Spalding alumnus Tyler Glass is showing with every snap of his camera and every post on his Instagram account that he possesses what just about everyone covets on social media nowadays: influence.

He’s also finding adventure and professional success along the way.

Glass, a former Spalding natural science major and soccer player, has spent the first two years since his graduation traveling to amazing outdoor spaces, learning photography and showcasing dramatic pictures of mountains, waterfalls, glaciers and cliffs on Instagram.

People like his pictures a lot. As in likes and likes by the thousands, and he’s built a following of more than 800,000 on his @tylerwayneglass Instagram account.

“I’m someone who’s gotten extremely lucky,” Glass said. “There’s a lot of hard work with it, too.”

Companies that sell outdoor clothing and equipment have taken notice of his work and hired him as a freelance contractor to take photos that feature their products – the kind of cool nature shots you’d expect to see in a catalog.

The brands he’s worked with include Moosejaw, Naturewise and Kelty Built, plus hotel, car rental and camper van companies.

“Their mission is brand awareness, and I’m a tool to get that done,” said Glass, who has made recent trips to Iceland, Oregon and Colorado. Trips to Canada and Switzerland are planned. “It’s probably one of those things in a couple years I’m going to look back and think, ‘This was pretty cool.'”

He and a travel/business partner make a list of destinations at the beginning of the year and contact brands that they like to let them know where they are going and are available to provide content or to perform Instagram takeovers.

“A lot of it has to do with, you spend so much time on Instagram and follow other Instagram influencers who are going places,” he said. “You see where they’re going, and you say, ‘Wow, that’s a pretty cool shot, but maybe I can do better, get a different shot, get a different angle.'”

Glass, who once thought he’d go to law school after getting his bachelor’s, started photography after his Spalding graduation in 2016. He hoped it would be an activity that might fill the time void left after the completion of his four-year college soccer career.

He and friends took a three-week drive out west after graduation, and he brought along an inexpensive camera and lens.

“From there, it just became a passion,” Glass said. “It definitely wasn’t me thinking, in two years I’ll have over 50,000 followers and getting paid to travel to these places. I kind of thought that (trip) would be me like my last hurrah before entering the workforce, and instead, it jump-started all this stuff.”

During 2017, Glass said, he improved his skills and developed a personal style of photography and editing, and his Instagram pictures were getting shared more and more. He’s worked to keep his Instagram page and Instagram stories fresh and unique, and his pictures made their way onto Instagram Search and Explore pages. He gained more attention when Tamron USA, the lens company, featured a story on its website about Glass proposing to his girlfriend during the trip to Iceland last year and highlighting some of the photos he took.

The increased following has led to increased business.

“I spent a lot of last year reaching out to brands, and the last few months, I’ve had a lot of brands reach out to me,” he said. “It was just finding the best way to put myself out there so that a lot of people could see me. Obviously Instagram has helped me out a lot with that.”

Glass has a pretty sweet gig, and he knows it. He said he tries on his trips to live in the moment and appreciate the cool places he’s getting to see. Instead of concerning himself only on getting the perfect picture of an amazing sunset in Oregon, for instance, Glass said, he tries to make sure to take time and enjoy getting to witness the sunset.

Before he left for a recent trip, his father told him goodbye and reminded him, “Realize what you’re doing right now because you’re doing something that a lot of people your age aren’t getting to do and would die to get to do,” Glass recalled.

Glass also looks back fondly on his time at Spalding.

The graduate of Louisville’s Academy for Individual Excellence had originally planned to attend Georgetown College and play soccer there but changed his mind right before the start of his freshman year and came to play at Spalding instead.

“It’s the best decision I ever made,” he said. “I made the absolute best friends I’ll ever have in my entire life. It’s one of the most important things that’s happened in my life. It’s kind of taught me with these trips and with life in general, that life is not going to go exactly how you planned no matter how hard you try or how well you think you’ve got it planned out. Life is going to change up a little bit, but usually it’s going to be for the better.”

