Utah County BBQ

SUU Alumni from the Utah County area gathered June 21 for the annual Utah County BBQ at the Olmsted Power Plant located at the mouth of Provo Canyon. Upwards of 70 Thunderbirds enjoyed beautiful weather, good food and a chance to reconnect with each other. Thanks to Utah County Chapter President Everett Kelepolo and his committee for a great event. We hope to see you next year -- third Monday in June!

Utah Summer Games 25th Anniversary!

The Utah Summer Games recently celebrated its 25th Anniversary of amateur sport competition. Take a look at some of the festivities from this year's Opening Ceremonies.

Thunderbird Night at the Bees

SUU Alumni combined with the Admissions and Marketing Offices for a FANtastic night at the Salt Lake Bees on April 17. Nearly 450 alumni, prospective students and their families enjoyed a BBQ, a great baseball game and fireworks.

Thank you to everyone who attended.

Founders Celebration 2010

Southern Utah University celebrated its founding March 24 & 25 with a variety of festivities:

Thursday
A new SUU tradition was created. Lunch at The Main featured food and stories from our founding as presented by SUU Alumni and Emerti. It was an overwhelming success!

The Howard R. Driggs Memorial Lecture was presented by Daniel Walker Howe, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American Historian.

Friday
The restored Jenson Saw Mill was dedicated at the Frontier Homestead State Park Museum (formerly the Iron Mission State Park). The Saw Mill is significant in SUU history as it cut the original timbers used to build Old Main.

The annual Founders Celebration Dinner & Awards was held in the Great Hall where David Grant , Diana Graff and Terry Alger each received Distinguished Service Awards. David served as a member of the Board of Regents and was a tireless proponent of SUU; Diana Graff is a 35-year library veteran of SUU and served as our first female academic dean; Terry Alger served as SUU Provost for 18 years during an important time of growth for the University and is still a professor of Chemistry. Also during the ceremony several important donors were recognized for their generosity in making the new science building a reality.

Happy Birthday SUU!

Alumni Spotlight: Tobin Atkinson

Tobin Atkinson (’88, Theatre Arts & Social Science) is the Artistic Director of Meat & Potato Theatre in Salt Lake City. He is directing the Everyman & Judgment Day: Miracles for a Modern Age that will open this May, a production is loaded with SUU Alumni talent.

Rebecca Marcotte (’88, Theatre) is playing the title role in Everyman, which marks 22 years since Tobin and Rebecca last worked together in the 1988 SUU production of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (directed by Fred Adams and R. Scott Phillips). Joining Rebecca in the productions are Ellese Hargreaves (’09, Theatre) and Steven Grawrock (Theatre, ’10). All three actors will play a number of roles in the two medieval plays.

Tobin co-founded Meat & Potato in Washington, DC in 2005 after serving in the U.S. Army Infantry. He was the Artistic Director of Plan B Theatre from 1991-2000 after co-founding the theatre company with fellow SUU alumna Cheryl Cluff (’88, Theatre).

Everyman & Judgment Day were first performed 500 years ago but are as relevant today as they were then. Meat & Potato Theatre has updated both plays to reflect the current ways in which we grapple with the concepts of morality, judgment, compassion and death.

The plays run May 27 thru June 13 in the Studio Theatre at Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center in downtown Salt Lake City. To learn about the plays and the theatre company, go to www.meatandpotato.org.

Alumni Spotlight: Lorah Bodie

Lorah Wood Bodie, Ed.D (’73, Psychology) is the Community Liaison for the Psychology Department at San Diego State University (SDSU). In that capacity, she is the Supervising Instructor for undergraduate service learning courses and the Internship Coordinator for the Masters Program in Industrial/Organizational Psychology.

Dr. Bodie is a graduate of the San Diego State University - University of San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Education with an emphasis in web-based learning. Her research centers on the social presence construct and instructor behaviors as they relate to learning outcomes. In addition to her SUU degree, Lorah has a BS in Information Science from Coleman College and a MS in Counseling from San Diego State.

Lorah has worked over 20 years in strategic planning, organizational development, community relations, and information management. Prior to joining SDSU, she worked as the Manager of Research and Development for the San Diego Workforce Partnership, and as a Market Research Analyst for the Strategic Development Department at Scripps Health.

She credits her time at SUU as providing her with a solid foundation for later success in psychology, music and life in general. “I want to publically thank Dr. Blaine Johnson (my voice coach from ages 9-16), who showed me how to give power to my voice and Dr. Les Jones who fuelled my unending interest in psychology,” says Lorah. “I am also grateful to my parents, Wourth and VeLyn Wood, who instilled in me a love for learning and the confidence to keep going, no matter how difficult the challenge.”

Lorah is an accomplished musician, and in addition to a variety of day gigs, she was a professional singer for 16 years. Her musical scrapbook is available online: http://www.psychology.sdsu.edu/fp-port/index.html

In June of 2009, Lorah performed with friends (many of whom are SUU alums) in Cedar City at a fundraiser for youth football, and again at the July Jamboree.

Lorah has two sons, Jason Bodie and Jade Austin, and a daughter, Chelsey Austin, who is currently a junior Education major at SUU.

Alumni Spotlight: Jim Hoyt & Doug Snell

Jim Hoyt and Doug Snell are Southern Utah University’s most recent additions to the Coaching Factory Hall of Fame.

Jim graduated in 1979 with a degree in physical education with a secondary teaching certificate. Later that same year, he accepted a position at his alma mater, Valley High School in Orderville, Utah teaching and coaching baseball, boy’s basketball and track & field. Over the years he has taught physical education, German, Utah history, U.S. history, world history, geography and health – all with distinction. He remains one of the most honored teachers at Valley High School.

His coaching career includes 28 years as a baseball and basketball coach, three state basketball crowns, a state baseball title, as well as numerous runner-up and regional trophies. His basketball teams have amassed an impressive record of 404-263 through the years. In 2001, 2002 and 2006 his colleagues named him the 1A Coach of the Year. Jim also had the distinct opportunity of coaching all four of his sons in the high school ranks, retiring in 2007 following the graduation of his youngest.

Doug, a 1982 graduate, was captain of the Thunderbird Football Team, was an All-American nose guard and was named Outstanding Physical Education Student his senior year at SUU. He currently serves in his 15th year as athletic director at Utah’s Spanish Fork High School and has been recognized for his leadership by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education and the Utah High School Athletic Administrators Association.

His philosophy is simple: help his coaches and athletes succeed. He takes upon himself many of the mundane and tedious tasks that bog-down many coaches. By so doing, Doug makes it possible for his coaches to spend more time with each athlete and which results in strong programs and successful experiences for high school athletes.

In addition to serving as athletic director, Doug serves as an assistant coach in nearly all sports at Spanish Fork and teaches mathematics and physical education.

Several years ago, an SUU Alumnus and Salt Lake City newspaper reporter coined the moniker, “The Coaching Factory” to describe the large number of SUU alumni coaching and achieving success in the high school ranks.