Cameron Achord is currently the New England Patriots Assistant Coach with a sports management degree. He spent his playing days at Belhaven as a four-year starter at safety. After coaching at Southern Miss and Southwest Mississippi, he will be a part of the five-time Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots staff this season.

Lindsey Berg Myers ’09

Lindsey Berg Myers is married with one child and has one on the way. She obtained her M.D. from University of Mississippi in 2014, then graduated from residency training in Greenwood, South Carolina in 2017. She is now practicing as a family physician with obstetrics in Livingston, Tennessee.

WILL YOU CONSIDER A GIFT TO BELHAVEN TODAY?

Debra Smith, M.S. ’09

In August 2018, Debra graduated from Walden University with a Ph.D. in Public Health with a concentration in Community Health Education. Since 2014, she has worked as Program Management Consultant for long-term hurricane recovery with Innovative Emergency Management (IEM).

Anne Karen Tolbert ’13

Belhaven alumnus Anne Karen Tolbert was selected to intern with the U.S. Department of State at U.S. Mission to NATO in Brussels, Belgium.

Tolbert, who earned a communications degree from Belhaven in 2013, is a second-year law student at the University of Mississippi School of Law. She said her dad is responsible for the lifelong interest she has in aerospace and defense. Her desire to work with USNATO came from the vital role it plays in international security. Tolbert is pursuing a law degree with a concentration on air and space law, and this internship has given her valuable international knowledge and experience on defense issues.

During her time in Belgium she worked on different projects that cover international security issues such as NATO-EU cooperation, hybrid warfare, cyber defense, and missile defense.

“Working at USNATO has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life,” said Tolbert. “I’ve always had an appreciation for NATO, but working here deepened my understanding of the Alliance and its importance to European security and transatlantic relations. NATO is both a political and military alliance, so it’s rare to have an opportunity to work in such a dynamic setting with international impact.”

Tolbert was mentored by the best and brightest from the Department of State and the Department of Defense. Her internship also provided her many meaningful opportunities to work on a broad range of portfolio issues with both national and international impact.

“USNATO works closely with its Allies and partners, so it’s a very special and unique environment to build and maintain good relationships with our international colleagues,” said Tolbert. “Learning to listen, exchange ideas, and work towards consensus is an invaluable experience that will serve me well going forward.”

Upon graduation from law school, Tolbert hopes to work in civil service as an advisor on international legal and policy issues pertaining to aerospace and defense.

Reverend Luke Bert ’13

With few churches and even fewer pastors, Québec has become a spiritually desolate place with an immediate need for teachers of the Word. Alum Rev. Luke Bert saw this need during a visit. “I remember the first time I was in Québec teaching a class. One of the students came up to me and apologized. He said he was very tired because he had worked all night long and then driven three hours to come to the class. Now at this time I had not yet finished my master’s degree, so I asked him, ‘Why do you care what I have to say.’ His response was simply, 'Because no one else is teaching it.’ This is the moment I knew I needed to come to Québec to train local leaders to teach Christ from all of Scripture.”

In only a year, Bert has immersed himself in the community and has played a vital role in sharing the Bible. He is a missionary through Mission to North America. Bert also teaches Old Testament, hermeneutics, Biblical languages, theology, Greek, and Hebrew at SEMBEQ seminary, a French-speaking seminary that teaches pastors in the largest unreached people group in North America. “Québec needs leaders,” observed Bert, “We need pastors, Sunday school teachers, counselors, worship leaders, and business people who know the Bible well and can explain the Gospel clearly. I joined SEMBEQ because it is a seminary that exists for the local church.”

Bert was a double major in Biblical studies and philosophy. After graduating in 2013, he then earned is M.Div. at Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS) in 2017. After graduating from RTS, he taught at Belhaven for one year, before taking his family to Canada.

Québec’s official language is French and the language barrier became one of Bert’s biggest obstacles. “Belhaven taught me to use my skills for God. I could think of no better way to use my skill in languages than to come to Québec where the language barrier has become a barrier to Christian education. Jesus said, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’ I am here in Québec to be a laborer in His harvest.” Bert is married to Rebekah and they have three children; Matthias, Saranna, and Kara.

Sergeant Major DeMickel R. McGrigg BSM ’10, MPA ’14

Sergeant Major DeMickel R. McGrigg is excelling in his military career having recently completed the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy, the Army’s culminating enlisted Professional Military Education institution. Sergeant Major McGrigg attributes his success in this exclusive and rigorous course of study to the high academic standards and discipline he encountered while pursuing his degrees through Belhaven University. "After attending Belhaven University, I felt that I had the confidence to conquer any course of study," he relates. Sergeant Major McGrigg is in his 27th year of service to our country having earned a host of awards and decorations throughout his distinguished career including five Meritorious service Medals, five Army Commendation Medals, and four Army Achievement Medals. A proud family man, Sergeant Major McGrigg is married to the former Kinwana Rogers of Utica, and they have three sons, Joshua, Jordan, and Jermell and two grandsons Jermell, Jr. and Jamir Alexander.

Rachel Eason ’13

Rachel Eason married Micah Lies on September 15, 2018. The couple reside in the Belhaven neighborhood of Jackson, Mississippi, where Rachel works as public relations coordinator for Jackson Academy.

Chellese Hall ’14

Chellese started her career in communications, but she said, "God led me to way better places than a newsroom as I had anticipated with amazing support and mentorship along the way."

This fall, she began her study at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. at the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Administration. She is pursuing her Master's in Public Administration with a potential concentration in Nonprofit Management. She accepted admission into the school with a generous scholarship that allows her to work as a graduate assistant for the university. As she grew more involved, she was accepted into the Minority Leadership Program which focuses on representation for marginalized students and their development in the public and private sector.

In addition to school and working in D.C., she is a co-host for a Mississippi-based podcast called Red Flag produced in Podastery (a Jackson-based podcast company). Recently featured in the Associated Press and The Daily Mississippian, this show focuses on the history of the Confederate flag, which still flies on the Mississippi state flag and the momentum to change this iconography.

Since the fall of 2016, she has served as a board member and grants committee member for the Women's Foundation of Mississippi which is the only grant-making and advocacy foundation focused on improving the lives of women and girls in Mississippi.

Prior to leaving Jackson, she was active in serving at Common Ground Covenant Church which held its Jubilee Summit on the Church and the Poor at Belhaven earlier this year with the leadership and coordination from Dr. Bradford Smith.

Neil Otto ’15

Neil Otto (MBA ’15), Orange County Public Schools’ Human Resources Talent Acquisition Administrator, has earned the 2018 Workforce Game Changers Award from Workforce magazine. In its eighth year, the international award program selects the top human resources practitioners and strategists under the age of 40 dedicated to pushing the profession forward with innovative people-management practices. Otto was nominated for this award for his forward-thinking efforts to increase the OCPS human resources department’s presence on social media and improve their external branding. “Neil Otto is one of an amazing group of young, up-and-coming HR professionals who take on HR initiatives that advance workforce management practices for their organization as well as their profession,” said Rick Bell, Workforce magazine’s editorial director.

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You can give online, by mail: Belhaven University, 1500 Peachtree Street, Campus Box 158, Jackson, MS 39202, or by phone (601) 968-8719.