UCM Magazine: Vol. 16, No. 2

® UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL MISSOURI MAGAZINE

VO L . 1 6 , N O. 2

Mother Cupboard THE

OF THE

IT’S NOT A HANDOUT BUT A HAND UP That sentiment comes from one of the most caring and generous people you will ever meet, and luckily we can claim her as both an alumna and UCM staple. In this issue, we hope you enjoy reading about several unforgettable individuals for the impact they have made, or promise to make, on our campus.

CONTENTS COVE R STORY

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THE MOTHER OF THE CUPBOARD One can of soup makes a difference, and so does one individual when that person is Beth Rutt, a driving force behind the Campus Cupboard, a food pantry that has helped thousands of students, faculty and staff since it opened a few years ago.

S ECT I O N S

2 CAMPUS CURRENTS 14 CENTRAL YESTERDAY 18 PHILANTHROPY 26 CLASS NOTES 30 IN MEMORIAM

FE AT URE S

10 EMPOWERING DREAMS

FIND US ONLINE AT

Missouri Pioneer of Education, Richard Phillips, came to campus to play football, dropped out, then returned to finish his college degree. Through his story, you will read about the vision, and year one success, of the newly merged UCM Alumni Foundation.

UCMO.EDU/UCMMAGAZINE EMAIL US AT UCMMAGAZINE@UCMO.EDU OR CALL 660-543-4545

20 LEGEND: WHO KNEW WHAT HE WOULD BECOME

FOR OUR LATEST NEWS AND EVENT

That athletic director Jerry Hughes would become a legendary success is no surprise to the people who know him best, including his college roommate and younger sister. He is the only person from UCM ever to be recognized as a Missouri Sports Legend.

PHOTOS, JOIN US ON FACEBOOK AT UCMALUMNIFOUNDATION

GOLD AWARD

24 WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY WILL BECOME

Thirty years separate the campus experience of Debra Renee Middleton and her twins, Kate and Steven Bussen, recipients of the Alumni Legacy Scholarship. Yet all three cite similar attributes for their decision to attend UCM.

31 ST ANNUAL

GO

EDUCATIONA L ADVERTISIN G AWARDS

LD

AWARD

A gold in the 31st Annual Educational Advertising Awards is the third national award for the UCM Magazine, signifying our commitment to bring you the best!

P R ES I D ENT ’S M ES S AG E

MAGAZINE Vol. 16 No. 2, Fall 2016

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Dalene Abner ’09 CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Sara Severance Weinert Michael Johnson DESIGNER

Julie Babcock PHOTOGRAPHER

Bryan Tebbenkamp ’15 ILLUSTRATOR

David Babcock

Published by UCM Alumni Foundation. © 2016 by University of Central Missouri.

All rights reserved.

Find us online: ucmo.edu/ucmmagazine Contact the editor at ucmmagazine@ucmo.edu or 660-543-4545. Submit your address updates online to http://tinyurl.com/j73dgxy, by email to alumni@ucmo.edu or telephone, 660-543-8000 or toll-free, 1-866-752-7257.

UCM Magazine (USPS 019-888) is published quarterly by the University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO 64093. Printed by Lane Press, 87 Meadowland Drive, South Burlington, VT 05403. Periodicals postage paid at Warrensburg, MO, and additional offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to UCM

Magazine, Smiser Alumni Center, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO 64093.

Focused on Greater Student Success

A

t a time when debt among America’s college students has climbed to over a trillion dollars, as members of the University of Central Missouri family, we can be proud of our Board of Governors and its willingness to make college access, affordability and the reduction of students’ higher education debt priorities for UCM. These issues have been addressed through initiatives such as The Missouri Innovation Campus, the Learning to a Greater Degree Contract for student completion, and keeping tuition as low as possible. All of these efforts have contributed to a $12.5 million reduction in student loan debt at UCM over the past three years.

An important player in making college accessible and affordable is the UCM Alumni Foundation, which provides scholarship support and other opportunities that make it possible for more students to achieve their higher education dreams.

As you look through this issue of UCM Magazine, you’ll learn more about the Foundation and the people who provide the leadership needed to make this important advancement arm work.

Our cover story about longtime employee Beth Rutt and the award-winning Campus Cupboard will give you a glimpse of what can be accomplished through initiatives such as Foundation Opportunity Grants. You will also discover what Alumni Legacy Scholarships mean to two UCM students, Kate and Steven Bussen. Want to find out what a UCM degree has meant for one of the nation’s most successful Division II athletic directors? Then check out the feature about Jerry Hughes.

With your support of UCM and the Foundation, who knows how many more student success stories we can tell! We are pleased to share this magazine with you and value your continued support of your alma mater.

Joining you in service,

Chuck Ambrose PR ESIDEN T

University of Central Missouri Magazine

1

C AM P US C UR R E NT S

New Center for Multiculturalism and Inclusivity Campus enrollment may be at its most diverse this fall semester. With that comes a greater commitment to a more welcoming and nurturing collegiate atmosphere through the opening of the new Center for Multiculturalism and Inclusivity.

The center opened in renovated space on the third floor of the Elliott Student Union and is being developed by the Office of Mentoring, Advocacy and Peer Support.

Documents submitted to the Board of Governors for the center’s approval noted, “It is understood that students must learn how to interact with and understand people who are ethnically, racially and culturally different from themselves as we strive to create a community free from bias and harassment.”

Tara NapoleoneClifford, MAPS IDEAS coordinator, explained, “Our goals are to support underrepresented student groups in their academic endeavors, resulting in raising the retention and graduation rates as well as slowly beginning to change our culture so all community members feel accepted and that they belong.”

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I MPO RTANCE O F FAMI LY

The Inspiration of a Mother, Father and Little Sister

F

reshman Abby Skrastins, an open options major from Colorado Springs, attributes her success in her first year of college to inspiration from her family. Her essay about her parents and sister contributed to their recent recognition as UCM Family of the Year. These are her words.

“My family is important to me because they push me to be the best I can be. They are my constant supporters in any and every situation I go through. We disagree and argue just like any other family, but we are always able to put aside our differences and conquer the issue at hand. I am thankful for that, because without them, I would be a completely different person.

“My mom especially pushes me. She encourages me to work harder, to do one more rep, to read one more page, to write one more paragraph. She never stops believing in me, and always wants what is best for me and wants me to earn that for myself.

She taught me hard work and organization are key.

She is a real life example of an Energizer bunny; she just keeps going and going and going! I am the persistent, unwavering person that I am today because of her.

“My dad always taught me to follow your dreams.

He started his own photography business and by following his dreams showed me that I should also follow mine. I knew I wanted to play college volleyball, and many people told me that I was too young, or too short, or not fast enough. But through hard work and perseverance, I earned a college scholarship and I am here today, attending this school on a volleyball scholarship, because of

Vol. 16, No. 2 | ucmo.edu/ucmmagazine

his incredible example of hard work and always following his imagination and his dreams.

“My little sister inspires me daily. She was diagnosed with brain cancer two years ago. Seeing her battle and fight for her life every single day, from when she woke up in the morning, to her struggles throughout the day doing simple tasks, until she went to bed at night, gave me the fight and inspiration I need to conquer anything I put my mind to. She is completely healed and in remission now, and that is just another factor that continues to amaze me. Her unshakable faith and courage make me and my troubles feel so small and insignificant, but I know that I have to make her proud and live out my life with that constant reminder in the back of my head.

“I was given my family with a very specific design in mind. We all complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses. The person I have become today is all because of the impact each of my family members has had on my life. I am confident in myself and my abilities, I am imaginative and creative, I am bold and fearless, all because of the small lessons that each member of my family taught me. I can only hope that I can be half as good as my parents are. I hope I can raise my kids and teach them in the same way my family has taught and inspired me.”

Skrastins and her family were recognized during halftime of the Sept. 24 football game between the Mules and Emporia State Hornets.

She was joined by her aunt and uncle, Don and Judy Ritta, as her parents, Tim and DeAnne Skrastins, were unable to attend.

CAM P US CUR R ENT S

“ I like doing something that I don’t think I can do, like, I don’t think I could beat Floyd Mayweather, but I’d be willing to get in the ring and try.”

4,133

— MASTER SGT. CEDRIC KING, THE 2016 IKE SKELTON LECTURER

A B OUT ST UDE NTS

ABO UT MANAG E ME N T

A BO U T E N CO U RAG E ME N T

Gragg Hired as Director of Admissions

Hawks Named VP of Finance and Administration

National Association Honors UCM Academic Adviser

With nearly a decade of experience in higher education, J.D. Gragg of Olathe, KS, was recently named new director of admissions.

