The Berea College Alumni Association enjoys hearing from Bereans from all over the world. The “Class Notes” section of Berea College magazine reports verifiable news you wish to share with your alumni friends and associates: careers, weddings, retirements, births and other items of importance to our alumni. Please include your class year and name used while attending Berea. Notes may be edited for style and length. While we will make every effort to put your information into the next issue of BCM, some delays may occur. We appreciate your understanding.
Submit class notes and photographs here or via email: alumninews@berea.edu.
Tap or click on the arrows beside each year below to display Class Notes and photos.
1954
John K. Gwinn recently attended his 70th reunion and sat alone at a table with his wife. He noticed the campus has changed greatly in the past 70 years.
1956
Tom Reesor retired after 47 years as a United States immigration agent.
1957
Wally Truesdell’s play “Sanctuary” was selected for the Foothills Arts Council’s fourth Annual One-Act Play Festival, Sept. 20-22, 2024, at SUNY Fulton-Montgomery Community College, Johnstown, N.Y. Wallace was active in the Berea Players. Contact Truesdell at wtruesdell@nycap.rr.com
1958
Seiko Kawakami Mieczkowski’s World War II experiences and journey to Berea College are chronicled in a new book “Surviving War, Oceans Apart: Two Teenagers in Poland and Japan Destined for Life Together” (McFarland Press, 2024), authored by her son, historian Yanek Mieczkowski. Living in Hokkaido, Japan, during WWII, Seiko was forced to leave school and work in a wartime factory. Ten years after the war’s end, she entered Berea College. The book details Seiko’s life in Berea and the mentorship she received from the college’s legendary history professor, Dr. Joseph Van Hook. Seiko eventually became a U.S. citizen, professor and author, marrying Bogdan Mieczkowski, who fought for the Polish Army in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. Now retired, Seiko lives in Cocoa Beach, Fla.
1966
Ron Golliday and wife, Ann, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with a river cruise starting in Budapest, Hungary, and ending in Bucharest, Romania. The couple were married after Golliday’s sophomore year at Berea. They are blessed with three children and seven grandchildren. When not traveling, they live quietly in Edinburg, Va., with their puppy, Moxie.
1969
Sharyn Richards Mitchell Fd. ’65 received two state awards for her work in collaboration with the Richmond Tourism Commission and the Madison County Historical Society. She received the Kentucky Historical Society Publication award and from the Blue Grass Trust Historic Preservation, the Clay Lancaster Heritage Education award for the booklet “Footprints: Traces of Black History in Richmond, Kentucky.” Read more here and here. Watch an interview with Mitchell discussing her work here.
1970
Ronald Carl Dockery’s wife, Charlotte, passed away April 8, 2024 after 32 years of marriage. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer in early March 2024. Dockery sends his thanks to fellow alumni Gary Hilton ’70, Bill Melton ’69 and his wife, Nancy Melton ’73, for their attendance at the funeral service at Greenville United Methodist Church in Greenville, Ky., and all the other alumni who sent their condolences.
1975
Dr. Merry Embree Stewart published a historical nonfiction book “Standing On Our Ancestors’ Shoulders: Transformations of African American Life in Rural Georgia from 1930 to 1970s,” which is available on Amazon. This book provides firsthand accounts of 25 storytellers’ historical transformations in African American communities in Georgia between the 1930s and 1970s. The storytellers’ unique perspectives and personal experiences capture emotions often absent from other written records. These memories/stories provide insight beyond the lives of these African American storytellers from Columbia County and Richmond County, Ga. The shared memories also reflect the lives of other Black Americans living in the rural, segregated South in the early 20th century.
1979
James Stratman joined Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich., as friend and supporter. He is also enrolled in their classical liberal arts courses, including constitution studies, politics, literature, chemistry, religion, philosophy, economics and the fine arts.
1981
Susan Jordan was recently promoted to clinical supervisor at an addictions clinic. She is training staff and providing addictions counseling. She lives with her wife, Debbie Barrett, who is retired from grant-proposal writing and management at a large domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse center. Their son, Barrett, is a senior engineering student at the local university. Their older son serves in the Army as a warrant officer in Alabama with his wife, who is studying veterinary medicine at Auburn University.
