Patrise Perkins-Hooker 84B 84L is no stranger to tearing down walls. While pursuing her MBA at Emory, she realized a pressing need for corporate lawyers capable of advocating for struggling black businesses in her community. That same year, she earned her J.D. from Emory School of Law and stepped up to fill the void.

She’s been busy in her role as vice president and general counsel of Beltline Inc. planning new parks and transit lines across the city. A state juvenile justice fund designed to aid sexually exploited young women now exists thanks to her efforts. And, on Jun. 4 she became the first African American to ever be sworn in as an officer of the Georgia State Bar during its 48-year existence. The Georgia Bar Association (which the Georgia State Bar replaced) also never installed an African American officer since its foundation in 1883. In addition to transcending the racial barrier, Perkins-Hooker is only the third woman to ever serve in an officer position.

“There is an assumption in this day that there are no more firsts on issues of race, but there are”, Perkins-Hooker said during a recent interview with the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “It’s important to me that I’m the first African American in that job because it helps other people of color envision being in leadership roles”.

Joining her as newly appointed officers are fellow Emory School of Law alumni Kenneth L. Shigley 77L, Robin Frazer Clark 88L, and Charles “Buck” Ruffin 80L as president, president-elect, and treasurer respectively. Clark also makes history as the second woman to ever be president of the organization.

- Elizabeth Speyer 14C, communications intern, EAA

Photo credit: www.patriseperkins-hooker.com

This was the scene at the Orlando Museum of Art on Sunday, March 27. More than 100 alumni came out for "Preparing for the Aging Wave: This Time It's Personal," an EAA Faculty Within Your Reach event featuring Ted Johnson, professor of medicine and epidemiology in the School of Medicine.

Johnson doubles as the division director of geriatric medicine and gerontology in the SOM, and his lecture not only included an exploration of important trends in the again of America, there was even a Wii Fit demonstration!

More photos here ...

J. Pollard Turman 34C 35L 73H, namesake of Emory's highest award for alumni service, believed in supporting leaders. He had a nickname for leaders, too. One that kind of sticks in your mind.

Bell cows.

Now, there aren't many cattle roaming near the Emory campus, although there used to be back in the days before paved roads (and over on Oxford campus, the occasional bovine explorer will find his way into Seney Hall), so it's understandable if the reference flies over your head.

But according to the story, Turman called men and women who were natural leaders "bell cows." The cows were so named because of the bell around their necks. Wherever the bell cow leads, the herd follows. Such as it is with leadership.

And in 2011, the Bell Cow is Walker Ray 62C 65M 68MR.

President Jim Wagner presented Ray with the J. Pollard Turman Alumni Service Award at a banquet and ceremony in the Miller-Ward Alumni House on Thursday, March 24. A pediatrician in Atlanta for more than 35 years, Ray has served in a variety of Emory roles, including a stint in 2006-07 as president of the Emory Alumni Board (EAB), which is where I met him.

I enjoyed working with Ray immensely. He was (and is) approachable, humble, intelligent but not overbearing, sincere, and funny. All great qualities in the leader (and in a doctor, for that matter). He is a leader who you want to follow. And that's probably the best kind. He's someone who will cross a room to say hello to you. And that means a lot.

The Turman award itself was created by the Frabel Glass Art Studio here in Atlanta and as you can see in the photo above, it manages to be be beautiful and whimsical. Not pictured above is the $25,000 check presented to the Turman recipient by the Tull Charitable Foundation. The recipient may direct that grant to any Emory program he chooses.

Ray chose five: the School of Medicine, the Candler School of Theology, Oxford College, the Department of Pediatrics, and the EAB Leadership Scholarship. Lots of people drove home happy.

For more about Ray, read the April 2011 edition of EmoryWire. It'll be out Tuesday, March 29.

-- Eric Rangus, director of communications, EAA

To say that Eric Teasdale 06C has been busy since his Emory graduation would undoubtedly understate all that this former two-time Residence Hall Association President, Resident Advisor, and Senior Resident Advisor has experienced and achieved.