Gragg comes to Warrensburg after stints at Johnson County Community College, Texas Tech University and the Kaplan Center.

At JCCC, he was co-creator and leader of a groundbreaking partnership with the University of Kansas called the Degree Partnership Program, which incorporated dual enrollment, dual advising, technology and resource sharing. At Texas Tech, he was part of a team that helped the university achieve national tier one research status.

“There are amazing things happening at UCM with even more amazing opportunities ahead,” said Gragg. “The beautiful campus, energetic and enthusiastic employees and students, and spirit of growth and innovation that I experienced when I visited have me incredibly excited for this opportunity.”

A national search for a leader to facilitate university and business functions resulted in the appointment this fall of Douglas Hawks, Ph.D., as vice president of finance and administration.

Hawks brings both higher education and corporate experience to campus, having held positions at the UT System Office, Southern Utah University, OfficeMax and Sonic Innovations.

He comes to Warrensburg from the University of Tennessee Knoxville College of Business where he was assistant dean.

“What impressed us about Doug are his passion for higher education, his vision and desire to seek out innovative ways to address the challenges we face,” said UCM President Charles Ambrose.

Hawks will oversee the areas of Accounting Services, Student Accounts and Loans, Investments, Budgets, Procurement, Payroll, Human Resources, Auditing, and Facilities Planning and Operation.

Academic advising to Paula Brant means making a positive difference in the lives of students to help them achieve their college degrees and career goals.

That quality helped her to receive a national honor, the Outstanding Advising Award, from the National Academic Advising Association. The award, which followed similar honors for her at the state and regional level, is specifically in the Academic Advising-Primary Goal category from NACADA. Brant, a UCM alumna, earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1978 followed by a master’s in college student personnel administration in 2012.

She came to UCM in 1987 as a recruitment secretary for the Office of Admissions.

“Being recognized at the national level is a tremendous honor for me,” she said. “I strive to make a positive difference in the lives of the students I advise and hope that my work helps them through their time here.”

LET’S READ Elementary school reading circles feature new children’s books that were read out loud by the Mules and Jennies Literacy Team.

UCM is graduating more students than ever. In the 2015–16 academic year, 4,133 students completed undergraduate and graduate degrees. That’s a 65 percent increase over the 2,503 students who graduated five years ago.

15

STRAIGHT The Gamma Epsilon Delta Chapter of the American Criminal Justice Association Lambda Alpha Epsilon won an unprecedented 15th straight sweepstakes trophy at the regional conference this fall. They won 57 of 90 individual and team trophies and medals awarded.

“

So I am saying to you, whoever is reading this book, to remember: never ever give up. You can survive and make your dreams come true.

”

Eva Mozes Kor KOR, THE AUTHOR OF SURVIVING THE ANGEL OF DEATH: THE TRUE STORY OF A MENGELE TWIN IN AUSCHWITZ, BROUGHT HER MESSAGE OF SURVIVAL THIS FALL TO CAMPUS.

University of Central Missouri Magazine

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Mother Cupboard THE

OF THE

ONE OF BETH RUTT’S BEST CAREER MOMENTS ISN’T ONE SHE N E C E S SA R I LY R E C O M M E N D S TO N E W S T U D E N T L I F E P R O F E S S I O N A L S .

I N FAC T , S H E ’ S N O T S U R E I T WA S C O M P L E T E LY L E G A L .

BY SARA SEVERANCE WEINERT I L L U S T R A T E D B Y D AV I D B A B C O C K

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Vol. 16, No. 2 | ucmo.edu/ucmmagazine

“I

had gotten a phone call from the health center that there was a student not feeling well, and the issue was that he hadn’t eaten for several days. They called to see if I could help,” Rutt explains, “so I got a couple of sacks of groceries put together but the young man never came to pick them up.”

In spite of 16 years in the student life arena, there she was, sitting outside the business where the University of Central Missouri senior was interning. In the back seat of her car was the food. When the student walked out the front door of the business, she had him.

It turned out that the young man had been awarded an internship that prohibited working other jobs. After he paid his rent and car insurance, bought books and other class

supplies, he had no money left for food. So he went without eating, and that decision was making him sick.

“I did something I probably could have been arrested for,” Rutt admits. “I stalked him. I went to his internship and sat in the parking lot until he came outside. I gave him a sack of groceries, and our vice provost put some meals on a meal card for him. Then we had a little discussion about ‘This is just a hand up. It isn’t a handout because everyone hits bumps in the road.’”

Rutt told the student that if he didn’t take care of himself physically he wouldn’t reach his ultimate goal of graduation. “This is your last semester,” she told him. “Make the best of it.”

The incident was vintage Beth Rutt – practical and big-hearted, with just a touch of a

life lesson that included a loving kick in the rear.

And the incident called on the resources of one of her most visible accomplishments at UCM, the Campus Cupboard, which supplies food to students, staff and faculty. The cupboard has its roots in the nation’s financial crisis that peaked in 2008. That’s when Rutt and other faculty and administrators started noticing signs of financial fragility on campus, not just among students but also among paid employees. As director of student activities, she was in contact every day with people who simply didn’t have enough money to eat.

“Listening to our students, we had the sense that it was getting tougher for our students and our staff,” Rutt recalls. “Families who before had two parents working now only had one

University of Central Missouri Magazine

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who was.” Custodial and office professionals were also heads of households and were falling below the poverty level.

In addition, a rise in the number of international students revealed a new population who was ill-prepared with resources. “In January they were wearing flip-flops, and in our Missouri weather, that doesn’t make it,” she says.

A call from officials at Knob Noster State Park was the final straw. Students were living in tents there, and the park was getting ready to turn off the water for the winter, rangers told Rutt. Did the college have any way to help?

This was the shock campus personnel needed to move into action. The sociology and social work

“The most donated item seems to be green beans, I have enough green beans to feed a third world country!”

As director of student activities, she was in contact every day with people who simply didn’t have enough money to eat. and communications departments already had been in conversation with Rutt about a food pantry.

So sociology and social work students did faceto-face interviews with 600 students.

They asked students if they were unable to afford food basics, if they knew other students

who could not buy food, what hours of operation would be most convenient if a food pantry was started, and other operational details.

The data was used to apply for a $5,000 Opportunity Grant from the UCM Alumni Foundation, a step that not only funded the purchase of equipment (refrigerator, freezer, laptop, shelving) but also allowed donors to give tax-deductible support through the foundation’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.

Working with Harvesters (the Kansas Cityarea community food bank network), the new organization set up shop in a seldom-used spot in the basement of the Student Recreation and Wellness Center. Originally planned as a catering kitchen for large groups, it had stainless steel counter tops and multiple sinks, and was coded for food service. Rutt checked with her supervisor, then with the president and the Campus Cupboard soon was ready to open its doors.

A soft opening in October with little publicity nonetheless attracted 118 persons that month, and that number shot up in November. Students and staff discovered convenient hours and lack of paperwork.

“With Harvesters, our agreement is that no one is turned away. All they need is a university ID, and we just swipe the cards,” Rutt says. “I don’t stop you at the door; there’s not a lot of cont. to page 9

H O W M A N Y AT U C M STRUGGLE WITH FOOD INSECURITY?

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I T ’ S H A R D TO K N O W. Food insecurity is different from simple hunger caused by skipping breakfast to get to an early class. The USDA says the defining characteristic of food insecurity is when “normal eating patterns are disrupted because the household lacks money and other resources for food.”

The fact that UCM students suffer food insecurity places them squarely in line with college students from across the nation: The College & University Food Bank Alliance, a professional organization of campus-based programs to alleviate food insecurity, has seen its membership

grow to 361 members as of September 2016. A local survey by Feeding America showed that Johnson County, MO, (which includes Warrensburg) is among the worst for food insecurity in the 26-county area that the Harvesters serve in northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas.

A survey that led to the food pantry also showed alarming results.

As reported in the initial application for a UCM Alumni Foundation Opportunity Grant, of the 486 students surveyed, nearly all supported the creation of a pantry (92.4%). These students were, or knew of someone on campus, who was hungry (45.8%).

A

DIFFERENCE MAKER

BETH RUTT knows it’s not

her job to pamper students at the University of Central Missouri. She doesn’t hover or coddle, but when a genuine need arises she responds. This character trait permeates her service to campus, community, local schools, politics and more.

With two UCM degrees, Rutt became director of campus activities in 2003 after returning to the university in 2000 following 18 years as recreation superintendent for the Warrensburg Parks and Recreation Department.

