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Gardner-Webb NewsCenter Archive

This is the archive for Gardner-Webb's Newscenter, which is your source for updates and events happening on campus, as well as interesting stories about GWU students, faculty/staff and alumni. You'll also find stories about academic accomplishments and community service projects.

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Gardner-Webb Physician Assistant (PA) Students Receive Grants for Service, Leadership Development

Office of University Communications

Ashley Kernicky, Christen MacKorell, Dr. Nancy Winker, GWU College of Health Sciences, GWU Physician Assistant Studies Program, Joyce Nichols Community-Based Project Grant, Lanny Parker Memmorial Fund, Morgan Warthan, MPAS, N.C Medical Society Leadership College, N.C. Academy of Physician Assistants, PA-C
GWU Physician Assistant Student Appreciates Opportunity to Serve Patients

Office of University Communications

Christen MacKorell, class president of the Gardner-Webb University Physician Assistant (PA) Studies Class of 2017, is the first PA student ever to be accepted into the North Carolina Medical Society’s Leadership College through the Kanof Institute for Physician Leadership. She has also spearheaded multiple Gardner-Webb PA Studies Program grants and outreach efforts to further leadership development of PA students as well as to provide medical care for underserved individuals in a homeless center in rural Western North Carolina. In recognition of her community service, advocacy role and leadership qualities, MacKorell has been invited to speak as a member of a panel discussion entitled “Developing and Engaging Student and Early Career PA Leaders” at the American Academy of Physician Assistants Leadership and Advocacy Summit Feb. 6 in Washington, DC.
GWU School of Education Presents Annual Event for Educators

Office of University Communications

The Gardner-Webb University School of Education will conduct its annual conference, Keeping Learning Alive, with keynote speaker Steve Lassiter, North Carolina Principal of the Year, on Saturday, Feb. 6 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Tucker Student Center. The purpose of this free event is to facilitate discourse between administrators, practicing teachers, and pre-service teachers, and provide them support in continued professional growth, while sharing practices for a broad spectrum of educators. “We are planning a variety of presentations,” said Dr. Jason Parker, assistant professor in the GWU School of Education and an organizer of the event.
Gardner-Webb Exhibit to Feature Alumna’s Art

Office of University Communications

The works of artist and Gardner-Webb alumna Kiah Ann Bellows will be featured in an exhibit on the University’s campus beginning Feb. 15. The collection of abstract and landscape pieces will showcase color and composition in the display through March 21 in GWU’s Tucker Student Center gallery. On Feb. 18, the University’s art department will host an opening reception from 4-5 p.m. and a lecture featuring Bellows from 5-6 p.m. in Faith Hall of the student center.
GWU to Present Modern Version of Mozart Opera

Office of University Communications and Brooke Kelly

The Gardner-Webb University School of Performing and Visual Arts is proud to present Cosi Fan Tutte, an opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, on Feb. 11-13 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 14at 3 p.m., in the Dover Theatre on campus. “Among his final operas, Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte has become a favorite for both audiences and performers,” shared Dr. Stafford Turner, GWU Associate Professor of Music. “Its lessons of love and commitment are as relevant today as they were in Mozart’s 18th century.”
Founder of Company that Clothes Needy to Speak at Gardner-Webb University

Office of University Communications

The founder of a nonprofit organization that helps clothe the needy will speak to the Gardner-Webb University community during Dimensions on Feb. 2. James Barnett, who founded Clothe Your Neighbor as Yourself (CYNY) in 2009, will be featured in the weekly GWU program, which begins at 9:25 a.m. in the Lutz-Yelton Convocation Center on campus. It is free and open to the public.
Camp Experience Offers Additional Education for Gardner-Webb University Psychology Alumna

Office of University Communications

When Samantha Allen Mauldin first visited Gardner-Webb, she already knew she wanted to pursue a career in which she would work with children. At the time, she expected to become a teacher. But the University helped her discover additional avenues for impacting kids’ lives, while also providing opportunities for real-world experiences with children.
Gardner-Webb Grad Uses Psychology Degree to Lead YMCA Sports Program

