Resident campers will stay overnight in the residence halls, and meals will be provided by the university’s Dining Services. Student ambassadors, also known as summer Conference Assistants (CAs), will be on duty to assist campers during their stay.

Stetson Athletic Summer Camps include:

Women’s Basketball:

Lil’ Hatters will learn to dribble, pass, shoot, defend and be a part of a team. Games, races and lots of one-on-one attention will ensure a fun time. High school players are invited to join Coach Lynn Bria, her staff, and Hatter players as they conduct a camp geared toward individual instruction and overall competition. Hatter Shootout, a team event, consists of a fun and intense environment designed to challenge each team to compete as a group, as well as receive instruction. For more information, contact Assistant Basketball Coach Jenna Burkett at (386) 822-8119, jburkett@stetson.edu or online at Women’s Basketball Summer Camps – 2013. Register for Women’s Basketball Summer Camps 2013 online.

• Ages:   2^nd  – 12^th grades (girls only)
• June 6 – 7
• June 21 – 22
• June 22 – 23

• Lil’ Hatters Day Camp
  • Cost:    $100 (includes $50 deposit)
  • Time:   9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Hatter Elite Camp
  • Cost:    Resident – $125 (includes $50 deposit)
  •               Commuter – $100 (includes $50 deposit)
  • Time:   11 a.m.
• Hatter Shootout
• Cost:    $350 (per team)

Men’s Soccer:

The summer soccer camps will focus on beginner and intermediate technical skills including passing, dribbling, shooting and more. For more information about Soccer Summer Camp, contact Assistant Soccer Coach, Tony McManus at (386) 822-7014, amcmanus@stetson.edu or online at Stetson Men’s Soccer Camp, with information about the Youth Academy. Register online for Stetson’s Soccer Youth Academy, or for Stetson College ID Camp.

• Ages:   6 – 14 (open to boys & girls)
• Dates:  June 17 – 20
• Lil’ Hatters
  • Cost: $85
  • Time: 9 a.m. to  noon
• Youth Academy
  • Cost: $120
  • Time: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• College ID Camp (boys – high school ages only)
  • June 23-26
  • Cost: $505
  • Check-in starts 5 p.m. June 23

Women’s Soccer:

The summer soccer camp will expose players to the standards and styles of coaching, and the expectations of players at Stetson. Campers will center on becoming technically cleaner, playing and keeping possession in tight spaces and more. Coach Khettry will also host a presentation geared to educate players (and family members) on what it takes to be a college soccer player. For more information about Soccer Summer Camp, contact Head Soccer Coach, Manoj Khettry at (386) 822-8139, mkhettry@stetson.edu or online at Women’s Soccer Spring ID Camp.

• Prospect ID Camp
  • Ages: 13 – 19 (girls only)
  • Date: June 16
  • (Limited to 60 Field Players, 8 Goalkeepers)
  • Cost: $125
  • Time: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

• Residential Camp
  • Ages: 12-18
  • Dates: July 18-21
  • (Limited to 100 Field Players, 12 Goalkeepers)
  • Cost:    Resident – $545
  • Commuter – $500

• Registration begins July 18 at 2 p.m.

Tennis:

The goal of summer tennis camps is for each camper to improve in the fundamentals of the game of tennis, to develop sportsmanship skills and to have fun in a supportive environment. For more information about Tennis Summer Camp, contact Camp Director, Christophe Noblet at (386) 822-8145, cnoblet@stetson.edu or visit Stetson Tennis Camps Summer 2013 online. Register online for Stetson Tennis Summer Camps 2013.

• Ages:   5 – 18 (Coed)
• Dates:  First Session: June 10 – 14
• Second Session: June 17 – 21 (Both sessions will offer two of the following options)
• Lil’ Hatters – “Slower balls, smaller courts, more fun.”
• Cost: $145
• Time:   Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. to noon

• Elite Hatters – “Train like a champion.”
  • Cost: $250
  • Time:   Monday – Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Friday from 9 a.m. to noon

Volleyball:

Stetson Volleyball Camps are designed to give campers the opportunity to experience a NCAA Division-I training environment. This camp will help reach future goals, whether it’s making a high school team or playing at the highest level. For more information about Volleyball Summer Camp, contact Coach Meghan Bryant at (386) 738-6681, mbryant@stetson.edu or visit Stetson Volleyball Summer Camps online. Register for Stetson Volleyball Summer Camps online.