When she returned to UCM in 2000, she didn’t neglect service to her Warrensburg community. Rutt spent 24 years, including five terms as president, on the Warrensburg R-VI Board. She is on the executive committee for Johnson County’s Project Community Connect, an alliance of nonprofits and concerned citizens delivering real services to people experiencing need. And she is past president of the Johnson County Mental Health Association. She has worked closely with local food pantry organizers to avoid overlap of services while reaching as many food insecure persons as possible.

“What I’m responsible for is to make sure students at UCM can succeed and reach their greatest potential, and if food is a component keeping them from reaching that, it’s my responsibility to help,” she says.

University of Central Missouri Magazine

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THE CAMPUS CUPBOARD In support of the cupboard, UCM offers nutrition counseling, food sampling, classes in cooking, health sciences and personal finance, plus a variety of degree programs such as dietetics, community health and nursing, all of which make a difference in fighting food insecurity.

12,032 TO TA L V I S I T S

The Campus Cupboard recently was recognized

by Harvesters–The Community Food Network of Kansas City with the 2016 Circle of Hope Network Partnership-Missouri Pantry Award.

The Circle of Hope Awards honor organizations and individuals leading the fight against hunger in the Kansas City region.

3,327

257

2,711

NUMBER OF FEMALES

1,042

NUMBER OF MALES

2,778

2,689

Numbers as of September 2016

2013

TO TA L P E O P L E S E RV E D

6,038

OCT. – DEC.

4,002

AGES 24–30

1,512

2015

AGES 31–70

642

Located in the lower level of the UCM Student Recreation and Wellness Center, the pantry cared for 257 individuals in 168 visits during the first three months of operation. During the second full year of operation, more than 1,000 individuals were served. In 2015, that number grew to more than 2,600 individuals, with 2,778 served during the first nine months of 2016.

MOST NEEDED ITEMS

Peanut Butter • Jelly • Loaf Bread • Canned Chicken or Tuna • Pasta • Pasta Sauce • Hygiene Items • Fresh Fruit

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2016

JAN. – SEPT.

INDIVIDUALS SERVED

PEOPLE SERVED BY AGE AGES 18–23

2014

paperwork. It takes a lot of courage to come through the door and say you need help, so we try to make it as easy and seamless as possible.”

Once through the door the constituents see shelving filled with canned goods (“green beans – we could feed a Third World country on those”), soups, canned fruits, pasta and pasta sauce, all kinds of bread, cereal, peanut butter, crackers and other non-perishables.

Participants are allowed a total of 10 items per week, which Rutt admits doesn’t sound overly generous. But the limit ensures no one who needs food is turned away. With 10 items, she says, the client can have lunch or dinner for an entire week.

“Where in Warrensburg, could you eat for $4 a day?” she says. “If you look at that as $4 per day for five days, that’s $20 a week we’ve been able to put back into someone’s pocket, and for a month, it’s $80 that hasn’t had to be spent on food. For an employee that’s gas money to go to and from work. Or maybe they have a child who now can take piano lessons or go on a field trip. By saving one meal a day, we’re affording opportunities that person would not have.”

The limit also prompts students to be savvy shoppers, combining items in ways that provide nutrition and variety. Dietetics students help with this goal by providing recipes and samples right outside the cupboard door.

Beth admits that the lack of bureaucratic red tape makes some people suspicious and occasionally prompts questions of need.

“I’ve had comments from students as well as some people in the community, ‘How do you know they really need this? Are they taking advantage of the system?’” she says.

“My response is that I’m not responsible for that. What I’m responsible for is to make sure students at UCM can succeed and reach their greatest potential, and if food is a component that is preventing them from reaching that potential, it’s my responsibility to help. They will have to be accountable to someone else other than me if they’re taking advantage of the pantry.”

Throughout campus, the cupboard’s cause has become a unifying theme. Sodexo Food Service (which provides food to campus dining halls) now saves leftovers at the end of the day and donates them to the cupboard, where they are repackaged in single-serving containers.

Volunteers, who sometimes receive credit for service learning participation, repackage

WA N T TO H E L P ELIMINATE

H UNGER ON

CAMPUS?

It’s simple to support the food pantry through either a donation to the UCM Alumni Foundation (give online at ucmfoundation.org) or by bringing food staples to the Student Recreation and Wellness Center where the pantry is located.

50-pound bags of rice into smaller bags. The university farm donates vegetables and apples.

“I used some of our donations and bought two slow cookers and a Seal-a-Meal, and I told the student volunteers I was going to go home and bring back an apple corer, then we’d get those apples taken care of,” Rutt says with a grin. “They looked at me and one said, ‘Miss Beth, we do not cook.’ So I looked at them and I said ‘Ladies, this is not cooking. This is peeling apples and putting them in a slow cooker.’” And she laughs at the memory.

From its modest beginnings (118 visits in October 2013) the food pantry has grown steadily.

In April, 430 individuals swiped I.D. cards and made 784 visits to the pantry. Hours are set to be compatible with classes and shift work.

The alleviation of hunger hasn’t been the only benefit to come out of the Campus Cupboard, though. Rutt points to the university-wide unity and pride that the cupboard has inspired. Although more than 300 colleges now are active members of the College and University Food Bank Alliance, UCM was one of the earlier institutions to provide this service.

Dozens worked just to get the project started, and even more have been involved since its doors opened.

“The thing that’s been really good is that we’ve been able to take one initiative and cross the disciplines of the campus,” Rutt says. “There’s lots of engagement, not just the social work department, not just dietetics, not just student activities. There’s a family feel to it. It truly is a collaboration.”

Maybe this family unity was the reason Rutt was willing to go out on a limb and take groceries to a hungry senior doing an internship, but it was her own passion for students that prompted her to sit in the parking lot and talk to him about accepting help. She reassured him that she knew he was feeling the stigma of asking for help, but that he should hold his head up.

He ended up visiting the Campus Cupboard, then financial aid kicked in and he graduated with his class. Several months later, Rutt received a letter. Inside was a check.

“He was then in a position where he could give back, and he said ‘You told me it was a hand up, not a handout.’” Beth is quiet for a moment. Then she sighs.

“This is good. This is good that the university can do this.” n

University of Central Missouri Magazine

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W HEN

Mergers Work EX P ER I EN C E S H OW S

that the success of a merger has little to do with heritage, culture and past success but more to do with how deeply each organization holds the new, shared purpose, says Lorin Walker, assistant professor of management in leadership and strategy.

His insight comes from working more than 25 years in the corporate world as a consultant and project manager specializing in organizational effectiveness, organization redesign and change management.

Successful mergers depend on how willing members of both former organizations are to apply their best efforts to make the new organization successful, he says. “Success in any partnership, whether corporate or nonprofit, is driven by embracing shared goals and commitments that are immediately actionable. “Unity and success does not come from talking but from actually working together as quickly as possible to take on worthy projects that require shared purpose and hard work,� he notes. With positive results as an early foundation, success then breeds success. cont. next page

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cont. from page 10

The

lu m n i F o u n dat i o n A n n ua l Repo UCM A r

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FY 2016

EMPOWERING DREAMS

by Dalene Abner

H

e r e m e m be rs t h e stor i e s his

mother told him about teaching in a oneroom schoolhouse and credits her for his decision to go to college. Yet his focus when he came to Warrensburg wasn’t on getting a degree but playing football.

Richard Phillips holds your attention when he reminisces about his football playing days with the Mules. He’ll tell you about a play during practice that dented his football helmet, then made of cardboard and plastic, splitting it up the side and breaking his jaw. He’ll give you even more details about the game against Pittsburg State on Sept. 23, 1960, his parents’ anniversary, when he broke his leg “badly.” Told he couldn’t play football any more, he left school.

“One summer I was working construction and realized all these guys around me in their 30’s and 40’s looked rough, talked rough, lived rough and it showed. I didn’t want that for my future,” he says.

He returned to Warrensburg, out of money, without a job or place to live, not knowing whether he could even get readmitted to college.

He walked door to door downtown until he found a business owner who hired him. He found a room to rent. Next came a meeting with Dean of Students Bill Hampton.

“He told me I wasn’t college material,” says Phillips, “and I just said, ‘give me a shot.’”

Thinking back to his college days, he says, “A lot of people along the way reached out and cared about me [including Hampton who eventually became his graduate adviser]. They

made me realize it was important to do my best.”

Phillips finished a bachelor’s degree in 1965, followed by a master’s and an education specialist degree in the next seven years. He became a highly respected teacher and public school administrator. Following a 50-year educational career, he was honored as a Missouri Pioneer of Education in 2015.

His three children became the third generation of his family to pursue education careers. They also represent three generations with UCM in common, which could just explain why Phillips so believes in this university among all others in Missouri, devoting his time and leadership to helping it succeed.

