Bulldog Nation Archives - �۶�ֱ�� University

Peace in the Storm

�۶�ֱ�� University — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 15:00:00 +0000

Through Highs and Lows, Micahla Funderburk, ’24, Pursued her Goals

Micahla Funderburk gave �۶�ֱ�� University women’s basketball fans a night to remember on Feb. 7, 2024. In a home game against Presbyterian College, she led with a season and career high 21 points going 7-7 on the night—all from beyond the arch. With a steady hand, she sank her final three-pointer with 1:32 left in the game. By making the basket, Funderburk also achieved a Big South record for the most three-point field goals attempted and scored in one game.

Funderburk’s success on the court comes from her genuine joy of playing the game. Basketball paid for her college education, making it possible for her to pursue her passion of becoming a police officer. Along the way, she experienced the once-in-a-lifetime bonus of being part of a basketball program that won Big South regular season and tournament championships and a ticket to the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2023.

It’s inconceivable that Funderburk could have missed out on all of it. Before her senior year of high school, the talented player received offers from several colleges, including �۶�ֱ��. While weighing her options, she tore her ACL for the third time. Suddenly, the offers were gone.

“Someone who has torn the ACL for the third time is considered injury prone,” Funderburk related. “You don’t know if you’re going to come back to being college level or how you will be throughout the four years.”

�۶�ֱ�� was the only school that still offered her an opportunity to play Division I basketball. Then, she had to decide if she still wanted to play basketball knowing the risk of injury. “Basketball is something I love, and I just wanted to do it,” Funderburk stated.

“I took the opportunity here, and I’ve loved it. I don’t regret anything. I have learned so much about myself. If it wasn’t for coming here, I wouldn’t have become the person I am today.”
Micahla Funderburk, ’24

She had also met �۶�ֱ�� President Dr. William M. Downs, who was new to the campus at that time. “He was a really nice guy,” she reflected. “I thought, ‘�۶�ֱ�� is going to be my home. The coach is sticking with me.’ I took the opportunity here, and I’ve loved it. I don’t regret anything. I have learned so much about myself. If it wasn’t for coming here, I wouldn’t have become the person I am today.”

Outside of her basketball exploits, Funderburk was determined to be involved in campus life and support other teams, such as lacrosse, softball, soccer and swimming. She was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, vice president of the Black Student Association and a member of the Criminal Justice Society.

A naturally outgoing person, she never meets a stranger. She strikes up a conversation with anyone, anywhere; especially, when she’s standing in line at Chick-fil-A.

Because of the connections she made across campus, Funderburk decided to stay when her head basketball coach left before her senior year. “I still love the school, you know, �۶�ֱ�� was more than basketball to me,” Funderburk related. “The school felt like home. It was the environment, it was the people, and I knew I wanted to graduate from here.”

She and another teammate stayed at �۶�ֱ��. Funderburk took a leadership role and had to learn the new coach’s way of doing things. Her new teammates were a diverse group, from Spain, Africa and California. Getting to know them and a new coaching staff improved her listening and problem-solving skills, a necessity in law enforcement.

After graduating with her degree in criminal justice, Funderburk entered the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Police Academy and was hired by CMPD. The �۶�ֱ�� faculty prepared her for the job, because many of them have experience in law enforcement.

One of her instructors was Chief Tim Ledford, who retired as Chief of Police in Mint Hill, N.C. When she met Ledford at �۶�ֱ��, they discovered a connection to the event that motivated Funderburk to become a police officer. “My junior year of high school, 7:15 in the morning, I remember it exactly in my head,” Funderburk recalled. “I was watching a fight. One of my friends was fighting this other kid and the other kid pulled out a gun and killed him.” When the shots rang out, everyone felt nervous and scared. “I remember how the police officers made me and my friends feel,” Funderburk observed. “They gave us a sense of security and safeness.”

She admired how the officers displayed peace and calm after the tragedy. That’s when Funderburk knew she wanted to pursue a career in law enforcement. While describing the incident to Ledford, he remembered being at her high school on that day. They had been through the same tragic situation. Funderburk was assured that his expertise would be invaluable to her education.