1982
Dr. Tijan M. Sallah retired from the World Bank in 2015, where he was a senior economist and sector manager for agriculture and rural development. Dr. Sallah is also an accomplished writer and has published, among other genres, six poetry collections to date. His latest poetry collection is “I Come from a Country” (Africa World Press, 2022), which has received several favorable reviews and is available on Amazon. Most recently, Dr. Sallah was featured in the prestigious “The Oxford Companion to Modern Poetry,” edited by Ian Hamilton and Jeremy Noel-Tod, which according to the back cover features the most “influential poets writing in English from 1910 to the present day…covering international poets such as Don Paterson, John Kinsella…in addition to updated entries on well-established figures such as T.S. Eliot and Carol Ann Duffy.”
1984
Gaitley Stevenson-Mathews was honored with the Leadership Award at a vibrant Latin Fiesta and Business Expo at the Sea Cliff Yacht Club hosted by the North Shore Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (NSHCC). The event, held on July 18, 2024, drew a capacity crowd, bringing together local businesses, community members and cultural performers for a celebration filled with networking, entertainment and a showcase of Hispanic culture. President Connie Pinilla expressed, “We could not have been more pleased with the turnout and the enthusiasm of everyone who attended. The support shown for the expo and for Gaitley was truly heartwarming. We were very appreciative of all who turned out for the event, and it was a special privilege to have the opportunity to honor Gaitley, who does so much for our community.” Stevenson-Mathews is a founding board member and former council member. Read more.
1993
Dr. Suzannah Hicks completed her Doctor of Business Administration – Organizational Development from Johnson & Wales University in July. Dr. Hicks is an artificial intelligence strategist for Merchants Fleet, the fourth largest fleet management company in North America. She lives in Strafford, N.H. with her wife, Kim Armstrong, and son, Daniel Rately, of Portsmouth, N.H. View her LinkedIn profile.
MARRIED: Rebecca Lewis Burns to Johnathan Burns on Feb. 15, 2022.
1997
Carolyn Coffey Pennington was an invited guest reader of personal writings for Kentucky Monthly magazine’s 25th anniversary event at Boyle County Library and again at Penn General Store on May 18-19, 2024.
Rachael N. Pettigrew presented at a convocation in October 2022. She graduated with a degree in child and family studies. She has been a faculty member and a department chair in Bissett School of Business at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta, Canada since 2015. She was honored to receive a Distinguished Faculty Award from MRU; only one is given each year. Read more.
Mahjabeen Rafiuddin is humbled and honored to have received the University of Kentucky College of Social Work Hall of Fame award.
1998
Elizabeth McQueary-Loiacono was the music director for the production “Brother Wolf,” and she wanted to give the production an authentic Appalachian feel. Read more.
1999
Sara James left preK-12 education and has moved to higher education. She is now a residence hall director at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Go Rockers!
2000
Rebecca Jones Wren, who has a long history of family tradition at Berea College, is proud to share her daughter, Caroline, is following in the footsteps of the Jones family and joined Berea’s incoming first-year students in fall 2024. Her great-great grandparents ran the College bakery and confections, her great-grandpa rang the bells in Phelps Stokes, her grandfather was a nontraditional graduate and teaches in the foreign language department. Wren graduated in 2000 and now leads with a servant’s heart in the non-profit sector. Caroline comes by her intellectual curiosity by both nature and nurture and she is so proud of her decision to continue the Berea College tradition.
2002
Bobi Conn was published in Time Magazine for her piece about misunderstood complexities of life in rural America. This is also one of the major themes of her latest book “Someplace Like Home.” Read more.
2003
Angie Young Clapp recently received a promotion to director of clinician development with Optum Home & Community. She is a family nurse practitioner and received her BSN at Berea College and MSN at Carson-Newman College. She worked in family practice for six years before starting house calls (providing home visits to the geriatric population) with United Health Group/Optum. She was promoted to clinical team manager for the past five years, covering east Tennessee, and, in January 2023, became director of clinician development within the home and community division of Optum.
She lives with her spouse, Tommy Clapp ’04, who owns his own practice as a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) and teaches at Carson-Newman College. They have four children and live in Jefferson City, Tenn. Their daughter, Sophie Clapp, is a first-year student at Berea College.
