Delta Tau Delta - The Ohio State University

The ohio state university page 3 T ransferring to The Ohio State University, Craig Phillips '72 came to the university knowing a few classmates from high school and wanting to find a way to shrink his environment from 50,000-plus students to a group of close friends. "The Delta Tau Delta community was an essential part of the collegiate experience for me. The combination of other brothers who were larger than life and the shared values made it a great place to be," he said. "I still keep in touch with brothers and our conversations pick up where we left them the last time." Delta Tau Delta taught Craig some valuable lessons, like how to interact within a community of diverse people and although he was an "average" student, his enjoyment came from learning under excellent professors in his upper-level classes. Aside from academics, his OSU experience was filled with football and hockey games, hours at the Varsity Club drinking beer and eating great pizza, sitting on the Great Wall of Delta, and being transfixed by TBDBITL entrances and the intricacy of the band's performances. Craig graduated from Ohio State with a degree in education and a major in comprehensive English education. Upon graduation, he taught English and coached football and track before joining the business world. When Craig turned 40, he lost his mother and began soul searching for a job he would enjoy again. On his "vision quest," he was led to Gaylen Kapperman, a professor at Northern Illinois University, who offered him a graduate assistant position and the opportunity to learn how to teach people who are blind and visually impaired. "I left the business world when the summer term started and was a student again in my early 40s. It was the best career decision I have ever made," he said. "I've never looked back." After graduating from Northern Illinois, Craig was looking for a place with sun, water, beach, and far away from Illinois winter. Wanting to teach English and Braille at a residential school, two weeks later, Craig found a position at the Kansas State School for the Blind. "I called my wife and said, 'Rock Chalk, Jayhawk. We're moving to Kansas,'" Craig said. "I must admit, the Sky Pilot has a funny sense of humor. Kansas has lots of sun, no water or beach, and absolutely wonderful people. It was a good move." Subsequently, his teaching there resulted in him being named as Outstanding Teacher of the Year by the Council of Principals of American Schools for the Blind and he was a finalist for Kansas Teacher of the Year. While he learned a lot, Craig knew there was more to know and returned to school at the University of Northern Colorado to become an orientation and mobility specialist—someone who teaches those with visual impairments the essential skills of safe, efficient, and graceful travel and how to establish their positon in space without sight. Craig's experience teaching orientation and mobility resulted in him joining the staff at the Graduate School of Education at Missouri State University, where he combined teaching as an adjunct with his position in the Shawnee Mission School District. "I've been able to change lives for the better and meet a ton of interesting and courageous people in the process," he said. "I'm a happy camper." Later, Craig's life came full circle and he returned to the Kansas State School for the Blind until his official retirement in January 2015. "Understand that the only place success comes before work is in the Chapter Eternal James "Jim" G. Haywood '43 entered Chapter Eternal at the age of 95 on November 1, 2016. His adoring wife, Jerry, was at his side. Jim invested his time in the Worthington, Ohio, community, serving as superintendent of Sunday Schools at Worthington United Methodist, PTA president of Colonial Hills, Evening Street, and Worthington High Schools, and president of the Cardinal Boosters, which supported local athletics, from 1972-73. Jim loved tennis, golf, Little League baseball, and vacations on Hilton Head Island. He was a respected and loved friend, teammate, neighbor, and coworker, but his family, who loved him dearly, always took priority. Jim married his college sweetheart and love of his life, Jerry Virginia Stone, on June 2, 1944, and had four children and six grandchildren. John C. Lattin '76 entered Chapter Eternal on December 31, 2016, after a long battle with Huntington's disease. Alumni News Ryan J. Parks '10 is living in Thousand Oaks, Calif., pursuing his art career. He has been featured in art shows around Ventura, Calif., and has happy customers all over the world and support from his family and friends. He plans to continue this pursuit and ride out the adventure. E-mail: ryanjamesparks@gmail.com Alumni Update Leading the Blind Craig Phillips '72 on His Rewarding Career with the Visually Impaired dictionary," he advises. "Commencement is the beginning of the journey. Always under promise and over deliver." Craig and his wife, Carol, live in Lake Saint Louis, Mo., and Craig enjoys fly fishing for trout in Colorado and playing on his classic Boston Whaler in Missouri. During the National Park Service's centennial celebration, Craig worked with the Tallgrass Prairie National Park to place electronic markers with locations and narrative information throughout the park. His role was to paint pictures with his words, tie in sounds and scents, and provide the visually impaired access to the prairie experience. "The very idea of being able to translate over 40 miles of trails and 10,000 acres of western tallgrass prairie into word pictures depicting the lay of the land, the habitats of the animals, the history of the area, and the sublime beauty of the land is audacious at best," he said. "I'm proud to leave my adopted state of Kansas something that is useful for the visitor who is non-sighted and sighted alike." Additionally, Craig enjoys traveling, especially to Padre Island for the winter, golfing, and works a few days each week at the St. Louis Society for the Blind. "The passion to serve individuals with visual impairments remains. I'm a lucky fellow to get to do what I do." Craig can be reached at cleep1700@att.net or (636) 698-3253. To read more about Craig Phillips '72 and his work with the Tallgrass Prairie National Park, visit http://bit.ly/2ywEV7a.

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