Devoted minister and father, the late R. Grady Snowden, Sr., was born in Mississippi, where he worked on his family’s farm, attended an agricultural high school, and taught school for two years. After he was called to the ministry, his entire family moved to Lake Helen so he could attend Stetson University. Stetson faculty members profoundly influenced his life, helping him find churches to serve as a student, then after graduation encouraging him to go on to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he met his wife, the late Jessie Marie Lee.

In 1932, he began his long and fruitful career as a Baptist pastor, serving First Baptist Church, Hopewell, Va., then First Baptist Church of DeLand, and finally, Arlington Baptist Church in Jacksonville, where he remained until he retired in 1963. He served many interim pastorates in retirement, and extended his ministry into health care by helping to establish the DeLand Convalescent Center and serving as its first administrator. Wanting to help young people as he had been helped, he also established an endowed scholarship fund at Stetson to assist students “who reflect Christian ideals and values in their personal lifestyles and vocations.” Stetson honored him with an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree in May 1996.

Daughter of Grady Snowden, Sr., Patricia Snowden Lane attended Stetson on an academic scholarship and a special scholarship for the children of Baptist ministers. Majoring in English and Spanish, she became a teacher at Mainland High School in Daytona Beach and, later, served as longtime head librarian at DeLand High School. She also earned a Master of Arts degree from Stetson. She and her husband, Fred Lane, met at Stetson, where he was a fellow member of the Baptist Student Union and held scholarships for music and for being the son of a Baptist minister. They had their wedding reception at Chaudoin Hall.

A talented musician, Fred Lane majored in Music at Stetson and then attended Southern Seminary. He served Baptist churches in North Carolina and Kentucky for 15 years before returning to DeLand. Through his father-in-law, he entered the nursing home business, and his wife and other members of the family joined the business as it grew. The Lanes retired in 1998 and sold their five nursing homes. Neighbors to the Stetson campus, they continue to be active with the university through the Snowden-Lane Endowed Scholarship Fund. Fred Lane also serves on the Board of Advisors for the School of Business Administration and on the Family Business Center Board.

Following in his father's footsteps, Grady Snowden, Jr., majored in Religion at Stetson and went on to Southern Seminary. He served as pastor of Park Lane Baptist Church in Jacksonville before becoming chief executive officer of a Methodist retirement community, where he served for 24 years. He returned to Lake Helen in 1999 to serve Blake Memorial Baptist Church, where his father had been pastor, and is now senior adult pastor of First Baptist Church of DeLand. He is a former member of the Stetson Alumni Association Board.

A hatter by marriage, his wife, Barbara A. Snowden, joins her husband in his pastoral work, and in supporting the family scholarship and attending Stetson baseball and basketball games. She grew up in Patterson, Ga., and earned a degree in Business Administration from the University of Georgia in Athens.

An internationally known scholar, Dr. Clyde E. Fant came to Stetson University in 1985 as Dean of the Chapel and O.L. Walker Professor of Christian Studies. A former professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Duke University Divinity School and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, he also served as president of the International Baptist Seminary in Switzerland and as a pastor in Texas and Louisiana.

He created the Florida Winter Pastors’ School at Stetson in 1985 and continues as its director, although he retired from teaching in 2000. Each year, it attracts close to 250 pastors from various denominations from all over the United States and Canada, for discussions with well-known theologians, pastors and religious scholars.

In 1989, he developed Stetson’s Institute for Christian Ethics, which brings thoughtful speakers to campus for dialogue on the ecology, the Holocaust, human rights, medical ethics, racial justice, religion and culture. Building on the Institute, he also helped establish Stetson’s Stewart Lectures, through which internationally respected leaders, including Desmond Tutu, Jimmy Carter and Elie Wiesel, have shared their understanding of the role of religion in shaping the ethics of the modern world.