“I want to bring that (peace) to people,” Funderburk asserted. “I’ve always looked at myself as the type that brings joy to people’s lives. As a police officer, I’m going to get called out to situations that are going to be the person’s worst day. I want to be the type of person to change that feeling for them, to make it a better situation than what it is.”

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Linked by Friendship, Driven to Improve in Life

�۶�ֱ�� University — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 14:30:00 +0000

Alumni, Eli Strait and Mike Shade, Help People Through Golf

BY ISABELLA BROWN

Connected by their love of golf and dedication to improving their game, �۶�ֱ�� University alumni, Eli Strait and Mike Shade, created a successful podcast called, “Chasing Scratch.” These two could never have guessed their podcast would reach far beyond the game of golf. Two friends, one dream, and several swings of a golf club later, they have accomplished just that.

Strait and Shade recall their memorable journey from becoming best friends to podcast hosts. It was a beautiful day in Boiling Springs, N.C., when Shade first visited �۶�ֱ��. “It was the perfect day,” Shade said. “I was just like, ‘This is the place.’ Me and my dad played at the Riverbend golf course. Then, we walked through campus.” Shade remembered thinking, “this is where I wanna be.”

Shade, who is originally from Greensboro, N.C., only lived a small distance from campus unlike Strait who lived more than 450 miles away in Lexington, Ky. “I had never heard of �۶�ֱ��,” Strait admitted. “I was a basketball player and wanted to play college basketball. �۶�ֱ�� said, ‘Hey, you know, we’re in North Carolina.’ I went down for a visit and just fell in love
with the place. And that was really how I ended up there, through basketball,” Strait said.

It didn’t take long for Shade and Strait to become friends.

“We met on the first day,” Shade said. Finishing his thought, Strait continued, “In the same freshman orientation class.” Now, after two decades of friendship, the two often complete each other’s sentences. While they hit it off right away, it wasn’t until their junior year that they became close friends. “We happened to have a Spanish class with Teresa Phillips, who was an awesome professor, and we just had a blast in her class,” Strait noted. “She fully embraced our unique personalities. That was really where we hit it off. Pretty much our whole senior year, it was just us hanging out.”

Shade added, “We spent many an afternoon at Riverbend after class. We were playing golf every chance we could.”

“I felt like the sun was always shining the moment I saw �۶�ֱ��. I always felt like it was God saying, ‘Hey, this is right where you need to be.’”
Eli Strait

After graduation, the bonds of their friendship still held strong, even when Strait moved back to Kentucky. “I’d call Eli, or he called me every single day after college,” Shade said. “There was always something to talk about.”

“For 20 plus years, we essentially have talked every day,” Strait affirmed. Their many conversations eventually led to thoughts of doing a podcast, but they hadn’t landed on a topic.

Then, the idea came to them after one of the three or four golf trips they plan every year. “One year, we went on our yearly golfing trip over the summer— the one we got so excited for—and I thought we were gonna play so well and we played so bad,” Shade expressed.

“After the trip, we were like, this has got to stop happening. And we said, well, what if we just try to get better? We’re still going to be great husbands and fathers, and we’ll be great employees, but in that little time in between, what if that’s all golf? Maybe that’s our podcast idea!”

What started as a personal challenge in 2018 to improve their golf score, the “Chasing Scratch” podcast has gained international fame and a devoted audience. “I would never have thought we would be in season seven of anything,” Shade said. “We thought we would do it for one year. Eli bought us mics (and) we recorded for seven months before we put an episode out because we didn’t know what the story was going to be. But then we got to the end of season one, and more people were listening to it than we thought. And we did improve a lot. So, we were like, well, let’s do it again!”

The friendships Strait and Shade have had the opportunity to build through the podcast have been the most impactful aspect. “It’s been awesome,” Strait shared. “Whenever you have listeners write in and say, you know, that thing that you talked about, it helped me be a better dad, or helped me be a better spouse, or we had so many people during COVID write and say, ‘Man I was so isolated, and your show got me through COVID.’ Every time somebody writes something like that, it’s like, wow, that’s amazing.”

