Three Columbus/Columbus North High School alumni will be inducted into the Bull Dog Alumni Association’s Hall of Fame on Friday.
The association will hold a 6:15 p.m. ceremony in the student commons area at Columbus North for the sixth class of inductees that will follow a 5:30 p.m. reception. The event will precede the school’s 7:30 p.m.. homecoming football game against Terre Haute North.
This year’s inductees include an attorney, a retired photographer/videographer and the former leader of a regional hospice care agency in Indiana.
Victoria Toensing
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Victoria Toensing, a 1958 graduate of Columbus High School, and is a founding partner of the Washington, D.C., law firm diGenova & Toensing LLP, which she started with her husband, Joseph diGenova.
Toensing, an international expert on white-collar crime, national security and intelligence matters, graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and went on to earn a law degree from the University of Detroit Law School.
She served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Michigan from 1976 to 1981 and also worked as deputy assistant attorney general within the criminal division of the U.S. Department of Justice for four years.
In her role with the Department of Justice, she established the terrorism unit and directed investigations of terrorists responsible for the 1982 bombing of Pan Am Flight Flight 830; the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 from Cario, Egypt, to San Diego, California; and the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship.
Toensing also served as an analyst on television during the 1999 impeachment and U.S. Senate trial of President Bill Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, of which he was acquitted.
Toensing said she plans on returning to Columbus with her husband for the induction ceremony. She will join 26 other alumni whose names are on the wall, including retired NASCAR driver Tony Stewart and Vice President Mike Pence.
Toensing, who now lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland, just outside of Washington, said her time growing up in Columbus helped shape her into who she is today.
She said she is honored to be recognized by the alumni association in being inducted into the Hall of Fame.
“I was very pleased because many of us who are conservative are not honored in any way,” Toensing said.
Dennis Unger
Dennis Unger, a 1959 graduate of Columbus High School, is a retired photographer and videographer who started his career in journalism taking photos for The Evening Republican, which was renamed in 1967 as The Republic.
His work at the newspaper beginning at age 14 helped set the foundation for his future career and allowed him to network with others around him, he said. As part of his duties, he helped process photos in the darkroom, he said.
“I was exposed to some very good people at a very early age,” Unger said. “My whole life was focused on being first and I had to be first.”
Unger became a news cameraman for WFBM-TV, an NBC affiliate in Indianapolis, where he was named news film cameraman of the year three straight years starting in 1967. He was also part of the WFBM team that won a Peabody Award for a series of programs that examined and promoted race relations in Indianapolis.
In addition, he also worked at television stations in Cleveland and Pittsburgh during his career.
Unger, who plans to attend the induction ceremony with his wife Barb and their two children, credited several teachers during his time in high school who were able to help him, including educator Shirley Lyster, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2013.
“I had great teachers at Columbus who took an interest in me,” Unger said. “I’m very grateful for what they did for me. They were good teachers and good people.”
Unger also worked in the White House communications office in Washington and spent seven years under President George W. Bush and two years under President Barack Obama. He was also responsible for converting the White House’s videography system to high definition on the day of Obama’s inauguration.
Unger, who now lives in Marblehead, Ohio, said he is humbled in being selected for the Hall of Fame, adding that it came as a surprise to him.
“I’m just overwhelmed about the whole thing,” he said. “I never dreamed anything like this would happen.”
Sandy Carmichael
Sandy Carmichael, who graduated from Columbus High School in 1967, will join Toensing and Unger as the third inductee this year. She was the first director of Our Hospice of South Central Indiana, serving in that role from 1980 until 2013.
She also created the Indiana Association of Hospices in 1979 and was instrumental in the passage of state certification and the Medicaid hospice benefit.
In 1987, Carmichael helped start the annual Labor Day concert fundraiser for the agency.
Carmichael, who earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Indiana State University, said her time at Columbus High School was a great experience.
“It prepared me academically for nursing school,” Carmichael said, noting that biology teacher Norm Poe was a positive influence.
She returned from college to work at what is now Columbus Regional Hospital beginning in 1971.
Carmichael, who lives in Columbus, said she is honored to be inducted.
“It’s not just for me,” Carmichael said, giving credit to all the staff and volunteers she worked with at Our Hospice of South Central Indiana.
Selection process
A seven-member committee was tasked with evaluating nominations and selected the three individuals to be inducted in this year’s Hall of Fame, said Hedy George, executive director of the Bull Dog Alumni Association. The Hall of Fame was created in 2012 by the association as a way to celebrate the accomplishments of Columbus High School and Columbus North High School alumni.
George said Toensing, Unger and Carmichael all stood out to the selection committee, describing them as individuals who are outstanding in their professions.
“When looking at each of their resumes and what they have accomplished, all three were worthy of being inducted into the Bull Dog Alumni Association Hall of Fame,” George said.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Victoria Toensing” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Victoria (Long) Toensing, a 1958 graduate of Columbus High School, and is a founding partner of the Washington, D.C., law firm diGenova & Toensing LLP, which she started with her husband, Joseph diGenova.
She served as assistant U.S. attorney in Michigan and worked as deputy assistant general for the criminal division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
She graduated from Indiana University in 1962 with a bachelor’s degree, and earned a law degree from the University of Detroit Law School in 1975.
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Dennis Unger, a 1959 graduate of Columbus High School, is a retired photographer and videographer who started his career in journalism with The Evening Republican, forerunner of The Republic.
He was a news cameraman for WFBM-TV in Indianapolis and NBC affiliates in Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
Unger worked in the White House communications office in Washington and spent seven years under President George W. Bush and two years under President Barack Obama.
He designed the audio system on Air Force One for traveling White House press corps.
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Sandy (Hutton) Carmichael, who graduated from Columbus High School in 1967, was the first director of Our Hospice of South Central Indiana, serving in that role from 1980 until 2013.
She received former Gov. Robert Orr’s Health Award for Voluntary Action in 1983 and was given the Sagamore of the Wabash Award in 1992 by Gov. Evan Bayh in honor of her hospice work on local and state levels.
She is a graduate of Indiana State University with a degree in nursing.
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2013: Ross Barbour (1947), Ray Eddy (1929), Paul "Dutch" Fehring (1930), Shirley A. Lyster (1947), Sandra Bridges Newkirk (1956), Thomas Spurgeon (1956), Bill Stearman (1943), Robert Stewart (1947), Chuck Taylor (1919).
2014: Josephine Armuth (1921), James K. Paris (1957), Michael Pence (1977), Albert "Ab" Schumaker (1934), Richard "Rick" Stoner (1964), Dr. Robert Zerbe (1968).
2015: Stephen David (1974), Jamie Hyneman (1975), Michael Martin (1982), Glenn Thompson (1917).
2016: Duane Barrows (1947), Martha May Newsomn (1945), Terry Schmidt (1970), Tony Stewart (1988).
2017: Bradford G. "Brad" Garton (1975), Pamela Robillard Mackey (1974), Stephen Sprouse (1971).
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