In an effort to stand out in the vanilla world of business casual, attorney and Flagler alumnus Ben Meredith, ‘07, began wearing bowties to work. Nearly a year later, he’s turned his personal style into a profitable business.

Meredith owns Starboard Clothing Co., selling more than 20 styles of bowties, with a new winter line that came out in late 2011.

Meredith says he was always a fan of dressing “preppy,” but also knew that as an attorney, he would have to wear more traditional suiting. And that’s where the bowties came in.

“I ran through my seven–tie collection pretty quickly and began looking for other options,” he said. “I decided, on a whim, to wear the sole bowtie I owned to work one Friday.”

To his surprise, he got a lot of compliments. Meredith said he was hooked and began buying more bowties, but he never really intended to start a business. He was really just looking for a way to stand out and still look professional.

“After looking at the construction of the ties and fabrics in person, I thought to myself, ‘Well I could do this,’ ” Meredith said.

He started making the ties for himself using an antique Singer sewing machine he found on Craigslist for $35. With a little help from his grandmother, Meredith taught himself to sew from reading about it online. He admits, though, that his first project wasn’t exactly his best work.

“It was not adjustable, and it was not very good, but it was a start,” he said.

As he got better at making bowties, he began wearing some of the ones he made, using gingham and other fabric that wasn’t widely available.

When he told a few people that he was making his own neckwear, friends started asking him to make bowties for them. After putting up a website to deal with the orders he was receiving, requests eventually came in from all over. He gradually turned his initial $70 investment into a gross profit of more than $10,000.

“It has brought me to a place I never expected to be,” he said.

Still, the popularity of his bowties doesn’t surprise him all that much.

“In a world where business casual is becoming the norm, more and more people are splitting the difference by wearing a bowtie with a sweater and jeans,” Meredith said. “It allows people to stand out, but to do so in a good way. People are embracing that.”

Read Ben Meredith’s blog, Bowties and Boat Shoes.

When Headline News (HLN) was looking for analysis on the Conrad Murray Trial, they called on attorney and policy advisor Michael C. Barnes, ’96. Murray, Michael Jackson’s personal physician, was accused and convicted of involuntary manslaughter when the pop star died of acute propofol intoxication under his care.

Because of his previous work in drug policy, Barnes was tapped by HLN to provide commentary on the infamous case after producers had seen some of his clips providing analysis on other issues.

“I started [out] doing radio interviews for clients. Then producers and bookers would contact me to talk on other topics,” Barnes said of his media analysis experience.

Prior to establishing his law firm — DCBA Law & Policy in Arlington, Va. — in 2004, Barnes served as confidential counsel in the White House Drug Policy Office, where he provided executive direction on policies aimed at reducing substance abuse. This experience combined with a law degree made him a perfect candidate to give analysis on the Conrad Murray Trial.

During the week — in a Los Angeles studio that CNN and HLN had created solely for the Murray case — he spent roughly four hours a day watching the trial via television feed and then, during breaks in the trial, would give analysis on what had just taken place.

“I approached it from a purely legal perspective and looked solely at the facts in the case,” he said. “In that regard, I was one of the lone voices saying during the analysis of this trial that the facts of the case did not show that Michael Jackson was necessarily an addict.”

Barnes said he thought the trial and testimonies did a good job of showing that Jackson was dependent on anxiety medication and that he needed better insomnia treatment.

“I wanted for the media coverage of the case to be consistent with the facts of the case and not with preconceived notions about the victim,” he said.

Barnes’ analysis proved to be popular. He was featured on HLN’s “Showbiz Tonight.” He also spent time at the CNN Washington, D.C., studio and flew up to New York to do a few programs including “Piers Morgan Tonight.”

With a bright future in televised analysis, Barnes says he would be happy to continue providing commentary for trials as long as they are covered based on the facts and not on the drama or intrigue associated with them.

“I want to focus on issues,” he said. “I want to focus on making a difference.”

Barnes graduated summa cum laude from Flagler with a B.A. in communication. He went on to La Universidad de Belgrano in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for his master’s degree and George Mason University School of Law, where he obtained his Juris Doctor degree.

What began as a concern for the safety of his family after a move to Costa Rica’s northern Pacific coast has turned into a successful security dog business for Flagler alumnus Brandon Richardson, ‘01.

Richardson, who had been visiting Costa Rica on surf trips since the 1990s, is the founder of Latigo K9 in Playa Guiones — a company that has placed dogs in homes throughout Central America and the U.S., and as far away as Kenya. The facility currently is training 20 dogs and has three full-time employees.

Latigo K9 uses German Shepherds, Dutch Shepherds and Belgian Malinois, all coming from the closed breeding system of a family-run Canadian company called Baden K9. These breeds are herding dogs, often used for police or military purposes.

The companionable, protective nature of the breeds make the dogs, if properly trained, an ideal security option for families, Richardson said. He views the animals he trains as part of the family.