Through it all, both friends look back with appreciation on their experience at �۶�ֱ��: the place where their friendship began. They are excited to continue the tradition of hosting their final show of the season in the area. “Every year, we end our season by coming back to �۶�ֱ��, and we play at Riverbend,” Shade explained. “Because of the opportunities we’ve had, we’ve been offered to go to other places for that last event of the year. And it’s never even a question—because we always want to come back (to GWU), that’s our favorite place to be.”

The community, campus, and special friendships are something each one cherishes deeply. “I always used to tell my wife that every time I had to go home during school, whenever I would drive back—it didn’t matter what the weather was—I felt like the sun was always shining the moment I saw Gardner- Webb,” Strait said. “I always felt like it was God saying, ‘Hey, this is right where you need to be.’”

“It’s a special place,” Shade affirmed.

*You can find Chasing Scratch: A Golf Podcast on your favorite podcasting platforms.

Writer Isabella Brown is an English major who graduates in December 2024.

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Building Life Champions

�۶�ֱ�� University — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 06:30:00 +0000

Dr. Andrew T. Goodrich Named VP and Director of Athletics

“I have great confidence that Andrew Goodrich will lead �۶�ֱ�� athletics into a new and highly successful era,” said GWU President William Downs. “He has vision, tenacity, experience, and an appetite for building championship programs. The passion is palpable, and everyone who meets Andrew will quickly learn that he simply won’t be outworked. The future for Runnin’ Bulldogs sports is incredibly bright!”

�۶�ֱ�� University has named Dr. Andrew T. Goodrich as Vice President and Director of Athletics. He steps into the role following Chuck Burch’s retirement after serving more than two decades in the position.

Goodrich comes to �۶�ֱ�� by way of Syracuse University, where he has worked as Deputy Director of Athletics & Chief Marketing Officer since 2018. The Owego, N.Y., native is an honors graduate of the University of Notre Dame, with an MBA in Marketing. He also earned a Ph.D in Higher Education Administration from the University of South Florida, as well as a graduate certificate in Administrative Leadership from Cornell University.

Previously working at International Business Machines (IBM) in the early 2000s, Goodrich recalls an important realization he had during that period in his life. “While working as a financial analyst and accountant at IBM, I was coaching youth football and baseball in our community. I enjoyed my job at IBM, but I loved working with kids and especially using sports to help teach them how to be a champion in life and on the field. During this time, I knew that I needed to pursue a career as an athletics administrator,” Goodrich said. The experience he gained VOLUME 57, 2022 | 33 in crafting entrepreneurial strategies at IBM would prove to be crucial to his professional path in the years to come.

Shortly thereafter, he began his MBA studies at Notre Dame, also working as a graduate assistant with the marketing department. “As a student in the graduate school program, I was able to take an athletics administration course from Dr. Kevin White, who was the director of athletics at the time. It was during this class that I knew for absolute certain that I was going to become a Division One athletics director someday,” Goodrich said.

His extensive background in higher education and various leadership positions throughout the collegiate athletics industry have instilled a strong sense of confidence in Goodrich as he approaches this role with �۶�ֱ��. “I have a very unique background as a professor with a Ph.D in Higher Education Administration, that helps me develop trust and collaboration with faculty and campus leaders,” Goodrich said. “I have worked in both the internal and external operations within high performing athletics departments all across the nation, which allows me to work efficiently and effectively with the academic and compliance departments, as well as the revenue generation, fan experience, and strategic communications departments.”

During his tenure at Syracuse, Goodrich assisted in the generation of approximately $80 million annually in revenue for the program. A particularly significant project at Syracuse for Goodrich involved the negotiation of a 10-year naming rights agreement for the JMA Wireless Dome. A member of the Syracuse Executive Cabinet and University Leadership Team, Goodrich worked to manage 19 NCAA Division I athletic programs, including 600 student athletes from 32 countries. Multiple attendance records for football and men’s basketball at Syracuse were set under his watch, and he also assisted in the search and hiring process of six head coaches and one Senior Women’s Administrator at the school.