• Ages:   12 – 18 (Coed)
• Dates:  Aug. 1 – Sand Camp
• Aug. 2 – High School All-Skills Clinic (High School Ages Only)
• Aug. 3 – Specialty Clinic
• Aug. 4 – All-Skills Clinic

• Cost: $100 (For each camp and clinic)
• Time:   9 a.m.  – 5 p.m.

Stetson University offers the camps and clinics listed above, but does not limit the selection of those sports solely based upon what is seen. For a complete listing of athletic camps offered by the university, please visit gohatters.com.

NCAA bylaws 13.12.13: Stetson camps/clinics are open to any and all entrants (limited only by number, age, grade level and/or gender).

by Kim Charles

Now in its third year Inspirare, meaning “to breathe and to inspire,” was founded by its director Ann Small, internationally known scholar and conductor, who has taught music at Stetson University’s School of Music since 1983. Small’s articles on music education have been published on many occasions. Her children’s choirs, part of the Stetson Community School of the Arts, have performed across the United States and in Scotland and Canada. They also were featured in a worldwide event sponsored at Disney World by the Music Educators National Conference. Her choirs have sung for regional and national American Choral Directors Association and Music Educators National Conference.

Women singers from across Volusia County, as well as Stetson faculty and staff, have joined together to participate in Inspirare. Auditions were not required. Donations ($10 adults; $8 seniors; $5 students suggested) will be accepted at the door.

Accompanied by Tammy Miller, adjunct music professor, and directed by Small, the concert will also feature soprano Marya Barry, and the narrator will be Monya Winzer Gilbert.

Women’s choirs are ideally suited for music about spiritual and romantic love. The concert will include a work by Canadian composer, Imant Raminsh called “Chariot Children” and a French Canadian folk song.

The finale from Mendelssohn’s incidental music written for Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, will feature Miller, piano, and Barry, soprano. The narration will be read by Gilbert, former violinist, and well-known arts administrator, who was instrumental in bringing the International Festival to Daytona Beach.

To learn more about this group, contact Small at asmall@stetson.edu, or call Stetson’s School of Music at (386) 822-8950.

But what would happen if your life was inhibited because one of them didn’t function to full capacity? What would happen if your one leg needed to be periodically upgraded, similar to computer hardware, as you got older?

Well that’s precisely the challenge Tommy Scheffer of Deltona, Fla. (pictured right) faces each day.

Tommy was born with a disformity which caused his left leg to be shorter, resulting in the amputation of his leg. Tommy has courageously made the very best of a difficult situation. While this challenge may have defeated other children, it, instead, focused Tommy and he decided that he would play the sport he loved – baseball.

Now to many, the thought of playing baseball when you cannot run well seems quite futile. But Tommy did join the local team and has become an excellent hitter. And while he cannot run the bases at top speed, he still enjoys the sport. Yet to accomplish his dream of running the bases similar to other athletes, Tommy would need a new prosthetic leg and foot.

While attending one of Tommy’s baseball games with her son, who wanted to cheer Tommy on, Serena Harrison of Deltona, Fla. became aware of Tommy and his challenges. She took a special interest in Tommy’s needs and after careful consideration and conversations with Tommy’s mother, Mandy, Harrison decided, in the fall of 2011, to develop The Tommy Fund, a non-profit foundation which raised funds specifically to acquire a new leg and foot for Tommy at this time in his life.

As a child grows, a new prosthetic device is necessary and in addition to custom fabrication, fitting and revising.  A new limb can cost tens of thousands of dollars for the device itself and all the necessary medical bills. As a person grows and/or their body changes (weight gain/loss, activity level changes, etc.), they will have to start the process all over again.

From afar, Dr. Michele Skelton, Associate Professor, Department of Integrative Health Science at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla., (pictured, center) marveled at Harrison’s time, effort and personal expense to begin this fund. Harrison and Skelton’s children attended the same school and played in the steel drum band together.

