It began 40 years ago with a plan that must have seemed a bit crazy to some: Take a former luxury hotel that had seen better days and convert it to an all-women’s liberal arts college in the heart of the Nation’s Oldest City.

Three retiring professors look back on 73 years at Flagler

One is an accomplished historian and long-distance runner. One’s a retired Florida Army National Guard Captain and management whiz. The third is a career educator with a quick laugh and a charming southern drawl. Three distinct personalities, three distinct careers.

“I still get a rush every time it happens,” Thomas Graham said. “Every time I see a student out in the world, achieving something, and I realize that’s the same quiet girl who sits in the back of my class. These students are high achievers — they’re doers. I’m always pleasantly surprised by the capabilities of my students.”

Reinventing baseball

Alumnus Brian Killingsworth helps launch a major league brand

Not many people would call up Kevin Costner and ask him to help kick off a major rebranding effort. But as alumnus Brian Killingsworth, ‘00, saw it, the star of epic films like “Field of Dreams” and “Bull Durham” was a perfect fit for a major league baseball team looking to reinvent itself.

Phyllis Gibbs reflects on 40 years at Flagler

The books shelves have little room for more photographs; the walls are filled with posters, frames and more pictures. Phyllis Gibbs’ office is overflowing with memories of the friendships and accomplishments she’s found during her 40 years teaching at Flagler College.

Flagler opened in 1968, and just 170 female students were enrolled during that first year. When Gibbs first started working at Flagler in 1969, she and some other professors lived on campus.

Communication Week draws CNN’s Candy Crowley, as well as Pulitzer winner

As the presidential primaries were heating up between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, one of CNN’s chief election correspondents took a quick break from the campaign trail to give Flagler students an insider’s perspective.

Art Building, Markland Cottage win historic preservation awards

Flagler College recently earned two honors for its historic preservation efforts on Markland Cottage and the Molly Wiley Art Building.

This year, the Florida Trust Annual Statewide Preservation Awards recognized the Art Building for adaptive use and Markland Cottage for restoration/rehabilitation. The Florida Trust for Historic Preservation’s statewide award program recognizes significant contributions to the preservation of Florida’s historic resources.

The Art of the Magazine Business

Jacksonville publisher Cinda Sherman launched successful arts magazine from the humblest of beginnings

The early 1990s was no time to break into the world of investment banking. That’s the way Cinda Sherman remembers it. She had just lost her job as a financial analyst in Jacksonville, Fla.; the market was tanking; and all around her, banks and brokerages weren’t hiring, but instead laying off workers.

Things got so bad that when a few friends offered her a basement to live in until she got back on her feet, she took it.

How to surf and fish all day … oh, and run a business too

Flagler alumni Lance and Kristin Moss share stories of success in Nicaragua

At Surfari Charters, the workday itinerary goes something like this: Surf. Fish. Have lunch and a siesta. Surf or fish some more. Soak in natural hot springs. Relax in a hammock.

If you long for a career outside a cubicle, read on for some perspective from Flagler College graduates Lance and Kristin Moss. They went from waiting tables to operating a successful surfing and fishing charter business on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua and, as they put it, “living in an unbelievable place doing what you love.”

Getting Crafty

Alumna’s jewelry hobby evolves into a career

Gabrielle Gould didn’t plan on becoming an artist. The 1986 Flagler graduate majored in graphic design – known as commercial art at the time – and figured her fine arts studies would feed her personal, rather than professional, life.

Crisp-Ellert Art Museum hosts the inaugural juried student show

Nearly 300 students compete to have their works exhibited

The new Crisp-Ellert Art Museum hosted Flagler’s first juried student art show this spring, giving students from all majors a chance to show off their talent, have their work judged by professionals and – in a few cases – make some money.