Alicia Showalter Reynolds Scholarship

Alicia Showalter Reynolds dreamed of serving others through scientific research and teaching at the college level. During her fourth year as a doctoral student at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, she was working actively to develop a vaccine against schistosomiasis, a disease that afflicts millions of people, especially children, in developing countries. In fact, she was making significant progress in producing a DNA-based vaccine to provide protection against this disease. She and her husband Mark Reynolds had planned to go to Africa to help administer the vaccine, where he would also serve as a dentist.

Alicia and Mark were not able to fulfill their dream because she was tragically murdered in a random encounter with another human being. During a trip on March 2, 1996, from Baltimore to Charlottesville, Virginia, where she had planned to spend the day with her mother in shopping for her twin brother’s upcoming wedding, she was abducted from her automobile on U.S. 29 near Culpeper, Virginia. Her body was found May 7, 1996, near Lignum, Virginia.

Alicia was 25 years old when she died. She was a beautiful person, and she also had beauty of character. Friends recalled an unusual combination of compassion, sensitivity, and calm combined with an intensely competitive, determined pursuit of excellence. These qualities permeated her life from friendships to family, from sports to studies. This dedicated student also had another side — a side that took great delight in the enjoyable aspects of life. Friends recall her unique giggle, her dancing in the rain, her radiant love for her husband Mark.

Alicia’s rich and enriching life began in Harrisonburg, Virginia, August 5, 1970, as the oldest child of Harley Rhodes and Sadie Miller Showalter. Born 10 minutes afterward was her twin brother Patrick René (Goshen College ‘92). Her sister Barbara Janine (Goshen College ‘96) was born May 9, 1975.

In 1988 Alicia enrolled at Goshen College where she majored in biology and chemistry. Biology professor Jonathan Roth said that she exemplified “the spirit of what we do at our best” at GC. He recalled her strong work in the classroom, and he also remembered her gleeful abandon when another student splashed her as they waded in a shallow flat at Goshen College’s marine biology facility in Florida. A mock battle ensued, with Alicia as a major player, heaving fistfuls of algae at others. Besides her studies, she also continued her interest in music by playing the oboe in the college orchestra. She spent a 13-week study-service term in the Dominican Republic. After graduating with distinction in 1992, she chose to join the graduate program at Hopkins above some attractive offers from other leading universities.

In Baltimore Alicia met Mark William Reynolds on May 1, 1993, and they were married December 31, 1994, in Harrisonburg, Virginia at Park View Mennonite Church, where she was a member. Throughout her college years, she participated actively in the worship services and Sunday School program of College Mennonite Church in Goshen. She and Mark were actively involved with the North Baltimore Mennonite Church. Approximately 1,200 people attended the memorial service for Alicia on May 12, 1996, at which her father Harley and aunt, Shirley Hershey Showalter, president-elect of Goshen College, spoke. She is buried in the cemetery at Trissels Mennonite Church, Broadway, Virginia.

Although Alicia was not able to realize her dreams to the fullest, her exemplary life can serve as an ongoing inspiration to others, particularly those who receive this scholarship. Her family believes that this scholarship can help perpetuate her memory for years and years to come.