Homecoming 2015 ~ It's a Wrap!

Saturday, October 18, was a crisp and sunny fall day--a perfect day for Homecoming! The campus has never looked better. The day started with the traditional pancake breakfast, followed by open houses and reunion meetings, and culminating with an exciting football game, where the Eagles prevailed over Newberry College with a score of 27-20.

Welcome home!

The newly carved Eagle in front of the Chitwood Alumni House welcomed everyone back to campus.

Carved eagle at Chitwood Alumni House

Women of Vision's work was evidenced all over campus with several projects showcased. Here's a peep into the finished projects:

Manley Wellness Center

For those of you who remember the old college infirmary, where many of you spent time during your college years when you were sick, you wouldn't recognize the place now! Women of Vision funding paid for new carpet and paint throughout, and reupholstered furniture. Other funding even created a "Relaxation Room" with massage chairs, stress balls, and soothing music. Kathleen Manley wouldn't believe it, and the infirmary is a new place of wellness for students. Pictured are campus nurse and counselors who are available to students.

Pictured: Kim Sexton, Jennifer Catlett, Shannon Tuell

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Baker Building

The Baker Building is used by the ROTC downstairs, and the History and Political Science Department upstairs. The History Department space was in need of some major TLC.  Women of Vision took on this project and created a comfortable faculty lounge (called the Map Room because of the beautiful vintage maps in the room), and a new student lounge. Just look at the difference! Other projects completed in this building are detailed in the list below.

Baker Building (Before)

Baker Building Student Lounge

Map Room (Faculty Lounge)

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Other spaces that received  updates were student lounges in both the Pederson Nursing Building and the Dougherty Science Building, and updated spaces in the Tarr Music Building.  Now nursing, science and music students and faculty have wonderful new places to study and relax. And check out other "before" pics of these spaces in the July blog post. The results are absolutely amazing!

Pederson Nursing Building

Pederson Nursing Building Student Lounge (Before)

Pederson Nursing Building Student Lounge (After)

The Pederson Nursing Building also received a renovated classroom through the efforts of Women of Vision. Because the nursing program has grown at such a fast rate, a larger classroom was needed for nursing classes.

Pederson Nursing Building Classroom

                       

Dougherty Science Building

Science Building Lounge (Before)

Science Building Student Lounge (After)


Tarr Music Building

Both the Green Room, used by students prior to performances and recitals,  and the Seminar Room, a faculty lounge in the music building received needed updates. 

Green Room

Seminar Room

Seminar Room

Updated Restroom in Music Building

Other Women of Vision projects completed during the past year include:

• Bonner Center Service Learning Seminar
• Funding for S.P.O.T.S mission trips
• Funding for 10th anniversary Operation Inasmuch
• Assistance with window coverings for Chitwood Alumni Center
• Butler Courtyard Garden
• Completion of outside sculpture for Dougherty Science Building
• Alumni Hall - three student lounges
• Heritage Hall - student lounge
• Swann Hall - stained glass sidelights on front entrance
• Baker Building - (in addition to spaces featured above) three large classroom renovations, Baumgardner Hallway, Graduate Studies in Counseling Reception Room, updated Graduate Counseling Studies offices

None of these projects could have been accomplished without YOUR support. Thank you to all who donated to make one or more of these projects a reality!

To see more homecoming pics:    https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153690020459467.1073741859.65629604466&type=3

Wanted: Mentors for Young Women of Promise

Want a special relationship with a precious young lady?

Have you ever thought about having a more personal relationship with one of the Young Women of Promise? If so, WOV may have an opportunity for you!

Several of the YWOPs have expressed an interest in having a "mentor" in their chosen field of study.  Since we have many accomplished women in Women of Vision, we thought this would be a great opportunity to offer the members of Women of Vision!

What would a mentor do?

Basically, you would be establishing a relationship with a student whose chosen field of study or career plans line up with your experience.  By sharing your life and career experiences, you may be able to provide guidance or answer burning questions in a student's life!  You might begin with a casual lunch or telephone call to get to know the student.  After that, your mentoring support could include such things as providing an "ear" to listen to concerns or providing encouragement or advice from "someone who's been there."  You might even provide advice as the student begins searching for a job in her senior year.  It's really up to you and the student to decide what kind of support would be most beneficial to the student!  Mentoring would not involve giving money directly to the student, although you might choose to support a special cause that the student is involved with, such as a mission trip, etc. This kind of support would be entirely optional and never solicited, only a result of your interest in knowing about your student's activities.