He is one of only a few individuals who has served as president of the Alumni Association, the Board of Governors, and now of the UCM Alumni Foundation, a merger of the university’s oldest organization and one of its newest and most important. The merger was official July 1, 2015.

Phillips explains that when the UCM Foundation and UCM Alumni Association merged, their vision was to empower the dreams of students, faculty and staff by aligning resources with the university’s strategic initiatives. “Our goal is to help thousands of students achieve their goal of earning a degree.”

That goal sounds familiar in light of Phillips’ 50-plus years’ association with the university.

“Simply enough, for me, UCM was a life-altering experience.” And to think, it all started in a oneroom country schoolhouse. n

That kind of early success blankets year one for the UCM Alumni Foundation.

The first objective was to navigate the merger of both organizations’ boards into a new 42-member board with new committees and individual assignments.

Next came putting together and agreeing upon a new strategic plan, Transformation 2025. They developed a shared mission, to cultivate, manage and distribute resources in support of the university, as well as a shared vision, Empowering Dreams. In addition, they identified five shared values – accountable, aspirational, authentic, integrity and transparent.

Success continued to mount for the UCM Alumni Foundation when it reached its fundraising goal early in the 2016 fiscal year. On June 30, they had raised $6.2 million, making it the most successful fundraising year since 1998.

Walker names key milestones for merger success: “shared vision and mission, explicit values, reorganizing to accomplish specific assignments, and concerted action to achieve a tangible, public goal. The UCM Alumni Foundation has so far hit all these milestones, including an impressive first fundraising result. This augers well for the future.” n Learn more about the UCM Alumni Foundation by visiting its new web site at ucmfoundation.org. Alumni are encouraged to set up a profile to get individual data about their engagement, giving, events attended and those upcoming.

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T h e O n e -R o o m S c h o o l h o u s e

T h e U C M A l um n i F o u n d at i o n A n n ua l R e p o rt

Objects inside this early 20th century schoolhouse, maintained in Warrensburg by the Johnson County Historical Society, provided inspiration for this annual report.

WH E N APPLI CABLE, CHARTS REFLECT AU D I T ED F I G U R ES F OR T HE F I SC AL Y EAR J U L Y 1 , 2 0 1 5 , T HR OU G H J U NE 3 0 , 2016.

TOTAL ASSETS * $38,863,336

FY12

$42,941,248

FY13

$50,072,155

FY14 FY15

$51,377,527

FY16

$51,968,638

*NUM BERS AR E AS OF J U NE 3 0 EAC H Y EAR

T

wo years ago, our alumni and foundation boards decided to merge into one, unified powerful organization with a shared mission, vision and strengthened focus on engaging our alumni through generosity of time and resources to advance the university.

Lifelong relationships, career opportunities and memories from UCM compel our alumni to care deeply about their alma mater. We aspire to provide meaningful ways for our alumni to engage with their university, impacting the students and campus while continuing to grow our reputation across the world.

Jason Drummond,

VICE PRESIDENT OF UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF UCM ALUMNI FOUNDATION

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$51,968,638

A 1% increase in total assets represented another record year for the UCM Alumni Foundation, underscoring the success of its investment strategies.

Donors invested $807,020 into the Endowment in fy16.

Endowments are at the heart of our mission to make a college degree more affordable and accessible to more students. In FY16, they reached a market value of $36,310,186, comprising 70% of the Foundation’s total assets.

TOTAL GIFTS

DO YOU KNOW?

79%

49% Inc r ease FY12

The $6.2 million in total gifts for FY16 is a 49% increase over FY15, marking the highest fundraising amount since 1998 and the third highest in foundation history.

FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16

Gifts of all sizes can have a big impact. In FY16, alumni and friends contributed 8,782 gifts of $100 or less, accounting for nearly 4/5 of total gifts.

$142,641

$4,101,105 $3,794,809 $5,324,379 $4,169,634 $6,216,714

came through the Fund for Excellence, including gifts made by alumni and friends throughout the U.S. who were contacted by some 35 students who staffed the yearround calling center.

$100,000

through FY16 has been awarded to 44 faculty and staff opportunity grantfunded projects, encouraging innovation of the learning environment.

FY 2016 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

59 $ 5 01 , 9 8% es & trusts tat es

SOURCES OF GIFTS

po

$

1, r a 0 9 9, ti 70 on

8

Investment Return

cor

s

investment return that outpaced the benchmark of 2.9%

Of all the types of gifts, those restricted by donors most often support scholarships and for good reason.

Students who receive Foundation scholarships have higher grade point averages and are more likely to stay at UCM and complete their degrees.

$745,117 in stock gifts represented 12% of total gifts and a

%

STOCK GIFTS

$1, 26 6 ,62 5 foun d a t i ons •2 0

$1, 69 0, f r i e n d 279 s• 27 %

Donors

TYPES OF GIFTS

8%

3.o4%

•1

5,198

Foundation assets reached a record high of $51,968,638, thanks to a

344%

al

umn i • 27% $1 , 6 5 8 , 14 3

increase over stocks gifted in FY15.

unrestricted $221,785 bequests $491,839 endowments $807,020

TOTAL NUMBER OF GIFTS

11,172

capital projects $2,034,981

WHERE EVERY DOLLAR GOES

35¢

bricks & mortar

29¢

scholarships

16¢

athletics

11¢

academics

9¢

kmos

ENDOWMENT PAYOUT

restricted by donor $2,661,089

FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16

31%

$477,250 $805,707 $835,027

increase over fy2015

$891,007 $1,165,315

University of Central Missouri Magazine

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C EN TR A L Y E S T E R D AY

WERE YOU THERE? NINE DECADES OF PERFORMERS & PRESENTERS

I

t’s been 93 years since the university’s oldest auditorium, Hendricks Hall, was dedicated Oct. 22, 1923. In that time, the stage has seen student assemblies, convocations and senior exams; Broadway plays, musicals and operas; lectures by world leaders, first ladies and Supreme Court justices; plus performances by famous comedians, magicians, country music stars

and more. Given its significance, a $3.2 million campaign is underway to restore Hendricks Hall including its original plaster ceiling, a new organ, a new stage extension and acoustic proscenium, and renovated dressing rooms, green room and audio and aesthetic updates. Which performances do you remember? Here are some that caught our attention.

1930s 1920s Official dedication of “College Auditorium.” A pipe organ was installed. A new alma mater was adopted.

Hans Fell presented an organ recital. A program was broadcast from the auditorium. Performers included: Kansas City Little Symphony, baritone Reinald Werrenrath, contralto Madame SchumannHeink, Russian Symphonic Choir, St. Louis Symphony, Ukraine National Choir, Dennishawn Ballet with Ruth St. Denis, Met soprano Rosa Ponselle, Paul Whiteman and Orchestra, soprano Madame Galli-Curci, contralto Sophie Braslou, baritone Cecil Fanning, Met baritone Lawrence Tibbett, the Beggars Opera by a London company, violinist Joseph Szigetti, Met tenor Richard Crooks

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1940s U.S. Marine Band, pianist Vladimir Horowitz, Shakespearean E.H. Sothern, soprano Dusolina Giannini, philosopher Will Durant, Tipica Orchestra of Mexico, singing actor Victor Chenkin, pianist Ignace Paderewski, singer Florence Austral, the Blue Bird Russian Ballet, tenor Paul Althouse, violinist Paul Kochanski, alumnus Dale Carnegie, former gangster A.W. Dittmore, poet John Neihardt, actress Ethel Barrymore Colt, dancers Mary Wigman and Ruth Glover, Chicago Opera Trio, Sidney Montagu on Eskimo life, Heidelberg Singers

The Artist Series, Eva Jessye Choir, Loewenguth String Quartet, Ruth Page Ballet; E. Stanley Jones mission to India, Met soprano Marjorie Lawrence, journalist Drew Pearson; Kansas City Mayor Roe Bartle, traveler Cornelius Vanderbilt, poet Lew Sarett, the Graff Ballet, violist Julius Sharer, pianist Louise Meiszner, alumna and soprano Louise Maledon, the Cincinnati Symphony, Senator William Fulbright and Kansas State President Milton Eisenhower

1950s Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, first United Nations Secretary General Trygve Lie, Vienna Academic Chorus, Heidelberg University Choir

1960s Porgy and Bess Singers, Basil Rathbone, Bennet Cerf, Hans Conried, Kansas City Star columnist Bill Vaughn, Booker T and the MGs; Ambassador Vu Van Thai of South Vietnam, Preservation Hall Band of New Orleans, critic Mark Van Doren, author John Dos Passos

CENT R AL Y ES T ER D AY

Hendricks Hall SINCE 1923 PR E S E RV I NG A T R E A S U R E We invite you to explore the web site at ucmo.edu/cahss/hendricks to learn more the Hendricks Hall Project. Read the complete timeline and share your reflections about a performance there. Learn also how you can become a partner in the hall’s restoration.

