When Angie Littlejohn isn’t serving as Furman’s legal advisor, you are likely to find her at a football game. She spent her weekends this past fall traveling up and down the East Coast to work for Fox Sports during its ACC football games of the week, and she also works as a statistician for both football and basketball games, gathering information that the announcers can use on the air. The Greenville News recently featured Littlejohn in a Lifestyle article.
Angie Littlejohn gets into the game
Judge Glenda Hatchett to give keynote address in MLK series Thursday, Jan. 19
Judge Glenda Hatchett
JANUARY 13, 2012
by Tina Underwood, Media Relations
GREENVILLE, S.C.—Glenda Hatchett, attorney, author and presiding judge of the television program “Judge Hatchett,” will speak Thursday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. in Younts Conference Center on the Furman campus.
Her talk, “Dare to Take Charge: How to Live & Lead with Purpose,” is the keynote lecture in a series of Furman events highlighting the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. It is free and open to the public.
Hatchett’s lecture will be followed by a reception and book signing.
After graduating from Emory University School of Law and completing a clerkship in the U.S. Federal Courts, Hatchett accepted a position at Delta Air Lines as the company’s highest ranking African-American woman. She served in dual roles as a senior attorney and manager of public relations, supervising global crisis management and media relations for Europe, Asia and the United States. She was recognized by Ebony magazine, which named her one of the “100 Best and Brightest Women in Corporate America.”
She later accepted an appointment as Chief Presiding Judge of the Fulton County, Georgia Juvenile Court, making Hatchett Georgia’s first African-American Chief Presiding Judge of a state court and department head of one of the largest juvenile court systems in the country.
Hatchett is a graduate of Mt. Holyoke College, which also awarded an honorary degree. She attended Emory University School of Law and received the Emory Medal for her commitment to excellence and service to the community.
In addition to presiding in “Judge Hatchett,” now in its 10th season, Hatchett is the founder of Parent Power Now, an online parenting network. She is author of bestsellers Dare to Take Charge and Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say.
For a complete list of MLK events at Furman, go to www.furman.edu/MLK. For more information, contact the News and Media Relations Office at 864-294-3107.
The “best of” Furman’s music professors
Three of Furman’s music professors were involved in endeavors that made several “Best Of” lists in 2011.
A CD by Duo Runedako, “Recombinant Nocturnes,” was selected as one of the best new classical albums of 2011. The duo is made up of music professors Dan Koppelman and Ruth Neville, who are husband and wife.
Percussion professor Omar Carmenates was in New York City recently to take part in two performances of John Luther Adams’ “Inuksuit,” which was selected as one of the top 10 classical music performances by several publications, including New York Magazine. Carmenates was in charge when the Furman campus hosted the U.S. premiere of the piece in 2010.
Read about Duo Runedako and Inuksuit
Furman to host 2012 Engaging Faith conference Feb. 24-25 at Daniel Chapel
Brian McLaren
Yvette Flunder
JANUARY 11, 2012
by Tina Underwood, Media Relations
GREENVILLE, S.C.—Furman University will hold its Engaging Faith 2012 conference on Friday, Feb. 24 at 6:30 p.m. through 5 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 25 at Daniel Memorial Chapel.
The conference, “Transforming Faith’s Tradition,” is designed for interested laity, church members and ministers who desire to learn about and practice their faith well.
Registration for the event is required with full and partial conference options available. The conference is sponsored by Furman’s Office of the Chaplain and NEXUS Center.
Speakers for the event are Bishop Yvette Flunder and Brian McLaren.
Flunder is founder and senior pastor of City of Refuge United Church of Christ in San Francisco. She served as associate pastor and administrator for Oakland based Love Center Church. She is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ and a graduate of the ministry studies and master’s programs at the Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, Calif.
In 2003 she was consecrated Presiding Bishop of The Fellowship, comprised of 110 primarily African American Christian leaders and laity representing 56 churches and faith-based organizations from the United States, Mexico and Africa. She received her doctorate from San Francisco Theological Seminary.
Brian McLaren is an author, speaker, activist and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is an ecumenical global networker among Christian leaders.
In 2004, he received a doctorate from Carey Theological Seminary, Vancouver, British Columbia. In 2010, he received an honorary doctorate from Virginia Theological Seminary.
In the 1980s he helped form Cedar Ridge Community Church, a nondenominational church in the Baltimore-Washington region, and then later served as the church’s founding pastor.
McLaren has authored a number of books, among them, A Generous Orthodoxy (Zondervan, 2004) and Adventures in Missing the Point (coauthored with Dr. Anthony Campolo, Zondervan, 2003).
To register online for Engaging Faith, go to http://engagingfaith2012.eventbrite.com/.
For more information about the event, contact Susan Bennett in the Office of the Chaplain at 864-294-2133 or susan.bennett@furman.edu or visit http://www.engagingfaith.org/.
Professor Aiesi, students featured on FOX Carolina
Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire primary Tuesday. How will that outcome sway voters ahead of the South Carolina Republican primary? FOX Carolina TV’s Jade Hindmon interviewed political science professor Don Aiesi and several Furman students to get their opinions on the matter.
C-SPAN Campaign 2012 Bus tour comes to campus Wednesday
The C-SPAN Campaign 2012 Bus will be on the Furman campus Wednesday, Jan. 18 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. in front of Furman Hall.
The Campaign 2012 Bus is currently making its “Road to the White House” tour, named after C-SPAN’s signature political program. The bus travels the country to promote and enhance C-SPAN’s resources and political coverage by stopping at major events such as candidate debates and speeches in early primary states and meeting with voters on the campaign trail.