With the landscape of the NCAA continuing to evolve in the Name, Image, and Likeness era, Goodrich guided Syracuse into this new environment with co-licensing agreements for student-athletes. Jim Cavale, founder and CEO of the athlete brand-building app INFLCR, speaks highly of Goodrich’s contributions in this field. “Andrew Goodrich is always thinking outside the box. I’m excited to see him get the opportunity to lead �۶�ֱ�� into the new era of college sports,” Cavale said.

“I have worked in both the internal and external operations within high performing athletics departments all across the nation, which allows me to work efficiently and effectively with the academic and compliance departments, as well as the revenue generation, fan experience, and strategic communications departments.”
Andrew T. Goodrich, Vice President and Director of Athletics

Additionally, Goodrich negotiated Syracuse’s largest e-commerce deal, and developed the second-largest corporate sponsorship agreement in school history, with a value of $4.48 million. Syracuse was granted the 2022 Clyde Award as the top Learfield Corporate Partnerships Property of the Year.

Prior to this stretch at Syracuse, Goodrich worked at the University of South Florida as Senior Associate AD, External Relations from 2014-2018. This was preceded by two years at the University of Miami, Florida as the Associate AD, Marketing and Sales from 2012-2014.

Goodrich joins �۶�ֱ�� with an eager ambition to build on his career of notable successes. “This is a university that is not only going to survive the changes to NCAA governance, it is going to thrive and be stronger than it has ever been,” Goodrich said. “I’m confident that 10 years from now, GWU will be the standard by which other schools like us are evaluated.” He is also enthusiastic about the leadership exhibited on campus. “I’m so inspired by Dr. Downs and his vision for competitive excellence at Gardner Webb,” Goodrich continued. “His attitude is contagious, and I believe he will help GWU grow in all facets of the university system. The coaches I’ve met are passionate and driven to serve these students and the community by helping these teams perform their best.”

ACC Commissioner Dr. Jim Phillips praised Goodrich as a deserving selection for this position at �۶�ֱ��. “Andrew is an outstanding leader that brings a wealth of experience to the role as Vice-President and Athletics Director at �۶�ֱ�� University. He has made significant impacts during his career and will serve as a tireless ambassador for the Runnin’ Bulldogs and the more than 600 student-athletes that compete across 22 sponsored sports,” Phillips said.

A devout Christ-follower, Goodrich is drawn to �۶�ֱ��’s foundations as a Christian institution. “I’m so excited to work at Gardner Webb, a University that puts its Christian faith at the top of their set of values. God and His providence has provided me with every great thing in my life, and I couldn’t think of a better way to honor God than to use my talents and my life experiences to help these young men and women develop their mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual strengths,” Goodrich said.

Citing the Gospel of Matthew as a source of spiritual guidance throughout this process, Goodrich pointed to the Parable of Talents in Chapter 25. “Some are given five talents, some two, others just one. We are all called to be good and faithful servants. To put our faith in the Lord and honor Him by multiplying our talents,” Goodrich said. “I call this having a Five Talent Mentality. You will see in the years to come that we, the Runnin’ Bulldogs, are not going to bury our talents, we are going to honor God and take the talents we have and multiply them, and in doing so inspire others to join us, put their faith in God, and do the same in their lives.”

Written by Thomas Manning ‘22

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The Dance to Remember

�۶�ֱ�� University — Fri, 12 Nov 2021 21:20:40 +0000

Award-winning Documentary Captures GWU Men’s Basketball Magical Season

It has been said that during times of isolation or quarantine, some artists dig deeper into the well of creativity and offer works beyond their initial imagining.

That is exactly what happened to four �۶�ֱ�� friends during the spring of 2020; they produced an award-winning documentary celebrating the �۶�ֱ�� University Men’s Basketball team’s magical 2018-19 season, which ended with an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, a first in men’s Division I basketball history.