1980s 1970s

Representative Adam Clayton Powell, Secretary of the Interior Stuart Udall, dancer Jose Greco, Rev. Ralph Abernathy, activist Julian Bond, Houston Ballet, paleontologist Richard Leakey, Bill Russell, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Duke Ellington and orchestra; author Alex Haley, journalist Bernard Kalb, Stan Kenton and orchestra, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis

Woody Herman and Orchestra, Missouri Senators John Danforth and Thomas Eagleton, British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, journalist Howard K. Smith.

Vinie “Queen of Black Theatre” Burrows, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Betty Williams, Holocaust survivor Bruno Bettelheim, British band The Fixx, comedian Steve Landsberg, Yolanda King, Houston Symphony, Vienna Choir Boys, Motown’s Ashford & Simpson, Mantovani Orchestra, Marie

Osmond, activist Phyllis Schlafy, the Kingston Trio

1990s The Platters, Met soprano Roberta Peters, journalist Eric Sevareid, actor Mike Farrell MASH, comedian George Carlin, singer Louise Mandrell, Mamas and Papas, Lionel Hampton, Shirley Jones, Al Hirt, Chet Atkins, Judy Collins, Ralph Nader, Roger Miller, Maya Angelou, Lorrie Morgan, Howie Mandel, Michael Dukakis, Pat Boone, ShaNaNa, Pete Fountain, Miss America Debbye Turner, author Dinesh D’Souza, Magician Harry Blackstone, Morton Downey Jr., Boots Randolph, Adam Sandler, Crystal Gale, CIA Director Robert Gates, Arlo and Abe Guthrie, Harry Connick Jr., First Lady Barbara Bush, journalist Hugh Downs, Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, the Ink Spots

2000s & Beyond

The Piltdown Hoax, Jimmy Fallon, Kansas City’s jazz queen Bey, tenor Ronan Tynan, Ballet Folklorico Mexico, the Vagina Monologues, Jen Chapin, Don McLean, paleontologist Donald Johanson, Golden Aerobats, Harlem Gospel Choir, Justice Antonin Scalia, pianist Jim Brickman,

Butch Thompson Trio, American Idol alumnus David Cook, B.J. Thomas; actor Kevin Bacon and band, Jim Stafford, Pam Tillis, Charo, John Amos, Joint Chiefs General Richard Meyers

University of Central Missouri Magazine

15

EMILY PETERS Meeko This natureinspired collage on repurposed canvas uses assorted fabrics, leaves and other natural sourced materials.

KAYLA BRYANT Web Painting

MEREDITH HOST, a Kansas City-based ceramist and one of two visiting artists at the camp, coached students on how to scrape things together for their art when there is no money.

Colored yarn strewn on tree branches recreated a larger sculpture installation at the campground.

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HANNAH ORCUTT

MASON BARRY

Moving Shadows

Notes

The ephemeral nature of this time-lapsed photograph, painted on the exterior windows of the main camp building, melts with a passing rainstorm.

Coffee, brewed at different strengths, inspired the uniquely painted surface of these six canvas panels inspired by the group’s hard work and camp’s intensive nature.

Vol. 16, No. 2 | ucmo.edu/ucmmagazine

INVENTIVENESS

Roughing It and Bonding at Knob Noster State Park Art Camp, a four-day weekend camp held this summer in nearby Knob Noster State Park, inspired students to build community and have fun while inventing weirdly creative artwork that fell outside their normal curriculum. Under the direction of faculty members Marco Rosichelli and Justin Shaw, as well as visiting artists Meredith Host and Kjellgren Alkire, the intensive event packed in art and film projects, A UCM Alumni Foundation workshops and lectures that Opportunity Grant funded blended traditional media with by unrestricted gifts to the the fun and spontaneity of the Fund for Excellence. Please outdoors. What propelled this support excellence at UCM inventive learning experience? by returning the enclosed envelope with your gift.

GAGE BUNTING Soapbox Speaker and Forum Attendee A primitive firing technique and direct heat of the evening campfire revealed the different surfaces, colors and textures of these clay vessels.

University of Central Missouri Magazine

17

P HILANT H R O P Y

Avenue Q Is a First Backed by three donorfunded scholarships, secondary speech and theatre major Dane Schnake is the first University of Central Missouri student to produce, cast and direct a Mainstage production in Highlander Theatre.

Mentored by theatre professors Julie Mollenkamp and John Wilson, he presented his musical, Avenue Q, in August.

Schnake has received the James L. Highlander Theatre Scholarship, Virgil E. See Scholarship and a Department of Theatre and Dance Scholarship. He also was aided by grant funding from the Speech and Theatre Association of Missouri, along with a High Impact Learning Grant from the UCM College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.

Schnake’s goal of teaching secondary speech and theatre is within reach as he prepares to graduate from UCM in May. “This has been a wonderful opportunity,” he said. “As a future educator, it has been great to experience what it is really like to fully realize a full musical production. I can’t learn in a classroom what I’ve experienced here in this theatre.”

TO P: Dane Schnake on the

set of Avenue Q with his puppet friend, Princeton, a main character in his original production.

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GO O D BUT CAN ALWAYS G E T BE T T E R

President Shares Stage with Three Extraordinary Students for State of the University Address

A

State of the University address has become a tradition at the University of Central Missouri. Inviting three students to share the stage and engage in a grade-report-like conversation is rare, but that kind of speech and direct dialogue with students are typical of UCM President Charles Ambrose.

From the stage of Hart Recital Hall, Ambrose presented some highlights of university progress.

He noted that while the head count was down after seven years of continuing growth, the 2016 fall entering class was “one of the three most prepared classes since 1994. It includes the largest enrollment in our Honors College, the largest enrollment in our marching band and the largest in our ROTC cadre.”

Following these points, he then introduced and welcomed the three students to the stage. “We are only as strong as our students are successful,” he said, “and there are no better examples than these three students.”

No ordinary students, the three showed the promise of what they will become in their careers and communities, thanks in part to all their experiences at UCM. Scholarships from the UCM Alumni Foundation also are playing a part in that experience, empowering their dreams.

Raven Alade, a psychology major from St. Louis, is receiving the Freedom Scholarship announced during the MLK dinner in January, an Academic Enrichment Scholarship and the UCM Black Alumni Association Scholarship. Her goal is to become a counseling psychologist and interactive motivational speaker who helps people from all over the world.

Vol. 16, No. 2 | ucmo.edu/ucmmagazine

Jonathan Barr, a special education major from Lee’s Summit, is the current recipient of the Ted R. and Mary B. Garten Diversity Scholarship and the Angelyn Overby-Kirk Special Education Scholarship. His goal while on campus is “to help high school seniors and incoming transfers realize how great UCM is.” He would serve as a mentor for all students and “help them in any way that I can, particularly in the education department, as I have a lot of knowledge that I can share with my peers.”

Bentley Littrell, a graduate student in the counseling program who is from Meadville, MO, is the current recipient of an Academic Enrichment Scholarship. After finishing a bachelor’s degree in 2016 and considering several graduate schools, she chose to return to UCM. When she finishes her master’s degree, she plans to work in rural or underprivileged areas.

In assessing how well the university was helping them succeed in their college and career goals, the three gave positive reviews, summed up by Alade.

“If we are going to build a strong community, it’s up to us as students. We paid all this money and need to feel we have a sense of belonging. The university is at a good place, but we can always get better.”

“WE ARE ONLY AS STRONG AS OUR STUDENTS ARE SUCCESSFUL.”

A BOV E FRO M L E F T: Raven Alade, President Charles

Ambrose, Bentley Littrell and Jonathan Barr

P HI LANT HR OP Y

“ It is important to learn because the act of learning makes you better as a human being.

Even the most seemingly insignificant things you learn can make a difference in your life if you’re willing to let them.”

IT’S GREEN IN THEATRE

— DANE SCHNAKE, FUTURE TEACHER AND SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT

T HE IRA R OLLOVER

MAKE DEC. 3 1 CO U N T

O PPO RT U N I T Y G RA N TS

Save Taxes and Benefit UCM Students

Year-End Gifts Are Smart Investments with Good Returns

Grant Helps Mars Rover Team Ready for 2017

If you are 70½ years old or older, you can take advantage of a simple way to benefit the UCM Alumni Foundation and receive tax benefits in return.

You can give up to $100,000 from your IRA directly to a qualified charity such as ours without having to pay income taxes on the money.

The IRA Rollover law no longer has an expiration date so you are free to make annual gifts to us this year and well into the future.

