FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 29, 2013

For more information:
Bob Edwards
Public Relations Department
Glenville State College
(304) 462-6390
Bob.edwards@glenville.edu

Glenville, WV— Glenville State College alums gathered on campus for the 2013 GSC Alumni Day on Saturday, April 27th. The Annual Alumni Day Banquet, held in the Mollohan Campus Community Center Ballroom, capped off a day full of activities as alumni, family, and friends enjoyed a buffet dinner and the presentation of the 2013 GSC Alumni Association Awards.

The prestigious Alumnus of the Year Award was presented to Michael T. Rust of Louisville, Kentucky. Rust received a bachelor’s degree from Glenville State College in business administration in 1973. He later earned a master’s degree in health care administration from the University of Tennessee.

Michael T. Rust

“I am very humbled to be honored with this award from Glenville State College. My life has been deeply impacted by the people I encountered here. I got a great education here and would not be where I am today without GSC,” said Rust.

Rust was named President and Chief Executive Officer of the Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA) on January 1, 1996, becoming the third leader of the organization in its eighty-four year history. The organization is made up of 131 hospitals and health systems across the state of Kentucky. Rust leads KHA’s representation and advocacy efforts in both Frankfort and Washington, DC. In addition, Rust serves as President and CEO of the organization’s four subsidiary corporations. Before assuming the role as President of the KHA, he worked in hospital leadership positions in Florida and West Virginia.
Since becoming President of the KHA, Rust has spent a tremendous amount of time working on quality initiatives with the overall goal of improving the health of the citizens of the Commonwealth. The hospitals and health systems have been involved in several state and national quality collaborative projects to work on reducing medical errors and hospital infection rates as well as improvement in obstetrical care in the state. He serves as President of the Kentucky Hospital Research and Education Foundation (KHREF). In this role, Rust has provided seed monies for Western Kentucky University’s Physical Therapy Program, Murray State University’s Nursing Program, Lincoln Memorial University’s Nursing Program, and the University of Kentucky’s School of Pharmacy for the establishment of a pharmacy professorship.

Rust continues to divide a portion of his personal time to several boards including the University of Louisville Board of Overseers, Frontier Nursing University where he currently serves as Vice-Chair, and St. Catharine College. During his tenure as Chairman of the Board at St. Catharine College, Rust and his wife Nancy oversaw the establishment of the Nancy Lemon Rust Surgical Laboratory and Research Center and just recently the dedication of the Rust Auditorium at Saint Catharine College. The Rust family has been involved in several philanthropic charitable causes in the Louisville area and throughout the state of Kentucky.

His other interests involve working in the banking industry and thoroughbred horse racing. He currently sits on the Board of Directors and serves on the Executive Committee of Republic Bank and Trust Company. The bank is one of the largest community banks in Kentucky and has recently diversified by acquiring banks in Ohio, Florida, Indiana, and Minnesota.

Working with his son Joshua, Rust has developed a passion for thoroughbred horse racing. The Rust stable currently has twenty-six thoroughbreds racing throughout the country. In addition, they have also entered into the horse breeding business and have twelve fillies in their breeding operation.

Rust has been recognized by the University of Kentucky by receiving the Distinguished Service Award in 2004 and was named a University of Kentucky Fellow the same year. In 2010, he was recognized as an Adopted Alumni of the University of Louisville.

He is married to the former Nancy Lemon. They have two children (Kelli and Joshua) whose families live nearby in Louisville, Kentucky, along with their three grandchildren (Tysen, Cora, and Jude).

Tabby Logan Beall of Glenville, received the GSC Alumni Association Outstanding Public School Teacher Award. She was presented for the Award by GSC Professor Emerita Yvonne King (GSC ’56).

“Teaching is different every day, and Glenville State College prepared me to meet those challenges. I truly love teaching and will do it as long as I can,” said Beall.

Tabby Logan Beall

Beall graduated with honors from Gilmer County High School in 1988 and graduated Cum Laude from Glenville State College in 1992 with degrees in Social Studies (5-12) and English/Language Arts (5-12) where she received the Outstanding Student Teacher Award.