“We do not train ‘attack dogs,’ ” he said. “While our dogs have the capacity to protect their owners, they are much more subtle and versatile than this.

“The truth is the dogs provide a lot of positive in this world. They bring safety to families and comfort to their owners. … In a world that is changing faster than most of us comprehend, the dogs remain a constant. They are there for us, no matter what we ask of them, just like family.”

It was his own family that prompted him to begin the company. Richardson, a husband and father of two, said he had always loved the people, the landscape and the natural beauty of Costa Rica. But adopting the country as his home meant giving up much of the security he had taken for granted in the United States.

“For me, personally, the tradeoff (in Costa Rica) is worth it,” Richardson said.

He purchased a puppy from a local dog trainer and after three years of working with the trainer, Richardson decided to begin his own security dog business.

Latigo K9’s growing reputation has also provided Richardson the opportunity to travel, from working with U.S. Army Military Police in Alaska to providing security training in Kenya.

For the 10 youth offenders, the picture-perfect ranch and horse rides are a far cry from the barbed wire and tiny cells at the St. Johns Youth Academy.

But saddling up at the Haven Horse Ranch, just outside of St. Augustine, is no reward for good behavior. Rather it’s part of a new program that Flagler’s Students in Free Enterprise team began with the ranch and the moderate-risk facility for male offenders between the ages of 14 to 18 years old.

Called “Gateway to Haven,” the goal of the 12-week program is to teach personal responsibility through interaction with the horses.

“Working with horses will teach them how to have better behavior, relationships and accountability,” said SIFE President Emily Marcellus. “Horses tend to mirror their riders’ behavior, so if one of these kids acts angry or frustrated with the horse, the horse will act the same way. The students will have to learn to respect and be patient with the horse, which will help them in real life situations.”

Ric Lehman, who founded the ranch in 1990 to work with disadvantaged kids and help with physical rehabilitation, said this is the first time he has worked with inmates.

He said the program is intended to teach the participants important social traits by handling and caring for the horses.

“If you’re going to work with a horse, you have to be in charge,” he said. “It teaches them accountability, which isn’t being taught today.”

The idea was the brainchild of SIFE project leader Jovie Reeves, who has always been a horse enthusiast and felt the program at Horse Haven could work with the youth offenders.

“We wanted to reach out to the youth of St. Johns County to give them the opportunity to learn these important social skills,” she said. “We loved the mission of the ranch and wanted to help in any way we could.”

The Best Regional Colleges category includes schools whose focus is almost entirely on the undergraduate experience and who offer a broad range of programs in the liberal arts, as well as fields such as business, nursing and education. The 371 colleges in the category draw heavily from nearby states and are divided into four regions.

The Best Colleges guide compares the quality of schools based on “indicators of excellence” such as freshman retention, graduation rates and the strength of the faculty.

Flagler was also included in the Princeton Review’s annual college guide, “Best 376 Colleges – 2012 Edition.”

The Saints have had an amazing run since joining the Peach Belt Conference in 2009, winning three regular and post-season titles.

Flagler College senior setter Olivia Snipes and junior outside hitter Dianna Craine were selected to the 2011 American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II All-America Teams. Snipes earned third-team honors, the first Flagler player to be selected to one of the three teams in the history of the program.

Volleyball Coach Taylor Mott
It was also the final season for coach Taylor Mott, who completed her 13th year at the helm of the program with a record of 304-158. She is a three-time Peach Belt Conference Coach of the Year and a three-time Florida Sun Conference Coach of the Year. She and her husband, Brian, and their two children, have since relocated to Tennessee.

Men’s Soccer
The men’s soccer team reached the NCAA Division II Men’s Soccer Tournament quarterfinals this fall, but fell to Lynn University in penalty kicks after playing to a 1-1 double overtime draw.

The team finished ranked No. 5 in the final NSCAA/Continental Tire Div. II Top 25 poll and closed the year with a 17-3-3 record and an appearance in the elite eight. The No. 5 ranking is the program’s highest since a No. 3 ranking in 2002 when Flagler was a member of the NAIA. Flagler was the only Peach Belt Conference team ranked in the Top 25.

Johan Bergfeld was named to the Capital One Academic All-America NCAA Division II Men’s Soccer First Team, and soccer coach John Lynch was selected as the 2011 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/Mondo Southeast Region Coach of the Year.

Bergfield, a native of Akers Styckebruk, Sweden, is a business major with a 3.96 GPA.

He has been named all-conference and academic all-conference three times.

Whether you’re a college student in St. Augustine or a tribesman in some remote village, there are some things we’re all affected by equally. Visiting professor Surinder Paracer spent the last semester teaching students about one of them: disease.

“Disease is one of those universal experiences that anyone who comes into this world is affected by,” explained Paracer, whose “Diseases and Mankind” course focuses on the diseases of ancient and modern man. “The course is built around the nature of history in regards to disease and how the world’s historical events have been shaped by either disease epidemics or the diseases of some of the leaders who were critical at a particular time.”