With a passion to raise enough money for Tommy, Harrison held fundraisers around town, for what would be known as The Tommy Fund, including music performed by the members of the children’s steel drum band, called The Panheads, in Artisan Alley in DeLand.

Through further conversations, Dr. Skelton decided to contact one of her former students, Rachel Friddle of Honea Path, S.C. (pictured left, taking measurements for Tommy’s prosthetic leg), who received her 2004 degree in Integrative Health Science at Stetson University. Rachel later completed a certificate post graduate program at Northwestern University’s Medical School of Chicago in Orthotics and Prosthetics in 2005.

Upon graduation, Friddle completed her residencies and worked in a private practice in Nashville, Tenn. for five years. She later joined her family’s business, Friddle Orthopedic Appliances, which was started by her great grandfather at Shriner’s Hospital in Greenville, So. Carolina. Now run by her father, a small part of the company is dedicated to central fabrication, which makes orthotics (braces) and prosthetics (artificial limbs).

“Rachel was amazing.  When I first met her, she was self-motivated, knew what field she wanted to study and quickly espoused Stetson’s desire for students to become advocates and community leaders,” said Dr. Skelton of Friddle’s generosity and leadership in helping Tommy.

Through her contacts in the industry, Friddle reached out to Chris Doerger, PT, CP, and clinical educator for Ossur Manufacturing in Orlando, which donated a foot for Tommy.  And once all the donations were acquired, Friddle, Doerger, Skelton, Harrison and Tommy all converged in Skelton’s office at Stetson University to measure Tommy for his new leg and foot.

With Friddle’s work to design and donate the perfect fabrication for the socket design (the portion of the leg that fits on Tommy around his knee and up his thigh), the help of Doerger with choosing the appropriate running foot, and the team at Hanger, Inc., who help Tommy with continual follow ups and adjustments, Tommy is now testing his new limb to insure its proper fitting.

Since each new socket is custom and intimately designed for each patient, a trial period is needed to see if any sores will build or skin breakdown will occur and, if so, adjustments are needed.

But ultimately, Tommy’s goal of effectively running the bases may not be too far off. While he still has more physical therapy to increase the strength of his hips, he and his family are grateful for the generosity of so many people to make his dream come true.  Tommy believes he will reach home plate in the not-too-distant future.

By Mary M. McCambridge

Top Stories

• Lipscomb has hired Stetson head basketball coach Casey Alexander, according to CBSSports.com, NBCSports, and The Tennessean on May 18. Additional coverage: Philly.com, Daytona Beach News-Journal, Vancouver Sun, WOAI-TV, WFTV-TV, WTVF-TV, WTSP-TV, KARE-TV, WJXX-TV and dozens of other media outlets.
• Science Daily reported May 22 on new research that shows professors who study moral philosophy and its application in the real world may not be ethical themselves when it comes to responding to students. The “Ethicists’ and Nonethicists’ Responsiveness to Student E-mails: Relationships among Expressed Normative Attitude, Self-described Behavior, and Empirically Observed Behavior” study was conducted by philosophers Joshua Rust of Stetson University and Eric Schwitzgebel of UC Riverside. The study was published in the journal Metaphilosophy. Additional coverage: Newswise, CBSLosAngeles, Medicalxpress.com, Highland Community News, KCAL-TV.
• Bloomberg Businessweek included the Stetson Roland George Investments Program in its round up of schools in the RISE competition. Stetson took first place in the Fixed Income category. This is the 10 time in 13 years that Stetson won top honors in that competition.
• Law Professor Jason Bent and Visiting Law Professor Steven Kropp are both quoted in the May 22 CNBC story, “A Low-Wage US Contractor Just Cooked Your Burger.”
• Law Professor Peter Lake is quoted in the May 16 Chronicle of Higher Education article, “Yale U. Is Fined $165,000 K Under Crime Reporting Law.”
• Alan Green, who will be joining Stetson’s economics faculty in the fall, wrote a column for the Tampa Bay Times, May 22, regarding Florida’s choice to opt out of paying for expanded Medicaid as part of the federal Affordable Care Act.
• Stetson was featured in a May 16 story on WOFL-TV regarding pets in dorms. The story was prompted by a notice from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to its regional offices stating that housing providers, including universities, must offer people with disabilities a reasonable accommodation for emotional support animals.

