A family tradition: Legacy students of the incoming first-year class already have a special connection to Maryville College
Aug. 14, 2025
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.
“Kenny picked me up for our first date right here,” Meghan said on Monday as the Cobbles took a break from carrying furniture, appliances and household goods up the three flights of stairs on the back of the building most Scots and local residents associate with the dining facility now run by the culinary company Fresh Ideas.
“We got engaged on the stone steps in the back corner of this building,” Kenny added. “We got married at the (Covenant Stone) out by Anderson Hall. We live here in Maryville, and I come here and walk three or four times a week. Now, he’ll be here doing his own thing, and that’s pretty cool.”
Carrying on traditions
Across campus on Monday, 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. And while all of the alumni assisting new Scots move in on Monday stayed out of the way and let their children make their own decisions, they were nevertheless elated that they eventually chose the orange and garnet.
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.
“He really liked Coach Fox and the other coaches, and I think he felt comfortable with MC because it was familiar,” Kyle said. “I think growing up and coming to campus a lot helped. We gave him lots of opportunities to look at other schools, because I wanted him to decide what he wanted his path to be.”
After several other camps and recruiting visits, the Dukes took Kyle to his final one at Rhodes College, in Memphis. As the family got back into their car to leave, “he told us he was done looking at schools and wanted to go to MC,” Kyle added.
“I tried not to overdo it, but I was excited! I had a grin on my face all the way back from Memphis,” he said. “My time at Maryville College was so special. I really enjoyed playing football. I had great relationships with teammates and coaches. I made incredible, lifelong friendships. I got a great education that has served me incredibly well, and I got to know some great professors.
“I developed an affinity for Maryville College that has kept me connected ever since. I want him to have his own experiences, but I hope his time here is as special as my time was. I hope he leaves Maryville College loving it as much as I do.”
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.
“It just feels so familiar,” she said. “We met here, and we have such good memories of being here. It’s different, of course, because that was 25 years ago, but knowing that (Jack) can have very similar experiences here means the world. After all, that’s what we want for our kids — for them to be happy!”
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.
That, and the encouragement of two Scots who understand the advantages of being part of a coterie of more than 330 new Maryville College students (both first-years and transfers), as opposed to an estimated 6,500 new Vols over at UT.
“He’s not just a number here,” Jenny added.
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.
“She always talked about how amazing it was here, and how everyone was so nice, and how the community was there for each other, so that was a big part of me wanting to come here,” Yonatan said. “I chose Maryville College because it felt like the right fit for me academically, socially, and personally. Seeing my sister thrive here gave me a glimpse of what was possible!”
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.”
Like so many of the other family members of this year’s group of Maryville College legacy students, Ernsberger may have encouraged his daughter to give MC some serious consideration, but ultimately, the choice was all hers.
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.
“I was proud of her choice, pleased she saw value in Maryville College, and ecstatic to know she’ll be part of a place that still feels like home to me,” he said.
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.
“I was just so excited when she told me, because I still live here, about 10 minutes down the road, and my husband (Jonathan Johnson ’07) went here. He played basketball, too, and we’re just tickled she’s here,” Whitney said. “I have a lot of wonderful memories of this College, some of my favorite memories of my whole life, and I’m excited for her to maybe experience some of the same things that I did.”
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.
“He is the only person in my immediate and extended family who has graduated with a college degree,” Everett said. “From what I hear, he was an extremely brilliant individual, and I want to carry on his legacy. I want to positively impact my family members by showing them that it is possible to obtain a college degree with hard work and dedication.”
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.
“When I was little, I would come to the college with my grandfather a lot,” Yalove said. “I remember the days my sister and I would play behind the bleachers during the basketball games and come running back to the stands just in time to see the halftime dancers. During Homecoming, we would wait excitedly along the street with pom poms for my grandaddy to roll by in his parade convertible and scream when we were able to catch fistfuls of candy mid-air.
“I would see shows in the theater (of the Clayton Center for the Arts) that he helped build and be in awe of the talent that the stage held, and he would sing to me as we strolled down the college green. I grew up in this place. My grandfather showed me it was a place of creativity and learning. He believed in Maryville College with all he had, and so do I. Before he died, I told him I wanted to go to the college he helped build.
“I told him I would work hard to be the best version of myself to honor his memory and make something of myself,” she added. “That sentiment made him smile, and that’s why I love Maryville. It is everything my grandaddy wanted it to be, and I want to help make it even better.”
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 — Dr. Gerald Gibson (MC’s 10th president), Paul Gibson ’00 (uncle); Amanda Smeltzer Gibson ’01 (aunt), Laura Gibson ’97 (aunt), Alex Yalove ’27 (sister)