Katie Goben ’18 graduates from Spalding’s Master of Science in Business Communication (MSBC) on June 2 with a 4.0 GPA. Goben, who earned her master’s degree while working full time, discusses her experience as well as her favorite memory at Spalding.

What is your favorite Spalding memory?

Goben: My favorite memory of the MSBC program is simply all of the people I have met throughout the program. Dr. Hinkle has quickly become a mentor to me and my peers never stop amazing me with their determination to reach their goals. I know I have met lifelong friends and created a network that will help me reach my goals in the future.

What accomplishments are you most proud of during your time at Spalding?

Goben: I am most proud to be graduating from the MSBC program with a 4.0. This is not something I have done before, so it feels good to see all my hard work pay off. It is especially nice since I completed the program in one year while working full time.

What is your favorite spot on campus?

My favorite spot on campus is the patio off the second floor of the ELC. It is a great spot to hideaway in, relax, eat and take naps in the hammocks! It has even helped me get a few unintentional sunburns this spring.

Is there anything else that you would like to share?

Spalding will forever hold a special place in my heart. The last year has been full of ups and downs but the support that this school gives is second to none. I was very nervous coming into the Master of Science in Business Communication, but I realized early on I was going to be okay. I would encourage anyone who is considering furthering their education to not only consider Spalding but especially the MSBC program.

Jeff Maxey, an alumnus of the Spalding University College of Education master’s program, was named the South Carolina Teacher of the Year on May 2. In a phone interview this week during Teacher Appreciation Week, Maxey said he credits the program at Spalding for setting him on a path to success in teaching.

“Not a day has gone by in teaching classes that I don’t think back to something I learned in my experience at Spalding,” said Maxey, a special education teacher at Starr Elementary School in Anderson, South Carolina.

He won the award during a gala event last week. He’ll receive $25,000 and the use of a new BMW for the next year, during which he’ll serve as an ambassador and the spokesman for more than 50,000 educators in the state. He’ll travel the state to speak, conduct mentoring and work with teacher cadets and teaching fellows. The South Carolina Department of Education touts its Teacher of the Year program as one of the strongest in the country.

“Jeff exhibits the qualities and characteristics that we want to see in every current and future South Carolina educator,” State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman said.

Maxey didn’t begin his professional life as a teacher. The Louisville native and Seneca High School graduate got his bachelor’s degree in religious studies and communication from Western Kentucky University in 1992, then served as a minister at Eastwood Baptist Church in Bowling Green.

Several years later, he made the career move into teaching, and he said the programs offered in the Spalding College of Education made it possible. Maxey was able to earn certification to teach special education during the day at Lassiter Middle School in the Jefferson County Public Schools system while taking his graduate-school courses in the evenings and on weekends.

Maxey spent about 18 months at Spalding, earning a Master of Arts in Teaching with a concentration on learning and behavior disorders.

“To be able to do it hand in hand – the learning (at Spalding) while being a practitioner during the day – really solidified and made the teaching in the classroom come to life and made me that much more a part of what of my professors were teaching me, because then I could go try it,” Maxey said. “Then I could come back and interact (with the professors) about what worked or about what things I could do to tweak it to become more successful.”

MORE: Information on all bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral offerings from the College of Education

Maxey said he was grateful for the options that were available to him at Spalding as an adult learner looking to make a career change into teaching.

“Spalding was a huge part of my educational journey,” Maxey said. “Right now, with the teacher shortage that we’re experiencing, I hope there’s a lot of people out there who would consider it. If they’re looking at making a change in career, looking for something very meaningful in which they can impact the life of children, I would certainly recommend that they consider Spalding and they consider teaching.”

After spending three years at Lassiter Middle School, Maxey’s career took a unique turn. He moved to North Africa to work for eight years for a non-profit organization doing teacher training in small villages.

