Lee University officials are praising one of their professors, who was brutally killed over the weekend, as a loving, caring person.
Dr. Janet Rahamut, 52, died in a knife attack just before midnight Saturday at her home in Cleveland.
Bradley County General Sessions Court Judge Andrew Bennett has ordered a mental evaluation for Roger Joseph, 33, who is charged with her murder.
The funeral for Dr. Rahamut will be Thursday at 10 a.m. at Cleveland's Church of the Harvest, where she was a long-time member. Visitation is scheduled Wednesday from 6 to 9 p.m. at Ralph Buckner Funeral Home in Cleveland.
Lee President Dr. Paul Conn said, "Dr. Rahamut was a popular veteran of the Lee University faculty. She was best known for her intense and caring involvement in the lives of her students. We are shocked and unspeakably saddened by the loss of such a wonderful colleague. Our intention is to do anything humanly possible to stand by her three children during this terrible time."
Dr. Rahamut was a 23-year veteran of Lee's English faculty. She was initially employed at Lee in 1977, and she taught English Composition, Masterpieces of World Literature, American Literature, Adolescent Literature, American Novel, and Methods of Teaching English.
She had six years of experience teaching in the Georgia public school system, and she was the recipient of Lee's prestigious Excellence in Advising Award in 1996. Rahamut was a sponsor of Sigma Tau Delta and Epsilon Lambda Phi, while she also served on the Education Committee. She specialized in young adult literature and American literature.
Dr. Rahamut was the supervising professor for Lee's Semester in Cambridge program in 1997 and helped lead the New England Studies Program in 1999.
She was the mother of three: David, Daniel, and Jennifer, all of which attended Lee.
She enjoyed books and films, discussing and recommending them as much as watching and reading them. She also enjoyed traveling and learning about different cultures. She was from New Bern, North Carolina.
Just last month, the Lee University Board of Directors awarded Dr. Rahamut a sabbatical for post-doctoral study.
She also directed the university's New England Studies Program and returned Thursday, June 1, from Boston with the group of students. In the Spring 1998 semester, she led 22 Lee students on the Cambridge Study Program to Cambridge, England.
Dr. Carolyn Dirksen, Vice President of Academic Affairs, said, "She was a wonderful, generous, open-hearted, kind woman. She was an excellent classroom teacher. She was just loved by her students."
"It would just be a tragedy if all people knew about her was that she came to this violent end because she had a beautiful life in that she contributed hope and kindness and meaning to a lot of people. She was just a very beautiful Christian woman."
Authorities said Joseph called Dr. Rahamut on Saturday night, then showed up at her home on Old Georgetown Road with a knife hidden in a newspaper.
She was stabbed in the head a number of times.
Officials said Joseph began attacking Dr. Rahamut's daughter when she came home with a boyfriend, but the boyfriend pulled Joseph off her.