She was employed at GCHS in October of ’93 and taught 7th and 8th grade Literature and English/Language Arts until she switched to Social Studies in 2002 due to a retirement without faculty replacement and taught American History, World History, Law Studies, and Sociology 9-12. Beall transferred back to English/Language Arts in 2004 to teach Honors and regular English 9 and 10 and has taught Honors and regular English 11.

Beall is a five-time Who’s Who Among American Teachers Inductee, a five-time RESA VII Teacher of the Year for GCHS, and was a No Child Left Behind School Improvement Team member from 2003 through 2005.

She is past Social Studies Chairperson, English Department Chairperson, past and present Co-Chair of NCLB School Environment Committee in 2004-05 and 2005-06, and was Faculty Senate Secretary in 2004-05, 2009-10, and 2010-11. Additionally, she was West Virginia Young Writers’ Contest County Coordinator for Gilmer County from 2004-2011 and is trained in Kansas Writing Strategies Sentence and Paragraph Writing curriculum. She is Head Class Sponsor, responsible for Senior Assembly and Graduation, Prom, fundraising, was Faculty Senate Vice President in 2005-06, and Strategic Planning Committee member in 2005-06. Tabby attended Writing Assessment training for 2006 in Charleston for Writing Roadmap 2.0, was named Outstanding Educator at the Governor’s Honors Academy for 2005-2006, and in 2008, and was a Member of the WESTEST 2 Pre-Alignment Team.

Since 2009, she has done numerous jobs for the West Virginia Department of Education with regards to WESTEST proofreading, CSO alignment, DOK alignment, and Acuity. She is included in a ‘Who Took My Chalk’ teacher training video designed to show teachers how to teach 21st Century Skills done via Pearson Publishing.

Beall has been nominated for the Arch Coal Teacher Achievement Award three- times, helped to write a GEAR UP grant resulting in the purchase of 69 iPod Nano 8Gs for classroom use and is very active in using technology in the classroom. She is a WVEA and NCTE member, an Arch Coal Golden Apple Award Winner during the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 academic years, a member of Gilmer County High School Curriculum Team 09-10 through 12-13, Trained Mentor via WVCPD, holds three training certificates from FEMA’s National Incident Management System training program, and was the 2012 Arch Coal Teacher Achievement Award recipient. Additionally, she is an Educator Evaluation Leadership Team Member and Instructional Practices Inventory trainee and IPI team member for GCHS.

Beall resides in Glenville with her husband of twenty years, David Beall, who is self-employed. Their sons, Adam and Luke Beall, are seventeen year old twins and are juniors at GCHS. Her favorite things to do are read, walk, watch her kids play football and baseball, and just about anything outdoors.

Martinsburg High School Football Coach and Assistant Principle David Walker, Jr. received the GSC Alumni Association Alumni Achievement Award.

Coach Dave Walker is a 1983 Pineville High School graduate and a 1987 Glenville State College graduate. He received his master’s degree in Education from Shenandoah University in 1997. Walker also received a second master’s degree in Administration from Shenandoah University in 2002.

While at Glenville, Walker played football for the Pioneers and served as the team’s co-captain for two years. He received W.V.I.A.C. All-Conference honors in both his junior and senior seasons. Walker also received the prestigious Montrose award at Glenville State upon graduating.

“Glenville State College is a very unique place. I was the first one in my family to go to college. GSC  was a great fit for me. I try to encourage my students and athletes to consider GSC for their college education,” said Walker.

David Walker

“There are Glenville State College graduates all over the state and country, I run into them everywhere I go,” he added.

In 1988, Walker began his teaching and coaching career at East Hardy High School as the youngest head coach in the state of West Virginia. Prior to his arrival, East Hardy had won only seven games in the nine-year history of the school. Coach Walker led his East Hardy teams to the playoffs seven consecutive years.

In 1997, Walker was hired to rebuild the football program at Martinsburg High School. After a 1-9 record in his first year, Walker returned the Bulldogs to the AAA playoffs in 1998 through 2012. Martinsburg won the AAA State Championship in 2010, 2011, and 2012 and had State Runner-up finishes in 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2006. This third straight state Class AAA championship equals a record established in 1970 by Charleston High School and Coach Frank Vincent ’55, who was Walker’s college coach at Glenville.

