‘Roos in Colorado Springs
Lori Domel ’79, Erin Bowen Moon ’80, and Rebecca Wood Wyatt ’80 were roommates on a 1978 Austin College JanTerm trip to London. In 2013, they enjoyed a mini-reunion in Colorado Spring to celebrate their years of continued friendship and life travels together. Erin and her husband, David, live in Colorado Springs, where David is vice provost at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and Erin operates an independent catering business. Rebecca was visiting from Honolulu, Hawaii, but moved to Qatar in late 2013 in connection with her husband’s engineering project. Lori visited from Friendswood, Texas, where she lives with her husband, Cameron White ’78, and their son. David, Erin, Rebecca, and Lori are pictured at a rooftop restaurant in Colorado.
The Best Fair in Our State
Karel Anne Berry Tieszen ’83 has been cooking at the Texas State Fair Celebrity Chef Kitchen since 1999. In October 2013, she was delighted to see fellow ’Roos John Evans ’64, Jay Evans ’64, Becky Easter Farnsworth ’82, and Jim Farnsworth ’80 in her audience at a demonstration. Though the Texas State Fair is famous for all things fried, the food demonstration was transforming turnip greens into Sweet Apple Greens. When she is not in the State Fair kitchen, Karel Anne is cooking for North Texas viewers on Fridays “LIVE at 5:45 a.m.” on KXII-TV. She also was the culinary coordinator for the annual food and wine event Savor Dallas in March. She serves as president-elect for the Dallas chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier International, an elite group of women leaders in the food, beverage, and hospitality professions. She still teaches cooking classes and welcomes ’Roo invitations for a class of 12 or more. If she finds any spare time, she can be found “country and western dancing around town, happy in her cowboy boots.” See her recipe for Sweet Apple Greens!
Continuing the Journey
Matthew Eddy ’94 has had quite the journey over the past 20 years. He volunteered several months at a time in Alaska, Montana, Yosemite National Park in California, Israel, London, and New Zealand. He also spent four years as pastor of a United Methodist Church north of Seattle, and he and his wife spent nearly two years traveling the world. He said his interest in traveling and learning from other cultures was nurtured through experiences at Austin College, including a cross-cultural psychology course taught by Dr. Jerry Middents, theology courses that emphasized Latin American liberation theology, and a JanTerm traveling the Hawaiian Islands with Jay Langford ’94 and Kenny Ho ’95. “Since leaving Austin College, some of the things I am most proud of are my volunteer work with international human rights NGOs and the academic articles I have published based on those experiences—which analyze trans-national human rights activism and nonviolent attitudes and ideals. But pretty much everything about my identity today—both professional and personal—was cultivated in a big way during my time at Austin College.”
Matthew earned a master of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1999 and completed a Ph.D. in sociology at the University of Oregon in 2013. He is an assistant professor of sociology at Minot State University in North Dakota.
His doctoral dissertation involved field research in Costa Rica. Through a grant from the Jubitz Family Foundation and the War Prevention Initiative, Eddy is at work turning pieces of his doctoral research into a documentary film, A Bold Peace: Costa Rica’s Path of Demilitarization, examining the country’s history and reasons for and results of abolishment of its military. Learn more at aboldpeace.com.
An Evening of J.S. Bach
One Homecoming 2013 highlight was “An Evening of J.S. Bach with Friends,” for which several alumni joined faculty and student instrumentalists and vocalists in a concert prepared and conducted by Ricky Duhaime, Mildred S. Mosher Professor of Music.
Alumni participants were Anne Anderson ’82, oboe; Kaitlin Hampton ’08, viola; Nida Iqbal ’09, violin; Morgan Causey Waggoner ’02, cello; and Justin Duncan ’08, bass soloist and interim director of the A Cappella Choir for 2013-2014. Nicolas Timmerman ’11, not pictured, was manager of the event.
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Medical Service
A small ’Roo mob was discovered in the crowd in Brownsville, Texas, in January 2014, as the city’s “Biggest Loser” Competition, stressing healthier lifestyles and decreased body mass index, got underway. Approximately 1,000 people were enrolled over two days. Among the volunteers doing the enrollments were Christine Garner ’15 and Michaela Moden ’15, completing Career Study Off Campus (CSOC) experiences in Brownsville at Frontera de Salud (Border of Health), and volunteers from the University of Texas Medical School at Houston and the University of Texas School of Public Health. Among those were Kimberly Cook ’12, completing a master’s degree in public health; Astrid Grouls ’12, a second-year medical school student at UT-Houston; and David Savage ’07, an M.D., Ph.D. student at UT-Houston. The CSOC in Brownsville was organized by Kirk smith ’81, M.D./Ph.D., who founded Frontera de Salud, which provides health services to underserved residents. Kirk was named a Distinguished Alumnus of Austin College in 2012.
A ’Roo Connection
Katy Walters ’07 made a ’Roo connection last summer during her internship at University Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, meeting Betsy Russell Bryan ’56 who attends the church with her husband, James. The two Austin College alumnae enjoyed an afternoon looking over Betsy’s yearbooks, kangaroo memorabilia, and Golden ’Roo medallion. Katy’s internship in Christian education was part of her work at Columbia Theological Seminary in Georgia, where she is completing Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Practical Theology degrees. During the internship, she worked with youth, doing everything from preaching and teaching Sunday school and Vacation Bible School to serving alongside the youth on a mission week with Appalachia Service Project in Summers County, West Virginia.
Betsy and James moved in 2000 from their long-time family home where they raised their four children in Chapel Hill—right across the street to a smaller home. The couple also has a home in Montreat (where they met) and go there often. Though Betsy has lived in North Carolina since 1964, she proudly claims her Texas roots—and is a proud ’Roo who remembers friends and faculty fondly. Her husband is retiring this year after 50 years of teaching and seeing patients at University of North Carolina Medical School, and they look forward to travel time and visiting family and friends.