Like other Maryville College legacy students of the Class of 2029, Casey Cobble’s first day as a Scot began on Monday, Aug. 11, when first-year students arrived with family members in tow to move into the College’s residence halls.

His association with MC, however, began 18 years earlier, directly across the hall from his new residence in Pearsons. It was there, on March 1, 1997, that his father — Kenny Cobble ’98 — showed up to escort his mother, Meghan Casey Cobble ’98, on the first date that would lead to a life together that’s long been associated with their alma mater.

Carrying on traditions

Across campus, that heady combination of nostalgia and pride was a familiar refrain among the alumni who were on hand to assist 18 first-year Maryville College legacy students who follow in the footsteps of relatives who once called Maryville College home. For most of them, the opportunity to don the Scots mantle is an honor because of the connections made by parents and siblings, uncles and aunts, grandparents and even distant relatives who have long since passed.

After all, some of this year’s Legacy Scots have already spent plenty of time on the Maryville College campus while tagging along with family members to athletic events, theatrical plays, Homecoming activities and more. Nick Duke, for example — the son of Kyle Duke ’97, who serves as the president of the MC Alumni Association and on the Maryville College Board of Directors — grew up coming to campus events and MC football games, and last summer, football Coach Ben Fox invited him to a recruiting camp.

Over in Gamble Hall, Jenny Manners Bryan ’04 was swept up in her own blanket of “warm and fuzzies,” she said, as she and her husband, Jason Bryan ’04, moved their son Jack into the same residence hall where his father once lived.

Like the Cobbles, the Bryans found that happiness under the towering old-growth trees and in the shadows of ornate buildings, and for Jack, the College’s similarity to his high school alma mater — L&N STEM Academy in Knoxville — is what “sealed the deal” over the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, as the choice for his higher education.

Following in footsteps

That smaller, close-knit community was also the deciding factor for Yonatan Hernadez ’29, whose sister, Azusena Hernandez ’25, graduated last May. She accompanied her younger brother as he moved into Davis Hall, noting that he’s also following her into the Bonner Scholars Program, which offers financial aid in exchange for 10 hours a week of volunteer service to an area nonprofit organization.

For alumni, imagining their Legacy Scot thriving in the place that gave them both an education and a launchpad to vocational opportunities gives them a reassuring glimpse as well — that whatever path they choose at Maryville College, they’re going to thrive.

“It’s indelibly special,” said Kevin Ernsberger ’96, who escorted his daughter, Emma Ernsberger ’29, to move into her new home within the majestic Carnegie Hall. “Knowing she’ll be walking the same paths and sitting in the same classrooms fills me with pride and nostalgia. I graduated from Maryville College 30 years ago with my own memories, and I’m excited for her to create her own story here.”

That Emma — whose mother, Jessica Browning Parham, attended MC for three years, and whose stepfather, John Parham ’92, is also a Scot — selected Maryville College, he said, meant the world.

In a sense, move-in day for new first-year students was indeed a sort of homecoming. Whitney Fleming Johnson ’08 has fond memories of her time as a basketball player, and now that her younger sister, Kenzington Fleming ’29, is following in her footsteps as both a Scot and a baller, it’s an “awesome” feeling, she said.

Still other Legacy Scots come to Maryville College with little but memories to guide their MC journey. Isaiah Everett ’29, for example, never got to meet his uncle, Christopher Roach ’95, who died before Isaiah was born. And yet Roach still impacted Everett’s decision to attend Maryville College.

For the love of a president-turned-grandpa

Like Everett, Maddie Yalove ’29’s connection to College Hill has passed on, but not only did she know him before his death, she accompanied him to campus regularly. Her grandfather, the late Gerald Gibson, was Maryville College’s 10th president, serving from 1993 to 2010. He died in the spring of 2021 after an extended illness.

The Legacy Scots of the Class of 2029

The complete list of the Maryville College legacy students who are set to graduate in 2029, and their relatives, include:

  • Jack Bryan — Jason Bryan ’04 (father), Jenny Manners Bryan ’04 (mother)
  • Casey Cobble — Kenny Cobble ’98 (father), Meghan Casey Cobble ’98 (mother)
  • Nick Duke — Kyle Duke ’97 (father; president of the Maryville College Alumni Association, member of the Maryville College Board of Directors)
  • Emma Ernsberger — Kevin Ernsberger ’96 (father), Jessica Browning Parham (mother; attended MC 2000-2003); John Parham ’92 (stepfather)
  • Isaiah Everett — Christopher Roach ’95 (uncle, deceased)
  • Kenzington Fleming — Whitney Fleming Johnson ’08 (sister)
  • Sydney Haun — Kalea Espiritu Derry ’03 (aunt) and Nick Derry ’04 (uncle)
  • Jon Greenwell-Humberd — John Brown ’94 (brother)
  • Yonatan Hernandez — Azusena Hernandez ’25 (sister)
  • Austin Kirkland — David Kirkland ’86 (father, deceased), Kathryn Kirkland ’22 (sister)
  • Sherlin Morales — Michel Gonzalez ’27 (sister)
  • Marie Roddy — Mark Roddy ’98 (father), Andrea Roddy ’94 (mother, deceased), Dante Roddy ’26 (brother)
  • Izzy Self — Sean Ellis Moore ’25 (brother)
  • Joseph Silva-Noah — Kellie Silva-Wilbanks ’02 (mother), Joshua Noah ’02 (father), Natalie Silva ’10 (aunt), Lois Thomas McGarity ’48 (great-grandmother), Owen McGarity ’47 (great-grandfather), Chamintney Stovall Thomas ’22 (great-great grandmother)
  • Hayden Warwick — Kylee Warwick ’25 (sister)
  • Bailey Wiggins— Charles Wiggins ’92 (father; former assistant football coach and recruiting coordinator); Tracy Wiggins (former publications manager in the MC Office of Marketing & Communications)
  • Sophia Xiques— Donald Xiques ’86 (father), Betsy Xiques Bolint ’87 (aunt), Peter Xiques ’78 (uncle), Lisa Wilson Xiques ’77 (aunt)
  • Madeline Yalove—  Gerald Gibson (MC’s 10th president), Paul Gibson ’00 (uncle); Amanda Smeltzer Gibson ’01 (aunt), Laura Gibson ’97 (aunt), Alex Yalove ’27 (sister)

See full article with quotes and pictures of the legacy Scots and their families.

Maryville College is a nationally-ranked institution of higher learning and one of America’s oldest colleges located in Maryville, Tennessee, between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Knoxville. Maryville College offers more than 60 majors, seven pre-professional programs and career preparation from their first day on campus to their last, in the words of our Presbyterian founder, to “do good on the largest possible scale.”

Karen Eldridge, Executive Director of Communications: karen.eldridge@maryvillecollege.edu.

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