Jenny Smith, an August graduate in Recreation and Leisure Services was awarded the 2008 Mark Kniese Academic Scholarship from YMCA Camp Carson in Princeton, Indiana.
The scholarship is named in honor of Mark Kniese. Mark was aboard a chartered plane carrying himself and the University of Evansville Purple Aces basketball team, when it crashed shortly after takeoff on December 13, 1977, killing everyone on board. Mark was a camp counselor at YMCA Camp Carson and was known as a legend. Everyone wanted to be in his cabin and campers wanted to be in his activity classes. Mark took initiative and responsibility without being asked. He was athletic, smart and tried hard at everything he did.
The scholarship is about the fullness of Mark’s life, not the shortness. He was a caring, loving counselor. He was sensitive to the needs of campers. He was a very special person.
The unique quality of this scholarship is that it is all peer-based. Counselors nominate one of their peers whom they feel deserves the scholarship. This year’s scholarship amount was $4,100 and went to Jenny Smith, the counselor that exemplifies all of those qualities.
Jenny is currently a graduate student in Human Development and Leadership at Murray State.
Alan’s project involves training for the 100-mile Pinhoti Trail Ultra-Running Event to be held during the month of November in Alabama.
The 1st Inaugural Pinhoti 100 is a Point to Point Trail
run starting in Heflin, Alabama on the unmolested Pinhoti single track trail.
Runners will make their way over the highest point in Alabama while navigating
over rocks, through creeks and across beautiful ridge lines of the Talladega
National Forest. The course will
consist of 88 miles of single track trail, ten miles of jeep road and two miles
of pavement and will finish on the rubberized track in the Sylacauga High
School Football Stadium.
Documentation of Alan’s training and the competition will include a significant paper that will be on display in the Waterfield Library for 3 years and a personal blog.
Learn more about Alan and follow along as he trains for his race.
His blog is http://kyultrarunner.blogspot.com/
Bryan Hayse graduated from Murray State
in May 2001 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Recreation
and Leisure Services (Outdoor Concentration) and a minor in Business
Administration. In 2003 he earned
an M.S. in Organizational Communication from MSU. He is currently completing a doctorate in education from
Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. His doctoral degree, which he expects to complete in May 2009, is in
Higher Education Leadership and Policy.
Bryan currently serves as the Assistant
Director of Residence Life at Belmont University in Nashville, TN and has held
the position since 2005. In his position he supervises six professional staff members and
oversees 1, 300 upper-class residential students. His duties also include hiring, training and supervising all
paraprofessional staff members within the department and he has had the daunting
task of opening two new residential halls during his tenure.
Before accepting the Belmont position, Bryan
spent 2 years in Shreveport, Louisiana at Centenary College serving as their
Assistant Director of Residence Life, moving up to Interim Director.
Bryan has been married to his wife Brandy since
July of 2005. Brandy is from Jacksonville, Texas and graduated with a Bachelor
of Arts Degree in Communication from Baylor University in 2004. After
graduation she was employed as a Residential Hall Director at Baylor. Currently, Brandy is employed as the
Assistant Property Manager at a local apartment community in the Nashville area.
The Hayse family also includes two Italian
Greyhounds named Jewell and Oliver.
Bryan’s future is bright. He sees himself working in higher
education administration with student affairs and public policy. He also aspires to teach. Best wishes to Bryan and Brandy!
Alicia Cannon, Park
Ranger
Rough River Lake U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers
Alicia Cannon, a
May 2007 MSU graduate, obtained her B.S. in Outdoor Recreation with a Biology
Minor. She is currently working on
her Master of Science degree in Recreation and Sports Administration at Western
Kentucky University and expects to graduate in May 2009. Miss Cannon has worked as a Park Ranger
for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Rough River Lake for the past 5 years. She hopes to teach environmental
education and interpretation once she graduates.
Patrick Greer, Program Director
Crossings Ministries
During the Spring 2009 semester, Patrick Greer facilitated a group of Outdoor Recreation majors during a ropes course experience at Jonathan Creek Camp and Conference Center located on Kentucky Lake near Aurora, KY.
In May of 2005, Patrick obtained a B.S. degree in Organizational Communications with a minor in Recreation and Leisure Services from Murray State. Currently, Patrick is serving as a program director for Crossings Ministries based in Louisville, Kentucky. Crossings Ministries provides camping and retreat experiences at two locations in Kentucky: Jonathan Creek and Cedarmore, located in Bagdad, KY.
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