2017 Maryville College alumni award recipients
In October, Maryville College students and alumni gathered for the annual homecoming festivities. The weekend was filled with family, entertainment and sports. There were two ceremonies that were held for alumni and students that highlighted people who have shown the spirit of Kin Takahashi and tremendous efforts in contributing to the success of the Maryville College campus. The two ceremonies were the 2017 Alumni Awards and the 2017 Wall of Fame Induction ceremony.
The 2017 Alumni Awards ceremony was held Oct. 21 in the Clayton Center for the Arts’ Harold and Jean Lambert Recital Hall. The College’s Alumni Citation was presented to Richard Henderson ’57 and Melissa Barker Johnson ’90, and Shaun Hayes ’06. They received the Kin Takahashi Award for Young Alumni.
Richard Henderson spent almost 50 years in Dermatology. He has shown tremendous leadership and the will to help others. He has set up scholarships and helps children around the world who may need urgent medical attention. He has helped in places like Kenya and El Salvador.
Melissa Barker Johnson was a management student here at MC. She came out of school with a sales job, but she felt that she had a larger purpose in life. She helps children who may have experienced trauma in their life. It ranges from children with cancer to children who have lost a parent. She created a nonprofit organization called Kingdom Design Ministries. She gives the child’s room in the house a makeover free of charge and hopes to spread the love of God.
Coach Shaun Hayes is also a Maryville College alumnus who has shown his dedication through years of working with the young men on the football team. He has led the Fighting Scots to a conference championship and has had two back-to-back winning seasons. He received the Kin Takahashi Young Alumni Award. He is a leader and pushes the young men to strive to be the best men they can be.
Following that ceremony was the 2017 Wall of Fame Induction Brunch held by the Maryville College Athletics department. On October 23, Coach Jim Pavao (Football), Ali Sohrabi (Men’s Soccer), John C. Roszell III (Baseball), Dee Bell (Men’s Basketball), T.J. Emory (Football) and Jenna Jones Campbell (Volleyball) were all inducted to the Maryville College Wall of Fame for their efforts to bring the athletic program here at Maryville College back to life. Each of these inductees have led Maryville College to winning seasons in their respective sports. The athletic program here at Maryville College has flourished in the past couple of years in every sport with each coach and student-athlete giving their all to make it happen.
Each inductee and award-winner has shown great passion for Maryville College. They all show a prime example of what it means to be a Scot, and they have taken the tools that they have learned here to strengthen the outside world. That is exactly the idea upon which the school’s founder, Isaac Anderson, based the school’s morals and values.