Graphic Arts Department Receives Gift

Mark Taylor, president and CEO of Southern Aluminum Manufacturing, Inc. in Magnolia, recently made a $5,000 donation to the graphic arts department at Southern Arkansas University. In the photo from left to right, SAU Foundation Director Jeanie Bismark, art professor Doug Waterfield, Taylor and Associate Director of Development at SAU, Josh Kee.

Muleriders on Tour – Texarkana

Southern Arkansas University hosted alumni and friends of the University on Tuesday, March 17, at the Texarkana Country Club in Texarkana, Ark. The event, dubbed “Muleriders on Tour,” was sponsored by the Office of the President, the SAU Foundation, SAU Alumni Association, and the Mulerider Club.
Local hosts included Dan and Judy Carmeli, Eddie and Emmie Gamble, Allen and Shelby Brown, Amy Jo Freedman, and Buddy and Sherry Hawkins.

Created by Act 100 of the Arkansas General Assembly in 1909, Southern Arkansas University is holding events like the one in Texarkana as part of its Centennial celebration. Attendees heard an update on the University from Dr. David Rankin, president of SAU. Bill Keopple, head football coach at SAU, gave a preview of the 2009 Mulerider football season and the annual spring scrimmage game scheduled for March 19. Keopple was formerly the head coach for the Arkansas High School Razorbacks in Texarkana.

Southern Arkansas University honors those who have made gifts for the past 25 years

MAGNOLIA—Southern Arkansas University Foundation honored individuals, companies, and foundations that have contributed to scholarship, academic and athletic programs, and campus projects at the University during the past year at the annual Honors Societies Dinner on October 9, 2008, in the Grand Hall of the Donald W. Reynolds Campus and Community Center.

New this year was an award for those who had made an annual gift to the University during each of the past 25 years. Honorees present were (left to right) Mr. Louis Blanchard, Mrs. Martha Blanchard, Mrs. Mickey Ketchum, Mrs. Bobbie Taylor, Dr. Gayle White, Mr. Richard White, Mrs. Mona Harrington, Dr. Jack Harrington, Mrs. Dorothy Fincher, Mrs. Helen Samuel, Mr. Harold Fincher, Mr. Archie Monroe, Dr. Corbet Lamkin, and Mrs. Verna Lamkin.

Also honored, but not pictured were Mrs. Amy Ambler, Dr. Richard Ambler, Mrs. Gene Brinson, Dr. Harold Brinson, Dr. David Crouse, Mrs. Margaret Crouse, Dr. L. Carson Davis, Dr. Elizabeth Davis, Mrs. Ann Reeves Eddy, Dr. Rudy Eichenberger, Mrs. Sharon Eichenberger, Mrs. Dorothy Longino, Mrs. Judy McNeal, Dr. Larry McNeal, Mrs. Billie Ross, Dr. Delwyn Ross, Mr. Glenn Vasser, Mrs. Judy Vasser, and Miss Patsy Weaver.

SAU honors those who have completed endowments

Southern Arkansas University Foundation honored individuals, companies, and foundations that have contributed to scholarship, academic and athletic programs, and campus projects at the University during the past year at the annual Honors Societies Dinner on October 9, 2008, in the Grand Hall of the Donald W. Reynolds Campus and Community Center.

Among those honored were individuals and groups which had completed endowments during the 2007-2008 fiscal year. Endowments provide a continual source of funds for scholarships, academic enrichment, athletic programs, and campus needs. Endowments are often given in honor or in memory of a family member, a favorite teacher, or special person. Each endowment is commemorated with a plaque on the Endowment Honor Wall in the Reynolds Center.

