W&L’s Morel Reflects on Honor, Leadership and History at Founders’ Day/ODK Convocation
At the Founders’ Day/Omicron Delta Kappa Convocation at Washington and Lee University on Jan. 20, keynote speaker Lucas Morel wove together observations about Martin Luther King Jr., Robert E. Lee and Abraham Lincoln in his speech, “Ever Mindful of the Past: Building an Honorable Community.” The Class of 1960 Professor of Ethics at W&L, Morel is a politics professor and head of the Politics Department at Washington and Lee.
W&L holds Founders’ Day each year on or near the birthday of Robert E. Lee, who was president of Washington College from 1865 until his death in 1870. Yesterday, Jan. 19, was the 207th anniversary of Lee’s birth.
Morel also touched upon the theme of leadership, as the University’s chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society founded at W&L and celebrating its centennial, inducted 23 undergraduate students and 10 law students as well as six honorary members.
Watch the entire convocation, including Morel’s speech and the ODK initiation, here:
Honorary Initiates
Loranne E. Ausley, of counsel to the law firm Hollimon P.A., in Tallahassee, Fla., is a 1990 graduate of Washington and Lee’s School of Law. A Florida native, she worked as an attorney in Miami, then served in the U.S. Travel and Tourism administration in the Department of Commerce. She has held several high-ranking positions in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, including special advisor to HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo. She returned to Florida in 1997 to serve as chief of staff to Lt. Gov. Buddy MacKay. In 2000, Ausley was elected to the Florida House of Representatives, where she served until 2008. As a Democratic leader in the statehouse, she developed expertise in health care and education and became the leading advocate for children’s issues. She sponsored the bill that created the Florida Children and Youth Cabinet, which coordinates state agencies and programs that deliver children’s services. Her résumé includes a most impressive list of honors, including outstanding legislator awards from, among others, the Florida Development Disabilities Council, the Florida School Board Association, the Florida Association of School Psychologists and the Florida Children’s Forum. In 2010, she was a candidate for chief financial officer of Florida. Ausley is the southern director for Project New America, a national research and strategy firm. For W&L, she is a board member of the George Washington Society, an emeritus member of the W&L Law Council and past president of the Tallahassee Alumni Chapter. She serves on several boards in Florida, including Whole Child Leon, Leadership Florida and the Leon County Commission on the Status of Women and Girls. A marathon runner and triathlete, Ausley was Gulf Winds Track Club’s Female Runner of the Year for 2007. She is the daughter of DuBose Ausley ’59, W&L trustee emeritus.
Sidney Springfield Evans is the vice president for student affairs and dean of students at Washington and Lee. She practiced law with Wildman, Harrold, Allen, Dixon & McDonnell and Wolff Ardis P.C. in Memphis. In addition, she served as assistant dean for student affairs and budget and later assistant dean for admissions at the University of Memphis School of Law. She joined Washington and Lee in 2000 as director of admissions in the Law School. She was named associate dean for student services in 2002 and oversaw law student affairs, admissions and career services. Evans was named vice president for student affairs and dean of students for the University in 2011. She has served as regional coordinator of the National Association for Law Placement (1986) and on the 8th District Disciplinary Committee for the Virginia State Bar, and she chaired the task force review of the grievance process at W&L. She serves as chair of the Student Affairs Committee at W&L and on the National Alumnae Board of the Hutchison School. Numerous W&L committees to which she provides active service include the Faculty Executive Committee, University Athletics, University Board of Appeals and Automatic Rule and Reinstatement.