Teasdale arrived at Emory, planning to perhaps take it easy for the first time in a while after being extremely busy in high school. However, that plan didn’t last for long.

He really enjoyed spending time with the SAs, RAs, and Residence Hall Director in Turman East and ran for a hall position with the Residence Hall Association (RHA). Ultimately, his involvement with RHA and Residence Life & Housing would come to shape his time at Emory.

Originally from New Hampshire, Teasdale graduated from Emory with a double major in political science and sociology. After graduation, he put his Res Life skills to use, working as the director of student activities at the Phillips Exeter Academy Summer School, living with a number of teenage boys for the summer. He then spent a year studying international relations at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland on the prestigious Bobby Jones Scholarship. While abroad, he traveled extensively throughout Europe, as well as to Morocco and India.

While in India, Teasdale visited and volunteered with the Ashraya Initiative for Children (AIC), an organization founded by Elizabeth Sholtys 07C that reaches out to orphaned and abandoned children living in the slums of Pune, India. Teasdale and Sholtys had not met during their time at Emory, but they quickly fell in love. They are now married with a nearly two-year-old daughter named Ariana.


Teasdale fondly remembers his time at Emory. He misses the RHA Soup Kitchen (now the RHA Sandwich Drive), and he's proud that the tradition is still going strong today. Even a number of years after graduating, he remembers his experiences from living in a residence hall.

“Every time I talk to friends from Emory, most of whom lived in a residence hall with me at least one of the four years I was at Emory, we inevitably reminisce about the fun and general ridiculousness that living in a residence hall entailed,” Teasdale said.

As soon as Rachel May, the artistic director of Atlanta’s Synchronicity Theatre, told me that she was going to produce my new play, Exit, Pursued By A Bear, I was alternately humbled and ecstatic (which makes for a bipolar state of mind indeed).

When May said that Emory alumna Taylor M. Dooley 00Ox 02C (seen in a promo photo, at left, with fellow cast members Nicholas Tacosky and Veronika Duerr) was auditioning for one of the roles, I said, “Put down the phone and cast her now!”

Taylor and I were both in the Rathskellar Improv Troupe as Emory undergrads. She was an incredible actor/comedienne even then. The idea of working with her on one of my new plays was too good to be true. But it was true, as a group of Emory alumni witnessed on March 3 at the first public performance of Bear, starring Taylor, in my hometown of Atlanta. (I live in Northern California now, but traveled to Atlanta to attend the premiere.)

What a powerful homecoming it was--made even more powerful by the support of the Emory Alumni Association (EAA), which hosted a preshow reception. I got to meet more than 20 fellow Emory graduates and thank them for their support of me, this play, Synchronicity Theatre, and Atlanta theater as a whole.

Exit, Pursued By A Bear is a Southern revenge comedy about a young woman’s triumph over abuse. It’s based on a famous Shakespearean stage direction, but takes its real cue from the power of friendship and self-respect to help women out of the traps of violence.

(Read Creative Loafing's feature on Gunderson and the play)

I owe much of my current career as a playwright to my time, education, mentorships, and friendships developed at Emory. Both the theater and creative writing departments (the inestimable Jim Grimsley being my guide) fed me the rich foods of literature and performance.

I experienced a similar humbled/ecstatic feeling when Theater Emory’s artistic director at the time Vinnie Murphy told me that they would produce my play Leap (about a young Isaac Newton) during my junior year.

Emory alumna Megan Monaghan 91C directed the luminous production. It was the first time they’d ever produced a current student’s work on the professional stage, and it gave me a vital and thorough education on the real work and art of making theater.

I can’t thank the EAA and my fellow Emory grads enough for coming out to the show. Quite a meaningful and theatrical homecoming!

-- Lauren Gunderson 03C, playwright, Exit, Pursued By A Bear

Visit Lauren Gunderson's official website ...

Exit, Pursued By A Bear runs through March 27 at 7Stages in Little Five Points. Visit the Synchronicity Theatre's website for ticket information.

The Caucus of Emory Black Alumni (CEBA) New York celebrated Black History Month in February with two exciting--and fun--cultural events.

