Enjoy The Magazine
My first edition of Old Dominion University magazine arrived yesterday. I read it completely the same day.

I’ve recently graduated and find this magazine to be another valuable asset to add to my portfolio of excellent experiences and resources. I thank the Alumni Association for remembering us graduates.

I miss ODU and the collegiate atmosphere very much. Over the years, I’ve gained more than I could ever give back. My hope is that I’ll be able to give back to my university and the community (Hampton Roads) the compassion they shared with me.
– Ron Berkebile ’01
Virginia Beach, Va.

Thanks for your role in helping many of us stay up-to-date with one another. It means more than you will ever know. Keep up the good work.
– Ayonda E. Lanier ’93, Ph.D., LCP
Staunton, Va.

Thank you for providing a quality publication that keeps me up-to-date on my alma mater.
– Jeanne Duchanin Marsh ’92
Victorville, Calif.

Let’s Hear More From ’60s Graduates
I enjoy Old Dominion University magazine. It keeps me in touch with the area. I have not lived in Tidewater since the mid-1970s, although I visit my folks in Virginia Beach as often as possible.

Last Christmas I had the good fortune to have lunch with a former high school/college buddy that I had not seen or heard from in 30 years. It was great. (Small world: We both lived in Mobile, Ala., at the time – only about a mile apart!)

I often wonder what happened to other classmates. Where are they now and what are they doing? I would love to see more news from the ’60s graduates. I think most of us can still write – or at least e-mail.

I live in LA (Lower Alabama) three days a week and somewhere else in the country four days a week (a road warrior) doing systems consulting work.
– W.P. “Tink” Wilkinson ’67 (M.B.A. ’77)
Mobile, Ala.

Thanks For The Stories
Thank you for the latest issue of Old Dominion University magazine. It is just terrific! Everybody here in the Office of International Programs is especially pleased and gratified that you decided to do this [“A World of Ideas”] and to do it with such flair.

Your choice of the international alumni to feature was particularly good, I think, because so many people here relate to them in so many different ways.
– John Heyl
Executive Director
Office of International Programs
Old Dominion University

The alumni magazine [spring 2002] is wonderful! I’ve had a lot of comments from others in the office on both the cover and the article “Foreign Flavor.”
I’m so glad, as well, that you really focused on the diversity of students. Too many places still show a Western emphasis in their international education stories – and you reflected a great balance.
– Scott E. King
Director
International Student and Scholar Services
Old Dominion University

Thank you so much for the article [“National Recognition from USA Today,” spring 2002]. I enjoyed seeing it in print, and I have had several friends comment on it, too. Thanks for the attention!
– Gail Englert (M.S.Ed. ’89)
Chesapeake, Va.

Remembering Guenther Dietz
You should be commended on the professional quality of Old Dominion University magazine. I certainly look forward to reading it.

However, I must say that I am dismayed that there has been no mention of Guenther Dietz, former soccer coach and physical education instructor, who suffered a tragic death in April 2001. While Mr. Dietz may have had a rather abbreviated career at Old Dominion University, he had a profound impact upon the university soccer program and soccer, in general, in the Tidewater area. This deserves mention and should not be ignored.

Ironically, two examples of this impact were mentioned in your fall 2001 issue: the national ranking of the ODU men’s soccer program 20 years ago, and the long-standing relationship between Stihl Inc. and ODU soccer. Mr. Dietz laid the groundwork for both of these.

In 1972, Mr. Dietz came to ODU and took a program that was soccer’s version of the “Mighty Ducks” to Virginia power status and on the verge of national recognition in a few short years. Without question, coach Dietz provided those first important steps that brought ODU to its present-day prominence on the national collegiate soccer scene.

Guenther also made those first contacts with Stihl Inc., which culminated in the partial sponsorship of a club soccer team which included a number of ODU undergraduate, graduate and alumni players.

During the 1970s, club and high school soccer were a few steps beyond infancy in the Tidewater area. To help change that, Mr. Dietz spent countless hours as an officer and coach in what was then the Tidewater Soccer Association, a club league for high school through adult players.

His dedication to the “world’s greatest game,” as soccer is known to its devotees, can never be questioned. I’m also sure that coach Dietz made swimming and the other physical education courses that he taught a bit more enjoyable for many of his ODU students.
– Russell J. Nemecek (M.S. ’76), Ph.D.
Liverpool, N.Y.

Editor’s note: Guenther Dietz, Old Dominion’s second men’s soccer coach, coached the Monarchs from 1972-77.