Al N. Hockaday and Ernestine Hockaday own the shops Shenandoah Attic and Victorian Parlor in Lexington. Sgt. Maj. Hockaday, as part of his long, distinguished career in the U.S. Marine Corps, came to the Virginia Military Institute to train cadets. Al has received more than 20 military awards, including the Purple Heart with Gold Star. He is a charter member and the paymaster of the Marine Corps League Detachment 1351—the Rockbridge Patriots—who preserve the traditions and interests of the Marine Corps by creating a bond of comradeship between those in service and those who have returned to civilian life. Over the past several years, the Hockadays have raised and donated significant funds for wounded warrior programs in Virginia and the Marine Corps. Al also serves on the board of directors of College Orientation Workshop, which mentors at-risk African-American men during their junior and senior years of high school. Ernestine’s leadership and service includes work on the boards of the Chamber of Commerce, Historic Lexington Foundation, Project Horizon and the Lexington Marine Corps League Auxiliary.
Eddie O. Nabors and Doris R. Nabors, of Birmingham, Ala., are dedicated leaders and volunteers in their community. Eddie teaches accounting at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he advises the UAB chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, an accounting and service organization, and has received the Loudell Ellis Robinson Award for Teaching Excellence. He is also a deacon at the Baptist church that he and Doris attend. Doris volunteers her time in Birmingham with Better Basics, an organization dedicated to enriching the lives of elementary- and middle-school children. Eddie and Doris are known to generations of Washington and Lee students for their involvement with the Nabors Service League, a student-led organization that promotes civic engagement in the Rockbridge area and in alternative service breaks for volunteer work in multiple cities. The first Nabors Service Day was held in the spring of 1999; the Nabors Service League was established in the fall of 1999 by the classmates of Jonathan Nabors ’02 to honor his memory following the tragic deaths of Jonathan and his sister, Leah, in January of that year. Eddie and Doris sustain their son’s legacy at Washington and Lee by returning to Lexington for Nabors Service Day twice each year and by hosting Washington and Lee students for alternative-break trips in Birmingham. They know and offer encouragement to each of the leaders in the Nabors Service League during and after their time at Washington and Lee. Eddie and Doris have also supported the Shepherd Program and the Campus Kitchen at Washington and Lee, and serve as a team on the Shepherd Alumni Advisory Committee.
Undergraduate Class of 2014
Mary Ashleigh Boles (Houston, Texas)
Hillary F. Cooper (Roanoke, Va.)
Melissa M. Derby (Estelline, S.D.)
Kathryn E. Driest (Davidson, N.C.)
David N. Fishman (Westfield, N.J.)
Trevor T. Hatcher (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Lauren N. Howry (Menlo Park, Calif.)
Lauren I. Kasoff (Owings Mills, Md.)
Joseph Liu (Ormond Beach, Fla.)
Isabella G. Martin (South Boston, Va.)
Bryan F. Mullady (Williamsburg, Va.)
Cindy Rivas Murcia (Naples, Fla.)
Mark A. Sowinski (Greensboro, N.C.)
Laura Lindsay Tatum (Fort Worth, Texas)
Kane Thomas (Shoreline, Wash.)
Thomas C. Wolff (Fairfield, Conn.)
Undergraduate Class of 2015
Caroline C. Crichlow-Ball (Austin, Texas)
Roger T. Day Jr. (Franklin, Tenn.)
Jane M. Fugate (Atlanta)
Jillian N. Katterhagen (The Woodlands, Texas)
Katherine H. LeMasters (Abilene, Texas)
Bayan C. Misaghi (Charleston, W.Va.)
Daniel J. Raubolt (Acworth, Ga.)
Law Class of 2014
Kyle A. Dolinsky (Doylestown, Pa.)
Laura E. Erdman (Catonsville, Md.)
Meghan E. Flinn (Oakland, Md.)
Lara D. Gass (Adams, Tenn.)
Kyle F. Hoffman (Stony Brook, N.Y.)
Ryan M. Hrobak (Spring Church, Pa.)
Cara E. Regan (Fairfax, Va.)
Law Class of 2015
George M. Mackie V (Lexington)
Krystal B. Swendsboe (Nisland, S.D.)
Paul M. Wiley (Charlottesville, Va.)
