PSC alumnus is new Performing Arts Director
When Pensacola State guitar instructor Joe Stallings formed the College’s first guitar ensemble in 1983, Kenny Phillips was a member.
Now, 37 years later, Kenneth Phillips is back at the College and though the surroundings are familiar, the job is brand new. Phillips is now the head of the Pensacola State College Performing Arts Department.
There’s a new lawman in town to keep the peace.
OK, it’s not that dramatic.
Pensacola State College isn’t a town, after all. But it is a community. And it’s a pretty peaceful community as it is. So new PSC Chief of Police Robert Goley wasn’t hired so much to police the students, faculty and staff as he was to protect the PSC family. After all, he’s been part of the family since he came to then-Pensacola Junior College as a teenager just after graduating from Pensacola Catholic High School in 1980.
“He has a polish to him,” said Tom Gilliam, PSC Vice President of Administrative Services and General Counsel. “He’s very laid back and down-to-earth, but at the same time he has that polish. He’s a great fit for Pensacola State College.”
Troy Moon, Pensacola State College About 18 months ago, Caresse Galiza suffered a torn meniscus and a torn ACL in her right knee during a self-defense class. Well, she definitely works in the right place ─ the Pensacola State College Milton campus L.I.F.E. Fitness Center, where there’s plenty of exercise equipment, weights and even an…
Nancy Layne took guitar lessons at Pensacola State College. She also took a poetry class while at PSC. And both skills have helped her establish a footing in Nashville, (Music City USA) Tennessee, where she is a burgeoning singer-songwriter.
She recently released the single, “Understand It,” which is available on Spotify and other streaming platforms.
“I loved PSC,” said Layne, a Gulf Breeze native who earned her associate degree from the College in 2016. She has since earned a bachelor’s degree in Music Business from Middle Tennessee State University. “I’ve taken classes at a few other colleges, and PSC has the best professors and great facilities. My whole family went to PSC.”
Walk the halls on any Pensacola State College campus, and you’ll see everyone masked up and keeping their distance. Walk into any office and you’ll find hand-sanitizer and more masks. And the disinfectant wipes for each office are on their way.
Pensacola State’s Covid-19 Response Plan gives details on how the College will work to keep PSC students and employees healthy and virus-free.
“The purpose of the plan is let all College employees and students know about the required protective actions the College is putting in place to fight Covid-19 and keep everyone safe and healthy,’’ said Tom Gilliam, PSC Vice President of General Counsel.
Read the 7th edition of the Alumni Anchor. Issue Highlights:
Alumnus Establishes Scholarship in Mentor’s Name
Alum Helps Up-and-Coming Entrepreneurs
PSC is a Tradition for McArthur Family
Association Honors 8 Accomplished Alumni
15 Inducted into College’s
Athletics Hall of Fame
DKA Fraternity Donates Memorial
Cabinet to Library
A Pensacola State College alumna is making a difference in the community by helping to feed those in need.
Kaitlin Santiago, a 2017 Pensacola State graduate, recently moved back home from Washington, D.C., because of the COVID-19 pandemic and, along with Andrea Dias – another former resident ─ started Snack Pack in April. So far, the two have delivered food boxes to more than 200 Escambia County and Santa Rosa County families in need.
The program initially began as a way to make sure children who depended on school breakfasts and lunches still received nutritious foods. The Snack Pack boxes are filled with enough fruit, vegetables, protein, snacks, water, etc., to feed a family for a week.
Pensacola State College President Ed Meadows has been named the 2020 recipient of the Grover III Robinson Award by the Rotary Club of Pensacola. The award goes to the Rotary member who best exemplifies the Rotary Club’s motto of “Service Above Self”.
The award is named for Grover Robinson III, father of Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson IV. Grover Robinson III was an Army veteran who fought in the Vietnam War and earned a Bronze Star. He also served in the Florida House of Representatives for 14 years and was a former Rotary Club of Pensacola president. Robinson III, along with his wife Sandra Robinson, died in a helicopter crash in New Zealand in 2000. The Pensacola Rotary also gives an award named for Sandra Robinson.
Charlie Schuler seeks the beauty of the world, whether in art, language or the lonely sea.
The Pensacola State College humanities professor teaches students the classics and educates them on Latin, the history of Greece and Rome, as well as philosophy, art and the elements of academics that provide a certain refinement to education.
But Schuler isn’t teaching this summer. The beach is calling.
The lifelong surfer, who lives on Pensacola Beach, is spending as much time as possible enjoying the Gulf of Mexico. (In January, Schuler placed third in the Men’s Longboard category at the Waterboyz Winter Classic.)
Pensacola State College President Ed Meadows was in his office on the Pensacola campus, where he has been during much of the COVID-19 pandemic, steadying the Pirate ship amid a sea of worldwide turmoil.
The campus is closed – as are all PSC campuses and centers ─ to students and the public through the end of the spring term. However Meadows said much of the staff, faculty and administration have worked throughout the crisis to ensure the College’s stability, and, its success in the future when the nation emerges from COVID-19.
“I think our leadership has responded very well,’’ Meadows said. “Dr. (Erin) Spicer and the department heads worked through the College’s spring break to get us moving forward as quickly and effectively as possible.”
PSC campuses and centers have been closed since March 23, but classes were transitioned to online and resumed on March 30. While many PSC faculty were already familiar with online teaching, some had to be instructed in conducting online classes using Canvas and other online tools.