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Steve
Wilkins: The New Man On Campus
By Erin Hege’04
 The
newest member of Meredith's admissions office is Steve Wilkins.
Wilkins is Meredith's new associate director of internal operations
for the admissions office.
Wilkins is a native of Syracuse, N.Y., where he received his
bachelor’s degree in geography from Syracuse University.
He was also a member of the Syracuse varsity swim team. After
college, he served eight years in the United States Air Force
before beginning a career in public relations. Most recently
he was employed as an assistant director of admissions at
Duke University.
Wilkins is excited about his new position on staff here at
Meredith. “The intimate, caring community here is outstanding.”
When asked why he made the career change he replied, “this
position will give me the opportunity to grow in different
areas of admissions.”
As an associate director, Wilkins is responsible for operations
and support in the processing area of admissions. His new
goals for the position include an increased accuracy of records
maintenance and data processing, to enhance customer service,
and to bring the processing team closer together.
The admissions office is faced with the challenging task of
recruiting students each year. Wilkins believes that Meredith
is forming strong relationships with prospective students.
He says, “the admissions office does well at getting
the word out and makes Meredith College appealing to students.”
Wilkins and his wife, Charlene, live in Durham with their
son, Arrik, who has just started the first grade. Wilkins
looks forward to the reduced amount of travel this job contains
so he can spend more time with his family.
A
Tribute to the late Roxie Collie Laybourne, ’32
By
Andrea Weaver
It
is fitting that Roxie Collie Laybourne, ’32, last visited
Meredith College in March 2003 to attend the grand opening
of the Science and Mathematics Building. Her presence at the
celebration reminded the young women who study in the $20
million building’s high-tech classrooms and laboratories
that scientific research careers are open to all diligent
scholars, male or female.
Laybourne, a world-renowned expert on feathers and a forensic
scientist at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.,
died Aug. 7, 2003, at her farm in Manassas, Va. She was 92.
As part of the building celebration, several current students
set up special displays about their scientific research. Laybourne
talked at length with one student who is studying mosses,
said Dr. Janice Swab, professor of biology.
“(Laybourne) said, ‘I might have studied mosses,
but I went in a different direction.’ She asked the student
all kinds of questions. The student was smiling all over the
place,” Swab said.
Laybourne invented her own direction: forensic ornithology.
She served as an expert witness in several plane crashes involving
birds, which are known as air strikes. She worked closely
with the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation
Safety Board, and aircraft manufacturers. She received a lifetime
achievement award from the Air Force Bird Strike Committee
in 1996 for her contributions to aviation safety.
She also worked with the FBI and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service to solve crimes that involved feathers as clues. She
worked at the Smithsonian for more than 40 years where she
mentored many other researchers. Articles about Laybourne
have been printed in newspapers across the United States,
including the “Anchorage Daily News” in Alaska,
the “The Los Angeles Times,” “The Dallas Morning
News,” the “Pioneer Press” in St. Paul, Minn.,
and “The Washington Post.”
Jean Jackson, vice president for student development, met
Laybourne about 15 years ago at a Meredith alumnae event.
Laybourne exuded energy and enthusiasm for life, Jackson said.
After an event in D.C., Laybourne took Jackson and three other
alumnae on a tour of the Smithsonian.
“She was in her 70s then, but we barely could keep up
with her,” Jackson said. “She led us on a merry
chase.”
In honor of the 100th anniversary of the opening of Meredith
College, Laybourne memorized all 32 stanzas of Rabbi Ben Ezra,
a poem by Robert Browning. She was supposed to learn the poem
for a college course in the 1930s, but the instructor never
required the class to complete the assignment. She decided
70 years later to finish it.
“The poem begins ‘Grow old along with me! The best
is yet to be…’ That was Roxie. Throughout her life,
she believed that the best was yet ahead,” Jackson said.
This article includes information from the Aug. 16, 2003,
edition of “The Washington Post” and the “News
& Observer,” and the spring 2000 issue of “Meredith
Magazine.”
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