Senior Jillian McClure’s love of civil rights history leads to activist Andrew Young’s visit to Flagler

Sometimes roadblocks turn out to be open doors.

That’s what happened to history major Jillian McClure when she wanted to register for a religion class her sophomore year. When that class was full, she picked “Civil Rights Movement” with Dr. Michael Butler, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Air Force Major served in Iraq and Afghanistan, trained other pilots, and now will work behind the scenes at wars’ command center

For James Scheideman, flying fighter jets into combat is a far cry from what’s portrayed in movies like “Top Gun.” No trigger-happy pilots dog-fighting Soviet MiGs or Hollywood dramatics.

English adjunct instructor Marisella Veiga’s writing explores living with two cultures

It was a photo in The Washington Post that caught Marisella Veiga’s attention. The Japanese were growing watermelons in square containers to make it easier to ship them. They were square watermelons.

“I thought that was a great metaphor for someone living with the bicultural experience,” said the adjunct English instructor and Cuban-American author who has focused most of her writing on her own experiences living with two cultures.

“Square Watermelons: Ten Essays on Living with Two Cultures” is a collection of spoken-word essays that was born out of her syndicated columns for Hispanic Link News Service in Washington, D.C.

More recently, she had a short story, “Fresh Fruit,” selected for publication in the anthology, “Short-Short Stories from the United States and Latin America.” She has been awarded the Special Mention in Fiction for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Small Presses, for a story called, “Arroz Con Pollo,” and has published features, commentary and poetry.

College campuses buzz in the spring, and Flagler is no exception. The semester becomes a flurry of activity as student clubs, organizations and programs bring the campus alive with unique projects and events.

These are just a few of the events that happened at Flagler this past spring.

Flagler’s beloved benefactor leaves a rich legacy of friendship and philanthropy

Longtime friend and benefactor of Flagler College, Mary Lily Flagler Lewis Wiley, affectionately known as “Molly,” passed away peacefully at her home in Richmond, Va., this past May. She was 90.

Wiley, a philanthropist related to oil titan and railroad magnate, Henry Flagler, grew up in St. Augustine at Kirkside, the mansion built by Henry Flagler next to Memorial Presbyterian Church.

Associate dean’s research debunks idea of bias in NBA scheduling

Was there some kind of nefarious conspiracy at work in scheduling NBA basketball games? That was the question Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Yvan Kelly answered last fall in research published in the “Journal of Sports Economics.” His article was titled, “The Myth of Scheduling Bias with Back-to-Back Games in the NBA.”

Kelly, a former economics professor and scout for the Seattle Supersonics, employed game theory to analyze five seasons of data from NBA schedules to see if there had been any potential scheduling bias. His research was prompted by a noticeable pattern: certain teams were playing games two nights in a row, and most of the time they would lose the second game.

For sports performance coach and alumnus Bryan Meyer, ‘00, training Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard during the off-season is just another day in the office, or rather, another day in the gym.

Meyer graduated from Flagler with a degree in sport management. He now works as a performance coach and will be opening The B Meyer Training Systems, an education-based performance gym in Altamonte Springs, Fla., this summer.

On top of that, Meyer has been Howard’s performance coach for the past four years; he’s also trained Olympic figure skater Patrick Chan, elite BMX racer Randall Neave and Los Angeles Angels minor league baseball player Tyson Auer.

“Training high-level athletes is what most people consider or want to talk about, but making a difference and creating relationships is the best part of my job,” he said. “Making a difference to the youth and helping them reach their potential is what I enjoy most about my career.”

The Flagler College women’s golf team won the Peach Belt Conference Championship in April by just three strokes over Armstrong Atlantic State University.

Senior Kaitlyn Edwards tied for fourth place with a 15-over 157. She shot an 8-over 79 in the final round and recorded one birdie and 11 pars. Edwards, who qualified for the NCAA Division II South Regional Championships, finished 42nd in that tournament.

Alum’s latest project examines sustainability in the wake of the Great Recession

As General Motors announced its decision to end production of the Hummer, Flagler alumnus Jeremy Dean released a very different version of the notoriously gas-guzzling vehicle: one that quite literally runs on horsepower.

Rarely does climbing into garbage dumpsters bring with it awards for excellence in journalism. But that’s exactly what it did for Flagler grad Haley Walker, ‘09, who won first place for Online In-Depth Reporting in the Society of Professional Journalists’ regional Mark of Excellence competition.

Her piece, written for an advanced reporting class and run in Flagler’s online student newspaper, The Gargoyle, chronicled her search through local dumpsters for food that is still edible if cleaned properly.

For her story, Walker learned proper “dumpster-diving etiquette” from the volunteer organization Food Not Bombs and ate solely from the trash for several weeks. Dumpster-divers recover food that is thrown out to make fresh, hot vegan and vegetarian meals to be served in outside public spaces, primarily for the homeless.

Walker said she became engulfed in the experience. “It became a thrilling hunt, and I was immediately flooded with enthusiasm as more and more edible food was found,” she wrote in the story.