Radford University

CHBS News Release

Article posted on: Thurs Feb 19, 2009

Posted by: Dr. Paula Brush

Congratulations to Dr. Melinda Bollar Wagner and Dr. Mary LaLone!
A few days ago we learned that Radford University was named to the 2008 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. The university was honored largely for projects at Mountain View Cemetery, a site for burials of former slaves and members of the African American community. Two of the largest projects at that site were conducted by the Department of Sociology’s newest faculty, Dr. Melinda Bollar Wagner and Dr. Mary Lalone, and the Anthropology students in their classes.

In an applied ethnographic study, Dr. Wagner and her students interviewed members of four local Black churches about their ancestors who were buried at the cemetery from 1865 to 1965, about their experiences with segregation, and about religious meanings in their daily lives.  In an applied community research project, Dr. LaLone and her students researched and developed a community revitalization and heritage preservation plan entitled Ideas and Recommendations: Mountain View Cemetery.   The projects completed by Dr. Lalone, Dr. Wagner, and their students appear in Pride and Preservation:  Mountain View Cemetery, published in recognition of the partnership between the African-American Churches of Radford and Radford University. 

The Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement.  The Honor Roll is a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service, and is sponsored by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation and the U.S. Departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development, in partnership with Campus Compact and the American Council on Education.

“In this time of economic distress, we need volunteers more than ever. College students represent an enormous pool of idealism and energy to help tackle some of our toughest challenges,” said Nicola Goren, acting CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees the Honor Roll. “We salute these universities for making community service a campus priority.”

Please take a moment to applaud their accomplishments; we are all honored with this great award.  

Sincerely,
 

Dr. Paula S. Brush
Sociology Chair