On February 19 Rae Wynn-Grant 06C, led an afternoon of art and jazz at the American Museum of Natural History. It was a lovely day at the museum featuring performances from the New Amsterdam Musical Association, along with the New Orleans-infused sounds of Edward Babb and McCollough Sons of Thunder.

Later, a panel discussion about jazz was led by Robert O’Meally, founder of the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University. All in all, it was a great time.

Our second event was a Soul Food Sunday potluck hosted by Erin Miles 05C in West Harlem. The fun-filled day included a delicious menu consisting of homemade fried chicken, jerk chicken, candied yams, mac ‘n cheese, sweet potato biscuits, broccoli and cornbread. (You can see some of the remains in the photo above.) Not to mention a special champagne punch and even a banana pudding for dessert!

After eating way more than we should have, we played a riveting game of black history trivia, with Barbara Bridges 06C declaring victory and taking home the Starbucks gift set. Who knew that Dr. Martin Luther King’s real name was Michael? (His parents renamed him shortly after he was born).

More CEBA-sponsored and co-sponsored events are coming up this spring and summer. Also, our Facebook page is up and running, so please add us as a friend to get up to the minute details about what’s going on with CEBA NY!

If you’d like to be added to our special listserv, please email me at medwards915@yahoo.com.

-- Montshona Edwards 07C, chair, CEBA NY

With graduation just around the corner, I know what many members of the Class of 2011 are thinking—at least I know what I was thinking when I graduated from the Emory College of Arts and Sciences last year—"If only I had time to …"

When I entered Oxford College in 2006, four years seemed a lifetime away; there was so much I had on my list of things to do. For instance, for as long as I’ve lived in Atlanta, last year was the first time I attended an Atlanta Hawks game.

But often, in between studying for major exams, writing 12-page papers, and fulfilling extracurricular responsibilities, I just wanted to catch some zzz’s. In the end, it’s clear that four years isn’t nearly enough time to take in all that Emory and the greater-Atlanta area offer.

Therefore, in celebration of our 175th anniversary, the Emory Alumni Association (EAA) would like you to compile a list of 175 things for seniors to do before graduation.

Take a moment and think about the things you wanted to cross off your bucket list before graduation. I’ll go first.

No.1: Plan a picnic at Lullwater on a beautiful spring afternoon and learn about the monkeys who used to occupy the space.

Archive your ideas on the official EAA Facebook page.

-- Tania Dowdy 08Ox 10C, online services specialist, EAA

That's the distance between San Francisco and Atlanta. Or at least the number of Delta SkyMiles you'd earn on a one-way trip between the two cities.

Who knows? Maybe that's something Debbie Wagner (right) discussed with this prospective student from the San Francisco Bay Area, Thursday, February 17, prior to President Jim Wagner's address to northern California alumni that night.

The photo above was taken at the San Francisco Hyatt Regency, where the Wagners and other Emory emissaries met with high school students who are thinking about going to school back east. The Wheel wasn't necessarily a prop. But it sure looks good there, doesn't it?

Starting Wednesday, February 9, Emory alumni across Atlanta will open their doors and set their tables for students and faculty as part of the Emory Alumni Association’s (EAA) seventh annual Dinner with 12 Strangers.

Over five consecutive days, alumni will host 38 dinners. Besides providing a great meal for free to students tired of Cox Hall or out of DUC swipes, the dinners are an excellent opportunity to meet new people, explore the city, and hear from both alumni and Emory faculty about their college and graduate experiences.

Hosts for the dinners reflect a wide range of interests and careers, including CDC employees, financial experts, nutritionists, stand-up comedians, attorneys, travelers, and antique collectors. Emory College Dean Robin Forman and his wife, Ann, are among the hosts. John Ford, senior vice president for campus life will also host a dinner with his wife, Hilary.

Some hosts like Joe O’Geen 10C, a current Residence Hall Director in Harris Hall, attended a Dinner with 12 Strangers last year and return as co-hosts for 2011. RHA members, OEO leaders, tour guides, Greek life representatives, photographers, cooks, and dancers reflect another small portion of the eclectic group of alumni hosting.