Other Stories in the News

• Law Professor Ciara Torres-Spelliscy wrote a book review for the May 21 Guernica on Citizens Disunited.
• The Vera Bluemner Kouba Collection at Stetson was referenced in an article on NJSpotlight about the Patterson, NJ, IWW union strike of 1913. Bluemner’s art is on display in the area as part of a series of historical and cultural exhibitions commemorating the strike.
• According to the May 16 St. Petersblog and Sunshine News, Law student Dr. Julio Gonzalez is running against Representative Holder. Gonzalez is an orthopedic surgeon, a native Floridian, the son of exiles who fled Castro’s regime, a veteran of the US Navy Reserve and former chief of staff at Venice Regional Medical Center.
• The May 16 Tampa Tribune mentions development near the Tampa Law Center related to the Tampa River Walk.
• Stetson’s women’s basketball team will participate in the 2013 Preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament in November along with 15 other institutions. Ten of the 16, including Stetson, are coming off NCAA appearances, according to KNDO-TV. Additional coverage: Gonzaga.com, KNDU-TV, KREM-TV, Daytona Beach News-Journal.
• In a May 16 Daytona Beach News-Journal article about plans for a new hotel in DeLand, Stetson was mentioned because its purchase of University Inn will take 70 hotel rooms out of the market when those rooms are converted to student housing.
• Stetson’s Patrick Mazeika earned Atlantic-Sun Freshman of the Year honors after leading the Hatters’ baseball offense with a conference-high .392 batting average, according to the Kentucky Enquirer. Additional coverage: Cincinnati Enquirer.
• The West Volusia Beacon reported on May 20 that Stetson has named Rodney “RC” San Jose as executive director of Admission.
• Commencement ceremonies were covered by the Daytona Times and Florida Higher Education Spectator on May 17.
• Top awards were presented to Stetson students and faculty during convocation and commencement ceremonies, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal on May 19.
• In a run down of the top 10 students at one Cincinnati area high school, the Cincinnati Enquirer mentions Stetson as the school of choice for one graduate who was also accepted to five other universities. Additional coverage: Kentucky Enquirer, News-Leader, News-Herald.
• Stetson was mentioned in the Cape Coral Daily Breeze when the local Kiwanis club presented scholarships to 10 students including one who plans to attend Stetson.
• Stetson continues to receive coverage from a new luxury dorm at UCF that is being constructed with funds donated by the father of a former Stetson student. Coverage: Heritage Florida Jewish News, The Times of Israel.
• Stetson hosted the Atlantic-Sun Conference baseball tournament at Melching Field, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal on May 20.
• Retired Stetson Coach Glenn Wilkes has authored an e-book, A Jack Russell Named Domino: Some Things Lost Are Gone Forever, about the lessons his dog taught him when Domino lost his leg to cancer, according to Hometown News.

Alumni in the News

• Harper Bumpers celebrated 40 years as pastor of St. Augustine Road Baptist Church, according to the Florida Baptist Witness.
• Dori Hanna, nurse-care manager at Osprey Lodge, an assisted living facility, is featured vocalist in a music video about Parkinson’s disease. The video has been submitted to the Parkinson’s World Congress for an award, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
• News of Law alumna Pam Bondi, Florida’s first female attorney general, speaking at Stetson’s graduation, has run in the May 19 Tampa Bay Times.
• The May 20 LawBizBlog mentions Stetson Law student Kimberly Clark, who died shortly before commencement, in the article, “Law means a better life, not death.” The May 20 Solo Practice University blog also mentions Clark’s death. The May 16 Tribune Chronicle includes an obituary for Clark. The May 16 Sarasota Herald Tribune reported the death of Stetson Law student Kimberly Clark and ABC Action News also ran a tribute page for Clark.
• According to the May 16 Bloomingdale-Riverview Patch Law alumnus Brent Rose will begin teaching as an adjunct at Coley Law School in Tampa.
• Investors Hub reports that Law alumnus Harvey V. Cohen, a former state prosecutor for the 9th Judicial Circuit of Florida, is on the board of Punch Media Inc.