“Every day, I used in Africa what I learned at Spalding,” he said. “I used a lot of the same principles my professors at Spalding taught me in how to use a variety of teaching techniques that I was able to pass along to those teachers and help them be successful in their settings.”

Maxey returned to the United States in 2013 and began teaching in South Carolina. His Teacher of the Year award shows that he’s done an exemplary job.

Maxey is eager to start traveling to talk with students, teachers, administrators and legislators about education policy and classroom practices. As a special education teacher, he said one priority of his will be to discuss enhancing teaching techniques for students with autism.

And, as he travels as Teacher of the Year, he’ll be riding in style. As for that brand new BMW, Maxey said, “I’m looking forward to putting a lot of miles on it.”

Spalding alumni and any other members of the Spalding community or friends of the university are invited to participate next Monday, April 23, in the second annual Spalding University Alumni Association Golf Classic at Chariot Run Golf Course in Laconia Indiana.

The cost is $150 per player or $600 for a foursome, and a few spots remain. You don’t have to be a Spalding alumnus/alumna to play. The foursome entry fee includes 18 holes and a cart, range access, a buffet lunch, two drink tickets, a gift bag and access to the silent auction.

You can register online at this link, or contact Liam Clemen in alumni relations at lclemen@spalding.edu or (502) 873-4551 with questions.

All proceeds go the Blue and Gold Fund to support Spalding students.

The event begin with lunch at 11 a.m., followed by a shot-gun start on the course at 12:30 p.m.

Head shot of Alumni Relations Manager Liam Clemen, wearing blue Spalding shirt and a dark sweater — Liam Clemen, who coordinates alumni relations

“It’s just going to be a fun time,” Clemen said. “It supports the Blue and Gold Fund, which goes right back into scholarships and student funds. It supports the students, which is what we’re all about here at Spalding.”

Spalding will also host its 14th annual Day at the Downs at Churchill Downs on Sunday, June 3, the day after Commencement. Tickets and sponsorship opportunities for that are available at this link. Clemen said that event is always one of Spalding’s most popular and that dozens of tickets have already been sold.

Clemen especially encourages recent alumni to engage in Spalding events like the golf outing and Day at the Downs. He said a homecoming-style gathering next fall with drinks and music is in the works.

Clemen, a 2017 Spalding graduate and former baseball player who started at his job last October, is part of the alumni demographic he’s targeting. The Toronto native said he loved his experience at Spalding, majoring in communications and playing ball for a season before suffering an injury.

He did work study in the sports information office of the athletic department, including doing announcing for the live stream of Spalding basketball and baseball games.

Clemen said he’s enjoyed being on campus to experience the growth of the campus with integration of new properties like the College Street Center, the Republic Bank Academic Center and Trager Park as well as the proposed athletic fields project on Ninth Street.

“Being able to be a part of that has given me the Spalding spirit,” Clemen said. “That’s one thing I’ve been trying to get our alumni to do, come out to our games and events and show their support for their alma mater. I just love being here.”

Learn more about how Spalding alumni can stay engaged at Spalding.edu/alumni.

Top photo credit: Golfible.com

As part of its celebration of Black History Month, Brown-Forman recently recognized longtime employee and Spalding alumna Elmer Lucille Allen as the first winner of the Strategic Progressive Leaders and Achievers with a Shared Heritage (SPLASH) Advocacy Award.

Moving forward, the title of the award will bear her name.

Allen, a 1953 graduate of Spalding (then called Nazareth College) who was among the school’s first African-American students, was Brown-Forman’s first black chemist and worked there from 1966 to 1997. At the time of her retirement, she held the title of senior analytical chemist. Allen has remained involved with the company and maintains many friendships there.

A crowd of about 150 of her friends, relatives and colleagues attended a reception on Feb. 1 to honor the 86-year-old Allen.

Allen, a graduate of Central High School, enrolled at Spalding in 1951 and majored in general education with a specialty in chemistry and mathematics.