“The goal of the program is for students to realize how far the Emory network extends,” said Gloria Grevas, director of alumni programs for the EAA. “Seeing involved alumni not only helps students understand all the ways they can stay connected to Emory after they graduate, but helps them realize how large the Emory community is.” Grevas added, “These dinners help them to start exploring and utilizing it beginning with networking.”

A new addition to the Dinner with 12 Strangers program this year is a special student/alumni Shabbat dinner to be held at the Marcus Hillel Center on Friday, February 11. The Shabbat dinner will begin with a Kiddush service at 6:00 p.m., and dinner will follow at 7:00 p.m. Dessert will be served at 8:15 p.m. and tours of the center will be offered.

For specific information about the Shabbat dinner, contact Emory Hillel's Michael Rabkin at 404.963.2548 ext. 102 or at michael@emoryhillel.org.

Students can register and learn more about specific dinners on the Dinner with 12 Strangers website.

-- Liz Speyer 14C, student assistant, EAA

It's easier to stop counting after you reach a certain age, 56, 75, 87...but when you reach 175, you've got to celebrate.

This year's Founders Day dinner (and its accompanying week of festivities) marked that milestone for Emory--its 175th birthday.

Administrators, faculty, students (including me), and friends gathered Monday night, January 31, for a fabulous dinner to celebrate good ol' Emory.

And it wouldn't be a celebration without the musical voices of Emory's all-male, a capella group, No Strings Attached. They entertained attendees with their versions of "Georgia on My Mind" and "Got To Get You Into My Life."

President Emeritus James T. Laney 94H delivered the keynote address, referencing Robert W. Woodruff 1912C and his endless contributions to Emory--and his ironic "aversion to praise and publicity. He told an anecdote about the first time he met Woodruff. The latter gave him a card with the following adage on it: "There is no limit to what a man can do or how far he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit."

The following year when they met again, Woodruff gave him another card with the same inscription. The crowd laughed as Laney said he knew that must've meant something. I think Woodruff would've wanted us to remember what he said, not that he said it. If you love Emory as much as I do, you know that you don't need a title or a fancy position on campus and you don't need to be quoted in The Wheel. All you need to know is that whatever it is that you do for the good of the Emory community, no matter how many people notice, is enough.

You can hear the rest of President Laney's address here.


Now, although the birthday cake didn't have 175 candles, I bet there were more than 175 lit up during the closing ceremony. After President Jim Wagner's toast to Emory, all the guests lit our candles and sang the alma mater, led by No Strings Attached. After we "hailed the gold and blue," we all blew out the candles in proper birthday fashion.

To see photos from the night, visit the EAA's photo page.

Founders Week continues tonight with a lecture at Oxford College by Mark Auslander from Brandeis University. And Thursday marks the beginning of a landmark three-day conference on slavery's role on higher education sponsored by Emory's Transforming Community Project (TCP). You can find more information on upcoming Founders Week's events here.

And with that, I'd like to wish a happy birthday to Emory. Here's to another 175 years.

--Lindsey Bomnin 12C, EAA communications intern

Members of the Emory Gay and Lesbian Alumni (GALA) gathered last Friday, January 21, for their sixth annual Fund-Raising Reception, which took place at the home of Dirk Brown 90B and Tim Burns. The 40 attendees raised $2,225 to support the GALA Student Leadership Scholarship Award and the 2011 Pride Awards. And that brings the total cash in hand for the GALA Student Leadership Award to $70,323, and the total pledged balance to $142,515.

The new GALA co-chairs Ryan Roche 03Ox 05C and Lily Correa 73C reviewed the past year, and also highlighted future GALA events and programs. Michael Shutt, assistant dean for campus life and director of the Office of LGBT Life, updated the group with information from his office.

In the photo above, Olivia Wise 10C (left), recipient of the first GALA scholarship award in 2009, and Aby Parsons 16PhD, right, chat during the reception.

See more photos of the GALA Fund-Raising Reception on the EAA's photo page.

Kelley Adams Lips 02Ox 04C graduated from Oxford College, then Emory College, and now she works in the admission office at Oxford helping her alma mater recruit the next generation of Emory alumni ... students who will follow in her footsteps.