Keep up with what’s happening at Stetson University campuses through Stetson Today. Additional news coverage can be found at: DeLand campus In the News and Law Faculty in the News.

Links to recent news releases from the Law and DeLand campuses can be found here: DeLand campus news releases and College of Law news releases.

Roger H. Frechette of the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office will be presenting “The Golden Years” with information on types of elder abuse and exploitation, elder scams and neglect, on June 5, at 2 p.m., at Stetson University’s Center at Celebration.

“Crimes against the elderly are serious and the incidence is growing,” said Emily Richardson, Ed.D., director of Boundless Learning at Stetson. “That is why we feel it is so important to get this information out to our community.”

Frechette is a certified Florida Field Training Officer and law enforcement instructor, conducting in-service training at TECO Law Enforcement Academy. He has earned the Florida Elder Crime Practitioners desgination.

This presentation is the first of four in Stetson’s Lifelong Learning lecture series held in June at its Center for Celebration campus at 800 Celebration Avenue, Suite 104, Celebration, Fla.  The lectures are free and open to the public, but seating is limited. To RSVP, contact lifelong@stetson.edu.

Other lectures in the June series include:

Family Action Plan for Hurricane Season, presented by Tony Mainolfi, Chief Meteorologist on WESH-TV, June 12, 10 a.m.

The goal of this lecture is to get Florida residents better prepared for what may be a very busy 2013 hurricane season.

Our National Parks: Changing Images and Lives, presented by Emily Richardson, Ed.D., Associate Vice President of Boundless Learning at Stetson, on June 19, 2 p.m.

Richardson will share the history and evolution of the National Parks, a story of people from different backgrounds who devoted themselves to saving a precious portion of the United States.

The Middle East Made “Elementary,” presented by Ken Hanson, Ph.D., author, professor and commentator, on June 26, 2 p.m.

Hanson is a scholar of Hebrew language and literature, the history of biblical lands, and Jewish and early Christian culture.  In this lecture, Hanson will unravel the intricacies of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Stetson students produce public health coloring books and videos 

Integrative health science/communication students at Stetson University created two coloring books and videos that promote the importance of public health. The school projects were presented to the Florida Department of Health in Volusia County and will be used to raise awareness of public health in the community.

“Our students were excited about this community service learning project because it gave them an opportunity to explore the many aspects of public health on campus and in our community,” said Tara J. Schuwerk, Ph.D., assistant professor of communication and media studies and integrative health science at Stetson. “The students (many of whom are pictured with Schuwerk, far right, back row) produced and edited their video projects and designed interesting coloring books with creative characters. They enjoyed this project and did a fantastic job. They made valuable connections between their course work and the service they provided to the community.”

This is the first time StetsonUniversity and the Florida Department of Health partnered on a community service learning project. “We presented the student projects to our staff during our annual Employee Awards Program in early April and our employees greatly appreciated the work done by the students,” said Dr. Bonnie J. Sorensen, director of the Florida Department of Health In Volusia County. “It’s nice to be appreciated as we work daily to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts. We applaud the students for understanding the role of public health and working to educate our community.”

The Health Department plans to provide copies of the coloring books at its four health center locations in Daytona Beach, New Smyrna Beach, DeLand and Deltona.

The student video projects can be viewed at these links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiQCzjZbrh8; https://vimeo.com/62868311.

For more information about the programs and services provided through the Florida Department of Health in Volusia County, please visit www.volusiahealth.com.

photo by Lauren Robbins

The Karen Schmitt Roberts Career Development Travel Fund, sponsored by Stetson’s Alumni Association Board of Directors, provides need-based travel scholarships for student interns, with preference given to students with unpaid internships. The scholarships will provide funds for all or part of a student’s travel expenses, or other aspects of an internship the committee deems appropriate, enabling the student to participate in an experience that might not otherwise be possible. Two of this year’s recipients are pictured (left) with Karen Schmitt Roberts ’80, who has helped build the travel fund to what it is today: (l to r) Maxwell Droznin: sophomore, Russian studies, Canary Center at Stanford; and Ryan Rinaldo: junior, communication studies, cities of DeBary and Deltona. Alayna Burton: junior, communications studies, 22squared, was also recognized as a recipient of the 2013 Travel Fund Scholarship.