The endowments completed last year were the following:

• Dr. Ralph and Leila Boulware Endowment to benefit SAU Animal Science Studies
• Emogene “Jean” Winn Burns, Ray Burns, and John G. Winn Endowment provides a Scholarship in the School of Nursing, given by Ray Burns of Denver, Colorado,
• Donald and Dorinda Hale Crews Endowment to benefit the athletic program
• Edwin H. Hawkes Endowment to benefit the athletic program
• Lowrance and Marilyn Hodge Endowment providing a Scholarship Award for a Pre-engineering student
• Fred Hugh Longino Endowment to benefit the Magale Library
• Magnolia Lion’s Club Scholarship Endowment, Preference to a Student with Vision Impairment
• Mary Nelle Horn Mattox Endowment which provides a School of Business Scholarship Award
  Given by Arkansas Entergy Retirees Club
• James Robert and Charlotte Jordan Miller Endowment to benefit the Magale Library
• Dale H. and Gail Reveley Robbins Endowment providing a
  scholarship award for a Non-Traditional Elementary or Secondary Education Major
• Dr. and Mrs. Bill Scurlock Endowment to benefit the athletic program
• Norma and Wayne Taylor Endowment to benefit the athletic program
• Fred and Faye Trexler School of Business Endowment given by Mr. and Mrs. Jim Bailey
• Mr. and Mrs. Ray Uhrich School of Business Scholarship Endowment
• Dr. Ben Whitfield Scholarship Endowment

Pictured in front of the Endowment Honor Wall are these donors who were present Thursday evening:

Seated (left to right): Mrs. Darla Williams, Magnolia Lions Club; Mrs. Dorinda Crews, and Mr. Donald Crews;

Second row left to right: Mrs. Peggy Trexler Bailey, Mrs. Marilyn Hodge, Mrs. Norma Taylor, Mrs. Daisy Uhrich, Mrs. Adelle Whitfield, and Mrs. Barbara Scurlock;

Back row (left to right) Mrs. Lu Waters, Arkansas Entergy Retirees Club; Mr. Jim Bailey; Mr. Lowrance Hodge; Mr. Wayne Taylor; Mr. Ray Uhrich, and Dr. Bill Scurlock.

New & completed endowments for the 07-08 fiscal year

Endowments are permanent funds which provide annual revenue to SAU for student scholarships, professorships, lectures, academic and athletic enrichment programs, and other student and faculty projects. Because endowments are such a valuable stable revenue stream to any university, the size of an institution’s endowment is one standard measure of excellence.

The following endowments were completed during the July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008 fiscal year. Donors may contribute to all endowments, whether complete or incomplete: additional gifts increase the benefit of the endowment.

These donors will be honored at the annual SAU Foundation dinner on October 9, 2008.

1 Emogene “Jean” Winn Burns, Ray Burns, and John G. Winn Scholarship Award for a Nursing Student, Ray Burns of Denver, Colorado

2 Dr. Ralph and Leila Boulware Animal Science Endowment, Dr. Ralph Boulware of Stamps, Arkansas

3 Donald and Dorinda Hayle Crews Athletic Endowment, Donald & Dorinda Crews of Hamburg, Arkansas

4 Edwin H. Hawkes Athletic Endowment, Edwin H. Hawkes of Wellsburg, New York

5 Lowrance and Marilyn Hodge Scholarship Award for a Pre-engineering Student, Lowrance & Marilyn Hodge of Dallas, Texas

6 Fred Hugh Longino Library Endowment, Anonymous

7 Magnolia Lion’s Club Scholarship with Preference to a Student with Vision Impairment

8 Mary Nell Horn Mattox Scholarship Award for a Business Student from Southwest Arkansas, Southwest Arkansas Entergy Retirees

9 James Robert & Charlotte Jordan Miller Magale Library Endowment, Sharon Eichenberger of Magnolia, Arkansas

10 Dale H. and Gail Reveley Robbins Scholarship Award for a Non-traditional Student majoring in Elementary or Secondary Education, Dale & Gail Robbins of Magnolia, Arkansas

11 Dr. and Mrs. Bill Scurlock Athletic Endowment, Bill & Barbara Scurlock of El Dorado, Arkansas

12 Norma and Wayne Taylor Athletic Endowment, Norma & Wayne Taylor of Camden, Arkansas

13 Fred H. and Faye Trexler School of Business Endowment, Mr. and Mrs. Jim Bailey of Little Rock, Arkansas

14 Mr. and Mrs. Ray Uhrich Scholarship Award for a Business Student with B Average or Better, Ray and Daisy Uhrich of Magnolia, Arkansas

15 Dr. Ben Whitfield Scholarship Endowment, estate gift

The following endowments were started during the July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008 fiscal year.

