Our spring events are underway! If you missed the registration deadline for Alumni Weekend, Young Alumni Weekend or Work Week, please call us at 706-236-2256.

Berry Young Alumni gathered recently in midtown Atlanta for our Career Networking event. Cheryl Huffman (91C), Berry’s financial aid coordinator, shared her insight into tackling student loan debt. Another networking event is planned for fall; be sure to stay in touch for more details.

Over 50 soccer alums dropped in at the Moon Roof on Friday evening to reminisce and re-tell old soccer stories. 125 attended the tailgate and alumni soccer scrimmages on Saturday afternoon at the Ford Soccer Fields--this included alumni, the current soccer team, parents, and faculty/staff. The tailgate meal was prepared by the parents of the current team. 120 attended the dinner that evening, including special guests Debbie Heida, VP for Student Affairs; Janna Johnson (81C), Professor and Asst. Athletic Director; Dr. Ouida Dickey (50C); Barbara McCollum (79C), president of the Berry Alumni Association. Former coaches Bob Warming, Bob Pearson, and Bret Simon spoke briefly about their time as head soccer coach. The dinner concluded with a video presentation of the 50 years of soccer at Berry. 
 
 

Mount Berry Church recently celebrated its 100 year anniversary of worship, prayer, Bible study, fellowship and service along with those who are part of the Berry community. Dr. Will Willimon was guest speaker. The event included a special historical display and fellowship time afterwards.

On the evening of Friday, February 17, 2012, students will line the Main Entrance Road as we welcome scholarship donors onto our campus with candles. Scholarship recipients will get a chance to meet and thank their donors for their educational opportunities over dinner. This annual event is a part of the Firsthand4You program, which educates students on the awareness, gratitude, and giving involved in philanthropy.

During FirstHand4You week, the junior class raised $249.20 for the Silver Wars Battle winning the competition. They will get to donate the funds to a charity of their choice. Aside from this charitable event, FirstHand4You hosted a Philanthropy 101 class taught by Randy Tibbals (79C) and John Zellars, a basketball tailgate with about 100 people in attendance and a Koffee House Concert. The annual Founder's Dinner (pictured at left) was attended by 90 alumni and students.

Even though winter is in full force, we're already thinking of spring and all our exciting upcoming events! Our Save-the-Date reminder cards are mailing this month for events including Alumni Weekend and Young Alumni Weekend (the card is pictured at left). Both will be held May 18-20, 2012, so mark your calendar and dream of spring along with us.
 

The celebration of our college's founding in 1902 is a special event each January. For our Firsthand4You program, the Founder's Dinner is a time to recognize our founder and to show gratitude to the generous alumni and friends who have made a Berry education possible. If you would like to participate, whether as a student or as an alumna/us, email firsthand4you@berry.edu.
 

Alumni in the Pensacola area won't want to miss the Feb. 4 meeting at Hall's Seafood Restaurant: Walt Maine (59C) and Mac Gay (59C) will discuss Children in Crisis, Inc. and the Children's Neighborhood, including a new internship opportunity for Berry students. See our event calendar to RSVP.

 

If you are a high school or academy alum:The Berry Breakfast Club is now accepting nominations for the Berry High School/Academy Outstanding Faculty/Staff Award.  If you attended the Mount Berry School for Boys, Martha Berry School for Girls or Berry Academy, you are encouraged to honor a former faculty or staff member with a nomination for this award. More  

The Ford Living Room in the Alumni Center provides a warm and welcoming place for alumni to relax throughout the year, especially during the holidays. If you're in the area, drop by to enjoy a quiet moment this season. The Center also houses the Alumni Hall of Fame, a sitting room with yearbooks and memorabilia, and many other amenities for our alumni to enjoy. We are open this year through Dec. 21.

Berry alumni recently gathered for a casual dinner in Young Harris, Ga. In attendance were members of classes spanning five decades as well as Alumni Association President Barbara McCollum (79C) and members of the Office of Alumni Relations. One of the best ways to keep up with alumni events happening in your area is to be sure to sign up for a Viking email address. 

Berry College will join other members of the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) of NCAA Division III in offering football as a varsity sport in 2013, and men’s and women’s track and field soon thereafter. The plan for building our stadium and the surrounding area will follow two phases. More
 

Berry College welcomed about 7,500 alumni, students, parents, faculty, staff and friends to Mount Berry recently for the annual Mountain Day celebration. See the highlights. 
 
 

 Nominate a deserving alumnus/a for an award! Categories are the Distinguished Achievement, Distinguished Service, Entrepreneurial Spirit, and Outstanding Young Alumni. Anyone can submit a nomination, so let us know who you think deserves an award.  

Our Work Week alumni return for one week each year to show their support and love for their alma mater. Alumni crews this year worked at tasks from building and cleaning to cooking and sprucing up our campus.  See the group photo  

Visit www.berry.edu/vmtnday to watch the video of Berry's Mountain Day 2010 Grand March and to read the chat hosted by Twitter courtesy of Berry's Virtual Mountain Day page.

Callie Starnes graduated from Berry College in 2007 with a degree in Communications and a minor in Government. She is a reporter and weekend anchor for WRCB-TV Channel 3, the NBC affiliate in Chattanooga, TN. Callie began her broadcast career while at Berry, serving as station manager for Berry's on-campus television station in addition to working at a local radio station. She enjoys returning to campus to serve on Berry's Alumni Council. Read more.

Effective July 1, 2010, Barbara Pickle McCollum (79C) began her two-year term as President of the Berry Alumni Association. Many thanks to Frances Richey-Goldby (83A, 87C) for her service as president over the past two years. Read more.

What a grand homecoming event! Five new Distinguished Alumni Award winners were inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame. Members of the college and high school classes of 1960 were inducted into the Golden Guard. The college and high school classes of 1950, 1955, 1960, and 1965 celebrated reunions. Read more about the festivities.

As many as 6,000 students, alumni, parents, faculty, staff and friends participated in the traditional Mountain Day Grand March and picnic. Alumni came home to visit friends, and the classes of 1974, 1979, 1984, 1989, 1994, 1999 and 2004 celebrated at a Mega Reunion event. Read more.

Anyone who believes Berry’s commitment to firsthand work experiences is limited to students has obviously never attended Alumni Work Week. Each spring, alumni and friends gather to celebrate the enduring power of Martha Berry’s belief in the value of “worthwhile work done well.” Class years represented among this year’s alumni group spanned an amazing eight decades of Berry history, from 1937 to 2010. Read more.

One year after making one of the largest individual gifts to student scholarships in the history of Berry College, Atlanta philanthropist and Berry Board of Visitors member Audrey B. Morgan has pledged an additional $1 million in support of Berry students. Read more.

Karen Holley Horrell, divisional president of corporate services for the Great American Insurance Co., is the new chair of the Berry College Board of Trustees. She is the first woman to be elected chair of the college’s senior leadership board. She presided over her first meeting in late May. Read more.

When Dr. Stan Pethel, longtime faculty member and chair of fine arts at Berry College, decided to commission a book celebrating the 100th anniversary of music making on the world’s largest campus, he didn’t have to look beyond his own daughter, Dr. Mary Ellen Pethel, to find a historian who would bring an insider’s perspective to the project. Read more. 

More than three decades have passed since Berry won its first conference championship in baseball, but the memories remain strong for members of the 1966 team who gathered for a recent reunion celebration. Hear them share their experiences by viewing the Viking Fusion video or click the title above to read the story by award-winning Carrier sports editor Ashley McIntyre.