Bank of America honored Stetson with a grant to support students in their pursuits for on-the-job experiences and completion of their post-secondary education. This year’s recipients are:

Richard Goykin: senior, sport management, Staten Island Yankees

Victoria Guzek: junior, marketing, University Directories

Mark Marcus: junior, accounting, Siemens Energy, Inc.

The final scholarship, funded by the Target Campus Grant, provides financial support for students pursuing internship opportunities that foster learning and development of leadership, mentoring and communication skills. This year’s recipients are:

Jennifer Allenby: junior, vocal performance, Varna International Opera Academy

Katherine Cabral: senior, political science, Washington Semester Internship Program

Lauren Couturier: junior, marketing, Virtual Properties

Matthew Gerken: sophomore, mathematics, Institute on Philanthropy and Voluntary Service

Michael Van Oppen: sophomore, international studies, Homeland Security Policy Institute

In addition to these award winners, two students were selected as recipients for the Becker Professional Educational Scholarship and the Boulevard Tire Center Internship. The Becker Scholarship, awarded to one student, assists in meeting the financial obligations of preparing to pass the CPA exam by covering 50 percent of the enrollment fees for the Becker CPA preparation course. This year’s recipient is Azshea Lambert: senior, accounting.

The Boulevard Tire Center Summer Internship Program offers college students from Volusia County the opportunity to work in a professional setting while learning from an industry-leading corporation in the Volusia County area. This year’s recipient is Amber Frato, pictured at right, with Olivia Stevens with the Boulevard Tire Center. Frato is a sophomore, majoring in accounting.

“Congratulations to all of the recipients,” said Robin Kazmarek, Director of Experiential Learning. ”We wish them all much success as they pursue their summer endeavors!”

by Robin Kazmarek, Director of Experiential Learning

Career Development Office

]]> http://www.stetson.edu/portal/stetson-today/2013/05/2013-internship-travel-fund-recipients/feed/ 0 http://www.stetson.edu/portal/stetson-today/2013/05/dont-focus-on-a-past-you-cant-fix/ http://www.stetson.edu/portal/stetson-today/2013/05/dont-focus-on-a-past-you-cant-fix/#comments Tue, 21 May 2013 05:00:22 +0000 Mary Anne Rogers http://www.stetson.edu/portal/stetson-today/?p=7472 To hear these words from a senior in college who has endured a mostly tumultuous life to this point, is quite telling. To have gained this level of awareness and consciously decided to live her life by this motto, is quite striking for a young woman her age.

Maura Martin, who graduated Stetson University May 11, with a bachelor’s degree in Art, a minor in Art History with a decision to stay another year to acquire a second major in Digital Arts, endured a life with a drug addictive mother and bi-polar father.

Although raised from the age of two primarily by her grandmother when her mother became incapacitated from cocaine, she did move back and forth between her maternal influences at various times in her life when her mother was temporarily well.

During fifth and sixth grade, she began to rebuild a good relationship with her mother, who then remarried, only to see it fall apart when her new stepfather physically abused her mother and reintroduced her to drugs.

Realizing she was considerably depressed, it was during a wonderful vacation to Captiva Island, Fla. with her grandparents that her grandmother decided that Maura needed to live with her again.

An artist from early in life, it was at Stetson University that Maura’s love for art came alive. When deciding the focus of her senior thesis, she struggled with whether to bring out her life experiences in her work.

Once she had studied the art of others and the impetus for their own work, she became more confident that she also could allow herself to express her childhood pain. While the research of combing through hundreds of family pictures over three generations did cause her sorrow at times, she felt it has helped free her of so much of the sting she endured over all these years.

