Eleven December Graduates, Seven Inductees, Alumni News, and a New PEL Baby!

courtesy of SweetClipArt.com

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Warmest congratulations to these PEL students who completed their programs of studies and graduated in December 2015. :

Nancy Bebout (H), Organizational Studies

April D. Griffin (HH), Organizational Studies

Tonya Y. Holden, American Studies

Matthew Knight, International Business

Joy A. Langone (D), Human Development

Kelly A. McCann, Humanities

Kathleen A. Nix (HH), Creative Writing

Annie M. Sergeant (HH), Human Development

Tami L. Toms (D), Humanities

Rachael Wolff (HH), Human Development

Kristen M. Wright (HH), American Studies

H - Honors; HH - High Honors; D - Distinction

 l-r: Professor Catherine Griggs, Tami Toms, Jasmine Rothgeb, Noel Lake, Professor Gregory Padgett, JoAnn Miller, and Kristen Wright attended the induction ceremony for Phi Alpha Theta. Not shown are Kelly McCann and Valerie Martin.
BRAVO to the following PEL students who, along with several residential students, were inducted into Phi Alpha Theta, a history honor society, in November 2015:

Noel Lake     Valerie Martin

Kelly McCann     JoAnn Miller

Jasmine Rothgeb     Tami Toms
Kristen Wright

Alumni News

•  Rev. Roy Allison '03 (Business Management), who subsequently earned a Master in Divinity from Nashota House and who serves at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Tampa, was one of several area spiritual leaders featured in a recent Tampa Tribune article about Advent.
• Anne Anderson '07 (Creative Writing), who subsequently earned an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Alabama, has been appointed director of blended and online learning at Eckerd College's Program for Experienced Learners.
• Michele Bredal '15 (Visual Arts) has been appointed events and volunteer coordinator at Dunedin Fine Art Center.
• Claudia Smith '13 (Management) recently earned her M.B.A. in Business Administration and Management through St. Leo University.
• Thomas J. (T.J.) Stoll '15 (Management) has begun pursuing an M.S. in Finance through Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.
• Scott Warfel '10 (American Studies), who subsequently earned an M.S.A. in film and media studies from Arizona State University, has been appointed director of performing arts at Ransom Everglades School in Coconut Grove, Florida.

Remembering . . . Karen Figg Salmon '89 and Edward Rubertas '02, PEL alumni, and Maurice Harris, PEL student, whose recent deaths we mourn and whose lives we celebrate.

Share your news with us by emailing pel@eckerd.edu. Please include the year you graduated from Eckerd and your major.

 

PEL Professor Helen Wallace is St. Petersburg's newest Poet Laureate / PEL Professor Peter Meinke named Florida Poet Laureate

The St. Petersburg City Council proclaimed Eckerd College Professor Helen Pruitt Wallace Poet Laureate of St. Petersburg, beginning in January 2016.

Helen succeeds Emeritus Professor Peter Meinke, who earlier this year was selected by a committee with the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs to be appointed Poet Laureate of Florida by Governor Scott.

Watch and listen to their WTSP Studio 10 interview here!

PEL Staff & Creative Writing Alums attend Helen Wallace's induction as St. Petersburg's Poet Laureate (l-r: Margret Skaftadottir, Patti Cooksey '97, Shantell Smithson '09, Anne Ney '07, Sonia Quinones '07, Angie Jones '12, and poet Wendy Buffington). Faculty & Staff News   Amanda Hagood's sestina, "Wood Parade," won second place in the Final Draft: St Pete Stories contest sponsored by Keep St. Pete Lit.  Wecome, Kathy McDonald, PEL Director of Admission and Recruitment!  With offices at both PEL campuses, Kathy will help us identify new potential PEL students across the Tampa Bay area. To learn more about Kathy, read Craig Anderson's article here, then stop by and say 'hello'!

New PEL Baby!

We rejoice with PEL Executive Director Amanda Hagood and her husband, Daniel Spoth, assistant professor of literature at Eckerd, in the birth of their son, James Claybrooke Spoth, who was born December 21, 2015.

This happy little guy arrived a bit earlier than expected, but both mother and son are doing well.