The Rampage #4 March 2020

bcRampage.com

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Students

C harles Reese and his wife of 30 years, Rebecca McCoy-Reese, both serve as professors of theatre at Bluefield College. They produce, design, and direct all of the college drama productions together, as well as both teaching theatre courses.

D r. Marshall Flowers currently serves as vice president for academic affairs and athletics at Bluefield College. His wife of 47 years, Linda, serves as an adjunct instructor. However, the majority of her services for the college are volunteer work. She is best known for leading BC’s flute choir, which is a small chamber ensemble that meets and performs in the spring semester. It was Linda’s gift for the flute that introduced her to Marshall. “The summer before our senior year of high school, I was playing the flute with my best friend at the church music festival,” Linda recalls. “It was the national competition. Marshall and his friendwere spectators.” After the competition, which was hosted at Marshall’s home church, the two guys showed the young ladies around their hometown. A couple years later, Linda moved to the same town as Marshall for college. The two reconnected almost as soon as she arrived when he invited her to come to church with him. “I knew how special that relationship was going to be,” he said. “So, I took time to be her friend and get to know her better.” Marshall and Linda have always known that they were called to serve in a Christ-centered environment. They made the choice to dedicate themselves and their marriage to ministry. This began in the church and led to opportunities in Christian higher education. Marshall has fond memories of raising their two children around a college campus where they served in Seattle. The kids, he said, “grew up on the campus. They went to chapel and all the events. Their babysitters were college students.” While Linda admits that she had opportunities to excel with teaching on her own, she explains that she made the decision to work part-time as a complement to her husband’s leadership to avoid jeopardizing their home.

“He hired me for a summer stock company,” Rebecca said about how she and Charles met. “And I made up a position for her because I thought she was cute,” Charles added, “and I had already hired everybody,” which Rebecca didn’t know until years later. The couple has almost always worked together, including as a traveling drama ministry team, which is what actually led to the opportunity to join the faculty at Bluefield College following their performance during BC’s Duremdes Christian Emphasis Week in 2000. “When we are together, we are more than just two separate people,” Rebecca said. They are often asked to teach workshops on “synergy” because co-workers notice that their marriage is a perfect example of it. Students believe that they are “couple goals.” As for Valentine’s Day, the Reeses are usually busy working on the current production. However, Charles remembers one year on Valentine’s Day Rebecca surprised him by carrying in a huge stuffed bear, which sat in their office for a while. They said it’s not about one day; it’s about doing small things randomly to show each other that they care.

“You have this pie which is your relationship,” Linda said. “As you divide it up to do different things, it becomes really mushy.”

It is a shared value to gift their time and each other’s time to the college for the glory of God, they said. Valentine’s Day for them has recently included traveling together to a national conference in a tropical location for professional development. In the earlier years of their marriage, they were invited to Valentine’s Day events and church dinners to perform a musical duet.