March 1, 2007

A tradition of excellence in education, scholarship and service already established in the Garden community and plans by the University of Appalachia College of Pharmacy to continue that tradition were celebrated Saturday as UACP held an open house on its newly renovated Garden campus.

Hundreds of community supporters, area college presidents and Garden High School alumni, along with UACP faculty, students and staff, attended the event held in the former gym turned lecture hall.

The Honorable Elizabeth McClanahan, Virginia Court of Appeals judge, who is a graduate of Garden High School, was the keynote speaker for the event.

She spoke of the transitions taking place as the building now housing UACP -- once used as a high school and an elementary-middle school -- takes on its new role as an institution of higher learning.

“As these transitions take place in GHS and in the education of pharmacists, Buchanan County also benefits with a transition and enhancement of the diversity of the local economy,” McClanahan said. “You have made great progress in creating a system of higher education in Buchanan County that challenges and benefits students and meets the needs of law, healthcare, families, businesses, taxpayers and ultimately, the economy.”

She thanked those present “for having a vision, building and growing Buchanan County, enhancing medicine, educating its caregivers and investing in the restoration of an historic and architecturally significant building.”

Mickey McGlothlin, chairman of the University of Appalachia Board of Trustees, spoke briefly, recognizing special guests, including Grace Wooldridge, a long-time teacher and supporter of the Garden schools, and he noted Saturday’s event was being held to both “celebrate the future and honor the past.”

Two former principals were in attendance, including Larkin Deel and Janie Owens and McGlothlin also recognized the former Garden teachers, faculty and staff who attended the event, as well as Garden graduates and other students who attended school in the building when it was later used as an elementary-middle school.

“Thanks to each of you for your support,” McGlothlin said.

“This building looks a lot like it did, but it has changed a lot,” he continued, noting many of the renovations which had taken place.

He pointed out the UACP project, like the project to build a law school in Grundy, began as an economic development project initiated by the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors.

He noted that bringing people from outside the community to the community, increasing the job market, bettering the housing market, building the economy and showcasing the county for future tourism were all benefits to the location of institutions of higher education in the community.

The newly renovated Garden facility, he said, is now home to 60 first year pharmacy students and next year, he said, plans are to have second year students now on Slate Creek at the Garden facility as well.
In the meantime, he noted, the university continues to recruit students for its incoming class with more than 800 having applied already for 65 seats.

McGlothlin introduced Frank Kilgore, whose vision, with the board of supervisors, it was to found the University of Appalachia and the college of pharmacy and he credited Kilgore, a former assistant county attorney for Buchanan County, for his tireless efforts to establish the university and for his instrumental role in helping to bring the Appalachian School of Law to Buchanan County as well.

Kilgore received a standing ovation from the crowd as he stepped to the podium to make a few remarks.

He noted that no matter how many ideas a person had, or how much energy he or she had, in the end success also rested on those who have the courage and the resources to back up the ideas.

He credited the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors for its support of the project and acknowledged the risks the boards of the past and present have taken in helping to diversify the county.

He noted that ASL has revitalized Grundy and the surrounding area and he said the decision to locate UACP at Garden was out of a desire to spread that economic revitalization into other communities in the county as well.

Kilgore recognized the many college presidents and deans in attendance at the event as a show of support and he also recognized what he called the top 10 benefactors of the university including the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors, the Buchanan County Industrial Development Authority, the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority, the Thompson Foundation, the McGlothlin Foundation, the efforts to achieve federal appropriations taken by 9th District Rep. Rick Boucher and former Sen. George Allen, Food City, the Miller Richardson estate and the United Company. He also acknowledged the support of numerous other organizations and foundations he did not name, but who he said had helped to contribute to the university’s success.

John Rocovich, founder of the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, also spoke briefly, noting UACP was the first school with which VCOM had entered into a collaboration agreement. He noted VCOM’s primary mission is to prepare students to become primary care physicians and to meet the challenges of medically underserved areas. UACP’s mission, he noted, is similar, as it applies to the need for pharmacists. He said he joined others in congratulating UACP for its commitment to advancing the quality of healthcare and said VCOM looked forward to working with UACP on joint activities in the region.

Bill Coxton, president of the Garden Alumni Association presented UACP with the keys to the building and thanked university planners for their efforts to revitalize the building and also remember its history.
He noted the alumni association -- in a tip of the hat to the slogan once developed by former educator Obra Simpson: “our Garden grows,” -- had now taken on as its motto, “As Our Garden Continues to Grow.”
Also recognized at the event were J.A. Street and Associates, the general contractor on the job; Terra Tech Engineering, for its survey and engineering work on the project; Julia Schwab, the interior decorator; and former members of the choral group, the GardenAires and others who performed a variety of musical selections, including Glenna Kay Harlow; Pauline Jackson, Judy Malcom, Elsie Dee Wooldridge Kreutter, Joyce Clayburne Jude, Charlotte Clayburne Richardson, E.L. Shortt, Carol Shortt Wade, Connie Sue Lester Ratliff, Janice Nichols Farmer, Donald Clayburne, Shelby McClanahan, Judith Barr, Marie White Blankenship, Peggy Woods, James C. Price, Larry Meadows, Roberta Coxton, Mavis Blankenship Marlin, Janet Jackson Fletcher, Pauline Jackson, Kermit Wooldridge, Hassell Wooldridge, Vada Baldwin, Patty Keen, Lucy Harlow Troyer, Vera Randolph Coleman, Daisy Blankenship Burress, Helen Hale Musick and Alma Whited.

Terry Ratliff provided accompaniment on piano and Diane Edwards directed the choral group.
University of Appalachia President Dr. Eleanor Sue Cantrell, who also serves as dean of UACP, thanked the communities of Buchanan County for their warm welcome and she outlined the three-fold mission of the college of pharmacy which is to provide excellent pharmacy education, to produce scholarly research that benefits the profession and society and to serve the community in ways that lead to improved community health.

“As I considered our mission, I thought of the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, who said, ‘for our own success to real, we must contribute to the success of others,’” Cantrell said. “I see UACP accomplishing this in all three areas of our mission.”

She recognized the 128 students now pursuing their education through UACP as well as the faculty and staff. She acknowledged the faculty’s scholarship pursuits which she said ultimately contribute to improvements in pharmacy education, the practice of pharmacy and in community health.

“In our third statement of mission -- to improve community health -- our success will be reflected in the difference we make in the communities of Southwest Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia and in medically underserved areas elsewhere,” Cantrell said.

She reminded those present of a quote from Anne in “Anne of Green Gables”: “some people go though life trying to find what the world holds for them only to find out, too late, that it’s what they bring to the world that really counts.”

“UACP early on recognized that it’s what we bring to education, scholarship and this community that counts,” Cantrell said. “And we will recognize our success by the difference UACP makes in the lives of students, in the people who work and guide the university and in the community we serve.

“We thank you for your support,” she continued. “We know our future is bright. We are honored to be here, to carry on the tradition of excellence in education, scholarship and service started by Garden High School and its many alumni and other visionary leaders of our area whose roots are here in the coalfields.”

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