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Alumni update: Ballis ’90, Byrd ’96, Polich ’09, Rotabi ’05, Stelly ’83

Barbara Massey Stelly, MSW ’83, is retiring after more than 28 years of service to the State of North Carolina. The Division of Public Health Women’s Health Branch honored her with a retirement celebration on Dec. 8 in Raleigh.

Alumni in the media:

Thomas “Tab” Ballis, MSW ’90, is featured in the November 2011 edition of NASW News for his radio interview as part of the station’s special coverage of the remembrance of the 9/11 attacks. Ballis, an LCSW in Wilmington, spent time at a Ground Zero tent as an on-site counselor for the Red Cross.

Yolanda Meade Byrd, MSW ’96, is mentioned in the Nov. 24 edition of the Salisbury Post in the article, “Livingstone president speaks to college about overcoming adversity.”

Joe Polich, MSW ’09, had a letter to the editor published in the Daily Tar Heel on Nov. 29, “Free press should be exercised free of fear.” Polich is currently a student at the UNC School of Law.

Karen Smith Rotabi, Ph.D. ’05, is featured in a Nov. 27 Aiken (S.C.) Standard article, “Aiken high grad to speak on inter-country adoption Sunday.” Rotabi spoke at the Aiken Unitarian Universalist Church on Nov. 27 as part of the morning service, on “Inter-Country Adoption: The Rise, Decline, Money and ‘Saving’ of Children.” Rotabi is an assistant professor of social work at Virginia Commonwealth University.