susanna.

The Outstanding Young Alumnus Award for 2008 went to Katie Cooper Wyatt (class of 2006). The award is given to a person who graduated from TMC within the last 10 years. A native of nearby Murrayville, GA, Katie Cooper Wyatt came to Truett-McConnell College as a music major with a concentration in piano and a secondary field of study in vocal performance. While a freshman at TMC, she met Josh Wyatt (also a TMC student), and eventually they were married in May 2006.

Katie Wyatt continued her music education at Truett-McConnell and graduated in May 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts in Music degree. She returned to TMC to work as an admissions counselor, but in December 2007, she left TMC to pursue her dream job, the one that her four years at TMC had prepared her for. She became the choral director at Peachtree Ridge High School in Gwinnett County, where she is able to teach music every day and bond with her students.

Says Katie: “I would not be who I am today if I had not attended TMC. The many people I met there have shaped my life and have been great blessings to me. I continue to pray for TMC and thank God for allowing me to have spent four wonderful years as a student there.”

Alumni are encouraged to make nominations for the Outstanding Alumnus award and/or the Outstanding Young Alumnus award by printing out the form found at outstanding alumnus form or by requesting a nomination form from the Alumni Office at TMC ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 706.865.2134, ext. 122). To be considered for the 2009 awards, nominations must be in the Alumni Office no later than April 20, 2009.

Memories: A Vital Part of the Fabric of Life

 

Renowned artist John Kollock has captured memories of Truett-McConnell College in an enduring painting of the key buildings used by the campus through its early years.  Depicted in the painting are Barrett Hall, Mullis Hall (now Nix Hardware), the Miller Building, Sewell-Plunkett Chapel, and the Alumni Fountain.

 

Quality color numbered prints of the painting signed by the artist are available for a limited time at $35.00 each.  Proceeds from the prints go to support the Truett-McConnell Fund, the college’s annual fund.  Please make checks payable to Truett-McConnell College.  Prints will be sent in a sturdy mailer upon purchase.  To order a print, call the Office of Institutional Advancement at 706.865.2134, ext. 176.
 
ChiChi Onyeka Now a Doctor

The Truett-McConnell College family is pleased to extend congratulations to ChinYelu (ChiChi) Onyeka (Class of 2003), who graduated on May 17, 2009, from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (Georgia campus in Duluth) with a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree.   ChiChi received her Associate in Science degree from Truett-McConnell in the spring of 2003. 

On July 1, Dr. Onyeka will begin a three-year residency in internal medicine at a hospital in Roanoke, VA.  Her first rotation in the hospital will be in the emergency room.

ChiChi is married to Chu Ofodile and plans to practice medicine under her married name—Dr. Chinyelu Ofodile.  Her husband, Chu, expects to complete his doctorate in mathematics from Howard University in Washington, DC, in December.

CAN YOU IDENTIFY THESE HISTORIC PHOTOS?

   For some of you, these photos will recall vivid memories.  Those alumni who do not remember these days might be intrigued to see something about Truett-McConnell’s beginnings.  From time to time, we will publish old photos that might be of interest to alumni.
 
 
   Formal ceremonies that opened Truett-McConnell Junior College were held at 7:30 PM on September 17, 1947, in the First Baptist Church of Cleveland.  Leading in prayer is Rev. Claude C. Boynton of Blairsville, a member of the small group of people who conceived the dream of Truett-McConnell—“a college in the mountains for mountain boys and girls.”  Behind Rev. Boynton (left to right) are members of the administration and first faculty: Mrs. E. T. Staton; Miss Mary Frances Conger; Mr. Norman C. Smith, Jr.; Clarence W. Pittman; and Rev. Julius H. Spears, Dean.
 
 
   The foundation for an administration/classroom building was poured in 1948-1949.  Construction of the building was delayed until sufficient funds could be raised.  The building was completed in 1956 and named for Rev. Joe H. Miller, second president of the college who was in office when the building was completed.  The campus was moved from the town square to its new permanent location when classes began in the fall of 1956.  The Miller Building still serves as the main classroom/administration building on the TMC campus.
 
NOTE:  The entire hill from the highway to the top was covered in a thick stand of slender pine trees.  As one of the early administrators of the college said, “Truett-McConnell College was literally carved out of a pine thicket.”
 
 
   The Industrial Arts Building was the first building to be constructed on the present campus.  It was used at first as a storage facility for equipment and building materials used in the construction of the Miller Building.  When the Miller Building project was completed and the college moved its operations to the new location, the Industrial Arts Building served temporarily as the college dining hall.  It was used as the instruction site for industrial arts classes for a short time, and eventually it became the location of the grounds and facilities department.  Located near the college’s swimming pool, it is still used for storage.
 
 
 
   Barrett Hall was a former private residence located behind the Cleveland Methodist Church.  It was Truett-McConnell’s first classroom building.  In the late 1970s, the Methodist Church owned the unoccupied building, and the building was purchased by Rush Mauney, a member of a prominent Cleveland family.  He had it moved to another location on Old Clarkesville Highway in Cleveland, where he renovated the building.  Today it is known as RuSharon, the lovely home of Rush and Sharon Mauney and their daughter, Jessamine.

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