McDermott ’83 serves as honorary football team captain
Paul McDermott ’83 served as an honorary team captain for Shepherd at the November 4 Military Appreciation Day game against the University of Charleston. McDermott, the CEO, president, and trustee of Washington Real Estate Investment Trust, was a standout swimmer for the Rams who garnered All-American honors.
Segar participates in Aspen Institute program about civil discourse
Dr. Tom Segar, vice president for student affairs, participated in an Aspen Institute Youth and Engagement Programs division meeting in Washington, D.C., on November 7 and 8 that focused on encouraging civil discourse in the internet age. He served as one of eight small group facilitators for three discussions focused on ways to accelerate young people’s abilities to engage effectively in civil discourse. Pictured (l. to r.) are Dr. Ximena Zuniga, professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst; Segar; Eric Liu, founder and CEO of Citizen University and executive director of the Aspen Institute Citizenship and American Identity Program; and Lee Anne Bell, professor emerita and former Barbara Silver Horowitz Director of Education at Barnard College and Columbia University.
Barrat presents lecture about artificial intelligence during November 27 President’s Lecture
The President’s Lecture Series featured a talk by Robert Barrat about artificial intelligence on November 27. Pictured (l. to r.) are Karen Rice, director of the Lifelong Learning Program; President Mary J.C. Hendrix; Robert Barrat, author of “Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era”; and Ray Smock, director of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education.
Copney to lead state TRiO Association
Cynthia Copney, director of TRiO Programs, was chosen president-elect of the West Virginia TRiO Association during its fall conference November 2 in Charleston. Copney will become the 2018 president of the association and will serve as immediate past president in 2019. West Virginia TRiO’s mission is to promote equal educational opportunity and greater accessibility to higher education for TRiO-eligible students. The association seeks to bring together those persons who have an active interest in becoming professionally involved in broadening access to and retention in postsecondary education. The association also seeks to provide professional staff development to ensure that qualified and informed professionals are engaged in the delivery role with the client population.
Shepherd hosts state fiscal officers meeting
The fall conference of the West Virginia Association of Higher Education Fiscal Officers met November 15 and 16 at Shepherd in the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education. Fifty people from across the state attended the conference.