Directed by Christian Jessup, the film, “The Dancin’ Bulldogs,” follows GWU’s entire journey, from the early wins against NCAA powerhouses to heartbreaking losses, the tournament appearance and coming home after the loss to No. 1 seed Virginia. The doc features interviews with players, coaches and NCAA officials, and never-before-released footage of the team’s championship run.

Jessup, a 2018 alumnus, made his directorial debut with this 80-minute film that began as a short tribute. He got the idea for the documentary from watching ESPN’s “The Last Dance,” a documentary series that followed Michael Jordan’s NBA finals run. Jessup compared the feelings he had watching the series to those he had while witnessing �۶�ֱ�� win the Big South Championship and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

He texted his friend, GWU student Thomas Manning, asking if he would help. Manning, a member of the North Carolina Film Critics’ Association, was on the ESPN Plus camera crew that filmed the men’s basketball team that year.

Manning agreed, and the two enlisted the help of Eli Hardin and Brendan Boylan, also 2018 alumni. “Eli was the fact checker,” Jessup said. “He is a stats guy and keeps up with the news articles. Brendan was a producer and helped call some game shots and provided some much-needed commentary.”

Jessup, who doubled majored in music composition, and film and video at �۶�ֱ��, wrote and performed the film’s music. He has composed music for film and visual media since 2016 and interned in 2017 with Hans Zimmer (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lion King, Dark Knight Trilogy). He also writes music for video and audio-based projects for VisionPoint Marketing.

Jessup began by searching online for anything related to the Bulldogs’ season. Based on the footage, he created an outline and scheduled interviews with key individuals. One reason he and Manning had access to people was because of COVID-19 restrictions at the time. “Everyone was at home over that summer,” Jessup informed. “The Big South commissioner (Kyle Kallander), Chris Holtman, the former head basketball coach, who is now head coach at Ohio State, and Jason Williford, Virginia’s associate head coach. A lot of people we might not normally be able to interview, we were able to get in touch with and hold Zoom interviews.”

Manning noted that everyone he interviewed was happy to talk about the men’s basketball team’s accomplishment. “The Virginia associate head coach (Williford)—we spoke to him for 15 minutes,” Manning related. “He was extremely complimentary of �۶�ֱ��, and the fight they put up in the NCAA tournament game against Virginia, who went on to win the National Championship that year.”

While finishing the documentary and feeling good about the content, Manning and Jessup received a last-minute email that took the film to the next level. Ryan Bridges (former GWU director of Sports Information) offered them 150 gigabytes of never-before-seen footage made by Eric Mangum (former director of new media relations). “It was a huge help from GWU,” Jessup stated. “That was a game-changer in terms of the angles and the shots we could include. Some of the quotes in that footage we never thought we’d find.”

Jessup and Manning were excited for people to see the film and grateful for the support they received in its making upon the official release in October 2020. “The evolution of this project—starting as an idea for a 5-minute video tribute on YouTube, eventually resulting in an award-winning feature-length documentary selected to multiple film festivals—taught me that if you have the time, energy, and passion for something special, then just go for it,” Manning concluded. “The four of us dedicated a ton of emotional energy into this journey, but I think we would all agree that it was 100 percent worth every minute.”

Jessup added, “I hope by reliving those moments, people watching it will be proud of �۶�ֱ�� and what they accomplished.”

The documentary has gone on to be recognized by organizations and film festivals.

North Carolina Film Critics Association Awards: The Dancin’ Bulldogs was nominated in December 2020 for the Ken Hanke Memorial Tar Heel Award, recognizing a film or person with a special tie to North Carolina.

Indie Eye Film Awards: A monthly film awards show, with the monthly winners entered into a yearly competition. The Dancin’ Bulldogs won “Best Documentary” and “Best Original Music/ Song/Score” in May 2021.

North Carolina Film Festival: The Dancin’ Bulldogs was nominated for the 2021 North Carolina Film Festival. The film was screened at the festival in June 2021, and the documentary team (Christian Jessup, Thomas Manning, Eli Hardin, Brendan Boylan) won the “Best Filmmakers” for the festival.