Office of University Communications

As sports director of the Lake Norman (N.C.) YMCA, Alex Ellwood (’12) combines his degree in psychology from Gardner-Webb University with his love of sports. His job involves coordinating youth and adult sports leagues including basketball, flag football, soccer, and baseball. He also teaches sports clinics for preschoolers and physical education for homeschool students.
Classes, experiences at GWU gave alum foundation for journalism career

Office of University Communications

Randy Capps (’98) looks back on the firsthand opportunities he experienced at Gardner-Webb University as the foundation for his successful career in journalism. He is the publisher of the Four Oaks (N.C.) Journal, a monthly community magazine that focuses on the lighter side of life in southern Johnston County, where he lives with his wife, Shanna, and son, Ethan. Previously, he worked for various newspapers in North Carolina as a sports editor and digital specialist.
Gardner-Webb FNP Student will use Degree in Ministry

Office of University Communications

Before she came to the Hunt School of Nursing at Gardner-Webb University, Amber Smith Hinson (’16) and her husband, Grant, began a unique ministry. Stepping out in faith, they left their jobs, packed up their children and moved into a mobile home in Lancaster, S.C. With input from a pastor in the area, Hinson and her husband started The Connection Ministry at Countryside Mobile Home Park, which has approximately 185 trailers and over 700 residents.
Gardner-Webb’s Exercise Science Program Helps Student Choose Career Path

Office of University Communications

Majoring in exercise science at Gardner-Webb University gave Anna Pashkova (’16) an opportunity to explore a variety of health-related careers before deciding on the one that was right for her. Because the program incorporates biology, chemistry and psychology, most of the pre-requisites for graduate school are covered. “I wasn’t sure which career I wanted to be in when I started, but knew I would figure it out as I began to learn more about different areas,” she shared.
Gardner-Webb Swimmer Majors in Athletic Training to Help Others

Office of University Communications

Susie Ward (’16) of Abilene, Texas, was looking for a college where she could swim competitively while working on a degree in athletic training. Gardner-Webb University offered both in a supportive community atmosphere. “I met the team, saw the campus, met many Boiling Springs locals, and was able to learn about the expanding health sciences program at Gardner-Webb,” Ward recalled.
Gardner-Webb University Accepting Student Applications for New Pastoral Ministries Program

Office of University Communications

Gardner-Webb University is now accepting applications for admission to its new Accelerated Pastoral Ministries Program (APMP), which will provide students called to serve as pastors with both a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in five years of study. The APMP has received full approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), and the program’s Master of Divinity has been approved by the Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools (ATS). Students may apply now for admission to the APMP for Fall 2016.
Gardner-Webb Worship Events to Feature Alumnus

Office of University Communications

A minister, discipleship leader and Gardner-Webb alumnus will be the featured speaker for several upcoming services during GWU’s annual Celebration Week, a time that unites the University community through a variety of worship opportunities. The events are free and open to the public. Brian Burgess, youth and outreach minister at Western Avenue Baptist Church in Statesville (N.C.), will be featured at Dimensions services on Jan. 26 and 28, both at 9:25 a.m. in the Lutz-Yelton Convocation Center (LYCC) on campus.
Honors Program at GWU Provides Unique Opportunities

Office of University Communications

After one visit, Emily Christine DeVries (’16) of Mooresville, N.C., decided to trust her instincts about Gardner-Webb University. “While I had toured many other universities, when I stepped foot on Gardner-Webb’s campus, I experienced something unique, a sense of reassurance that this place could become my home,” DeVries recalled. “I was impressed by the community I witnessed in one afternoon on campus. Although I was still hesitant about the unknowns that the college experience presents, I enrolled at Gardner-Webb.”
Photojournalism Student Almost let Distance Keep her from Attending GWU

Office of University Communications

Gardner-Webb University is more than 1,100 miles from Elizabeth Banfield’s home in Mankato, Minn. Before visiting here, she didn’t think any place could entice her to pack up and leave family and friends. “I have an aunt and uncle who live in Forest City, N.C., and they mentioned to me there was a Christian university close to them,” she recalled.
GWU Physician Assistant Graduate Appreciated Program’s Class Size