Walker has been named the 2013 High School Coach of the Year by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association and will be honored at the Victory Awards Dinner on May 5th in Clarksburg. He received this same honor in 2010. To have received this award, which covers all scholastic sports and covers the period of April 1-March 31, for the second time in three years is unprecedented.

Coach Walker has been a Head Coach for 25 years and has an overall coaching record of 218–79.

He is married to the former Belinda Nichols (GSC ’87) of Clay, West Virginia. They are the proud parents of two sons (twenty-one year old Derek and seventeen year old Troy). The Walkers reside in Martinsburg.

The 2013 GSC Alumni Association Outstanding Young Alumna was presented to the multi-talented Rebekah A. Long of Nashville, Tennessee.

Born in Lincolnton, Georgia, Rebekah Long was exposed from birth to the rich bluegrass heritage of South Georgia. A major influence in her early life was the music of The Lewis Family, America’s First Family of Bluegrass Gospel Music, also of Lincolnton. Rebekah’s love for music, her vocal style, and stage presence were fostered by studying such legendary musical icons as Bette Midler, Dolly Parton, Bonnie Raitt, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Keb’ Mo, Fleetwood Mac, and Stevie Nicks. Rebekah has a renegade voice in the music industry that leaves her vocals filled with a yearning heart and edgy soul.

Rebekah Long

Long began her college education as music student majoring in percussion at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia. After three years at GSU, she transferred to Glenville State College to combine her study of percussion with bluegrass music under the tutelage of Buddy Griffin (GSC ’7), one of the former Virginia Boys playing backup to Jim and Jesse (McReynolds).

“GSU was a pretty large school. Being form a small town, I wasn’t totally comfortable there. My sister Lizzy (2012 GSC Outstanding Young Alumnus) was already a student at GSC, and when I came to visit her, I knew immediately that this is where I wanted to be too,” said Long.

While at Glenville State College, Long orchestrated the formation of a bluegrass band, Mountain Fury, consisting of four female performers. She produced and engineered their first CD Some Sweet Day. In 2008, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Bluegrass, the first bluegrass degree awarded at Glenville State College or anywhere. During her final semester at GSC, she was selected as the Outstanding Teacher Intern.

“Rebekah holds a special place as our first Bluegrass Degree recipient. She has succeeded in so many ways already, and I can’t wait to see what she will accomplish in her career in the future,” said retired GSC Visiting Professor of Music and former GSC Bluegrass Program Director Buddy Griffin.

Prior to transferring to Glenville State College, Long moved her primary residence to Nashville, Tennessee. In the summer months, she began assisting Ben Speer, renowned southern gospel singer, in the direction of the Ben Speer’s Stamps-Baxter School of Music and his publishing company Ben Speer Music.

Since graduation, she has toured as the bass player and backup vocalist for some of bluegrass’s finest bands: The Little Roy & Lizzy Show; Little Roy Lewis, ‘a banjo master’ and the ‘The Picker’s Picker’ (USA Today) and Lizzy Long (GSC ’04) (Lewis, Scruggs, & Long – Vine Records) and Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike based in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. Long was honored in 2008 by being invited to play bass and add a lead vocal on a musical selection recorded on the Bluegrass Bouquet, a CD recorded by Tom T. & Dixie Hall’s Blue Circle Records featuring the Daughters of Bluegrass. The recording was awarded IBMA’s 2009 ‘Recorded Event of the Year.’

Long graduated from Nashville’s School of Audio Engineering (SAE) in 2009. While at SAE, she had the opportunity to study under award winning producer, Alan Shacklock, and be mentored by four-time Grammy Award winning engineer, Mark Capps, of SoundShop Studios.

In 2010, she joined forces with Dixie & Tom T. Hall working for their Blue Circle Records label and Good Home Grown Music (BMI) publishing company as a graphic artist and head studio/recording engineer. The latest project from the Daughters of Bluegrass box set, ‘Pickin’ Like A Girl’ consisted of 130 or more women in bluegrass like Stella Parton, Pam Tillis, Donna Ulisse, Fayssoux Starling McLean and many more. Long shows her many talents as engineer, musician, and songwriter on this project.

Long is currently working on her first solo Americana project with Producer Alan Shacklock (Roger Daltrey, MeatLoaf, Jeff Beck, Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber). She has already released her first single, ‘The Swimming Song’ available on iTunes and other digital distributors.

