Seventeen of the 28 in the group flew in from as far as California and Texas to talk about their experiences and how the semester changed their lives. Some of the experiences were difficult, especially in the French-speaking West African country where they spent the second part of the spring term of 1994. Other experiences were exhilarating.

The group gathered during , Oct. 10-12, at the home of their faculty leaders, Carroll and Nancy Yoder. The conversation time, which went late into the night, was preceded by a pig roast next door at the home of Joel Yoder, the leaders’ son and a member of the 1994 group. The reunion included seven spouses and more than 20 children.

Carroll Yoder, a former French professor who retired about 10 years ago, recalled a night in an Ivory Coast village when the 91¶ÌÊÓÆ” students were sitting around a fire under the starry skies. “This sure ain’t Nebraska,” said Brant Burkey, who grew up in Nebraska. Replied Kacey Bowers (now Raines) from West Virginia, swiping at the insects flying around her: “But it feels a bit like West Virginia!”

The students recalled the homes they were assigned to, sometimes with no running water and electricity – and sharing a bed with one of the family’s children.

“When you go through challenges, it makes you stronger,” said Ben Bolanos. Added Jo Wenger Fisher: “Shared experiences, especially in the face of adversity, drew us close together as a group.” Anne Charbeneau Zapanta said she had to “dig deep within herself” and that processing her experiences with her close-knit group helped a lot.

Katrina Wyse recalled vividly the night her host mother walked to a nearby clinic to give birth to a baby and then walked home before dawn with her new child. Maybe there is a connection, she said, but now she is a physician herself, delivering babies.

One student gave credit to the cross-cultural semester for the fact that he now devotes his life to Africa. Mark Schroeder is vice president of Africa analysis for in Austin, Texas. said the unforgettable experience “still permeates my life 20 years later.”

The reunion group surprised the Yoders by announcing they were donating over $2,300 in the Yoders’ honor to the .

Highlights of the weekend

This year’s Homecoming and Family Weekend also included reunions for all graduating classes ending in “4” and “9,” starting with 1964. Graduates from before that time, called “jubilee alumni,” met together for a reception and program.

91¶ÌÊÓÆ” recognized three outstanding alumni during the weekend:

‱ . A pioneer in helping children with autism, he is longtime director of an autism clinic in Richmond, Virginia, and a clinical professor of psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University. He earned two master’s degrees and then a PhD in psychology from Virginia Tech University.

‱ . His lifetime of Christian service included 10 years in Saigon during the Vietnam War, refugee work in Thailand and Honduras, pastoring churches, and victim-offender reconciliation. He has a master’s degree in religious education from New York University.

‱ . Working as a hospital nurse, she quickly earned promotions, including director of the 150-employee emergency department at Aultman Hospital in Canton, Ohio. She has master’s degrees in both nursing and business administration from Case Western University.

91¶ÌÊÓÆ” inducted two 2004 graduates into the Athletics Hall of Honor – Ellie Lind Holsopple in women’s soccer and Kristin Moyer Vasey in field hockey.

Other weekend events included a donor –appreciation banquet for 375 guests, a one-man theatrical presentation of C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce, an organ concert by recently-retired professor John Fast, a Sunday-morning worship service, an art exhibit opening, four intercollegiate games, tours of two renovated facilities, a panel discussion of retired science faculty, and departmental programs.

of Homecoming and Family Weekend events

“The opportunity to work with children with autism was not the result of a deliberate plan or any previous experience with autism,” says Oswald. “Grafton School in Berryville, Virginia, was just beginning the program for students with autism and I was fascinated by the children and intrigued by the opportunity to work with them individually.”

Oswald’s fascination with the emerging field of autism diagnosis, combined with the strong foundation he received as a major at 91¶ÌÊÓÆ”, helped launch his productive career.

Raised on a Nebraska farm, Oswald chose for his first two years of college. 91¶ÌÊÓƔ’s innovative psychology department, led by John Hess, attracted him for his junior and senior years. A young had just started his long teaching tenure. And in one psychology class, Oswald met Jean Miller, the woman who became his wife.