EAA Communications Coordinator Drew Dotson caught up with her and they discussed Lips' job, what makes Emory special and how she got to live in an pro-Emory household.

Click here to learn more about the Alumni Admission Network (AAN).

DD: You’re an assistant dean of admission at Oxford. What are your primary responsibilities?

KAL: I began working at Oxford in 2004 upon graduating from Emory. I knew I wanted to pursue graduate school, but was not sure in what area. I interviewed for the position at Oxford and had originally planned to stay for two years before pursuing graduate school full-time. After my two years as an admission adviser passed, I was not ready to leave and, instead, began graduate school part-time. Seven years from when I began, I am still here and love my job more now than ever! Currently my primary responsibilities in the office are coordinating travel for recruitment purposes, staff development and new training, overseeing the application review process, and working with our Alumni Admission Network and Parent Recruitment Network.

DD: You graduated from Oxford in 2002. Is Oxford different now from the Oxford you remember?

KAL: The main difference is the new residence hall, East Village; I wish I could have lived there! Another difference is the emphasis on sustainability. East Village has some impressive features to reduce and reuse energy. We also have a community garden here at Oxford and the dining hall receives much of the food from local farmers. I think it is wonderful that students are more aware of the impact we have on our environment. Oxford continues to be a place where students grow and transform. There was always an emphasis on learning experiences outside of the classroom, but that has only increased with programs like the Pierce Institute, which emphasizes community engagement, leadership, and global engagement.

DD: When you continued to Emory College, what were some of the biggest adjustments you had to make?

KAL: When I continued to Emory, I immediately found new ways to be involved and joined the crew team. My biggest adjustment was waking up at 5:00 a.m. every morning for practice! Otherwise my transition was a smooth and positive experience. The experiences were different in many ways, but one wasn’t necessarily better than the other. I am really glad I was able to start my Emory education at Oxford.

DD: What makes the Oxford experience distinctive?
KAL: At the risk of sounding cliché, the community at Oxford isn’t like any other I have experienced. It has a friendly and inviting aura. Oxford was academically challenging, but I always felt supported and that the faculty truly cared about my success. I also liked the feeling of walking across campus and being surrounded by familiar faces.

DD: What is your favorite thing about your job?
KAL: My favorite things about my job are the same characteristics I enjoyed when I was a student. I am very much a part of a community and appreciate that connection I have with others. I work with wonderful people who are truly invested in me as a person, just like the faculty and staff were when I was a student. I also appreciate the opportunities I have to grow professionally and personally here at Oxford. Lastly, the students are a huge factor in my job satisfaction. Often I recruit them at their high schools and then see them all the way to graduation. It is amazing to think that, in a small way, I had a part in their decision to come to Oxford. I still keep in touch with many students who I met my first year here in 2004.

DD: What's been the biggest surprise about your job?

KAL: I met my husband, Erik, through my job. Erik currently works in the Office of Financial Aid at Emory, but up until a few months ago worked in the Admission Office. He came to Oxford for a meeting during my second year and we met for the first time. We didn’t talk again for almost a year, but eventually we began dating and then he proposed in the Chapel here at Oxford. Another big surprise was that we were able to use our hotel points accumulated from traveling for recruitment to stay in Aruba for 12 days for our honeymoon. Needless to say, we have a very pro-Emory household.

John W. Rozier 39C 47G, director of Emory’s information services department for two decades, passed away on January 8, at age 92. He was the epitome of the scholar and the gentleman, and he was dedicated to Emory in many ways.

Many of us who knew and worked with Mr. Rozier knew about his career in journalism and his role in making Emory’s news bureau a model of consistent and positive communication. Few of us knew about his leadership as commander of a landing craft tank during World War II or his career in foreign service which took him from Lebanon to Korea to China.

His witness to history early in his life translated into a love of history for the rest of his career. He researched and wrote about the Civil War and civil rights in middle Georgia, where he was born and where he later managed a newspaper.

He headed Emory’s information services department during two decades of fundamental changes in the university. He was responsible for the university’s public relations around events ranging from its admission of African American students in 1963 to the “God is Dead” controversy in 1966.

