RELEASED: July 1, 2004

DANVILLE, KY—If given the opportunity to take a ride in Michael J. Fox's time machine from the movie "Back to the Future," several of the 2004 Governor's Scholars already know the person they'd like to go back and meet.

Scholar Rebecca Crutcher would like to meet "Gone with the Wind" star Vivien Leigh. Crutcher, a drama enthusiast, thought Leigh delivered "an awesome performance."

Monica Hagan would also like to meet a famous actress. She'd like to chat with Marilyn Monroe. "She was in some ways the All-American girl, and it'd be cool to sing 'Happy Birthday' to President Kennedy," she says.

Speaking of John F. Kennedy, Sara Spurr might tag along on Hagan's trip to visit the former president. "He died at a young age and everyone had such great expectations for him," Spurr says. "He never got to achieve many of his goals and I wonder if he would have."

Sam Lewis, however, would like to travel back to the days of former President Herbert Hoover and talk to him about the economy. "I think he made the Depression worse," Lewis says. "I'd like to give him advice."

While on the subject of former presidents, Stephen Bartlett wants meet the gentleman whose face appears on our $1 bill. "He had to do a job that no one else had done before," Bartlett says of the first U.S. President, George Washington. "He was a pioneer." (Washington was a financial contributor to Kentucky Academy, a forerunner of Centre.)

Several scholars chose religious leaders. Isaac Fosl-Van Wyke and Jesse Thorner would like to meet Jesus Christ. "The way his life and teachings impacted our society is extremely widespread," Thorner says. "Even our calendar is changed because of his life." "He's one of the most acclaimed people in history," Fosl-Van Wyke says. "I'd like to see what he's really like and how people around him really treated him."

Libby Knouse would like to meet Chinese philosopher Confucius. "I'd like to see if he's really as wise as all his writings seem to be," she says.

Daniel Evans and Ada Smith would like to fly away with a few legendary and pivotal pilots. "I'd like to meet the Wright brothers and tell them what they started," Evans says.

Smith would like to meet Amelia Earhart because Earhart rebelled against the expectations for women at the time.

Lindsay Sihau would also like to meet another important woman in history, Joan of Arc. "She had to overcome a lot," Sihau says, with considerable understatement.

Seeing that many of the legendary people cited made events happen that no one thought possible during their time, maybe one of the 2004 Governor's Scholars will make the "Back to the Future" time machine a reality. Stay tuned…

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top-50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

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