2008
Lesia Denise Smith Chaffins attended Eastern Kentucky University to gain her Master of Public Health (MPH) and went on to work in various public health areas, but ultimately decided a few years ago to attend the University of Kentucky’s Physician’s Assistant program. She graduated in May 2024 and has been hired at Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital in Neurosurgery. Her husband, Ashton, is really proud of her grit and determination to follow her dreams, even after all these years. Grit and determination are traits he attributes to many Berea graduates he knows.
Willow Gene Free recently presented at the International Council of English Braille eighth General Assembly in Auckland, New Zealand. It was a special occasion because it was the 200th anniversary of the invention of braille.
Free is a certified braille transcriber, and her career is currently as a Global Innovations product manager at the American Printing House for the Blind, with a focus on braille, tactile graphics and technology. She is a member of the World Braille Council and is a co-chair on the development of a new braille file type called eBraille She is one of the product managers of a revolutionary new multiline braille display called the Monarch.
Free gives presentations all over the United States and sometimes internationally. She makes it a point to mention how Berea College changed her life by giving her the opportunity to get a college degree with very little debt. Her career is an attempt to apply that education in a way that positively impacts other people. She is a trans woman, and her pronouns are she/her.
2009
BIRTH: a daughter, Eliette Francine Sachs, born to Aaron Sachs and Ashley Sachs on Sept. 28, 2023. She was 6 pounds, 6 ounces and 19 inches long. She joined her big (human) sister, Lennon Amelia, and her fur sister, Stella Rae.
Cory Schlesinger will be re-entering the NBA with a position with the Detroit Pistons after becoming the strength and conditioning coach for Texas. Read more.
2011
Amanda Beers Caldwell graduated with a master’s degree in nursing, rural family nurse practitioner, from Eastern Kentucky University in May 2024. She passed the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) national certification board examination in June 2024.
2012
Gerald Fitts is stationed in Augusta, Ga., at Fort Eisenhower.
Ana Megrelishvili published her first book “Finding Courage to Change,” where she shares her journey of healing and resilience.
2014
BIRTH: a son, Fletcher, was born to Christina Dillow Meadows and Doug Meadows ’16 on May 30, 2024. Fletcher was born seven weeks early and was placed in the NICU to have more time to grow before coming home. Everyone was excited to bring him home.
Kaila Noland successfully defended her dissertation and graduated with her Ph.D, in molecular medicine from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. While attending she received various awards and honors including the UMB President’s Fellowship, USGA vice president, Berea College’s Olive Ruth Russell Fellowship and American Physiology Society Award, to highlight a few. She is transitioning to an ORISE Fellowship at the FDA to continue her work and enthusiasm for serving the public.
2015
Seth Bailey is a doctoral student in strategic leadership and is actively involved in alumni engagement with the University of Kentucky College of Social Work as assistant director of strategic operations alumni engagement.
BIRTH: a daughter, Penelope Lorena Blount, born to Alyssa Blount and Duncan Blount ’14 on May 18, 2024.
Rachel Mauro Hutchins graduated from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine with her master’s in applied positive psychology. She is excited to apply her new skills and knowledge to positively impact the workplace.
2017
Sierra Marling has joined West Virginia’s largest newspaper, The Charleston Gazette-Mail, covering health and education in the Mountain State. Marling’s big move comes following a two-year stint at the Richmond Register, where her journalism work earned her several awards from the Kentucky Press Association and recognition from local organizations such as Leadership Madison County.
2019
Ronnie Sloan Pessetto has been busy since her graduation in winter 2019. Since graduating from Berea, she has obtained her master’s degree from the University of Utah in city and metropolitan planning and has received a leadership role with Salt Lake City Public Lands to bring alive parks throughout the city. She shares this news in hopes of inspiring other alumni and fellow students. Read more: https://bit.ly/40ILH9h
Derby Ozioma Chukwudi relocated in July 2024 to Hong Kong SAR China with JPMorgan to join the Asset Management Alternatives APAC Client team after spending five years at the New Jersey and New York offices in the U.S. private bank.
2020
Sara Holly graduated from Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine in May 2024. Dr. Holly works as a veterinary surgeon in Columbus, Ga.
2021
MARRIED: Sydney Coleman to Zach Campbell ’20 on May 18, 2024. Sydney and Zach met at Berea. They both ran track, which is where they first met. They started dating the second semester of her first year and have been together ever since.