You pay no income taxes on the gift. The transfer generates neither taxable income nor a tax deduction so you benefit even if you do not itemize your deductions.

To learn more about this and other estate giving options, contact Joy Mistele at mistele@ ucmo.edu or call 1-660-543-8000.

The end of the calendar year ushers in a season of giving when people most often think about helping those in need, such as UCM students. Your end-ofyear gift can help more students return this spring and have tax benefits for you.

Make your gift by credit card or send your gift through the mail as check or electronic fund transfer. To count as a 2016 tax deduction, make sure your gift is submitted online or postmarked on or before Dec. 31.

Go to ucmfoundation.org to learn more about our mission to benefit UCM students and find our convenient Make a Gift button at the top.

A UCM Foundation Opportunity Grant is funding a School of Technology team to compete again at the Human Exploration Rover Challenge at the NASA Space Center this spring.

The grant is helping students design, construct and test a four-wheeler that must be pedalpowered by a male and female.

It must fold into a 5-foot cube and navigate a 3000-foot course with 27 obstacles of hills, sand pits, boulders and various road conditions.

This pilot program patterns industry’s self-directed work teams that conceive an idea, design and manufacture a product, and then pass the idea for improvement to the next year’s class. Last year’s team placed 15th out of 46. The team’s 2017 goal is to place in the top five.

$2.4

MILLION

A growth in planned gifts, from $4.3 million to $6.7 million in FY17, shows more alumni and friends are using their estates to benefit UCM students.

The Department of Theatre and Dance has established a Greenroom Guild to bring new opportunities to current students as well as benefits to alumni members including artistic career projects, middle and high school outreach and discounted tickets. Learn how you can become a member, for as little as $10 each month, at ucmfoundation.org/ give/theater.

Marching Mules MAGIC Their music can bring us immediately back to our college days.

With their renowned drumline and awardwinning color guard, the Marching Mules can use your help with scholarships.

Gifts of all sizes will make a difference and several come with some cool recognition.

Learn more at ucmfoundation.org/ give/marching mules.

Do You Believe in Excellence?

Many alumni support student success through our Fund for Excellence. Learn how you can become a participant by calling Eric Holmertz at 660-543-4986.

University of Central Missouri Magazine

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BY M I C H A E L J O H N S O N

“ Not many people get to see his outside-of-work personality.

They don’t see the person who cares deeply for his family and so enjoys his close friends.” That athletic director and alumnus

JERRY HUGHES

would become a legendary success is no surprise to the people who know him best, including his college roommate and younger sister.

He is the only University of Central Missouri person ever to be recognized as a Missouri Sports Legend, joining the likes of George Brett, Len Dawson and Stan Musial, Hughes’ boyhood idol.

University of Central Missouri Magazine

21

WHO KNEW WHAT HE WOULD

BECOME

With his burly, tough exterior, Jerry Hughes isn’t always popular, but his 35-plus year leadership of Central Missouri’s athletics is undeniably one of the nation’s greatest collegiate sports stories.

Hughes has compiled an impressive number of accomplishments that not only have brought the university success in intercollegiate athletics but also have created a template for athletic director performance that is recognized nationally. He has guided UCM to eight national titles across five sports, 153 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association championships, 46 other top-four NCAA finishes and 270 NCAA post-season appearances.

Add to that a dozen Top 10 finishes in the Learfield Directors Cup Competition awarded annually to the nation’s best overall collegiate athletics programs. He also is the only person to twice hold the highest-ranking office available to athletic administrators in NCAA Division II. “There are some people you meet who you just know are going to be successful, regardless of the profession they enter,” says Greg Onstot ’72. He should know. As his college roommate, Sigma Phi Epsilon brother and later best man, Onstot had plenty of chances to believe Hughes was destined for the top. “He was smart and always possessed a positive attitude, had an outgoing personality and made friends quickly,” Onstot says. “He was goaloriented and always had the drive and determination to be the best he could become.”

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Athletics has always been a major part of Hughes’ life, from his high school days in Versailles, MO, to when he headed off to college for a degree in chemical engineering at the University of Missouri.

Soon, though, the combination of a deep-down drive to coach and teach, plus an invitation to join the UCM golf team, led him to Warrensburg.

Dale Carder ’72 also saw Hughes’ potential.

“He was a friendly, outgoing guy,” Carder says, “definitely one of the good guys. There were good leaders on campus, and he was among them. You knew he was going places.”

Hughes was a three-year golf letterman for the Mules, along with earning a bachelor’s degree in physical education and a minor in safety education. After graduating in 1971, he served in the Army National Guard for a year, then taught, coached and served as athletics director at Versailles High School.

Success came, but Hughes still felt the drive to improve.

He added a master’s degree in secondary school administration from UCM to his list of accomplishments in 1979. Through an extensive network of coaches and mentors, he learned from others who exhibited great integrity, continually encouraged others and believed mistakes, properly evaluated, were a vital launching pad for personal growth.

“I knew early on he’d be successful,” says his younger sister, Candy Stephens ’74. “He was hard-charging and focused, but also an outgoing, friendly perfectionist.”

Hughes’ parents also served as positive role models. His mother, Eleanor, who taught English before she started a florist business, was widowed early. Despite being in college and on the UCM golf team, Hughes made time to contribute to the business by working in the greenhouse and mastering the skill of flower arranging.

“He emphasizes a lot of the life lessons he learned from his mother. Work hard, realize you can’t live in the past and never expect things to happen. Make them happen,” says Hughes’ wife, Vici, also an alum and director of UCM’s Midwest Center for Urban Education and Charter Schools.

The leadership qualities and dedication to excellence people saw in Hughes were not wasted after he came to UCM in 1979. He first served as director of business placement, then director of student recruitment. In 1981, he was named associate athletic director. Two

years later, he succeeded Al Molde as athletics director. His tenure is the longest in UCM history.

The recipe for that successful run is really no secret, says Carder. “Jerry hires good people and lets them do their job,” he says. “He’s very adaptive and can see the excellence in coaching candidates.

Jerry knows coaches get down,” Carder says. “He knows how to support them and encourage them privately.”

Because of that, Hughes has set an enviable record in finding – and keeping – good coaches. Three UCM basketball coaches, Jim Wooldridge, Bob Sundvold and Kim Anderson; three baseball coaches, Dave van Horn, Brad Hill and Darin Hendrickson; and one football coach, Willie Fritz, have either advanced to NCAA Division I coaching positions or reached that level within four years of leaving UCM. That is more than coincidence.

“Participating in sports offers so many life lessons,” Hughes says, “but you have to remember to use that athletic ability to get your degree, then go on to life from there.”

The combination of student-athlete success both on the field and later in life deserves recognition. It’s no surprise, then, that at any NCAA level, Hughes was the first three-time winner of the Central Region Athletic Director of the Year award. He accomplished that honor in three different decades, proving that the story of Jerry Hughes is more than just a testament to focus, talent and potential. It’s an inspirational life lesson that represents what today’s students also can achieve. n

HE EMPHASIZES A LOT OF THE LIFE LESSONS HE LEARNED FROM HIS MOTHER. WORK HARD, REALIZE YOU CAN’T LIVE IN THE PAST AND NEVER EXPECT THINGS TO HAPPEN. MAKE THEM HAPPEN.

Chuck Ambrose, UCM president; Jerald L. Andrews, president and executive director of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in Springfield; Jerry Hughes, UCM athletics director; and Marty Willadsen, executive vice president of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

L E F T TO RI G H T:

University of Central Missouri Magazine

23

WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY WILL

BECOME

BY M I C H A E L J O H N S O N

SECOND GENERATION STUDENTS DISCOVER FAMILIAR GROUND

WHEN DEBRA “RENEE” MIDDLETON

’89 arrived in Warrensburg to attend what was then Central Missouri State University, she couldn’t have been more excited. She already knew her way around campus and knew she would be rooming with her best friend, who graduated from high school one year ahead of her. Having grown up in Kansas City, she only needed to get used to the town’s smaller size.

“I thought the campus was stunning with the charming stone buildings and lovely open green spaces. It was the perfect size.

I always appreciated that you could sleep until almost time for class, hop out of bed and run to class on time,” she says.

Three decades later, Steven and Kate Bussen cite similar reasons for their decisions to join the fall 2016 class: the smaller campus, the friendly community, the variety of student activities. Did we also mention they are the twin children of Middleton (now Bussen), and as such, are the second generation of their family to choose UCM? “Central Missouri just felt like home right away,” Steven says, “and the chance to focus on network security sealed the deal. My mom didn’t have to convince me.”

“My favorite part was the First-Year Kickoff Experience,” Kate says. “It allowed me to meet a group of students from different backgrounds and see all of campus.”

