Dear Maroons,
We’re excited to share a new way to stay connected with Roanoke College.
Maroons for Life is our new podcast and newsletter. We’re planning to send it every-other-Friday for those that opt-in. The podcast and newsletter have two types of stories. In Motion stories are about Maroons out in the world doing innovative things. Insider segments are about what’s happening here on campus, from the people leading it. We’re going to be featuring a steady stream of Maroons on MFL. The podcast and newsletter will have different hosts, narrators, and contributors.
The first episode is below called Maroons making AI human. We have several exceptional alumni that are helping organizations innovate and improve processes. This episode is also about the new WorkAI Lab, a new program for leaders across the Roanoke Valley several instructors are also graduates. You’ll meet Zack Tembi ´06 and Justin Worrilow ´01, and you’ll hear why we think a liberal arts education is the best preparation anyone could have for a world full of AI.
(Listen to the full-length podcast at top of newsletter and subscribe using Apple Podcasts and Spotify)
Help us tell your stories on MFL
If you know a Maroon who is building something, leading something, or making their community better, share their story with us. If you’re on campus and discover a great story involving Maroons innovating that we should be covering, send us the tip. And if you have news of your own, a new role, or a new endeavor submit a class note. We may read them on the podcast and feature class notes in the newsletter.
We’re glad you’re here.
Nate & Rita
Introducing our Contributing Editors
Joyelle Ronan ´21 got her start in journalism writing for the Brackety-Ack, and now she’s back to tell Maroons stories as the first Contributing Editor for Maroons for Life. Since graduating with a BA in Communication Studies, she earned a master’s in arts journalism at Syracuse’s Newhouse School and has written for Richmond Magazine, Central New York Magazine and FilmObsessive, among others. Read her introduction and find out how to pitch her your story.
Lewis Edwards ´24, ´25 is Contributing Editor for Maroons For Life and a digital marketing specialist at LeadPoint Digital in Roanoke and a proud Roanoke College graduate with both a BBA and an MBA. He moved to the US from England with his family in 2009, and he has since built Lewis Edwards Photography into a five-year business shooting weddings, portraits and events. He currently serves as President of Ad 2 Roanoke.
Class Notes
Michelle R. Austin ´93, president and chief executive officer of Bank of Botetourt, has been appointed to a three-year term on the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council, which carries the perspective of community banks to the Federal Reserve on economic and banking conditions across the Fifth District. Michelle began at the bank as a Roanoke intern in 1991, became CEO in 2025, and serves as vice chair of the School of Business, Economics, and Analytics Advisory Board.
Inside Philanthropy: Southwest Virginia Scholars Award
Roanoke College has launched the Southwest Virginia Scholars Award, an automatic $5,000 per year scholarship for incoming first-year students from 32 localities across Southwest Virginia and the Roanoke Valley, no separate application and no income requirement. Combined with other Roanoke grants and aid, it can cover the full cost of tuition for qualifying students.