Early in her tenure at Brown-Forman, she said, she analyzed raw products such as corn, rye and malt. In later years, she analyzed final products and tracked samples.

She said she enjoyed working at Brown-Forman while seeing it grow into a major company with products sold throughout the world. She also praised the diversity of its workforce.

“You led the way, but you don’t really realize you led the way,” she said. “Like when I went to Spalding, I had never been to class with a white student before. So it was a learning experience.

During remarks to the crowd, she reflected on her career and encouraged her colleagues to give to Spalding’s Lauderdale Miller Endowed Scholarship, which she helped create. The scholarship, which goes to African-American women, is named for Patricia Lauderdale Bell and Barbara Miller, who were Nazareth College’s first black graduates in 1951. (Here’s a list of all of Spalding’s endowed scholarships.)

Allen has remained active and involved with her alma mater and was the recipient of the 2011 Caritas Medal as Spalding’s alumna of the year.

“Like the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Spalding is a community,” she said. “You have to go outside yourself. You don’t think about you; you think about everybody else. I’m so proud of what Spalding has become. It’s a diverse community, and (President Tori Murden McClure) does an excellent job of recruiting.”

Allen is also an accomplished artist specializing in ceramics and fiber. She received a master’s degree in creative arts from the University of Louisville in 2002.

Spalding University students are encouraged to dress to impress and take advantage of an opportunity to improve their job-landing prowess at Spalding’s annual Career Expo on Feb. 21.

Located in the Spalding Library and held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Career Expo will bring hiring representatives from 40 businesses and organizations to campus to accept resumes and cover letters from Spalding students and meet with them about potential job openings. Alumni are also invited to attend and explore career opportunities.

Even if the interviews don’t lead to job offers – or if some students aren’t necessarily interested in working for some of the organizations – the meetings can serve as important practice for students who are set to enter the job market. Alumni are invited as well.

“It’s about practicing acting appropriately around potential employers,” said Spalding Academic Support Director Katherine Walker-Payne, who oversees career development. “We do have employers who meet our students and start making connections, either to bring them in on a short-term basis or to start building relationships to bring them on long-term. … And I tell all students they should come (to the Career Expo) at least to practice.”

Walker-Payne said the Career Expo will host a variety of businesses and organizations that would employ people from a range of academic backgrounds and majors.

Among the organizations expected: Baptist Health, Clark Memorial Hospital, UPS, KentuckyOne Health, Louisville Visual Art, Northwestern Mutual, Spectrum, River City Bank, St. Joseph Children’s Home and Volunteers of America.

Students are expected to wear professional attire that would be appropriate for a job interview and to have plenty of copies of their resume to hand out.

Walker-Payne said students should take advantage of the career development resources offered by Spalding, including resume and cover letter reviews, mock interviews, job search strategies and aptitude counseling.

Spalding students and alumni also have access to the online content and tools of the College Central Network, which includes a job board, resume and portfolio builders, networking contacts and links to podcasts about career and job-search advice.

Presentation Academy announced Thursday that Catholic humanitarian relief leader and Spalding University alumna Laura Dills has been named the new president of the private all-girls’ high school.

Dills, a 1994 Pres graduate, who has worked the past 15 years with Catholic Relief Services, will start Aug. 1 as president at the campus at 861 S. Fourth St., right next to Spalding.

Dills comes to Presentation after a range of international experience with Catholic Relief Services (CRS), which is the international humanitarian agency of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops.

Dills graduated from Spalding in 1998 with a bachelor of arts degree in English and psychology. She also studied in France at the Université de Rennes II, was a member of the Peace Corps in the West African country of Benin and holds master’s degrees from American University and Regis University.

She comes from a family full of women with both Pres and Spalding degrees, including her mother and two of her three sisters.

