Opening Convocation Honors Outstanding Alumni
Submitted on January 19, 2018
The formal beginning of Georgetown College’s spring semester is celebrated with the annual Founders’ Day Convocation scheduled for this year on Tuesday, Jan. 23, in John L. Hill Chapel beginning at 11 a.m. Highlights include the annual Hall of Fame inductions and remarks to the assembled body by a prominent member of the campus community. The Founders’ Day Convocation may be viewed online at https://livestream.com/georgetowncoll/events/8017512
The speaker for the occasion is to be Dr. Lindsey Apple, Professor Emeritus of History. A much-loved and respected member of the Georgetown College family, Dr. Apple is a 1964 graduate. As an undergraduate, he was elected Chief Justice of the Student Government Association and served as Recording Secretary and Historian of his fraternity, Kappa Alpha. He was a member of Pi Delta Phi History Honorary and was selected both Mr. Georgetonian and Most Likely to Succeed by his fellow students. After Georgetown, Dr. Apple completed his Master’s Degree at the University of Kentucky and earned his Ph.D. in History at the University of South Carolina. He served as an instructor at Winthrop College in Rock Hill, South Carolina and at the U.S. Naval Base in Charleston, South Carolina, before joining the faculty at Georgetown College in 1970. For a time, 1973-1980, Dr. Apple was the College’s Dean of Students. He returned to the classroom in 1970. Dr. Apple is the author of two books and co-author of two others and has written numerous professional publications. He has served as president of the Scott County Historical Society and on the boards of numerous historical organizations. Additionally, he has been a consultant or a presenter on projects with the Kentucky Historical Society, the Kentucky Humanities Council, and the Kentucky Oral History Commission.
Two couples whose lives have long been intertwined with our school will be honored with induction into the College’s Hall of Fame. They are Mary Ann and the late Thomas Walter Dowling, Jr. and Debra and Franklin Ensor.
The Dowlings have been loyal members of the Georgetown College family since their undergraduate days which began in the 1950s. Mary Ann Dowling majored in elementary education. She went on to earn an M. Ed at the University of Cincinnati and a Reading Specialist Degree from Lynchburg College. Her husband, Coach Tom Dowling, excelled as an outstanding athlete as an undergraduate and went on to become a nationally respected coach and athletic administrator serving not only his alma mater but also Liberty Baptist College and Cumberland College, now the University of the Cumberlands. He was Mid-South Conference Commissioner from 1995-2002, was inducted into the Georgetown College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005, and served as a trustee at Georgetown College from 2003-2006. Sadly, Coach Dowling passed away on January 7 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
Few couples have had a greater or more lasting impact on the life of Georgetown College than have Franklin and Debra Ensor. Following graduation, Franklin became a successful businessman in Louisville. Debra dedicated her exceptional gifts in the music and theatre ministries of churches in Georgetown, Shelbyville, and Louisville. The Ensor’s support for their alma mater has been consistent and significant. Franklin served on the College’s Board of Trustees for sixteen years, three of which were as board chair. He also was a member of the Board’s athletic committee for several years. Franklin and Debra provided funding for the George McGee Winterpast Theatre Scholarship for a non-traditional student with an interest in theatre and were instrumental in establishing the Clyde F. and Anna Ensor Scholarship to provide assistance for deserving Georgetown College students. The longstanding and close relationship between the Ensor family and the College is evidenced also in the Anna Ashcraft Ensor Learning Resource Center, one of the College’s most beautiful and widely utilized buildings.
The Hall of Fame was established in 1993 to honor outstanding alumni and friends who have made distinctive contributions to Georgetown College during their lifetimes. Inductees are memorialized by marble plaques placed in their honor in the Ward Room of the Ensor Learning Resource Center.