A prolific author, he is currently working on two books, Lost Treasures of the Bible and A Preaching Primer. He has published 10 other books, including Guide to Biblical Sites in Greece and Turkey, Twenty Centuries of Great Preaching, The Misunderstood Jesus, Bonhoeffer: Worldly Preaching and Preaching for Today (two editions). He is a frequent lecturer on pastoral leadership and preaching, and was a founding director of the International Society of Homiletics. He has also stepped in to teach at Stetson since his retirement when needed.

The Rev. Jefferson Paramore Rogers and Mary Grace Harris Rogers '98 devote their lives to the values for which Stetson University stands. Founder and director of Stetson's Howard Thurman Program, Rev. Rogers is working to extend the legacy of Howard Thurman, a theologian who inspired leaders past and present in the American civil rights movement. The program's goal is to integrate the teachings and values of Howard Thurman into the work of universities, scholars, and community leaders; and to seek solutions to social, religious, and ethnic problems. Since 1996, Rogers has brought nationally and internationally known lecturers to campus to discuss critical issues of race and justice with the Stetson family and the wider community in a series of 54 Thurman Lectures.

An early leader in the Southern Christian Leadership onference, Jefferson Rogers worked directly with Howard Thurman and Martin Luther King, Jr. A longtime pastor, in 1958 he founded The Church of the Redeemer in Washington, D.C., which he led for nearly 13 years. In 1981, he and tennis legend Arthur Ashe founded New Birth Corporation, to promote Thurman's teachings and foster a cultural renaissance in the African American community. New Birth purchased Thurman's boyhood home in Daytona Beach, which the Rogers oversee as part of the Thurman legacy.

Devoted to the life of the mind, Jefferson Rogers holds a bachelor's degree in history from Florida A&M University; a master's degree in religious education from Howard University, where he did further graduate work in philosophy; and a graduate degree from Yale Divinity School, specializing in social ethics. In 1998, Stetson honored him with an honorary doctorate of divinity. He has worked in religious education, journalism, teaching, and the ministry. Mary Grace Rogers earned a bachelor's degree in social studies from Dillard University, and a master's degree in sociology from Yale. She has served as a counselor, social worker, and teacher, retiring from Florida Memorial College in Miami as an assistant professor of social science.

Both have worked at the national level in the Presbyterian Church, and she has also been involved in several historic preservation efforts, including Boston's Freedom Trail and the Frederick Douglass Home in Washington, D.C. A prolific author, he has written widely on issues involving African Americans and the American church.

Dr. Anne Motley Hallum devotes her life to the principles for which Stetson stands, finding twin callings in education and service to others. Chairperson of Stetson’s Political Science Department, she has taught at Stetson for 16 years, specializing in religion and politics, environmental politics and the American presidency. In 1990, a study trip to Guatemala brought home to her the devastating effects of deforestation; and in 1992 she founded the non-profit Alliance for International Reforestation, or AIR, to help rebuild the Guatemalan environment.

With 10 Latin American employees, AIR now works in 50 villages in Guatemala and 10 villages in Nicaragua. It has built 600 fuel-efficient stoves, conserving 600 tons of firewood a year, and overseen the planting of 3 million trees - relying on donations, in-kind contributions and volunteer labor. AIR has also developed an educational curriculum that reaches thousands of school children, and has begun a three-year training program in sustainable farming methods.

Born and raised in Huntsville, Ala., Hallum received a bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies from the University of Minnesota, a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Alabama, and a doctorate in Political Science from Vanderbilt University. Her publications include a book, Beyond Missionaries: Toward an Understanding of the Protestant Movement in Central America, and many articles on religion and politics. Her current research involves environmental issues in Central America, an area she has visited more than 30 times over the past 13 years.

A life-long Presyterian, she serves as an Elder and Sunday School teacher at The First Presbyterian Church of DeLand. She energetically raises funds for AIR, which is based at Stetson, and heads its board of directors. Married to Jan Wilgers, she has two daughters, Rachel and Rebecca, all of whom frequently travel to Central America with her. Students and church members also often accompany her to work with AIR’s projects. To date, AIR has hosted 20 Stetson students as volunteers through the Rinker Guatemala/Nicaragua Field Experience Scholarship.