“We have a long tradition on Fourth and Breckenridge with Pres and Spalding,” said Dills, who said she participated in Spalding’s study abroad program to Ireland. “I really enjoyed my time. I feel like Spalding opened a lot of doors to learn about international work.”

In addition to being the closest of geographic neighbors, Spalding and Pres share a long, strong history. Both were founded by Mother Catherine Spalding in the 19th century, and the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth inspire both schools’ missions. Dills said her Catholic education has guided her career.

“Every day I’ve been able to live out my faith in a very practical, very live, very actionable way,” she said. “At CRS, we work with the most marginalized and vulnerable people, and I’ve been working hard to secure resources so that people’s basic needs are met, and that’s what being a Catholic is all about. (Becoming Pres president) is just perfect alignment of my Catholic education and how I’ve been able to use that in the world.”

Dills began her career at CRS in 2003 as an International Development Fellow. She later held titles of Emergency Education Food Security Program Manager (Zimbabwe Emergency Response Team), Education and Food Security Program Manager (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Head of Programming (Rwanda), Assistant Country Representative for Program Quality (India), Deputy Country Representative for Programs (Haiti), Country Representative (Madagascar) and Deputy Regional Director for Program Quality (East Africa).

Most recently, Dills served as the Director of Programming of Agriculture/Livelihoods, Water, Environment and Sanitation and Microfinance at CRS’ headquarters in Baltimore.

“Laura’s passion for driving initiatives, acquiring resources and creating sustainable change made her the ideal person for the president role at Presentation,” said Stephen C. James, chairman of Pres’ board of trustees. “Her international experience with CRS reflects the breadth and depth of diversity that Presentation Academy is committed to fostering as it fulfills its mission of preparing young women as leaders in a global society thus perpetuating the objectives of our foundress, Mother Catherine Spalding.”

Dills gained some of her first professional experience while studying at Spalding. As a student, she said she worked as a night clerk at the Courier Journal and as a clerk at a law firm.

“I really loved (going to school) downtown, and I loved how many opportunities there were in the downtown area,” she said. “You’re just so centrally located. And I just had great professors, and the opportunities to study abroad really opened my eyes to how unique the world is and to take advantage of.”

For more info on Presentation, visit the school’s official website.

In 1951, Patricia Lauderdale was set to leave a lasting mark on Spalding University by becoming one of its first two African-American graduates.

But she cared very little about her individual role in history, so long as somehow the societal change she believed in and hoped for was on its way.

“That’s all we were thinking about was how we were going to make things different,” said Lauderdale, who later married and took the last name Bell. “You didn’t have time to think about if you were first or second. It was just part of the way things are supposed to be. … It was just part of the experience of learning.”

As Spalding celebrates Black History Month in February, Bell, who’s now 87, reflected back fondly on what she viewed as a fun, rewarding year in 1950-51 when she transferred to Spalding – then called Nazareth College – and was among the first group of black students to integrate higher-education institutions in Louisville.

She said the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, who ran the college, showed a welcoming and supportive spirit that she has never forgotten.

Bell, who lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the other 1951 Nazareth graduate, Barbara Miller, were honored two years ago as Spalding’s first black graduates with the creation of the Lauderdale Miller Endowed Scholarship. It goes to an African-American female student majoring in education, communications or social work.

“It was important to me (to create the scholarship) because a lot of people don’t realize that African-Americans couldn’t go to Spalding before the Day Law was dismissed,” said 1953 Spalding graduate Elmer Lucille Allen, who led the effort to create the Lauderdale Miller Scholarship. “I think it was important to have something to recognize them as the first two African-Americans to come out of there.”

Under the Day Law of 1904, it was illegal for whites and blacks in Kentucky to attend the same school, but the law was amended after a successful legal challenge by Lyman T. Johnson, a Central High School teacher who became the first black student at the University of Kentucky in 1949.

In 1950, the Catholic colleges in Louisville – Nazareth, Ursuline and Bellarmine – began admitting black students.

