Roanoke College in the News

The College was mentioned in 321 articles in October, November and December, including 29 national media stories. These articles had a combined reach of 15,132,716.

Roanoke's tuition reset was included in a New York Times story on Dec. 14. A Roanoke parent, Andrea K., commented on the story: "I am elated that my son's new alma mater, Roanoke College, dropped its tuition starting this year. Hopefully more students will have access to the engaging curriculum and meaningful extracurricular experiences he had there. If colleges truly want to diversify their student body, they need to take these bold steps." 

Another story with significant coverage was a New York Times feature on the portraits of the U.S. Supreme Court that quoted Todd Peppers. Peppers, the Henry and Trudye Fowler Professor in Public Affairs, is an often-quoted expert in stories related to the nation's highest court. 

Roanoke College graduate Caitlin Giles Kwok '12 was featured in a Today Show article about medical professionals who have learned to do tattoos in order to help breast cancer patients have more realistic reconstruction. Giles, a biology major at Roanoke, is now a physician assistant in plastic and reconstructive surgery services at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.  

Another Roanoke graduate, Gillian Deegan '88, was featured in an article from The Roanoke Times highlighting her work as a prosecutor and an animal welfare advocate. The article was picked up on the AP wire and appeared across Virginia and the nation in outlets such as the Houston Chronicle. 

Roanoke graduate Jed Curtis '13 was included in Garden and Gun magazine's annual Made in the South feature. Curtis' company, Heart and Spade Forge, was runner-up in the home category of the awards. 

Alumnus George Herring '57 died recently, and his obituary was featured in both the Washington Post and the Boston Globe. Herring was the 2011 Commencement speaker at Roanoke College. 

Stephanie Stuckey's visit from the Pi Lambda Phi speaker series was featured on WDBJ7 in a fun, nostalgic story. 

The Center for Studying the Structures of Race was the subject of a WDBJ7 story about the center's Genealogy of Slavery project and the open house and walking tour they hosted in October. 

The late John Pirro '77 was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and that brought big sports coverage. In November, several media outlets covered the announcement that Bob Rotanz will be among the new class inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. 

Toy Like Me at Roanoke College was featured in media coverage in late November and early December on all the local TV stations. Here are links to stories from WDBJ7 and WSLS.

IPOR released several Roanoke College Polls, including the Holiday Spending Report, and gained coverage throughout Virginia. All the poll coverage can be found here. 

All of the top news coverage can be found on the Roanoke in the News page. 

Above: David Taylor (center) and Bryan Parsons (right) speak with Bob Denton (left) on Blue Ridge Public TV. 

Faculty and staff members were featured in several stories, both locally and nationally, or quoted as expert news sources. 

• Todd Peppers was quoted in the New York Times feature, "The Portrait of Justice," about the history of U.S. Supreme Court portraits. 
• Cathy Sarisky's involvement in hosting the Blue Ridge Brawl robotics competition resulted in coverage from WDBJ7. 
• Gordon Marsh's composition to accompany the interactive exhibit at the Taubman Museum, "Titian to Monet: European Paintings from Joslyn Art Museum" was featured in several outlets, including Salem Times Register.
• Campus Safety Officer Robert Ross was honored by the city of Salem for responding to a fire during his early morning rounds. WSET covered the story. 
• Samantha Rosenthal was interviewed for a WDBJ7 story about "Being in a Body," an event designed to use dance to explore lessons of identity. Rosenthal was also quoted in a Washington Post article titled "After a Va. queer bar shooting, LGBTQ residents decided they'd had enough." 
• Jesse Bucher was interviewed by WDBJ7 in relation to the Center for Studying Structures of Race's Genealogy of Slavery project and open house. The project's open house and walking tour brochure, designed by James France, received a Kegley Award from the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation.  
• David Taylor and Bryan Parsons were interviewed for Blue Ridge Public TV's "Conversations with Bob Denton." The 30-minute interview show, pictured above, aired on Nov. 4 and covered polling and analysis related to the midterm elections.
• Alice Kassens was interviewed for several articles related to the Holiday Spending Report and other economic news. She was quoted in newspapers across the Commonwealth, such as the Richmond Times Dispatch.  
• Shelley Olds, Roanoke's cycling coach, was interviewed for the New Moon Network program Sisterhood of the Second Act. 
• Daisy Ball was interviewed by WFIR Radio about the Inside-Out program. 

So far, the most popular stories in December on Roanoke College's news website were: 

• The Roanoke College Poll on Virginians opinions on political issues. 
• Alumnus Jon Murrill's work on local murals. 
• Omari Chancellor's path as a working actor. 
• The Roanoke students who were in the Salem Civic Challenge. 
• The August Roanoke College Poll looking at Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin's national ambitions remained popular news as national media coverage on Youngkin continues

The most-read stories on Roanoke College’s website in November were:

• New board member Brendan O'Donnell '09
• Alumni News for November
• Student Owen Collander's documentary about Roanoke Valley veterans 
• Washington Semester student interns
• Steve Forbes visit 
• Sally Southard's recognition with a national volunteer award from JDRF

The top stories from October were:  

• Alumni News for October 
• New faculty
• John Pirro enters the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame
• Science Center gift from Linda and John Snyder '64
• Stephanie Stuckey's visit to campus. 
• New executive director of administration Ennis McCrery