Top Stories

• Washington Garcia, DMA, new dean of the School of Music, is profiled in the July/August issue of Orlando Arts Magazine. “God was showing me my mission,” Garcia said of his time as a performing pianist during childhood in his native Ecuador. “It was about creating opportunities to be a servant of the community and to use music to make the community a more beautiful place.”

• Routa Kroumovitch, professor of violin, was mentioned in the June 25 New York Times story “For a major debut, a young violinist gets personal.”

• Melissa Ann Gibbs, PhD, professor of biology and director of the Aquatic & Marine Biology Program, was interviewed for the July 14 article “Manatee mama, calf released near Blue Spring after successful rehab at SeaWorld Orlando” in the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

• Matthew Imes, PhD, assistant professor of finance, was featured in the July 8 article “Ask the Experts: Best Personal Loans” on WalletHub.

• Law Professor Luz Nagle was featured in a television news clip about Dr. Andre Mendoza, Brazil’s attorney general, who has been nominated as president of the Brazilian Supreme Court. The clip ran throughout the July 12 news cycle in Brazil; it shows Nagle when she presented an award to Mendoza and his team on behalf of the International Bar Association for his anti-corruption efforts. She judged and presented the IBA’s Innovare prize to Mendozza, who later came to Stetson under Nagle’s sponsorship to work on his doctoral dissertation. Nagle also was a judge on his dissertation defense at the University of Salamanca, Spain.

• Wendy Anderson, PhD, professor of environmental science and studies, wrote the July 13 column “Imagine West Volusia: In crisis, get outside your comfort zone” in the West Volusia Beacon.

• Oakland McCulloch, senior military science instructor and recruiter for the Army ROTC program, was interviewed July 9 for the segment “23 years of selfless service in the US Army helping others find their leadership legacy” on the Half Percent Podcast.

• Law Professor Ciara Torres-Spelliscy wrote a July 13 analysis for the Brennan Center for Justice, titled “The Supreme Court Moves the Goalposts on Donor Transparency,” which also was posted by the Election Law Blog and SCOTUSblog.

• Junior basketball player Davante Robinson and his basketball design business were profiled in a July 14 broadcast segment on WESH 2 News.

• Rajni Shankar-Brown, PhD, associate professor and Jessie Ball duPont Endowed Chair of Social Justice Education, was interviewed for a July 7 segment titled “Chatting with Dr. Rajni Shankar-Brown about Homelessness” on the Apple Podcast “Chats from the Blog Cabin – Adventures of Frugal Mom.”

Other News

• Cedric Burkhardt, a School of Business Administration graduate student, was profiled in “Stetson University graduate student receives Rod Campbell honor, Cedric Burkhardt is first recipient selected” in the July 5 Brevard Business News (Page 15). The article also quoted John Riggs, DBA, professor of practice in marketing and director of the Centurion Sales Excellence Program.

• Hailey Arias, a political science/pre-law major, was awarded a $1,000 scholarship from Self-Help Credit Union in DeLand, according to a July 15 article in the West Volusia Beacon.

• Kendall Buck, an entrepreneurship and management major, was interviewed about her Herbtastic kitchen tool on July 3 for the segment “Update on the Herbie Rake (now Herbtastic)” on “In the Garden with Ron Wilson” on iHeart Radio.

• Stetson University was in the news for the article, “Stetson gets grant for climate action” on July 9 Hometown News.

• Woody O’Cain, formerly of the Office of Development and Alumni Engagement, was profiled in the July 9 article “O’Cain named VP for enrollment at Presbyterian College” in the Laurens County Advertiser.

• Student violinist Ruvit Bracho Márquez was cited as a recipient of a Tuition Assistance Scholarship from the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation in the July 13 article “Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation Awards Juanes Scholarship to Xavier Cintrón” on wboc.com, TMCnet Latin America, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Online and numerous other media outlets.

• Law Professor Andrew Appleby was quoted in a July 9 article on Law360, titled “State and Local Tax Cases to Watch in the 2nd Half of 2021.” Also, Appleby co-authored the article “Platforms: The Postscript” with Walter Hellerstein for TaxNotes State.

• Law Professor Robyn Powell was quoted in a July 9 article in The Intercept, titled “In Brazil, There’s a Legal Term for What Britney Spears Says Is Happening: Sexual Violence.”

• Law Professor Rebecca C. Morgan wrote the following blogs for the Elder Law Prof Blog:

• July 12: “California Bar Seeking Input on Proposed Informal Opinion on Clients with Diminished Capacity.”
• July 12: “Deceptive Campaign Fundraising?”
• July 13: “Home Care Worker Shortage Means Long Waits for Help.”

• Adjunct Law Professor Linda Anderson Stanley was named to the 2021 On the Rise – Top 40 Young Lawyers by the American Bar Association (ABA) Young Lawyers Division, according to LexBlog. 

Alumni News

• Alumna Lauren Gay, who earned a master’s degree in education (Educational Leadership) in 2002, wrote the column “THE LITTLE MRS. FGG: Driven Out: A Former Educator’s Thoughts on Common Core’s Decade-Long War on Kids” in the July 14 Southern Sentinel.

• Alumnus John Hornbeck is running for the District 1 seat on St. Petersburg City Council, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

• Alumna Marie Tomassi, managing shareholder at Trenam Law, has maintained that role while also succeeding founding shareholder Hal Mullis as the firm’s president, according to a June 29 Florida Trend article.

• Alumnus Forrest J. Bass, director at the Farr Law Firm, has been appointed chair of the Florida Bar’s Wills, Trusts and Estates Board Certification Committee, according to prlog.org.