1 Don and Nada Cearley Transfer Scholarship for a Business Major, Lisa Toms of Magnolia, Arkansas

2 Entergy Employees Retired and Active Scholarship Fund, Southwest Arkansas Entergy Retiree Club

3 Embree Professorship, Dr. and Mrs. Larry J. Embree of Shreveport, Louisiana

4 Governor Sidney Sanders McMath Scholarship for Pre-Law Student, Mike Kinard of Magnolia, Arkansas

5 Calvin Neal Athletic Endowment, Phil Brooks of Plano, Texas

6 James Harold Reeves Music Scholarship, Charleane Reeves of Magnolia, Arkansas

7 Paul and Bernidene Sorrels School of Business Endowment, anonymous

8 Gayle Webb White College of Business Student Travel Endowment, Dr. Gayle White of Magnolia, Arkansas

2008 Phonathon a Success!

This year’s phone campaign raised more than $50,000 of unrestricted money for Southern Arkansas University. The phone campaign is staffed by student volunteers from various student organizations. Organizations that participated in this year phone campaign were President’s Ambassadors, SAU Band, Phi Mu Fraternity, Phi Lamb, Sigma, Sigma, Sigma, Upward Bound, Students in Free Enterprise, and AGR.

President’s Ambassadors from left to right include Pate Bauldree, Brandon Renfro, Zach Fowler, Clayton Norman, Kandice Smith and Gary Herron. The President’s Ambassadors were awarded $500 from the SAU Foundation for raising the largest amount of donations in four nights of phone campaign. The President’s Ambassadors raised more than $10,200 of unrestricted money for the University.

The SAU Band members include Heather Townson, Rachel Karger, David Hernandez and Duane Torres. The SAU Band was awarded $200 from the SAU Foundation for raising more than $6,000 in four night of phone campaign.

Members of the Phi Mu Fraternity include, front row left, Megan Black, Cari Strickland, and on the back row Sarah Gatliff, Candice Morgan, Kayla Pipkins and Chelsea Roach. Phi Mu Fraternity was awarded $200 from the SAU Foundation for raising more than $6,000 in four night of phone campaign.

Phi Lamb members include Zach Fowler, Zach Flanagan and Corey Davis. Phi Lamb was awarded $200 from the SAU Foundation for raising more than $6,000 in four night of phone campaign.

Sigma Sigma Sigma members include Beth Hugh, Haley Burrow, Angie Dennington, Megan Holliday, Amber Johnson and Miranda Burris. Sigma, Sigma, Sigma was awarded $200 from the SAU Foundation for raising more than $6,000 in four night of phone campaign.

Alumni Association seeks help with bridge

The Southern Arkansas Alumni Association is searching for donors whose generous gifts will make a bridge on campus a reality.

The bridge will connect the Welcome Center area with the football field.

The cost of the project is estimated at $50,000 and plans are for the bridge to be completed by the first football game of the fall 2009 said David Butler, a member of the SAU Alumni board and the coordinator for this project. Butler said it is anticipated that Unit Structure Company, a local manufacturing company, will be selected to work on the project.

Mike Waters, the chairman of the SAU Alumni Board that governs the SAU Alumni Association, said this bridge will be a valuable asset to the University. “With all the construction taking place on the campus, this is a natural direction for the Alumni Association to follow,” Waters said. “This is by far the largest project the association has taken on and the bridge is going to be the kind of project that alumni will be proud they have contributed to.”

Alumni Director Ceil Bridges said a ceremony to honor the bridge will be held in conjunction with SAU’s centennial celebration.

Mulerider baseball receives Walker Foundation grant

The Mulerider baseball team has received a $500,000 grant from the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation, Inc. based in Fayetteville.

The grant will be used to make improvements to the Southern Arkansas University baseball field, but plans have not yet been finalized. Some of the ideas being considered include a new score board, a new press box, a concession stand, public restrooms and possibly office space for coaches to meet with players and prospective recruits in private.

SAU Foundation Director Jeanie Bismark said she and Josh Kee, associate director of the foundation, received a letter Tuesday that the grant was accepted. The group applied for the grant in February.
On Wednesday morning, the pair, along with Mulerider Baseball Coach Allen Gum, SAU Athletic Director Jay Adcox and SAU President Dr. David Rankin, took part in a conference call thanking the foundation for the gift. They spoke to Debbie Walker, Executive Director of the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation.