Paracer, who received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Davis and has participated in advanced studies in biology and the history of science at the University of Massachusetts, Harvard University and Yale University, has taught the course for nearly 30 years at Worcester State University, his home college.

Students who took the course spent the semester studying the significance of such world-famous epidemics as small pox in South America, which decimated the indigenous population, the Irish potato famine, and the outbreak of yellow fever in Philadelphia in 1793. The class also examines Greek influence on Western medicine along with Indian, Chinese and other cultural healing practices.

But the course went beyond pure history, studying how disease has affected culture through social structure, science, art and philosophy.

Flagler College has begun construction on a new 12,000-square-foot, $3.8–million building that will serve as the college’s Admissions and Financial Aid center — the first point of contact for prospective students.

Flagler College President William T. Abare Jr., Ed.D., joined faculty and the Board of Trustees on Oct. 26 to break ground on Hanke Hall, which will be located on Cordova Street across from Kenan Hall.

“We recognize that students have a wide array of colleges from which they may choose, and we believe that it is important for us to make a good first impression on prospective students and their families,” Abare said, adding many small colleges like Flagler have begun recognizing the importance of welcome centers in their student recruitment programs.

“Dr. Abare speaks very frequently about the importance of enrollment to a college funded almost solely by tuition revenue,” said Marc Williar, vice president of enrollment management. “The addition of Hanke Hall will enable us to not only continue to meet and exceed enrollment goals, but to improve our operation and strive to achieve even more ambitious goals and objectives.”

Williar believes the new facility will also help Flagler better compete for prospective students.

The facility is being named after Board of Trustees member Col. G. F. Robert Hanke, USMC (Ret.)

“Col. Hanke expressed an interest in this project soon after he joined the board,” Abare said. “He recognized the importance of the building to our student recruitment program, and decided to make a major gift to help pay for the construction of the facility.”

As for Wiley Hall, the college’s current admissions center, Flagler’s director of Business Services and Campus Planner Larry Weeks says upon the completion of Hanke Hall, plans are to move the Registrar’s office to the first floor of Wiley Hall and renovate the second floor for faculty offices.

Hanke Hall is expected to be finished in July.

The Board of Trustees endorsed the campaign, and the Advancement Committee of the Board is working closely with the administration in planning, organizing and implementing the campaign. A campaign goal will be determined upon the completion of the leadership phase. 

More than $8.4 million in cash and pledges has been raised toward the current and projected needs of the college.

Supporting its long-standing relationship with Flagler College, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust made a commitment of $1 million to help launch Flagler’s 50th Anniversary Campaign. The gift, which is earmarked for endowment, must be matched equally by other donors. In 2018, the college will celebrate its first half century.

President William T. Abare Jr. expressed appreciation for this gift, noting that “the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust has demonstrated long-standing support for higher education
and for Flagler.

“This gift from the Kenan Trust will assist us greatly in our efforts to ensure that our students continue to receive a high-quality education at Flagler, that they receive needed financial aid to assist them in paying their college costs, and that they are afforded opportunities to enrich their educational experience,” he said.

The announcement, made at the fall meeting of the Board of Trustees, generated immediate and enthusiastic support from the trustees, several of whom pledged gifts toward the match.

A gift to the 50th Anniversary Campaign that is designated to the Annual Fund, to a capital project such as the restoration of the Solarium or renovation of the Flagler College Auditorium, or to establish a new endowed fund, will qualify as part of the College’s match. This challenge must be met by June 1, 2012.

William R. Kenan Jr. was a scientist, mathematician and inventor involved in the discovery of calcium carbide and its use in the production of acetylene gas. Shortly before his 30th birthday, his oldest sister Mary Lily Kenan married Henry M. Flagler, and Flagler tapped his new brother-in-law to help run the Flagler System of hotels, railroads, steamship lines and land development. Kenan, and many of his family members, lived at the Hotel Ponce de Leon for several months each year, a practice that spanned more than half a century.

Kenan served as president of the Flagler System until his death in 1965. In 1962, he appointed his great-nephew, Lawrence Lewis Jr., to serve as his assistant. Upon Kenan’s passing, Lewis became the president of the Flagler System. Lewis, with his sister Mary Lily Flagler “Molly” Lewis Wiley, helped found Flagler College, which opened in the fall of 1968. The former Hotel Ponce de Leon became the centerpiece of the Flagler campus.

The William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust was established in 1966, primarily to support education and excellence in teaching. The Trust has supported Flagler College throughout the institution’s history with gifts for capital projects and endowed scholarships for students. Capital projects include the construction of Kenan Hall, Lewis House, the Proctor Library and the Molly Wiley Art Building.

For information on how to help meet the Kenan Trust Challenge Grant, contact the Office of Institutional Advancement at 904-819-6437 or visit www.flagler.edu/support.