This semester, Young Women of Promise with the following career goals have asked for a mentor,so we are looking for women with experience or interest in these areas:

 *   Christian Counselor 

 *   Graphic Designer

 *   Media Psychologist or Social Psychologist 

 *   PK-3 Teacher 

 *   Working with Animals (Biology/Environmental Studies Major) 

 *   Attorney (Political Science Major) 

 *   Pediatrician (Biology/Pre-Med Major)

If you are thinking "What do I have to offer?" - the answer is plenty!  The girls are eager to connect with someone who has "been there" or who simply cares about investing in their college experience. If you would like to volunteer for one of these positions, or would like to learn more about the opportunity, please contact Kathy May, WOV Liaison to Young Women of Promise, at kathykmay@comcast.net

Young Women of Promise at Swing Dedication

Women of Vision October News

A New Eagle Has Landed at Carson-Newman!

This  chainsaw sculpture is taking shape atop a tree trunk in front of the Chitwood Alumni House.  The beautiful old tree had to be taken down because it was dying, but the tree lives on with this amazing eagle sculpture. Be sure to stop by at Homecoming to see the finished eagle.

KaTom Holiday Fundraising Event a Huge Success

Kay O'Brien Welcomes Guests

Chef Kenny Burlew at Work

Delicious Bruschetta

KaTom Restaurant Supply was a perfect venue for the Women of Vision first annual  "Holiday Season" event. Chef Kenny Burlew demonstrated how to make easy and delicious holiday appetizers including bruschetta, crabcakes, smoked salmon and cucumber slices, and pastry wrapped brie with raspberry preserves. Even better, everyone got to taste each one! 

Next, Designer Andy Winstead showed everyone how to make stunning Christmas table decorations and beautiful lighted wreaths.  There was even a lesson on bow making (use LOTS of ribbon!)  and strategic use of a glue gun (don't forget to clean up the "glue strings!")

KaTom owner and CEO, Patricia Bible, who serves on the Carson-Newman Board of Trustees, generously allowed Women of Vision to use her beautiful facility for a fun time of food, fellowship, and holiday cheer.  A silent auction was also held with many quality items including a Robert Tino painting, a queen set of Restonic bedding, and a four day get-away at a mountain cabin. Everyone who attended had a fabulous time, and plans are already being made to hold this successful event again next year. 

KaTom Restaurant Supply ~ Kodak, TN

Fifty Shades of........Mixers!

Homecoming Preview

It's not too early to begin making plans for Carson-Newman Homecoming. It's Saturday, October 17, and this year's theme is "Celebration of Nations." Be sure to stop by the Women of Vision Showcases listed below:

WOMEN OF VISION SHOWCASE TOUR

•

Baker Building Classrooms and Faculty Lounge

9 - 10:30 a.m. (Program begins at 9:30 a.m.)

Baker Building, Second Floor

•

Kathleen Manley Wellness Center

11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Kathleen Manley Wellness Center

•

Pedersen Nursing Classroom

11 a.m. – 1 p.m. (Program begins at 11:15 a.m.)

Hannah Hylton Pedersen Nursing Building

Look for the amazing before and after pictures at these sites.  Your donations to Women of Vision help make these dreams a reality! And stop by the Women of Vision tent on Henderson Lawn to see us!

Hope to see you at Homecoming!

Are You Ready for the Holidays?

Why are these Woman of Vision Council Members so excited?

They don't want to miss this upcoming event:  

Holiday Party WOV Fundraiser

Your $50 donation will help fund the many Women of Vision projects at Carson-Newman. We hope to see you there! To make reservations and purchase tickets, go to this link:

http://www.cn.edu/administration/advancement/women-of-vision/holiday-season-event

Meet Women of Vision Council Members

Diana Nixon, Secretary

Diana, a 1980 CN grad, serves as the secretary on the Women of Vision Council.  She takes the minutes at the meetings and helps with any other communication needs. She and her husband Ken have a blended family of four children and ten grandchildren. She works part-time at Central Baptist Church of Fountain City, and loves spending any free time hiking in the mountains. She also does "sing-alongs" at nursing homes, mentors at Lonsdale Elementary School, and teaches ladies Bible study classes.  She is one busy lady! 

Diana has great memories of serving as a dorm parent along with her first husband, Mark Sargent (now deceased), in Alumni Dorm when it was still a men's dorm.  Her two young sons often awoke to find that a comic book or a candy bar had been pushed under their bedroom during the night They adored the boys in the dorm! 