At the time, Bell, a graduate of Central High School, had been attending Louisville Municipal College – an all-black institution overseen by the University of Louisville. She was set to be a college senior when she was among the first group of black students who started at Nazareth in the fall of 1950. That’s why she and Miller, who was a nontraditional student seeking a second bachelor’s degree, were positioned to become the college’s first graduates the following spring.

Miller, who died in 2000 at the age of 90, came to Nazareth to study library science, specializing in children’s services. She was 21 years older than Bell and already held a degree from the University of Michigan.

Miller became Kentucky’s first African-American to earn a library science degree and went on to an accomplished career with the Louisville Free Public Library. She was known as the “Storytelling Lady” on the local children’s television show “T-Bar-V Ranch.”

As for Bell, she first became familiar with Nazareth College after the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth invited Louisville Municipal College students to join an integrated club called Youth in Action.

“They really wanted to see a change,” Bell said of the Sisters. “They were helping us to try to organize to get rid of the Day Law.”

Bell said that she remembers the club members hoping at the time that colleges and universities would become integrated by 1970. She said it was a “complete shock to us” when it ended up happening 20 years sooner.

At the time, “I was just a person who knew things were going to be different,” she said, “whether it be when I got married or had children. It wasn’t going to be the same, and if I stayed where I was and didn’t try to learn new things, I’d be doing not only myself a disservice but the next generation of my family a disservice.”

Bell said that Sister Mary Ransom, who was the dean of Nazareth, and the Sisters who organized Youth in Action were huge influences on her life.

Bell recalls experiencing no backlash whatsoever on campus while being one of the only black students, and she credits the Sisters for creating a culture of acceptance and friendship. Bell said that if there were any white classmates who had negative feelings about her, they never showed it.

In the summer of 1950, Bell said, many of the white seniors at the college came to her home to get to know her and her family before she started at Nazareth.

“We were all friends, and we were all equal,” she said. “I was wanted, and those Sisters wanted us women to be leaders.”

Bell holds her alma mater near and dear.

After her wedding in 1953, she and her bridal party visited the nuns and took pictures at the famous Thompkins-Buchanan-Rankin Mansion.

When she had her three children, she brought the babies by for visits.

Bell went on to earn multiple other degrees, including a doctorate from Michigan State, and have a career that included working for the Internal Revenue Service and in various roles in education.

She said she remained in touch all her life with Sister Mary Ransom, who died in 2006.

To help support Spalding’s Lauderdale Miller Endowed Scholarship for African-American women, go online to spalding.edu/donate. For more information on it and all endowed scholarships, contact Loren Carlson, manager of development, at lcarlson@spalding.edu or 502-873-4317.

When Susan McKim Griffin reflects on a career of success in higher education and the advancement of nonprofit organizations, she praises her alma mater, Spalding University, for starting her down the path of professional achievement and satisfaction.

Early last summer, Spalding reciprocated, giving Griffin its highest order of praise as the 2017 winner of the Caritas Medal, which recognizes the university’s alumnus or alumna of the year.

Presented since 1961, the Caritas Award is the highest honor awarded by Spalding. The winner, who’s chosen from nominations by other Spalding alumni, is recognized for having made a significant contribution in a particular field and who embodies the qualities and spirit of service encompassed in the philosophy, mission and tradition of Spalding.

Griffin, the owner of Griffin Fundraising and Marketing and a former fundraiser at the University of Louisville and the Cathedral Heritage Foundation, has been a leading woman in her field and has left a lasting mark with her consulting firm having helped raised more than $100 million for clients over three decades.

Griffin also has contributed analysis on workforce diversity and was an administrator for the Kentuckiana Metroversity higher-ed corsortium.

The 1968 Spalding graduate also represents a little piece of history at her alma mater, having served as Spalding’s first admissions counselor. That was Griffin’s first job out of college and one she looks back on fondly.

“Spalding started me on this course,” she said.