Helen Radcliff James of Glenville, a longtime civic leader and reliable community volunteer, received the GSC Alumni Association Community Service Award.

James is a retired school teacher with 35 years of service to Gilmer County Schools. She started her career in 1944 when she would travel by horseback to a one-room school near her home on Ellis.

Helen Radcliff James

She is a daughter of the late W. J. ‘Barney” Radcliff ’37 and Ethel Canfield Radcliff and the widow of Clark R. James, her husband of 50 years and former three-term Gilmer County Sheriff and County Commissioner. Their son, Greg James (GSC ’76) is Band Director of the award-winning Richwood High School Band and was the recipient of last year’s Outstanding Public School Teacher of the Year award. He was honored with the GSC Alumni Association Outstanding Teacher Award in 2012.

Her list of awards, recognitions, and various civic duties include bein; Recipient of the West Virginia Eleanor Roosevelt Award (aka Outstanding Democrat Woman), West Virginia Women’s Democrat Hall of Fame Recipient, Gilmer County Democrat of the Year, Senator in the Silver Hair Legislature where she is a former President of the Senate, Sand Fork High Alumna of the Year, Former Gilmer County Belle at the West Virginia State Folk Festival where her mother was a Belle before her and she can still wear her mother’s dresses from that era, Rotary Club’s Service Above Self Award, Outstanding Senior Citizen of the Year, and Friend of 4H Award, President of the Gilmer County Senior Center Board, Board of Directors – Central Area Agency, Women’s Club of Glenville, Gilmer County Cancer Society, Gilmer County Red Hats, Gilmer County Democrat Women, First Baptist Church Women’s Circle, Baldwin CEOs, West Virginia Folk Festival Belle Committee, GSC Alumni Association, Sand Fork High School Alumni Association, Gilmer County Retired School Employees, West Virginia Professional Educators, and Friends of Gilmer Public Library, Former Member of West Virginia Education Association, Former Member of the Library Board (25 years), Former 4-H Leader, Former Band Booster, and Former Member American Association of University Women.

She was recently presented with a ‘Key to the City’ of Glenville by Glenville Mayor Tashua Allman-Duval (GSC ’10), in honor of her milestone 90th birthday as well as in recognition of her many years of service to the Glenville community. James celebrated her 90th birthday on December 16, 2012 with an open house at the Gilmer County Senior Center where once a month she continues to make tray favors for residents in the local nursing home.

Because of health issues, James was unable to attend the Alumni Banquet to receive her award. However, her son Greg wants everyone to know that she is getting stronger by the day and hopes to bounce back within a few weeks.

GSC Director of Alumni Affairs Debra Nagy presented James for the Community Service Award. Long-time friend Ruth Chisler Baughman (GSC ’59) accepted the award for James. “Helen will cherish this award. Let me assure you that there are none more deserving than her,” said Chisler.

The GSC Alumni Association Posthumous Award was presented to the late Damon West of Troy.

West was born on May 17, 1915 in his grandfather’s log home on Stone Lick near Cox’s Mills to Oliver Worthy and Essie Ward West. He died July 8, 2011 at Stonewall Jackson Hospital in Weston.

Damon Wilson West

He received his education at Cox’s Mills in one and two room schools and graduated from Troy High School in 1933.In 1947, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Glenville State College where he played basketball for the Pioneers. Later, West earned a master’s degree from West Virginia University.
West taught in a one-room school at Pawpaw (Gilmer County) from 1936 to 1941. He also taught at Troy Elementary School, Troy High School, Glenville High School, and Gilmer County High School. He served as Athletic Director for 35 years in three high schools. He also coached softball, golf, football, basketball, and baseball.

In 1994, the Gilmer County Board of Education directed that the Gilmer County High School gymnasium be dedicated to him and named the Damon West Gymnasium.

Mr. West attended his first Boys State Basketball Tournament in Buckhannon in 1937. Before World War II, he attended six tournaments. He missed four while in the Army during World War II. After WWII, he attended sixty-four consecutive tournaments.

West was a veteran of WWII serving from 1942-1946. He was a Corporal in Nuremberg when the war ended and a lifetime member of the Weston American Legion Post 4 Legion. He sponsored the Veteran’s Flag Unit for the West Virginia State Folk Festival in Glenville. He was thrilled to attend the dedication of the WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C. in 2004.