At a time when print media and personal contacts were a journalist’s tools, Mr. Rozier was indefatigable in his efforts to place stories about Emory in local and national sources and to ensure that an accurate picture of the growing university was portrayed. Mr. Rozier was a most unassuming person--it was always about the story, never about him. Despite that modest demeanor, he had significant influence and impact at Emory, and he accomplished many things without ever losing his sense of humor.

In retirement, he maintained close ties with Emory and even earned the Emory Medal in 1978, Emory's highest honor exclusively for alumni. Mr. Rozier and had time to explore his interest in the history of the University.

In 1983, he published Out of the Grandstand and Onto the Playing Field: A History of the Division of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Athletics at Emory University, 1880-1983. Beginning in 1986, he served as a volunteer interviewer for a series of recorded and conversations with key administrators and alumni about Emory’s history.

He was involved in Emory’s Emeritus College, earning one its distinguished service awards in 2007. One of his favorite ongoing connections to Emory was being part of the Corpus Cordis Aureum (CCA), the 50- and 50-plus year graduates (as seen in the photo above) who march in the Commencement procession each May wearing their gold robes and CCA medallions.

He and his wife Dorothy Evan Rozier 46G lived in the Emory neighborhood and were frequent visitors to campus. They especially enjoyed attending poetry readings and author talks at the Woodruff Library. They were also regulars at the book sale held by the library for many years. Dorothy often worried aloud that if John brought one more book home, that their house would collapse under the weight of his collection.

At a memorial service on Saturday, January 22, an overflow crowd celebrated Mr. Rozier’s life. His son John Paul Rozier 73C described his father’s extraordinary military service, and the Rev. Larry Bauman 55T 71T characterized Mr. Rozier as a “solid Emory man.” Emory claims many solid citizens among its alumni, faculty and staff. None were more dedicated or more humble than John W. Rozier.

Read Emory Report's tribute to John W. Rozier.

-- Ginger Cain 77C 82G, director, library public programs

P.S. If you'd like to leave your own memory of Dr. Rozier, please post a comment below.

Here's a throwback picture from the 2007 Emory Gay and Lesbian Alumni (GALA) holiday social. We may be past the holiday season now, but the glad tidings never stop with GALA.

Good food, great company, and a terrific cause ... That's what Emory GALA is all about tonight as they celebrate their sixth annual Fund-raising Reception. The proceeds go toward the GALA Student Leadership Scholarship Award. Emory GALA is the first and only alumni interest group of the Emory Alumni Association (EAA) to have created and fully endowed an undergraduate scholarship program for the benefit of LGBTQ students.

The Emory Pre-College Program, an academic program for high school students, is now accepting applications. 2011 marks it's third year—and it’s a program that has become a popular place for children of alumni.

Last year, 28 children of alumni attended the program, which is more than 20 percent of program participants. One of those students was Melanie Rieder of Short Hills, NJ, daughter of Rick Rieder 85C, a member of the Board of Trustees, and Debbie Rieder 83C.

Melanie (first row, second from left, above) grew up with Emory as a household word—not only are her parents alumni, two uncles (Michael Lieb 83C, Jeffery Rieder 87C) and an aunt (Susan Rieder 87C) are Emory alumni as well. Though she visited the University many times as a child, her parents felt it was important for her to experience Emory on her own before making a decision to attend.

“We wanted Melanie to see Emory from her own perspective,” Debbie Rieder said. “The Pre-College Program gave her the perfect opportunity to do so. It was important to Rick and to me that Melanie make her own independent decision about whether or not Emory was a good match for her. We wanted her to want it.”

Melanie spent two weeks at Emory last summer, drawn not only by her family’s affinity to the University but to the course description for Nancy Marshall’s class, The Magic of Photography. She spent two weeks living on campus, enjoying the many extra- and co-curricular activities and local trips offered by the program.

“She loved it,” Debbie said. “And the rest is history. She applied early decision, and will be attending Emory next fall.” And that makes her an Emory Legacy.

See a video about the Emory Pre-College experience here.

