Our Highlanders are using their education to do extraordinary things. In this column, we highlight some notable mentions from local, regional, national and international news media. Whether our students, alumni, faculty and staff are featured as subject matter experts in high-profile stories or simply helping make the world a little better, we’ll feature their stories.
Screen protector
More than 6,700 students and staffers, faculty and family members have now downloaded the Radford Safe phone app, according to a recent report by WDBJ-7.
That Sept. 21 news spot focused on the app, which allows smartphone users to request a virtual escort, deliver anonymous tips to police or activate a "blue light alert" to signal for emergency assistance.
That last emergency escort feature lets police or friends track a student's movements in real time, but only in limited sessions and only upon request; it's the app's most used feature, according to WDBJ-7.
Peter McCann, the university's director of emergency management, told the station the Radford Safe app has been available for about a decade but remains part of an ongoing campus safety strategy.
“If it provides that resource and gives the student peace of mind that these tools are available to them, that’s a success in itself,” McCann said.
WDBJ-7 also spoke with two seniors, Carmen Sheppard and Cheyenne Sweeney, who said Radford Safe makes a difference for them.
“Walking alone to my dorm at night, it can be kind of scary ... but you feel a lot safer using the features from this app,” Sheppard explained.
Colleges across the United States reported more than 41,000 criminal offenses in 2024, WDBJ-7 said, which led to more than 20,000 arrests.
Radford Safe is free to download through most app stores.
Back on track
Today, Mackenzie Bolling is a Highlander working her way through her first year as an allied health science major at Radford.
But back when she was a sophomore at Lunenburg County Public High School, she had a fairly active lifestyle, to put it mildly – she played volleyball, ran track, was a band majorette and competed on two different cheer teams.
On top of all that, however, she was suffering from hip pain she described as “agonizing,” the result of a torn labrum.
An Oct. 12 article on Virginia Commonwealth University Health’s website takes readers through her treatment and recovery.
That path included hip arthroscopy surgery through VCU Health Orthopaedics in the fall of her junior year, on her right side, and a second on the left side in June 2025, each followed by intensive physical therapy.
The story is highly detailed, documenting a couple of years of progress, but it ends on a decidedly upbeat note.
“After two surgeries and years of managing pain, Mackenzie’s senior year of high school was filled with major milestones,” the story explains. “She went on to play varsity volleyball and competed at the Class 1/2 VHSL [Virginia High School League] state level for both competition cheer and outdoor track.”
Bolling this week told us she isn’t involved in athletics at Radford this year, beyond runs at the gym and on trails along the New River, but said she remains pain-free and has been shaped by her experiences in another positive way.
“I am in the early assurance physical therapy program here at Radford as well,” she explained. “I decided to become a physical therapist after my long journey with PT in high school.”
Building bridges for transfer students
When Radford University and Virginia Western Community College (VWCC) signed three articulation agreements on Oct. 12, Roanoke's WSLS-TV was there.
The agreements create guaranteed transfer pathways for students enrolled in three medical laboratory science programs and ensure that those who’ve earned an associate degree at VWCC can transfer into Radford’s bachelor’s program without losing credits.
They relate specifically to VWCC students who meet all requirements and complete the Associate of Applied Science degree in medical laboratory technology; the Associate of Science degree in science: biotechnology; or the Associate of Science degree in science: health sciences.
Part of the goal is to fill shortages of medical lab technicians and lab scientists in the region.
It’s designed to be both locally supportive and cost-effective, Radford University President Bret Danilowicz told the station.
“It creates a pipeline not only into a high-need job, but one that’s very affordable,” Danilowicz said. “Every opportunity we get to create those pipelines keeps our talent here, keeps our future here.”
Dark arts
The figurative realist drawings and paintings of Mary Carroll, M.F.A. ’10, are frequently evocative of dreams – they tend to be veiled by shadows and populated with mysterious figures and animals, depicting situations that typically raise more questions than they answer.
Since she earned her degree in painting and art history in 2010, Carroll’s work has won awards and entered the permanent collections of Massachusetts’ New Salem Museum of Fine Art and the R.W. Norton Gallery in Shreveport, Louisiana.
On Sept. 19, Bizarre Beautiful, an arts and culture magazine based in Australia, published a brief but rich interview with Carroll, who now lives in Ashland, Virginia.
“Mary Carroll’s body of work is equal parts haunting and comforting,” the interviewer notes, and goes on to ask her about her early memories of making art, her upbringing in rural West Virginia and the inspirations behind her cryptic but lyrical work.
As part of the chat, Carroll voices a desire to ultimately – in the afterlife – directly sample the experiences of the creatures who make up so much of her work.
“I don’t want to be a human again in the next life, if I could put in a request,” the artist said. “I want to be with the animals, the moss, the ferns, and I’ll just have to observe all of it in my paintings, if I can’t be it.”
You can see more of Carroll’s work on her website, www.merrysee.com.
