Our Highlanders are using their education to do extraordinary things. In this column, we highlight some notable mentions from local, regional, national and international news media. Whether our students, alumni, faculty and staff are featured as subject matter experts in high-profile stories or simply helping make the world a little better, we’ll feature their stories.
A lasting tribute
A Highlander and educator whose life and work were cut short last year has spawned a legacy that will carry her memory far into the future.
On Sept. 18, students and staff, friends and relatives at Liberty Middle School (Liberty, New York) came together on the campus to dedicate a tree and a memorial plaque in recognition of Michelle Behrman, M.S. '00.
Behrman earned her master's degree in school counseling from Radford, then served for nearly 25 years as a guidance counselor at Liberty. She died last October following a battle with cancer.
In a news release last month, the school said Behrman "embodied the qualities the district strives to instill in its students, including intelligence, perseverance and resilience."
Behrman's memorial is located near the school's front entrance and is expected to stand as a longtime reminder of her work. Additionally, the school offers two awards in her name, scholarships that benefit both middle and high school students.
"For more than 20 years, Michelle’s kindness, compassion, and dedication touched the lives of countless students, families, and coworkers," Liberty Principal Heather Cheh said at the memorial. "Although we miss her deeply, her light continues to shine through the many lives she touched and the memories we carry with us."
A Highlander to lead
Early last month, Michigan’s Adrian College announced the appointment of its 18th president – Antonis “Tony” Coumoundouros ’99.
Coumoundouros currently serves as Adrian’s dean of graduate studies and continuing education and is a professor of philosophy and leadership, but will assume the school’s helm this January.
In a Sept. 6 article in the Leewanee Voice (Adrian, Michigan), Patrick Farver, chairman of the school’s board of trustees, spoke highly of their appointee.
“Tony Coumoundouros is the right leader at the right time for Adrian College,” Farver said. “The board is confident that he will lead Adrian College into its next chapter with energy, innovation, and an unwavering commitment to our students.”
According to the story, Coumoundouros has been on the school’s faculty since 2008 and during that time has overseen efforts to forge partnerships with businesses and other educational organizations, led projects to enhance student success and created graduate programs that aligned with workforce demands.
Established in 1859, Adrian College lies about 75 miles south of Lansing, Michigan, and currently serves approximately 2,000 students.
Surveying the future
Debates over artificial intelligence are growing almost as quickly as the technology itself.
Will AI sap humans’ initiative or elevate their intelligence? Will it solve the world’s problems or render flesh and blood workforces obsolete? Or could it shift the planet into even more serious circumstances?
Those issues are yet to be fully answered, even as government officials around the globe attempt to straddle the divide between progressive innovation and prudent precautions.
On Sept. 16, WSLS-10 reached out to Radford Professor Chapman Rackaway, the university’s political science chair, for his perspective on the state of regulation and advancement in the AI realm.
He noted that in these still-early days, cross-partisan coalitions are forming to help face the unknown.
“I think that’s an example of how neither of the parties has necessarily coalesced around one particular viewpoint yet,” he observed, adding that “every one of these members of Congress is hearing from their constituencies about AI, and they’ve got to take those seriously.”
On a separate note, the American Political Science Association (APSA) on Sept. 18 recognized its 2026 Organized Section Award Recipients, which included Rackaway. He received the APSA’s Established Leader Award and was also a winner (with Virginia Commonwealth University’s Amanda Wintersieck) of the group’s Outstanding Civic Engagement Project Award.
Full details of those awards and more are available on the APSA’s website.
This is “Esports” Center
Radford University’s new $1.2 million esports facility doesn’t officially open for another three weeks (its ribbon gets snipped on Oct. 23) but last month, WDBJ-7 gave its viewers a sneak preview.
Expanded to 10,000 square feet, the upgraded esports site measures roughly seven times the size of its previous location, and it now holds 80 PC units, a vast expansion over the original 20.
“It’s a growing program at the school – and across the country,” WDBJ said of esports.
The piece also included interviews with Radford’s interim Vice President of Student Affairs Tricia Smith, Associate Esports Director Doug Benedict, women’s esports team captain Marky McWhorter and senior Will Blackwood, of Mount Juliet, Tennessee, who transferred to Radford because of its e-gaming capabilities.
“I don’t think there’s another school doing it quite like this,” Blackwood told the station. “And I think Radford truly has found that sweet spot, the balance where you get your academics and get to play esports.”
WDBJ-7 also noted that Radford offers a 15-credit esports services minor, in which more than 100 students are currently enrolled, according to Smith.