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Kathryn Kasper receives Fulbright to teach in Paraguay

When Kathryn Dick Kasper ’62 retired this spring from 34 years of teaching at Bethel, she had no plans to slow down. In June, Kathryn joined the ranks of international scholars under the auspices of the Fulbright Scholar Program.

Since the program’s inception in 1946, more than 40,000 U.S. faculty and professionals have been awarded scholarships to lecture and conduct research in foreign countries. Kathryn received her Fulbright grant to train professional singers in Paraguay. She left in mid-June to spend six months teaching voice and establishing a vocal pedagogy program at the Universidad del Norte (UniNorte) in Asunción.

Kathryn learned about the program when Paraguayan conductor Diego Sanchez Haase came to Newton in 2005 to direct the Newton Mid-Kansas Symphony Orchestra. He told Kathryn about the need for a technical teacher in voice at UniNorte.

As Kathryn leaves Bethel, one of her most lasting legacies is likely promotion of musical theater, both opera and popular musicals. She has directed everything from “West Side Story” (1992) to “The Fantasticks” (2005), “Amahl and the Night Visitors” (1993) to “Faust” (2005). She was the driving force and guiding light behind Broadway at Bethel, a popular summer camp for high school students since the mid-1980s. Before that, it was a January interterm class that included several days in New York City seeing Broadway shows.

Kathryn’s husband Arlo ’61, retired Bethel professor of theater, is working at an institute in Asunción that teaches English through the arts. Though Kathryn’s scholarship grant is applicable for only six months, the Kaspers may choose to continue with their work in Paraguay.

Booster Club names hall of fame recipients

Former volleyball coach Barb Anderson Graber, Newton, alumnus and former track coach and athletic director George Rogers ’69, Newton, and alumnus and former women’s basketball coach Lori DeGarmo Mallory ’83, Olathe, will be inducted into the Bethel College Athletic Booster Club Hall of Fame at this year’s Fall Festival.

A recognition event will take place in Krehbiel Auditorium in the Fine Arts Center at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 7. The official induction ceremony is during the pre-game program of the homecoming football game, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Joe W. Goering Field.

Barb served as volleyball coach from 1973 to 1977. In 1975, when the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Association first started awarding championships in women’s sports, Bethel won the KCAC volleyball title with a 14-0 conference mark, the Kansas Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (KAIAW) title, and placed fifth in the AIAW Region IV tournament. The Threshers finished the season 37-3, still a school record.

Bethel won its third straight title in 1977. Barb was named KCAC coach of the year in 1975, 1976 and 1977. She finished her Bethel career 102-37, 54-11 in KCAC play, and coached 11 All-KCAC athletes.

George came to Bethel as a transfer from Wilson City College in Chicago, competing in both football and track. He was an honorable mention All-KCAC football selection in 1967.

After graduating, he served as defensive coordinator from 1969 to 1978 and 1981 to 1994. He coached the men’s and women’s track teams from 1971 to 1998, was athletic director from 1971 to 1991, and dean of students from 1992 to 1998.

He helped lead the 1984 football team to a 9-0 regular season and the KCAC championship. That team finished third in the final National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics poll.

As track coach, George led Bethel to two KCAC men’s titles and one women’s title. He was the NAIA District 10 and Area 3 coach of the year in 1975. That year’s men’s team won the KCAC title by 43 points and is considered one of Bethel’s best-ever teams. George coached six NAIA All-Americans in track.

As athletic director, he helped establish women’s athletics at Bethel in the 1970s and was instrumental in the construction of Thresher Gym. He recently served as an endorsement chair for the construction of new Thresher Stadium and Joe W. Goering Field.

Lori played volleyball on Bethel teams that finished 165-35 overall, 66-2 in conference play, including a 64-match conference winning streak, third all-time in the NAIA. A four-year letter winner, she was a team captain as a junior and senior and won four straight KCAC titles as a player.

The 1980 team won the KAIAW title. In 1981 and 1983, the teams won NAIA District 10 and Bi-District titles. At nationals, her team finished third in 1981 and seventh in 1983. She was named All-District 10 and NAIA All-American those years. She was a four-time All-KCAC selection and a unanimous selection in 1982 and 1983.

Lori graduated in 1983 and was women’s basketball and assistant volleyball coach from 1983 to 1985 before becoming assistant executive director of the National Junior College Athletic Association from 1985 to 1989. She then became executive director of the Florida Community College Activities Association, organizing activities for 56 Florida junior colleges.

Lori was director of physical education and athletics at Johnson County Community College in 1991 and became director-dean of HPER and athletics from 1992 to 2000. In 2000, she returned to the classroom as a professor of HPER-Wellness.

Alumni golf venues include new location

The Alumni Council Golf Committee will host golfers at summer and fall tournaments this year, one at a well-known location and the other at a new golf course. All golfers are welcome.

The 13th annual Summer Thresher Golf Classic and Barbecue will take place Saturday, Aug. 12, at the Henderson (Neb.) Municipal Golf Course. In recent years, up to the maximum number of 72 players for the tournament have made the longtime event a great success.

The 15th annual Fall Thresher Golf Classic will take place at brand new Sand Creek Station Golf Course at the south end of Newton, located just off of Highway 50 and Anderson Road. The impressive course, which opened July 1, features a links-style design, mounding, bent grass fairways, undulated greens, and railroad tracks through the playing area.

The course Website, www.sandcreekgolfclub.com, lifts ups similarities “between Sand Creek Station and other famous golf courses in the birthplace of this great game, Scotland.”

Registration forms for the summer and fall tournaments will be mailed in July and August, respectively. To be added to the mailing list call the alumni office at (316) 284-5251 or e-mail alumni@bethelks.edu.

Remember to send your class notes

Bethel alumni are invited to submit Class Notes for “Context” magazine.

The Web form may be used to report changes in contact information, share educational or professional training beyond Bethel, update job information and indicate interest in being an alumni mentor, submit personal information such as a recent marriage or children, or communicate with the college in other ways.

The alumni office receives the information, as does the career services office if alumni want to be mentors. Those wishing it to go to other individuals or departments at the college may add that request in an “Additional Comments” section.