Martin’s work was exhibited at Stetson University’s Hand Art Center to rave reviews. Uniquely using door and picture frames in vintage style, her choice to transpose her picture at age three on top of her mother’s picture at age three, is the centerpiece of her work. Strikingly similar, it can also be somewhat haunting.

On the side of this display is a child’s broken bed with pictures flowing from under the springs to the floor adding a sense of intrigue to the years of history which contributed to this exhibit.

Martin credits her grandmother for her encouragement, love and support. She is also grateful for the influence of her professors at Stetson. She looks forward to a long career in the art world with her next project focused on her father’s illness.

by Mary M. McCambridge

“Coach Alexander informed me on Friday that he was resigning to take a position at another school,” Altier said. “It is certainly a disappointment to be in the market for a basketball coach this time of year. We had hoped he would be as dedicated to taking our men’s basketball program back to the top of the Atlantic Sun Conference as our University is dedicated to seeing it return to that level.

“We were excited to watch the team progress over the last two years, but the process of building the program has just begun. This will be no more than a bump in the road for the program moving forward.”

In his two seasons leading the Hatters men’s basketball program, Alexander posted a 24-36 overall record, including a 17-19 record in Atlantic Sun Conference play. Stetson placed two players – Adam Pegg and Chris Perez – on the All-Conference first and second teams this past year.

“I’m making this move with mixed emotions because there are so many people at Stetson I hate to disappoint, most notably our returning players and signees, because they are the face of the program,” Alexander said.

“I’m so grateful to [Stetson President] Dr. Wendy Libby and Jeff Altier for the opportunity they provided me. We worked hard to represent them well and hope they are pleased with the recent progress made. The changes may induce a temporary setback, but Stetson is in good hands and headed for great things.”

Alexander leaves a Stetson team that will return five letter winners, including two starters, from the 2012-13 season. That core group will be joined next year by two players who redshirted last year as well as five players who have committed to join the program this fall.

A native of Nashville, Alexander made the decision to return home and take the reins of his former school’s rival. After playing at Belmont University for four years, Alexander was an assistant coach there for 16 seasons.

“I am determined to move quickly to find a coach who will be dedicated to returning Stetson men’s basketball to its proper place,” Altier said. “We will move aggressively to find a new coach who will lead our program with character and passion, as well as a commitment to this fine university and its student-athletes.

“I am confident we will find the right person to lead us into the future.” For this story and all Hatter sports, go to gohatters.com.

At the last minute, she took a campus visit to Stetson University and immediately knew this was the place she needed and wanted to be…if they would still accept her application. With excellent grades and superior “can-do” attitude, Stetson was more than happy to enroll Sami even at the eleventh hour.

“Choosing Stetson was probably the best decision of my life,” she explained with a smile.

Sami’s ability to create a successful path and her desire to become more significant continued at Stetson. While typically she avoided taking so much as an aspirin for headaches, she came down with a serious sinus infection that required antibiotics her sophomore year. Unfortunately, she was subsequently afflicted with clostridium difficile (better known as “C. diff”) due to the antibiotic killing too much of her “good” bacteria. It resulted in even greater illness.  True to form, she rose above the problem and used the experience for good because, at that moment, it cemented her desire to become a pharmacist.

“I want to help people understand what medications they need to take, and in the proper dosages they should be taking them,” she said. “Also, I believe this career path will allow me a great family-work balance, which is a priority because I grew up in a tight-knit family.”

This past year, Sami’s had tough classes, tutored several hours a week, filled out pharmacy school applications, and embarked on a rigorous senior research project.  She never cared for lab before because it was someone else’s research and it was already known what the outcome was supposed to be. “But once I started doing my own (research), it became very exciting for me and now I know that is an area of Pharmacology on which I’d like to concentrate,” explained Sami. “I’ve built up a lot of confidence at Stetson. The professors push us to do more, to go beyond minimum requirements. That’s what prepares students and makes Stetson unique.”

Of course, as no surprise, Sami selected UF as the place to earn her Doctorate in Pharmacy degree.  Even though she will be amongst all that is blue and orange this fall, this is one “Gator” who will always be “Hatter” green.

by Trish Wieland