Dr. David and Dr. Leighan Rinker see value in education, whether it’s higher education or early childhood. With master’s , education specialist and doctoral degrees, the Rinkers continue to live out their commitment to education by serving Stetson and other educational institutions in leadership roles.

As former chairman of Stetson’s Board of Trustees, David Rinker has contributed to the university the skills and knowledge he’s used to become a successful businessman. A 1962 Stetson graduate and trustee since 1985, he is the chairman and president of the Marshall E. Rinker Sr. Foundation and director of the foreign travel studies program at Lake Worth Christian School in Lantana, Florida.

Committed to early childhood education, Leighan Rinker is the founder and executive director of Beginnings of Palm Beach County, a preschool facility affiliated with Palm Beach Atlantic College.A 1965 Stetson alumna, she was a member of the College of Arts and Sciences Board of Advisors for three years. She currently serves as chair of the Furman University Board of Trustees.

Together, the Rinkers have given many tangible and intangible gifts to Stetson over the years. Some of their family contributions include the Rinker Institute; Rinker Field; Rinker Field House at the Hollis Center; David and Leighan Rinker Scholarships for students who demonstrate a strong religious commitment and leadership in churches or other religious organizations; Rinker Guatemala/Nicaragua Field Experience offered through the Alliance for International Reforestation; Rinker Scholarship for Travel Courses in Religious Studies; and M.E. Rinker, Sr., Foundation Scholarship.

Deland residents since 1974, when Harold Parson retired from a distinguished 22-year career as a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Parsons have strong ties to West Volusia.

A Deland native who studied music as a child in Stetson’s piano department, Rabel Moremen met the young Harold Parson, a Stetson business administration student from Miami, when both were singing in the First Baptist Church choir. World War II interrupted their education. He served as a Navy pilot and flight instructor; she became Deland’s first female postal letter carrier in a program to replace men at war. They married in 1945, and returned to Stetson in 1946. They took turns caring for their first child so both could attend classes, and she taught music and played the piano for a variety of groups.

He graduated in1948, and they moved to Fort Pierce where he worked briefly in the business world before joining the FBI in 1952. His FBI career took them to Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Miami and Fort Pierce, and she served as a church organist and choir director wherever they lived. She also taught fifth grade in Fort Pierce, where she was selected Teacher of the Year. Rabel Parson returned to Stetson to finish her music degree after her husband retired, and taught music at Orange City Elementary School until her own retirement in 1986.

Wanting to share her students’ talents, she led them to produce elaborate musicals each year before community groups. She served for several years as one of the directors of the annual county music festival. Named Orange City’s 1985 Teacher of the Year, she also won the Volusia Educators Association’s Mary Karl Award for a “lifetime of distinguished service to quality education.” She continues to be active in many community and church groups, often sharing her musical talents with them.

An active church layman, Harold Parson served as an elder and chaired a capital gifts campaign for First Presbyterian Church of Deland. He also works with many West Volusia community groups, including the chorus, Great Expectations, which sings for many charitable events. The couple has contributed year after year to a variety of Stetson’s scholarships, so that others may follow their path. He chaired Stetson’s Homecoming in 1979 and served as president of the Deland Alumni Chapter in 1982-83. She worked with Stetson to establish Florida’s only collegiate chapter Epsilon Sigma Alpha, which leads students into community service. Both remain active in the Alumni Association and co-chaired the 45th and 50th reunions for the Class of 1948.

Their Deland-area ranch is often the scene of alumni get-togethers, as well as fundraisers for St. Jude Children’s Hospital and the American Cancer Society. Strong supporters of the Friends of the School of Music, Hatter Boosters and School of Business Administration, they are also Stetson Society members and Presidential Counselors. They have four children: the late Harold Parson Jr.; Charles Parson, a professor at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, Denver, Colorado; Linda Parson Davis, associate vice president for planned giving at Stetson; and Nels Parson, land use coordinator for the St. John’s River Water Management District.

Bio and Picture Coming Soon