The two students are members this fall of the largest class of Alumni Legacy Scholarship recipients. Started 25 years ago, the scholarship has helped thousands of second, third and fourth generation students follow in a direct ancestor’s footsteps. These “legacy” students are immediate ties to the university’s past, sharing their parents’ enthusiasm and nostalgia for familiar campus spots as they explore what their futures can become.

For son Steven, that’s seeking to apply his multitudinous technical talents in computer science to the increasingly important field of network security, while Kate is considering

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becoming a behavioral analyst within the ever-widening criminal justice profession.

Steven, like his sister, is one of those high-achieving high school students who prepared well for college. Graduating with a 4.04 GPA, he took a number of international baccalaureate classes along with college-level calculus. He also focused on classes in graphics technology, engineering and design and computer applications.

In addition to soccer, lacrosse and cross-country teams, he competed in the Science Olympiad and joined the National Honor Society. He was involved in a program that trained younger students to use their school-sponsored Chromebooks, plus taught students in third through sixth grades to build and program Lego robots.

Sister Kate took high school honors classes in psychology and business law, supplementing her own research into topics involving criminal psychology. Always active in clubs and organizations, she was in the National Honor Society and the National German Honor Society, and was president of Future Business Leaders of America. There she was involved in many service projects and fundraising efforts as well as organizing competition testing for the club’s members.

She completed the two-year international baccalaureate program and was part of the school’s peer mentorship program for two years, which helped younger students adjust to being in high school. She even made time to serve as manager of the men’s and women’s soccer teams.

Their mother is a criminal justice alumna who worked for two companies as a loss prevention investigator, then took a career break to raise four children and is now the director of finance at the Center for Pharmaceutical Research. Like her, Kate finds the UCM campus beautiful “with its old-fashioned buildings and well-maintained green areas.

“My family has all had very similar experiences at UCM,” she adds. “UCM is an exceptional school where higher learning is a priority. That is my type of school.” n

GENERATIONAL SUCCESS In 2016, the UCM Alumni Foundation presented 103 first-year students with Alumni Legacy Scholarships, triple the number awarded last year.

Since its establishment in 1991, the one-time scholarship funded by gifts from alumni has helped more than 1,100 incoming students, all of whom are children directly descended from graduates who are their parents or grandparents.

These legacy students also have stellar high school academic records, strong histories of community involvement and exemplary references.

To learn more about how you can start an endowed scholarship, or contribute to one of more than 550 scholarship funds managed by the UCM Alumni Foundation, contact Vicki Voskovitch at 660-543-8000 or email scholarships@ucmo.edu.

University of Central Missouri Magazine

25

C L AS S NO T E S

1940–1949 Thomas Benton Hollyman ’40 was inducted posthumously into the Missouri Photojournalism Hall of Fame at the University of Missouri Reynolds Journalism Institute in Columbia. Jack Miles, editor of the Warrensburg Daily Star Journal, nominated Hollyman for the award after coming across some old photos he took in the 1930s. Hollyman published a paper in the sixth grade when his family moved to Warrensburg, then got a professional start as a printer’s devil at the Standard Herald in exchange for news writing lessons. He attended UCM and freelanced for the Daily Star Journal and St. Louis PostDispatch. After graduating, he received a master’s degree from Missouri’s School of Journalism

and joined the Chicago Bureau of Acme Newspictures, forerunner to the Associated Press. Honored in 1988 as UCM Distinguished Alumnus, he was the official service photographer for Franklin D. Roosevelt’s funeral and videographer for the motion picture production of Lord of the Flies. Hollyman died in 2009.

1950–1959 Bob Merritt ’57 lost his wife, Jonna (McKendree) ’56, on June 7, 2015. Their two granddaughters, Allison Kelly and Katie Kelly, graduated cum laude from UCM in 2016.

1970–1979 Kerry Van Landuyt ’71 recently co-authored a book, A People’s History of the Lake of the Ozarks, which covers the rural to urban

A WIN FOR MO The Sept. 4 Kansas City baseball game was a loss for the Royals but a win for these four fans who brought MO to the game. From left, they are Denise Owsley; Barbara Funk Miller, a 1970 College High graduate and former UCM student; Nancy Denny ’73; and Danielle Payne.

Owsley, Denny and Payne are sisters.

transition of the area’s counties.

The book ties into the thesis he did as part of earning a master’s degree in sociology in 1971.

1980–1989 Robert D. Farr ’81 was elected to serve as a United Methodist

Church bishop this summer during the South Central Jurisdictional Conference in Wichita, KS. The south central jurisdiction comprises Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

About the

M A K I N G A M AT C H T H E R E S U M E A D V I C E that Pollianna Downing received through the Alumni Advisor Network came as a surprise.

Downing, who plans to graduate in 2017 with an accounting degree, was matched with Amanda Kumma-Reeves ’05, a manager at MarksNelson, the largest privately owned accounting firm in the Kansas City area.

“I was expecting a resume critique, but was completely surprised when KummaReeves showed my resume to a campus recruiting manager,” Downing said, who added she hopes to use her accounting degree to some day manage, and hopefully own, a landscaping business.

For Amanda, the network was a simple and convenient way to give back to her alma mater. “The opportunity for students to get career counseling with successful UCM alumni is an advantage that I would like to see students continue to utilize as alumni have valuable information regarding life choices after college.”

Downing is looking forward to becoming a UCM alumna. What she values most from her college experience is “the knowledge I have gained and will get to use in my everyday life and career.”

AMANDA KUMMA-REEVES

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POLLIANNA DOWNING

UCM A LUM N I

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CLAS S NOT ES

Farr grew up in Creighton, MO, and holds a bachelor’s degree from UCM in addition to a master’s degree in theology from Southern Methodist University in Texas. He earlier served as a pastor in Lee’s Summit and St. Charles and for the past several years has specialized in new church starts and the revitalization of existing congregations.

David Witte ’81 left the first quarter of his senior year to backpack and live in Europe for a year. This experience led him to work in a research library just outside of Stuttgart, Germany.

1990–1999 Teresa Herbic ’90 is adviser and co-founder of Pleasant Valley Baptist Church’s Families for Adoption, an international and domestic adoption, foster and orphan care network. She has published two children’s books about adoption, Cat Tales and Dog Tales, devotional material for David C. Cook’s The Quiet Hour, and newspaper and magazine articles, for Refocused and Enhanced magazines.

Her most recent book, Family Prayer Made Easy, was released in September. Teresa was a Menn Thorpe Award for Literary Excellence nominee for 2015 and was previously honored in 2014. She lives with her husband, Galen, and two adopted children, Meyana and Braxten, in San Antonio.

Faruk Capan ’92 has been named the 2016 Distinguished Marketing Executive by the UCM chapter of the American Marketing Association.

Capan is chief executive officer and founder of InTouch Solutions, a leader in marketing for the pharmaceutical industry with offices in Kansas City, Chicago, London and New York. After

A RETIREE’S DREAM

WITH MORE THAN 400 golf courses in Missouri, UCM alumnus Mark Schupp set a daunting goal for himself this summer.

“My dad used to say, ‘You need a purpose in life.’ Well, my purpose now is to play and review every golf course in Missouri, public and private, and to provide useful information for other golfers about each of the courses. To accomplish this quest, I am combining my three greatest passions: golf, marketing and the great state of Missouri.”

Schupp said his father introduced him to golf when he was 10 years old. “I fell in love with golf from my first contact with a ball.”

He’s played courses throughout the nation and the world. “When traveling around the state, I noticed that there was no single resource for good information on each of the courses in Missouri,” he said. “So, I decided to do it.”

More than just playing the courses, he’s also created a web site to chronicle the experience at MoGolfTour.com.

“Creating a website, keeping it up to date, contacting the courses, planning the schedule, coordinating travel, etc. keeps me busier than my job ever did. Playing the courses is the easy part. But, regrettably the actual playing time represents only a small fraction of the total time I spend on the project.”

In preparation for this quest, Schupp took a semester-long class, then spent the next seven months designing and programming a website to track and review each of the courses he plays. The site includes a map of every course in the state, colored-coded so visitors can track his progress. The website also includes a list of the best public courses, the best private courses and “The Best” in several other categories such as best club house, most fun, best staff, etc.

His hope is to provide the golfer with a resource of detailed information not only about the uniqueness of each course, but also with more information of the area where it is located.

While he undoubtedly enjoys the process of getting to know those affiliated with the various courses, he admits that he can be hard to keep up with on the course. More often than not, he golfs alone, typically finishing each 18-hole course in under two and a half hours, all the while snapping some photos and taking notes on course details, such as grass types, yardage and slope.