The Emory Pre-College Program offers six-week credit courses in disciplines including biology, economics, mathematics, film studies, languages, sociology and psychology. Students may also enroll in two-week non-credit courses, which include classes such as The Neuroscience of Technology, The Science and Policy of Disease, Writing the Personal Essay, and Law and Litigation. Courses run from May 16 to August 5.

For full course listings, admission requirements and an online application visit Pre-College Program's website. To request a brochure, email the Pre-College Program at summerprograms@emory.edu or call 404.727.0671. The preferred application deadline is May 1. The courtesy scholarship is available for six-week credit courses.

--Elizabeth Elkins 95C, senior program associate, summer school and pre-college programs

Celebrating service last weekend on a street known as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in New York couldn't have been more appropriate.

Harlem's "Main Street," MLK Blvd. (also known as 125th St.), is where St. Joseph of the Holy Family Soup Kitchen is located, and it's also where the New York Chapter of Emory Alumni held a "Day On" service project on Saturday, January 15.

Alumni like Ben Knapik 06B (left) and Montshona Edwards 07C helped set up the soup kitchen that day and also clean up the church. The silverware was wrapped very nicely.

To see more pictures from Emory's Day On in New York visit the EAA's photo page.

The first day of Emory's King Week 2011 began with service projects scattered across Atlanta and concluded with a compelling panel discussion about service in Glenn Auditorium.

Monday, January 17, was Emory's traditional "Day On," a nice, orderly change of pace following nearly a week's-worth of snow- and ice-related mayhem in Atlanta. Students and alumni alike planted trees in the King Historic District and volunteered at several nonprofits here in the late civil rights leader's hometown.

Then at 7:00 p.m., several of those volunteers as well as a variety of other guests attended the panel discussion, "Open Doors and Open Minds: The Intersection of Race and Gender in Service."

Before the speakers (two Emory alumni among them), took the stage, a pair of Emory's a cappella groups, Dooley Noted (above) and AHANA, warmed up the crowd. Pleasantly, the energy didn't dissipate when the conversation began.

Asked how service came to play a role in her life, panelist Renelda Mack 83C, the founder of Emory Cares International Service Day for former president of the Emory Alumni Board (EAB), credited her mother, a teacher, who worked in Belle Glade, FL, one of the state's poorest communities.

"I saw a compassionate group of teachers who served students and the rest of the community, not just educationally, but spiritually." said Mack, now chief of the civil rights in Florida's state attorney's office.

"It was a logical extension of their work," Mack continued. "In that environment, luxuries were few but love was abundant. The value of service was not taught, but something I caught by being in that atmosphere."

Moderator Doug Shipman 95C, an EAB member and CEO of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, kept the conversation lively, and deftly wove King's words into the discussion. Shipman's reference to King's "World House," an image from his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize lecture, led to one of the most intriguing points of the night.

All the panelists agreed that Americans are quick to come together to help each other when it's needed, and that community service can break down many barriers. It's what happens after that service is over and we return to our normal lives where we might need to take a second look.

"We can live next door to folk, but rarely invite them into our homes," said panelist Young Hughley, CEO of Resources for Residents and Communities of Georgia. The "World House," Hughley said, is about "more than just coming to someone's aid. It's about having a one-on-one relationship and learning more about your Hispanic neighbor or gay brother."

Could that notion--that service breaks down the barriers that for whatever reason are standing pretty high in our day-to-day lives--be worth further exploration?

It was a fascinating thought as the first day of Emory's nine-day-long King Week closed.

-- Eric Rangus, director of communications, EAA

Thank you Michelle Diamond Greenberg 02C and David Greenberg 03B of La Jolla, CA, for this picture of their daughter Andie from Emory Cares International Service Day: San Diego in December. We're not sure what Andie is running from, but we're sure it's for a good reason.

We also want to know if we can get her shirt in our size. It's pretty sharp.

You can see more photos from San Diego and other cities on our Emory Cares Facebook page as well as the EAA's photo page.

And if you live in St. Louis or Jacksonville, the EAA is sponsoring Emory Cares projects in your city on Saturday. There still might be time for you to sign up. Get to it!