Griffin said she was stunned to receive word in March from Spalding President Tori Murden McClure that she’d been selected as the 2017 Caritas winner.

McClure had requested a lunch meeting that day, but Griffin had no clue what McClure wanted to discuss. McClure also brought Griffin’s son, Bert, who is Spalding’s chief advancement officer. Bert Griffin hadn’t told his mother he would be there, which made her even more curious what the meeting was about.

“Tori said, ‘You’re probably wondering why I invited you for lunch,’” Susan Griffin recalled. After McClure gave her the news that she’d won the Caritas, Griffin got emotional.

“I could not speak,” Griffin said. “It just never crossed my mind. I just couldn’t speak for the longest time. ’ It has been a road of memories and such joy to go through the whole process. It took my breath away.”

Griffin said she was touched to have family, friends, clients and classmates attend the Caritas receptions that were held in her honor, including some who drove several hours to be there. At one gathering, McClure invited attendees to have an open-mike session of sorts to share stories about Griffin.

“It was incredible,” Griffin said. “You start thinking about the work you do every day and don’t give it much thought, and then (at an event like that) you start thinking about the organizations that you work with. … So it’s truly standing on the shoulders of other people so that we can do things that others care about. That night all exploded in my mind, and I will forever be grateful.”

An accomplished career

Griffin graduated from Spalding with a bachelor’s degree in history. She had given almost no consideration to what she wanted to do for a career after college, except for feeling confident her Spalding education would prepare her to succeed at something.

She didn’t have to look far for her first job offer. President Sister Mary Charlotte Fowler asked Griffin if she would like to organize the university’s admissions office and become its recruiter.

Griffin traveled up and down the East coast presenting at Catholic college fairs from Massachusetts to Florida – once riding out a hurricane in a Daytona Beach hotel.

After a year, she requested an opportunity to learn more about higher education, and Spalding administrators helped place her with a full scholarship at Indiana University’s graduate program for personnel administration.

The added training and the experience eventually propelled Griffin into four years of work in Florida – two at a community college and two at Florida State University. While at FSU, she was a part of a group that analyzed workforce diversity during the onset of Affirmative Action.

She moved back home to work at the University of Louisville, then ultimately took a job at Metroversity, spending 15 years developing programs and helping universities become more accessible to nontraditional students.

After stints in the advancement departments at U of L and the Cathedral Heritage Foundation, she set out on her own to start a private firm that has served dozens of clients over the years. It was the first such firm in the state to be owned by a woman.

She traces much of her success back to her Spalding roots.

“It wasn’t just about the time I was here,” she said. “It was the time I was here and when I graduated, you got me a job, and when I decided I needed to go back to school, you supported me with that, and it’s just kept on. I never really started thinking about Sister Mary Charlotte being the one who started me on that path until I started thinking about, ‘How did I get here?’”

With her 50-year graduation reunion coming next year and Spalding’s 100-year anniversary of being located downtown coming in 2019-20, Griffin encourages fellow alumni to come back to Spalding and see the changes that have occurred on the growing campus.

“Decisions are being made here that are really, in my opinion, cutting-edge for small universities and are having a big mark on our community,” Griffin said. “I think Tori McClure has put a name on this place that will forever and ever make us all proud. … I think anyone who’s ever stepped foot on Spalding’s campus needs to come and see the difference, the thoughtfulness that’s been put into new green spaces and the way the campus looks and the feel and the connectivity to downtown and the SoBro neighborhood. It’s magnificent.”

Griffin also encourages alumni to nominate classmates to become the next Caritas Medal winner. Nominations for 2018 are being accepted through Jan. 29.

Griffin keeps her Caritas medal on a chain given to her by husband and wears it on special occasions.

“It keeps Spalding in front of me all the time,” she said. “… For any future winner of the Caritas medal, that individual is in for a rare treat of recognition and honor and love, but more important, it’s a reflection on the whole institution.”