Every other week, our Highlanders are using their education to do extraordinary things.
Here, we鈥檒l highlight some notable mentions from local, regional, national and international
news media. Whether our students, alumni, faculty and staff are featured as subject
matter experts in high-profile stories or simply helping make the world a better place,
we鈥檒l feature their stories.
Gift of a lifetime
After her mother鈥檚 death in 2009 from liver disease, Blair Hoke 鈥�10 searched for a
way in which she might memorialize her.
An explains how she ultimately did just that 鈥� by donating part of her own liver to
a child in need of a transplant.
Hoke, a mother of two, has worked in professional baseball for a dozen years and is
currently assistant general manager and vice president of ticket sales and service
for the Salem Red Sox.
According to Cardinal News, last September she underwent an eight-hour surgery in
order to help an anonymous pediatric patient. Neither Hoke nor the recipient know
each other鈥檚 identity, but Hoke has been told the child 鈥渋s doing very well,鈥� and
last fall, Diamond Baseball Holdings 鈥� which owns minor league franchises that include
the Salem team 鈥� presented Hoke with its 鈥淗ero Award.鈥�
鈥淚 didn't do it for that reason,鈥� she explained in the article. 鈥淚 want the spotlight
to be more on the education piece of it than my act individually. It gave me the opportunity
to tell more people about organ donation.鈥�
You can read Hoke鈥檚 story .
Volunteer information
Students on break can spend their summer any number of different ways, but Sela Beatty,
a junior who鈥檚 double-majoring in communications and psychology, chose to use part
of her time off volunteering with , a private nonprofit organization. Earlier this month, FSRV returned the favor by
giving her a social media shoutout on and on . Beatty鈥檚 work, she said, 鈥済ives me a chance to apply what I鈥檓 learning in school
in a professional setting.鈥�
Going 鈥淢obile鈥�
鈥溾�� started back in the late 鈥�90s as a community outreach project under Nelda K. Pearson,
a former 澳门老奇人论坛 professor of sociology and anthropology. Twenty-seven
years later, it鈥檚 still around and stronger than ever, with offices in Radford and
Pulaski. It offers affordable food, career preparation, loans and, in the wake of
COVID-19, a mobile food market that helps distribute fresh fruits and vegetables.
On documented the history of the New River Valley nonprofit and recounted how the organization
found a way to add its food truck in order to help others.
鈥淢ove-in鈥� and groovin鈥�
Last week鈥檚 wave of arrivals for Radford鈥檚 fall 2024 semester included more than 2,000
new students 鈥� which, on a year-to-year basis, represents the largest growth in the
school鈥檚 history 鈥� and it鈥檚 estimated that nearly 3,000 Highlanders are now residing
in on-campus housing. All in all, the move-in was quite an operation, with returning students getting back first and the freshman class hitting the dorms
on Aug. 23.
If you want a sampling of what that was like (without having to apply sunscreen or
being asked to grab the other end of a mini-fridge), you can check out the coverage
by Roanoke鈥檚 , which was picked up by , or an . This semester鈥檚 class also returned to a full line-up of things to do: from now
through most of September, Radford Welcome Weeks offer a slate of more than 110 activities on the main campus and another two dozen in Roanoke.