“I just wanted to tell you what a huge difference these grants make in the baseball program,” Gum said. “So much of recruitment is driven by the quality of the facilities and we continue to attract better recruits each year with one of the nicest quality baseball fields in (NCAA) Division II baseball.”

The Walker Charitable Foundation first granted SAU a $160,000 matching grant in July 2005 which provided the lights at the baseball field.

Adcox described this year’s gift from the Walker Charitable Foundation as “tremendous” and said the benefits of a top notch baseball facility impact more than just the baseball team.

“This facility is a pride factor for the University and the whole community,” Adcox said.

Rankin said one of the goals for the University is to eventually to host the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Conference tournament which ended this past weekend. The Muleriders’ season ended at the semi-finals of the conference with a loss to Delta State.

The loss was the end of a phenomenal season by SAU (46-12) as they reached the 40-win plateau for the third consecutive year and reached the No. 1 ranking in the country in April for the first time in University history. Southern Arkansas’ 46 victories matches the highest season win total set by the 1987 NAIA World Series team that finished third in the nation.

Honor Wall Ceremony recognizes individuals who have completed their endowments

The Southern Arkansas University Foundation recognized those who have completed their endowments during the past fiscal year at the 18th annual Endowment Honor Wall Ceremony on October 18 in the Foundation Hall of the Donald W. Reynolds Campus and Community Center. This year’s ceremony was part of the Honor Society Dinner.

Those recognized were Ralph and Margaret Weiser; Don and Jessica Adcox; Sharon Lee Miller Eichenberger; Kenneth R. and Vilma Norwood Crain; Alcoa; Margaret Brewer Memorial; Rex and Betty Dodson; and Richard E. and Celeste Muse Harton. Their names have been added to the Endowment Wall inside the Reynolds Center, joining honorees from previous years.

At the end of June 2007, the combined endowments of the University and the University Foundation exceeded $21 million. This money helps provide enrichments that help the faculty, staff, students and all departments of the University.

For information about how you can become a member of the Honor Society, call the SAU Foundation office at235-4078.

Southern Arkansas University names a new head of Foundation and Development

MAGNOLIA, Ark. —Jeanette “Jeanie” Bismark has been named the new executive director of the Southern Arkansas University Foundation and the director of development for the University.

Bismark, who has called Magnolia home since 1961, brings to the position an understanding of customer service from co-owning two businesses with her husband Paul, as well as a working knowledge of education, and the challenges of the field, from working as an English teacher in Columbia County schools.

“As a former school teacher I am interested in education and the University because of my connection with it over the years,” Bismark said. “I also see this position as an opportunity to make a contribution the University. Plus, my husband said I took the job because I can’t resist a challenge.”

Bismark’s ties with SAU run deep and began with spending a couple of weeks each summer with her aunt Floy Childs, and her uncle Orval Childs, who was director of the agriculture department for three decades, and whose name students associate with the Childs Agriculture Building.

Bismark said her immediate goal in her new position is to help grow the Foundation by recruiting people who have an interest in education. One of the often overlooked responsibilities of the University is to impact economic growth, she said.

“Education is important for its own sake, but it is also important that a student’s education makes them more productive in the economy,” Bismark said.

In the long term, she is looking forward to helping bring the “Blue and Gold vision” to life. Dedicated fundraising is one way to support this vision of a quality comprehensive University.

Bismark has a bachelor of arts in English with honors from SAU and a master of arts in English from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

She is a former member of the SAU Foundation Board of Governors, was chairman of the Columbia County Sesquicentennial Celebration, Magnolia-Columbia Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year, 2002 and past president of the Magnolia Junior Charity League.

She and her husband Paul co-owned the Treasure Chest and Olive’s Sporting Goods, both in Magnolia, with her husband Paul. They have one son, Carl, who lives in McNeil, Ark., with his wife Brandy and their two children, Marley, 4, and Will, 1.

Bismark replaces Art Horne who was the executive director of development for the SAU Foundation in Magnolia from 2002-2007. Horne has joined the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Office of Development and Alumni Affairs as executive director of development for UAMS colleges.

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