Visitors to the bus will learn about C-SPAN’s resources via HD TVs, touch screen computers, laptops, and mobile devices. That includes C-SPAN’s Campaign 2012 website, in-depth public affairs event coverage, web offerings and the ways to connect with C-SPAN on the go, including Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, YouTube, XM Radio, and iPhone and Blackberry apps.
University mourns death of alum and Greenville business leader C. Dan Joyner
C. Dan Joyner
*** Visitation for Dan Joyner is Tuesday, Jan. 10, 3-5 p.m., in the Fellowship Hall of First Baptist Church of Greenville. The funeral is Thursday, Jan. 12 at 3 p.m. in the First Baptist sanctuary. Burial is private. First Baptist Church is located at 847 Cleveland Street, at the intersection of Faris and Cleveland.
C. Dan Joyner, a 1959 Furman University graduate and one of Greenville’s most prominent business leaders, died Sunday, Jan. 8, after a brief illness.
Joyner was chairman and CEO of Prudential C. Dan Joyner Co., one of the Upstate’s largest real estate firms. He also gave a lifetime of outstanding service to his alma mater, and was widely known as one of Furman’s biggest fans.
“All of us at Furman are going to miss Dan Joyner more than we can say,” Furman president Rod Smolla said. “He was a proud graduate of the university and was among Furman’s greatest supporters, whether he was serving on the Board of Trustees or following the Paladin athletic teams.
“But his influence obviously went far beyond the Furman campus, and there is no question that the Greenville community is a better place for Dan having lived and worked here. For that, we were as proud of him as he was of Furman. Our sincere condolences go out to Dan’s wife, Kat, and the rest of his family.”
Joyner was born in Greenville on August 6, 1937, and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and political science from Furman in 1959. He was a cheerleader and president of the student body and was voted “Student of the Year.” He was elected to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities and to Quaternion, the select men’s leadership society.
After three years in the U.S. Army with the Counter Intelligence Corps, he returned to his hometown. Known for his energy, enthusiasm and friendly nature, he became a leader in the Upstate real estate community as the founder and president of Prudential C. Dan Joyner Co. REALTORS. He went on to serve as regional vice president and president of the South Carolina Association of REALTORS and as a national director of the National Association of Realtors (N.A.R.). He was one of 50 people selected by N.A.R. to receive a Distinguished Service Award.
Joyner once said, “I’d find time for Furman University before anything else,” and indeed, he was one of the university’s most ardent supporters and benefactors. He served several terms on the Board of Trustees during the presidencies of John Johns, David Shi and Rod Smolla, and he was particularly devoted to the athletics program.
Joyner (far left), shown here in the 1958 Bonhomie, was one of Furman's greatest cheerleaders, both literally and figuratively.
He was vice chair of the trustees’ Athletics Committee and was president of the Paladin Club, the program’s fundraising arm, for three years. He was instrumental in the successful effort to bring Joe Williams to Furman as basketball coach in the early 1970s and in the construction of Paladin Stadium on campus in the early 1980s. More recently he chaired the committee that worked to improve and renovate seating for basketball in Timmons Arena. The C. Dan Joyner ’59 Family Athletic Scholarship is awarded annually to a Furman student-athlete with financial need. In 1986 he was elected to the Furman Athletic Hall of Fame, and he received the Distinguished Service Award from the Southern Conference in 2007-08.
“C. Dan Joyner has been an icon for Furman athletics for decades, and we could not have had a better one,” said Gary Clark, director of athletics. “He was part of the bedrock support of the university, and his consistent optimism and can-do attitude allowed us to accomplish many things that otherwise would have been extremely difficult, such as the construction of Paladin Stadium and making improvements to Timmons Arena.
“He played such a leadership role for us and in the Greenville community. A person of his caliber is truly unique and we are all fortunate and better for having known him and his wonderful family.”
He also served as president of the Furman Alumni Association and was a member of the Planned Giving Advisory Council, Heritage Society and Richard Furman Society. The porch at the David E. Shi Center for Sustainability at Furman is named in honor of Joyner and his wife, Katherine Poole Joyner ’60. Furman presented him its Alumni Service Award in 1967.
He was equally active in his church and community. A longtime leader at First Baptist Church of Greenville, Joyner was a former president of the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce, campaign chair and president of the United Way, and Greenville County president of the March of Dimes. He chaired the board of trustees of the Greenville Hospital System, served on the board of directors for the Peace Center for the Performing Arts, chaired the board of the Community Foundation of Greenville, and was on the advisory boards of the Junior Diabetes Foundation and the Boy Scouts.
In 1998 he was awarded the Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina’s highest civilian honor. He was recognized twice as Greenville’s REALTOR of the Year as well as South Carolina’s REALTOR of the Year. In 2002 he was selected National Prudential Broker of the Year and named to the Prudential Hall of Fame. He received the 2007 Distinguished Citizen Award from the Blue Ridge Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
He is survived by his wife, Kat, three children, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church-C. Dan Joyner Memorial Fund, 847 Cleveland Street, Greenville, S.C., 29601 or Furman University-C. Dan Joyner Athletic Scholarship Fund, 3300 Poinsett Highway, Greenville, S.C. 29613.
President Smolla listed among Greenville’s most influential people
Rod Smolla
Furman president Rod Smolla has been listed among Greenville’s 50 most influential people by Greenville Business Magazine. He was selected in the area of education.
According to the magazine, the 50 most influential people “made the most impact on Greenville during the past year in the business, government, education and nonprofit categories.” The article mentions the contributions each made in shaping Greenville’s business and community landscape over the past twelve months.