Of his non-psychology professors, Oswald names Willard Swartley as “perhaps the most memorable. His Old Testament course made a lasting impression because of his commitment to scholarly integrity.”

Within the newly built , Oswald was introduced to scholarly research first-hand. “I recall the pleasure I got from spending whole days in the library tracking down sources, and reading and integrating the material I found. I no longer remember the topic, but the process made a real impression and the experience whetted my appetite for independent research.”

Whetted may be an understatement. Oswald’s 19-page curriculum vitae lists more than 12 pages of academic articles, book reviews/editorials/abstracts, books/chapters, grant-related products, and workshop presentations which he authored, co-authored or produced.

After graduating magna cum laude in 1975, Oswald received a master’s in education in school psychology from James Madison University in 1981. Two degrees from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University followed: master of science in psychology in 1987 and doctor of philosophy in psychology in 1989.

Among his peers, Oswald is known for his willingness to share knowledge and research. He is director of diagnostics and research at in Richmond, Virginia.

Of his work there, Oswald says, “91¶ÌÊÓÆ” 15 years ago, I had the opportunity to develop an interdisciplinary diagnostic assessment clinic for young children for whom there was a question of a diagnosis of autism. The clinic was established on the principles of using the best evidence-based diagnostic tools available, working together collaboratively across disciplines, and actively seeking to integrate parents as essential and equal partners in the process.”

He has served as director of the clinic ever since, guiding it to its mid-Atlantic status as a model training site for interdisciplinary teams that wish to provide similar diagnostic services.

Oswald is also clinical professor at Virginia Commonwealth University’s department of psychiatry, mentoring psychologists-in-training.

His wife, Jean ’74, has just retired from her position as director of a preschool where she spent 20 years. Oswald is active at , leading music and worship. His hobbies are reading, bicycling, and singing.

Music unites Oswald’s 91¶ÌÊÓÆ” years with his present life, recalling that he sang in the touring choir under Lowell Byler. “I still sing with a community chorus, One Voice Chorus. Our mission is to foster harmony between people of African-American and European-American descent.”

Oswald will be honored with the Alumnus of the Year award during Homecoming and Family Weekend 2014 at 91¶ÌÊÓÆ”, Oct. 10-12. Celebrations include: class reunions for years ending in “4″ and “9″; community picnic on Saturday, Oct. 11, for all members of the 91¶ÌÊÓÆ” community; sporting events; !

Distinguished Service award: 

Young Alumnus of the Year award: 

Oswald had been there a year before he saw his first child with autism. What began as a trickle became a flood of autism cases over the next nine years into Grafton. Oswald eventually found himself running a group home for teens with autism.

Thinking he would branch out into general child psychology, in 1985 Oswald entered the clinical psychology doctoral program at Virginia Tech. Four years later, he interned at the Yale Child Study Center, a leader in the autism field.

When the Medical College of Virginia was looking to fill a faculty position for a psychologist in 1990, Oswald believes he got the job because of his experience with autistic children, though he was a recent doctoral graduate.

He’s been focused on autism ever since. In 1998, he was named to the board of directors of Commonwealth Autism Service, newly founded and funded by Virginia’s General Assembly. It is the primary center in the state for school and public safety workers to receive training in how to deal with autistic individuals.

Oswald advocates a multi-disciplinary approach to assessment, involving a speech therapist, occupational therapist, education expert, psychologist, and child psychiatrist. Asked why five experts were needed, Oswald explained: “A speech therapist might be able to recognize that a child was ‘oppositional’ because he didn’t understand the language we were using, while an occupational therapist might detect that a child was hypersensitive to lights and sounds. An educational therapist can help the school to think about how to work with the child. A psychologist can run the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, and a psychiatrist can prescribe medication.”

Oswald added that parents should be “engaged as equal partners and treated with dignity and respect, with their views incorporated in the treatment plan.”

He applauded the establishment of Spectrum Transformation Group under Cedric Moore ’99, MBA, to meet families’ desperate need for “high quality, comprehensive, behaviorally based, in-home support service.”

Today Oswald is the Director of Diagnostics and Research at Commonwealth Autism Service. He has retired from full-time teaching in the department of psychiatry at the Medical College of Virginia, but continues to consult widely.