Diana would love to see more women get involved with Women of Vision. She says it has helped her "reclaim" Carson-Newman as a part of her life once again.  

Diana Hiking in the Smokies

               Mira Craine, Treasurer                                Mira, Mother of the Groom!

As the WOV Council Treasurer, Mira is responsible for keeping the rest of the Council straight on the status of donations and project balances for all the Women of Vision campus projects. She and her husband were high school sweethearts and are both CPA's. They even practice together in the same firm with 13 others. Two of Mira's children are Carson-Newman grads--Matt is furthering his education at UVA Law School and Bowe is at UT Pharmacy School.  Daughter Abbe is a senior at Morristown West.  Mira enjoys boating on the lake, snow skiing, and following her kids in sports. Mira loves getting to know other Women of Vision members and sharing their vision for potential projects as well as enlisting their time and talents for current projects.  

Upcoming Events

Homecoming - Saturday, October 17.  Don't miss the Women of Vision Showcases at the Manley Wellness Center, the Pederson Nursing Building and the Baker Building.

Check out all the information you need at this link:

http://www.cn.edu/libraries/tiny_mce/tiny_mce/plugins/filemanager/files/Advancement/Homecoming_brochure-web.pdf

Another Successful Back to the Creek

Back to the Creek for Women of Vision

Look at all these happy faces after several hours of hard work at Back to the Creek!

About thirty women spent a recent Saturday working on Carson-Newman's campus at the Women of Vision annual Back to the Creek event. Tasks included cleaning and "spiffing up" three different sites on campus. Here's a look at these sites:

Student Lounge at Pederson Nursing Building

 

For those of you who remember "New Mens' Dorm," you won't believe the changes! Carson-Newman's nursing program has outgrown their building, and so now also use one section of the old dorm for offices, classes, and a student lounge.  Old furniture has been reupholstered and the lounge is taking shape.  Wonderful vintage pictures of nurses have been framed and hung. This site just needed a little cleaning for the next steps of hanging new window treatments and final decorating touches. Nursing students will have a convenient place to study and hang out between classes. 

Baker  Building Lounge 

 Every student at Carson-Newman takes required History classes in the Baker Building.  Sadly, this space has seen better days and needs some major updates.  Women of Vision has started the process of raising funds for this project. In the meantime, work has started on a space for students in an old storage area that contains teaching materials including some great old wall maps from the sixties. Some of these will be framed and hung on the walls.  Work will continue to furnish this area and make it student friendly.  

Science Building Student Lounge

An old workroom in the science building is being converted to a student lounge. Back to the Creek volunteers packed up boxes of old science teaching materials, moved out shelving and cleaned much of the room to ready it for painting and the addition of new furnishings for students. 

We're pretty sure some of the unidentifiable things we found and discarded in the refrigerator were science projects from the seventies! YIKES! 

Butler Courtyard

Bari Wilson, a Women of Vision member, graciously volunteered to landscape the courtyard at Butler where she works. Now both employees and students have a beautiful place to go for lunch or a few quiet moments.  Thank you, Bari, for a beautiful space!

Other Women of Vision Projects in the works include updates in the Music Building, the purchase of a much needed van for the Center for Global Education, and funding for several ongoing campus programs including Bonner Service Center Service Learning Seminar, SPOTS mission trips, and Operation Inasmuch. 

If you would like to contribute to any of these Women of Vision projects, send your contribution to: 

Carson-Newman University

Women of Vision

1646 Russell Ave.

Box 71990

Jefferson City, TN 37760

You may also contribute online by going to the Carson-Newman website Women of Vision link.

Upcoming Women of Vision Events

Women of Vision - Jumping in June

The Women of Vision Leadership Council met June 4 with lots of exciting events and projects to discuss.  Here is a look at a recently completed project:

Swann Bluebird Windows

Do you see the bluebird?

Stained glass artist Susan Watson delivered the finished windows to Carson-Newman recently and the wonderful campus maintenance crew installed them at Swann.  They are beautiful, but you must see them for yourself! Be sure to go by Swann next time you're on campus to see the way the light forms beautiful patterns on both sides of the windows. Thanks to the many donors who remember fondly their days at Swann and those fun days as Bluebirds (see February blog post) who made these windows possible.  