Office of University Communications

As a Physician Assistant Student in a women’s health clinical rotation, Caitlin Heredia typically began her day at 6 a.m. assisting with surgeries. “Being a first assistant basically means that you are the surgeon’s third and fourth hands, so you maintain an open view of the area being operated on, hold retractors, maneuver the laparoscopic camera and instruments, and help close the incisions with sutures when the case is finished,” Heredia explained. “Surgeries may be as quick as 45 minutes, but I even assisted in one that lasted six hours. After our morning surgical cases, we either stayed at the hospital for an on-call day or headed to the clinic.”
Exhibit at Earl Scruggs Center in Shelby, N.C., Showcases Photography of Gardner-Webb Alum

Office of University Communications

In a career that spanned 34 years, Don Sturkey, 1952 alum of Gardner-Webb in Boiling Springs, N.C., captured historical photos of desegregation, Ku Klux Klan rallies, poverty in the South and even an unknown Elvis Pressley. An exhibit featuring his work, “Carolina Faces: The Photography of Don Sturkey,” will be displayed at the Earl Scruggs Center: Music & Stories from the American South in Shelby, N.C., Jan. 23-May 15. The award-winning Charlotte (N.C.) Observer photographer learned the art while serving in the Navy.
Faculty in GWU Physician Assistant Program Offer Support and Encouragement

Office of University Communications

Sarah E. McManus has been interested in a career in healthcare for most of her life and considered going to medical school after completing her bachelor of science at N.C. State University. However, as she began to explore her options and think about her future, a Physician Assistant program seemed a better choice. “As a woman who would like to get married and have a family someday, I decided that being a PA would provide for more flexibility and less time in school,” she shared.
Gardner-Webb Divinity Student Works to Share God’s Love in Africa

Office of University Communications

Born in a Christian home in the African nation of Burundi, Ornella Umubyeyi was a young girl when her family moved to the neighboring nation of Rwanda after the 1994 genocide. According to the United Human Rights Council, 800,000 people were killed in the massacre that lasted three months. The bloodshed was the result of decades of strife between the Hutu ethnic majority and the Tutsi minority.
Gardner-Webb Exercise Science Grad Confident About her Future

Office of University Communications

The first time Alexandra Joy “AJ” Francioni (’15) visited Gardner-Webb University, she found something she didn’t expect. Interested in the University’s new exercise science major, Francioni discovered that a city girl from Chicago, Ill., could feel right at home in Boiling Springs, N.C. “I met so many great people and everyone was extremely friendly,” she recalled.
Gardner-Webb Prepared Alum for International Mission Work

Office of University Communications

The daughter of international missionaries, Michelle Palacio (’13) never thought the occupation was her calling in life. That was until a summer internship with a familiar mission organization showed her how she could blend her passion for global issues with resources to improve lives. Experiences during and after that internship changed her perspective and, ultimately, led to a career opportunity after her graduation from Gardner-Webb University.
Grad Found a Home on Gardner-Webb Campus

Office of University Communications

When Merideth Byl (’16) of Tucson, Ariz., began her college hunt, she wanted to find a Christian school where she could take pre-med and biblical studies. Using a college search engine, she discovered a place called Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, N.C., met all her criteria. “I was ready to get out and explore and figured that college was a great time to do that. I checked out the Gardner-Webb website and found myself continually checking it to get updated on the news stories,” she recalled.
GWU Physician Assistant Program Helps Student Achieve Longtime Goal

Office of University Communications

Joel Stiles, a member of the first GWU cohort, dreamed of becoming a Physician Assistant (PA) for several years. In his previous job with a national home infusion provider working with patients in their homes, Stiles had an opportunity to work with several PAs. They impressed him with the care they were able to provide.
GWU School of Divinity Grad Prepared to Serve the Church

Office of University Communications

In any given week—sometimes on any day—a pastor’s job could take him to the pulpit to preach, the hospital to pray, a home to rejoice or the funeral home to comfort. When the Rev. Garin Hill (’15), pastor of First Baptist Church in Forest City, N.C., encounters these situations, he recalls the wisdom shared by professors in the Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity. “Truly, the conversations and work I engaged in at Gardner-Webb come to the fore every day in my life as a pastor,” Hill affirmed.