Flagler’s logo will soon have a more sophisticated look, and the school colors will receive a much-needed update.

College President William T. Abare Jr. recently approved the updates after a study of existing logos and visuals used by the college. Abare says the need to redesign was largely driven by confusion over which college logo was the “official” visual identity.

A new environmental science minor arrives at Flagler during a season of political and economic change

“Can I swab a shrimp?”

A young woman in chest-high waders is ready to join the activities of her companions, who are gently swiping cotton along specimens: anchovies, tiny crabs, shrimp. On a strip of shore by the dam at Guana-Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve, Flagler College assistant professor Terri Seron’s biology students have gathered little squirming things from a net with latex-clad hands.

The Flagler College campus has seen a variety of environment-friendly changes recently, from a low-impact renovation of Kenan Hall to a student-run recycling program.

The recycling effort has been spearheaded by the Flagler Outdoors Club, which was founded by students two years ago. Melissa Kafel, a sociology major and president of the club, said recycling on a large scale can get surprisingly expensive.

It’s been three years in the making, but Flagler College finally has a conference for its athletic teams to call home. In December, the Peach Belt Conference announced that Flagler and the University of Montevallo had been accepted for membership in the league, which now totals 13 colleges and universities.

“I am thrilled that our college has been accepted for membership in the Peach Belt Conference, a well-established athletic conference with a solid record of competitive athletic programs at its member institutions,” said Flagler President Dr. William T. Abare Jr. “We are eager to compete against some of the top NCAA Division II programs in the nation.”

Spanish students learn through service in Peru

The trip is over and the bags are unpacked, but nine Flagler College students just can’t stop talking about Peru. This past summer, Assistant Professor of Spanish Aggie Johnson and her students travelled to Cusco, Peru – the former center of the Inca civilization – to learn, volunteer and see the sights. The group stayed with local families and attended classes at a center known for its research on the highland people.

Slideshow: Images from Peru

Space. Color. Shape. Texture. They all have a place in alumna Jennifer Sánchez’s art, but it is her use of color that draws you in.

Sánchez describes her art as “exploding optimism.” A colorful mix of shapes and textures, the effect is quite upbeat, but Sánchez, ’97, says that is rarely her intent.

Journalism student chronicles hidden cemetery in photo essay

In a secluded graveyard, simple labels like “mother” and “grandmother” peek out from slabs of cement, colored brightly with shades of pink and blue. Love is apparent there, as is the lack of money loved ones have to spend on deceased relatives.

But right next to the makeshift plots, separated only by a transparent fence, sits the pristine and modern Evergreen Cemetery. Visitors would have to move branches and step through weeds and overgrowth to get back to this “other” area, where the dates on the markers are as recent as 1990.

Audio Slideshow: Photo Essay by Haley Walker

A grant writing class helped them bring almost $1 million to St. Johns County
Flagler College public administration students recently brought nearly $1 million in funding to St. Augustine public safety initiatives – just by doing their homework.

When St. Johns County Sheriff Deputy Ricky Domingo and 911 Emergency Systems Engineer Michael Banks submitted proposals for a grant writing class, they got what they asked for. Banks received $850,000 in grant money from the State of Florida for a new 911 emergency communication system for St. Johns County. Domingo landed a $1,000 grant from Wal-Mart to purchase seven tracking bracelets for the Sheriff’s Department.

Fans of the hit ABC series “Lost” probably don’t realize there’s a connection between Flagler College and the show’s resident bad guy Benjamin Linus, played by Michael Emerson — unless, of course, they were at Flagler in the 1980s and took a drawing class taught by the now-famous actor.

A close friend of Art and Design Professor Don Martin, Emerson has visited the campus several times to talk with students since shooting to stardom. So as this highly anticipated season of “Lost” gets rolling, Flagler Magazine asked 2006 alumnus and “Lost” fanatic Tom Iacuzio to catch up with Emerson and discuss everything from teaching at Flagler to playing a character who loves to make viewers squirm.

New history professor brings passion for Southern history and Civil Rights to Flagler

Look to the walls of J. Michael Butler’s office and you’ll learn pretty quickly about his research interests. Posters for Lynyrd Skynrd hang next to public signs from the segregation era. There’s a Robert E. Lee ceramic Jim Beam flask, a Frederick Douglass hand puppet and a vial of “authentic” Elvis sweat.

A history buff with a penchant for studying Dixie rock, Butler might be best known for his interest in civil rights, which has been his primary area of research over the years. This mild-mannered Southern gentleman with a heavy Alabama accent becomes animated when talking about history.