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Highlanders Win 2009 Big South Championship!

Big South ChampsTournament MVP Art Parakhouski was one of three Radford players to record a double-double as the Highlanders advanced to their second NCAA Tournament in school history with a 108-94 victory over VMI in the Big South Championship Saturday at the Dedmon Center.

The Highlanders will learn their seed, destination and opponent on Selection Sunday, March 15, which will be televised live on CBS. RU will host a Selection Show party that evening at 5 p.m. in the Bonnie Hurlburt Student Center, with the team and Coach Brad Greenberg in attendance.

Join in the excitement!

RU Celebrates Homecoming 2009

Homecoming 2009Alumni, faculty, staff and students flooded the RU campus to celebrate Homecoming 2009 during the final week of February. Festivities began with a ThinkFast Game Show competition and the Highlanders' 89-84 victory over High Point. Subsequent events included an Entrepreneur Express workshop that filled the Bonnie Auditorium, Alumni Teaching Day and a pep rally. A presidential brunch kicked off Saturday's list of Homecoming activities, which included the RU Lady Highlanders game against Presbyterian in the afternoon, a tailgate party before the men's basketball game later that night against Liberty and a post-game party with dinner and a live band. See the photos from Homecoming 2009.

Alumni Profile: From Radford to the Moon

Apollo 17 soared into the dark sky just past midnight on Dec. 7, 1972. It would be the final lunar journey for the Apollo program.

Katherine Suri Katherine Suri '66 stood just three miles away from the launch pad, watching the liftoff with a sense of pride, knowing that her work had played a significant role in the success of the mission.

"We were out there in the field, watching the Apollo sitting there with the lights on it. Then the countdown reached zero and flames burst out from the bottom rockets; the ground began to shake and you could feel the roar in your chest," said Suri, who worked 16 years for NASA as a neurobiologist. "The rocket's glare lit up the ground around the ship. Then it began to lift into the night sky, rising slowly at first, steadily, then faster and higher."

Read more about Suri and how her time at RU helped launched her NASA career in RUfaces.

Coming in April: Ryan Speier realized his boyhood dream of playing in the World Series two seasons ago when his Colorado Rockies made a remarkable run to the Fall Classic. The former RU hurler is beginning his fourth season in the major leagues and, once again, he will be a key component for the pitching staff when the Rockies begin the 2009 season.

Parent Executive Committee Builds Support Toward Strategic Plan

President Kyle and Robin DearingThe Parent Executive Committee, which formed just months ago, is already making great strides toward its goal to strengthen fundraising efforts for the Parents and Family Fund. The committee gathered during Homecoming Weekend for its inaugural spring meeting to plan its support for upcoming student-related events, appoint a new committee chair and introduce its members to RU President Penelope W. Kyle. (In the photo: President Kyle with new committee chair Robin Dearing.) Read more >>

Upcoming Alumni Events

Thursday, March 12
Carroll/Galax Ladies Luncheon
The Hardware Co. of Hillsville
Tuesday, March 17
Bristol Virginia and Tennessee Ladies Luncheon
The Brooklyn Grill
Wednesday, March 18
Abingdon/Marion Ladies Luncheon
Withers Hardware Restaurant
Tuesday, March 24
Wytheville Ladies Luncheon
Log House 1776 Restaurant
Thursday, March 26
Rockbridge Ladies Luncheon
Sheridan Livery Inn
Atlantic BayThursday, March 26
Roanoke/NRV Chapter Event
Alumni can network and learn "Career Tips" at the Hotel Roanoke. 8 a.m. Sponsored by Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group.
RSVP to alumni@radford.edu or 1-888-478-4723.
Tuesday, March 31
RU Baseball in Salem: Highlanders vs. University of Virginia

Athletics Story

While the men's basketball championship game is the big story in RU Athletics these days, it is certainly not the only story. The women's basketball team finished its regular season schedule with a 9-7 Big South record and enters this weekend's conference tournament in High Point, N.C., as the No. 3 seed. The Highlanders take on No. 6 seed Gardner-Webb at 5:30 p.m. Friday in an opening round game. Meanwhile, the spring sports season is in full swing at RU. The women's softball team is off to a hot start with an 8-3 record, including a 3-1 win over No. 25 Mississippi State Sunday in a tournament in Hawaii. The baseball team is 4-6 against a tough early-season schedule and plays its first conference series this weekend at home against High Point. The men's tennis team is 7-1, women's tennis is 4-3 and the golf and track team seasons are just beginning.

For more on all of RU's sports teams, see Radford Athletics.

Alumni in the News

Actress Jayma Mays graduated from Radford University in 2000, and soon thereafter left for California to pursue a career in show business. After studying drama at RU, Mays felt well prepared to meet the challenges of becoming a Hollywood star. She recently told Bristol Herald Courier writer and RU alumnus Joe Tennis that she learned about all facets of show business while at RU. "What's so great about it is you really develop an appreciation for every job involved," Mays told Tennis. Read the entire Bristol Herald Courier profile.


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