View from the Swann Lobby

Upcoming Events

Please be sure to mark your calendars for these upcoming events. Our next event will be Back to the Creek, a work day for all WOV members.  This day is always a great way to spend time with other Women of Vision working on a campus project.  Susan Fendley and Debbie Bean are planning a variety of ways you can be involved in projects at the Nursing Building, Science Building, Alumni Hall, or the Baker Building. Get some of your Carson-Newman girlfriends to come and have a fun day together helping Carson-Newman. If you are planning to come, or for more information,  please email Leah Smith, WOV campus liaison, at lsmith@cn.edu.  We all know how much work a group of women can get done in one day, so come be a part of the fun! There will be something for everyone to do. The day will start at Swann on Saturday, July 11, at 9:00a.m.

Back to the Creek, 2014

A Look at the Women of Vision Leadership Council

The Leadership Council is a group of fifteen women who are different ages, from different places, but who have one thing in common:  a love for Carson-Newman and a desire to make the university even better. Here's a closer look at one of these women.

Kay O'Brien

Kay O'Brien with Grandsons Moses and Alyosha

You may know Kay as the First Lady of Carson-Newman and the wife of President Randall O'Brien.  But did you know that Women of Vision was Kay's brainchild? She started WOV in 2010 with the help of advancement officer Vickie Butler and five leadership volunteers. She knew that the power of women was something that could be channeled to support Carson-Newman in unique and wonderful ways. A quick look around campus is all it takes to see that her leadership has resulted in the completion of fifteen renovation projects, with many more underway, and contributions totaling more than $500,000 given by donors for these projects. Kay serves as President of Women of Vision and continues to inspire all those who know her.

Kay and Randall have been married almost 40 years, have three adult children, and two wonderful grandchildren. Kay and Randall have lived in six states during their marriage, and came to Carson-Newman in 2008.  Kay's professional background is social work and she has worked in a variety of settings helping others. She believes in building community through relationships, and that is more evident than ever in her work at Carson-Newman. 

When asked about her hopes and dreams for Women of Vision, Kay said, 

"I truly believe the sky is the limit! our purpose is to help build the Kingdom of God through Christian higher education and I truly believe God is with us, empowering us to accomplish great things.  Seeing what women working together have made happen in the last five years has been just plain fun and we've only just begun! My hope is that we can find a way to engage every woman who loves this place in a meaningful way. When we do that--oh my, it will be amazing to see what God does with "what is in our hand!"

Stay tuned to future blog posts to learn more about other Leadership Council members.

Questions or Comments about Women of Vision? You can leave them on the blog, or email me:

Amy Stover, Women of Vision Membership Chair, amystover49@gmail.com.

Women of Vision Annual Gathering

Women of Vision Gathering

Carson-Newman's Women of Vision held their annual Gathering on Saturday, April 25.  About 100 women attended this wonderful event. Old friends were happy to see each other, and new friends were made.   

Joan Cronan, UT's athletic director for more than 30 years, was this year's speaker. Joan's husband was a Carson-Newman faculty member from 1983 to 2005, and even though Joan is very much a Vol fan, she says her blood secretly runs orange and blue!  Joan also serves on the CNU Board of Trustees, and believes in the servant leadership emphasis for students and staff at Carson-Newman. She shared this acronym which she tries to live by each day: 

BELLS

B - Read your Bible each day

E - Exercise everyday

L - Learn something new everyday.

L - Write a letter or note to someone (emails don't count!)

S - Do a Special Project each day (something you've been putting off, or don't like to do)

Joan said when she completes all the BELLS, she has a much better day. Joan has a new book coming out this fall, Sports is Life with the Volume Turned Up. It promises to be a great read.

Another highlight of Saturday's Gathering was a look at Women of Vision projects completed in 2014, and the projects selected for completion in 2015.  It promises to be a full and exciting year. Check the January newsletter blog post for a listing of projects, and consider donating to the project of your choice. 

Young Women of Promise, the student organization started by Women of Vision celebrated the completion of a three year project on Saturday with the dedication of a swing erected on Henderson Lawn.  The fledgling organization raised money, developed a project plan, met with architects and builders, and with the help of some special CN donors, were able to build their swing. It was inspiring to watch these students see this project through and learn many life lessons along the way. 

Kay O'Brien, President of Women of Vision sums up the mission of the organization in these words:

"I thank my God in every remembrance of Women of Vision as together we seek to glorify God and strengthen Kingdom work in this future-building place.  Blessings to you as we serve together."

Women of Vision Gathering - April 25

Don't miss the rescheduled Women of Vision Gathering, with special speaker, Joan Cronan.
Joan is the UT Women's Athletic Director, Emeritus.

The Gathering will take place in the
Carson-Newman cafeteria, starting at 11:00 on Saturday, April 25.

REGISTER HERE