He wrote and published Troy High School, 1928-1968, and A History of the Troy Community. He was an honorary member of the Troy Fire Department, attended Troy Baptist Church, and was your Alumni Association’s 2001 Community Service Award Recipient.

West is survived by Edna, his wife of 55 years, one son Larry (GSC ’69) and his wife Debbie West of New Martinsville, one daughter Lucy Ann West of Glenville, four grandchildren, one great-grandson, one brother Clive West of Weston, and one sister Professor Emerita Virginia West (GSC ’41) of Troy. He was preceded in death by one grandson. Memorial contributions can still be made to the Gilmer County High School Athletic Department.

Dr. Lloyd H. Elliott of Washington DC was also presented with a GSC Alumni Association Posthumous Award.  He graduated from Glenville State Teachers College in 1937. Elliott died on January 1, 2013, at the age of 94.

“Dad valued the education and life lessons that he got here and passed that on to me and my sister. We thank Glenville State College for the positive impact it made on my parents and our lives. We are very appreciative of this honor that you have given our father,” said Gene Elliott.

Dr. Elliott was a WWII veteran and the 14th president at George Washington University. Dr. Elliott is remembered as a gracious and unassuming leader who consistently put students’ best interests above all else. From humble roots as a teacher from a family of educators in West Virginia, Dr. Elliott became a 23-year leader of the university who helped transform it from a ‘commuter’ school into a respected residential academic institution.

Dr. Lloyd H. Elliott

Dr. Elliott served as president from 1965 until 1988. During that time, he increased the university’s endowment from $8 million to $200 million, oversaw the building of three libraries on the Foggy Bottom Campus, and emphasized the study of world affairs, leading to the renaming of GW’s School of International Affairs to the Elliott School in 1988.

The following article, although not in its entirety, was captured from http://elliott.gwu.edu/news/briefing/jan13/lloyd-elliott.cfm#

During his tenure as president, his behind-the-scenes leadership style allowed faculty members and administrators to flourish, said Dr. Elliott’s daughter, Patricia Kauffman. “He was very much in favor of finding the right people to do specific jobs, and then letting them lead,” she said. “I can say it was truly never about him. It was about getting the right person for the right position and giving them every opportunity and encouragement to succeed.”

Richard Southby, executive dean and distinguished professor of global health emeritus, was both a colleague and a close friend of Dr. Elliott.” He was gracious and supportive,” Dr. Southby said. “Once he made a decision, though, he was firm. He was a very solid administrator without being flamboyant—he didn’t need to have his name in the press. He stood up for things he thought were important.” One of those things was his decision to disband the university’s football team in 1965, which cost the university a great deal of money, even though the team wasn’t particularly successful. Syracuse University had recently made the same decision, although the president of that institution reinstated the football team after alumni and students helped raise the money to cover the program.

“I remember that he faced a lot of resistance from students and alumni,” Ms. Kauffman said. “What he said was, if you can raise the money, like Syracuse did, that’s fine, but before the money goes to football, we need libraries, classrooms and more professors. If, after that, there’s still money remaining, then sure, let’s bring back football. His whole raison d’être was the students and their progress.”

Dr. Elliott’s focus on educational excellence included overseeing the construction of three libraries on the Foggy Bottom Campus: the Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library, the Jacob Burns Law Library and the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library. “He was extraordinarily proud of the libraries,” Ms. Kauffman said. “I remember when Gelman got its millionth book. He was very excited.”

The GSC Alumni Association honored Dr. Elliott with the Alumnus of the Year Award in 1967. He is survived by his children Patricia and Gene. His wife Evelyn ‘Betty’ (Elder) Elliott (GSC ’36) died in 2009 at the age of 91.

Also during the banquet, John Hoover (GSC ’66) of Charleston, West Virginia was elected as the next President of the Glenville State College Alumni Association. Robert A. ‘Bob’ Marshall (GSC ’66) of Vienna, West Virginia was elected as the next First Vice President. Their terms begin immediately and will run for two years.

For more information about the GSC Alumni Association, contact Alumni Director Debbie Nagy at debra.nagy@glenville.edu or (304) 462-4122.