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The best and brightest of the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business were honored April 14, 2011, in an afternoon awards ceremony that highlighted the achievements of both students and faculty.

They look and feel the same as the caps and gowns used in previous ceremonies, but when candidates for ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ’s Master of Education participate in their Aug. 20, 2011, Commencement exercises, as part of the university’s sustainability commitment, their regalia contained fabric made from 100 percent recycled plastic bottles.

Thirty-nine students in the Master of Education program received their ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ degrees Saturday morning in a Commencement ceremony featuring a keynote address from professor Judith Howard, the longtime director of the education graduate program who retires this month after serving the university since 1993 as a teacher, researcher and mentor.

While first-year students all over the country are moving into the dorms of their colleges and universities, Stephen Smith '69 reflects on his own move-in day experience at ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ nearly 50 years ago for The PIlot of Southern Pines, N.C.

Samuel L. Burke '89, a partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers' national independence office, received the Beta Alpha Psi Business Information Professional of the Year Award this month at the annual Beta Alpha Psi meetings in Denver.

Mitch Rippy '80, Amy Williamson '93, Elliott Armstrong '94 and Priscilla Awkard '94 compose the 41st ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Sports Hall of Fame class, which will be inducted Sept. 10. The event, which will be held at 1:30 p.m. in Whitley Auditorium, is free and open to the public.

Former ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ volleyball standout Sarah Schermerhorn '11 became the first player in program history to sign a professional contract. She will play for the Brøndby Volleyball Club in Copenhagen, Denmark, next season, according to ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵPhoenix.com.

Around this time last year, Chris Brumbaugh '98 and Lynn Terrell '97 lived comfortably in Denver when they heard through the grapevine that their beloved Sidetrack Grill had closed. Both had worked at the iconic ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ restaurant for periods during their undergraduate days, and the news hit them hard. That's when the wheels behind The Root Trackside, the couple's new downtown ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ restaurant, began to turn.

Daniel Scagnelli, a 2006 graduate of the Martha & Spencer Love School of Business, has been chosen to lead the Beech Mountain (N.C.) Department of Parks and Recreation.