Triumphant Film Series: The Dancin’ Bulldogs was named “Most Inspirational Film” for the 2021 Triumphant Film Series presented by the Raleigh Film and Art Festival, a film festival created to promote “love, peace, laughter, and the triumph of the human spirit, juried by industry insiders.” The festival took place in October 2021

More information on the Dancin’ Bulldogs can be found online:

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�۶�ֱ�� Paces Big South With Four 2020 Christenberry Award Winners

Office of University Communications — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 09:48:19 +0000

Allison Chandler, Jennifer Jackson, Courtney Kanetzke and Brian Stepanek Achieve Honors

�۶�ֱ�� University once again led the way as the Big South Conference announced a record 12 student-athletes as recipients of the 2020 George A. Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs had four recipients. No other Big South school had more than two.

The �۶�ֱ�� quartet included women’s golfer Allison Chandler, women’s swimmer Jennifer Jackson, women’s track and crosscountry runner Courtney Kanetzke, and men’s soccer player Brian Stepanek.

The award honors the male and female student-athletes within the conference who attain the highest cumulative GPA during their undergraduate collegiate careers. This marks the eighth year in a row that the league has posted a record total.

Each of the 12 student-athletes honored in 2020 boasted perfect 4.0 GPAs for their academic careers.

Allison Chandler (Chester, Nova Scotia) was the 2020 Big South Women’s Golf Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In 2019-20, she was second on the Runnin’ Bulldogs and 12th overall in the Big South with a career-best 75.00 scoring average—nearly three strokes ahead of her previous best. She helped the squad to a pair of second-place finishes during the fall season. Chandler led the team in scoring as a junior and was team medalist twice during the spring season. A two-time WGCA All-America Scholar-Athlete selection, Chandler was a member of the dean’s list and a member of the Alpha Chi Honor Society while at �۶�ֱ��.

Jennifer Jackson (Rocky Mount, N.C.) excelled in the pool as a senior during the 2019-20 season, setting personal records in each of her events at the 2020 CCSA Championships. She was a member of an All-Conference relay team, as her 200-yard medley relay finished third at the event. Jackson was also part of fourth-place finishes in the 200-yard free relay and 400-yard medley relay at the 2020 CCSA Championships. A finalist for CCSA Scholar-Athlete of the Year, she earned her third spot in three seasons on the CCSA Academic All-Conference Team. Jackson received �۶�ֱ��’s Dr. Dee “Doc” Hunt Academic Achievement Award in 2018, and was a member of the �۶�ֱ�� Dean’s List and Alpha Chi Honor Society.

Courtney Kanetzke (Mills River, N.C.) competed in the 3,000m run for the Runnin’ Bulldogs during the indoor season and with the cross-country team this past fall. She also competed in the outdoor 5,000m run and 1,500m run during her collegiate career. She set a personal record with a time of 12:20.98 at the 2020 VMI Indoor Classic, and had outdoor bests in the 1,500m run (5:41.78) and 5,000m run (22:21.14) during the 2019 outdoor campaign. A dean’s list and Alpha Chi Honor Society member at �۶�ֱ��, Kanetzke was part of a GWU delegation to the National Honors Conference in New Orleans, La. She also participated in the Southern Regional Honors Council in Memphis, Tenn., in 2019, and was a member of the 2020 �۶�ֱ�� University Who’s Who list.

Brian Stepanek (Davidson, N.C.) played in 25 career matches, including a career-high 12 contests in 2018. He made four career starts for the Runnin’ Bulldogs and recorded one goal and one assist. Stepanek earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors following the 2018 season—the first national academic honor for a GWU men’s soccer student-athlete since 2009. He was also named to the 2018 United Soccer Coaches Association’s Scholar All-South Region Team, and has been a dean’s list member at �۶�ֱ��.

�۶�ֱ�� also led the Big South with four Christenberry Award winners in 2019.

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