To hear him talk about all the detail his golf challenge involves, it’s easy to forget that he’s retired. Then again, considering the marketing and advertising business that he retired from, it’s hard to see him sitting still.

After graduating from UCM in 1978, he began his marketing career in Kansas City before going to St. Louis. There, he started his own agency, Schupp Co. in 1993, working with big-name clients such as AnheuserBusch, MillerCoors, Purina, Nestle, Jim Beam, Smirnoff and the St. Louis Cardinals. After selling his firm in 2014, Schupp eyed his passion for golf when looking to accomplish his next venture.

The tour is providing him more than he expected. “I am finding that playing every course in Missouri is much more than just playing golf. It is becoming more about meeting and spending time with the great people of Missouri and hearing their stories.”

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C L AS S NO T E S

completing an undergraduate degree in his native Istanbul, Turkey, he came to the U.S. in 1990 to earn his MBA from UCM.

A S A N A LU M N U S O F T H E

UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL MISSOURI,

Gary Liguori ’93 is the inaugural dean of the newly formed College of Health Sciences at the University of Rhode Island.

It is the first new college established at URI since the mid-1970s. Liguori previously was head of the Department of Health and Human Performance at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga and was founding director of the Healthy Living Center. His research on such topics as physical activity, nutrition, obesity, physical assessment and cardiac rehabilitation has been published widely in academic journals during the past 16 years.

Scott Hayes ’94 has been named vice president of sales for McCormick Armstrong, a commercial printer with web, sheet-fed and digital capabilities, direct mail, catalog, fulfillment, distribution and other specialty branding in Wichita, KS. He previously lived in Kansas City, where he held similar sales management positions with several of the region’s largest full service printing and fulfillment firms, including the Richardson Group and Lehigh Direct.

Jeremiah Morgan ’95 offers legal advice to Missouri Supreme Court justices after being appointed counsel to the court.

He joined the attorney general’s office in 2009 as deputy solicitor general. Previously he spent 10 years as a litigation and appellate counsel at Bryan Cave LLP in Kansas City.

Jeremy Johnson ’96 has co-founded Body Rebuilders, a business that focuses on corporate health specifically nutrition, diet and exercise. He also works at the Four Rivers

28

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YMCA and does presentations

for high school students about healthy food and lifestyle choices. He has been a trainer for the past 15 years and a bodybuilder for more than a decade. In addition to his degree from UCM, he competed graduate work in exercise physiology at Southern Illinois University Cardondale.

Jeff Hoskisson ’98 has joined Bethel College in North Newton, KS, as head track and field coach and head cross country coach.

Jenny Mueller ’98 ’07 is the new head volleyball coach of the Pratt (KS) Community College Beavers. Previously she was at Pittsburg State where she served three seasons as assistant before being named head coach. While she was there, the Gorillas had 18 All-MIAA players including the 2013 MIAA Freshman of the Year. She was head coach at William Woods University from

Vol. 16, No. 2 | ucmo.edu/ucmmagazine

2008-2010 where she mentored two NAIA All-Americans and 10 All-Conference players. She also has served as head coach at Coffeyville Community College and served on the staffs at UCM and Washburn.

2000–2009 Amanda (Boyle) Johnson ’04 completed her Ph.D. in theatre at the University of Kansas in May. She married Ryan Johnson May 28 on Tybee Island, GA. They recently moved to Owensboro, KY, where Amanda accepted a position as assistant professor of theatre and speech at Brescia University.

2010–2019 Lucas Morgan ’12 was named athletic director at Louisiana State University Shreveport.

Previously he was at William Jewell College in Liberty, MO, first as assistant athletic director for

compliance and student services and next as associate athletic director. His responsibilities included managing coaches of the baseball, swimming and golf teams; the NCAA compliance department; the athletics financial aid budget for 20 programs; and corporate partnership program. He also has worked as a health fitness specialist at MediFit Corporate Services in Kansas City. There, Morgan increased overall fitness center membership and attendance numbers within group exercise programs and developed and implemented marketing and promotional items for the center.

Shelby Johnson ’15 joined Marion C. Early R-5 School District as a business teacher for grades nine through 12. She also was named coach for the Marion C. Early High School girls’ basketball team.

Fall & Fun

Fall had plenty of fun for alumni and their families attending Homecoming, the Legacy Family Picnic, the 50th anniversary of the Alpha Phi Alpha Zeta Gamma chapter or the Mules debut game at the Fall Classic at Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs.

HERE’S WHAT’S UPCOMING:

Mule Nation KC Pictures with Santa Sunday, Dec. 18, from 1–4 p.m.

Union Station Jarvis Hunt Room Hot chocolate, holiday fun and Santa

UCM Legacy Family Picnic

UCM Homecoming

50th Anniversary of Alpha Phi Alpha Zeta Gamma

Class of 1967 50-Year Reunion April 20–21, 2017 Save the date now

Arrowhead Fall Classic

S TAY C U R R E N T W I T H A L L O U R U P C O M I N G E V E N T S AT U C M F O U N D AT I O N . O R G / E V E N T- C A L E N D A R See more event pictures at ucmfoundation.org/events-and-news/event-photos or on Facebook at UCMAlumniFoundation

University of Central Missouri Magazine

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IN M E MO R I A M

1940–1949

1960–1969

1970–1979

1990–1999

College High

Lela Zey ’45 Billie Stewart McCracken ’48

Mary Batchelor Ackemann ’62 Peggy Elliott ’62 Sydney Landon ’63 Jake Shaw ’64 F. Wayne Dugan ’65 Jessie Tanner Sutton ’65 Nancy Patterson ’66 John White ’68 Bill Summers ’69 Evelyn Townley ’69

Robert Balent ’70 Emma Dody ’70 Kenneth Dostal ’72 Ronald Mathews ’73 Barbara Carrender ’74 Sheryl Hoogheen Phillips ’74 Carmen Foster Randolph ’74 Don Harrison ’75 Carol Fisher ’77 Carol McCoy Brookhart ’78 Babette Poston ’79

Joseph E. Dziadosz ’91 J. Mike Freeman ’91 Kevin Martin ’91 Tracey Corbett Bryan ’92 Deborah Diane Moore ’92 Rebecca Allman Garner ’95

Bill Dyer

1950–1959 Joan Mantel Henry ’51 Marilyn Jones Campbell ’53 M. Irene Mette Shikles ’53 Jack Cole ’54 Ronald Atkins ’55 Jim Stayton ’56 Ken Buhlig ’58 John Freytag ’58 Virginia Schanz ’58 Ray Hawthorne ’59 Raymond “R.L.” Minton ’59

Ronald Castleman Ronald Lee Castleman, 72, of Warrensburg, former UCM accounting professor, died Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, at his home.

He was born June 1, 1944, in Madison, TN, to Howard H. and Marylee Beasley Castleman. He received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Harding University in Searcy, AR, followed by a year working on his PhD at the University of North Texas in Denton. He moved to Richmond, VA, where he taught accounting at Virginia Commonwealth University.

He moved to Warrensburg in 1969. He taught at UCM for two years, serving as coordinator and chair of the accounting department. Later, he was an accountant with Hutchison-Williams-Mutti Accounting Firm, eventually opening a branch in Warrensburg.

He owned and operated Ron Castleman CPA for many years. In 1990, he started teaching accounting at Park University at Whiteman Air Force Base.

Julia Consalus Julia Ann Atkin Consalus, 88, former homecoming queen and 1950 Charno Award recipient, died Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016, in Centralia, MO. She was born April 8, 1928, in Kansas City, the daughter of Charles Wesley and Margaret Whitsett Atkins. She graduated valedictorian from Clinton High School in 1946, then came to UCM where she was a member and national officer of Sigma Sigma Sigma, was elected homecoming queen, and in 1950, was

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1980–1989 Martha Winders Lowry ’80 Hugh Ward ’80

2000–2009 Kris Logston ’08

2010-2019 Luke Helmstetter ’12

Friends Michael Alexander Hank Castrop Mary Castrop Lynda Mills William Nechanicky Gerry Wade Sorensen Pete Sorensen Harvey Strothmann Michael Wagner Ann Walters

Former Students Charles Bratton Mary Whitsett McCoy Kevin Williams

selected to receive the Charno Award as the outstanding female graduate.

She taught for 18 years in the Clinton public schools. Education was a lifelong pursuit, including a master’s degree from UCM in home economics in 1969. She served on the board of directors for the UCM Alumni Association and UCM Foundation as well as the advisory board for KMOS/KCMW. Memorial gifts are suggested to the UCM Alumni Foundation, Smiser Alumni Center, Warrensburg, MO 64093 or online at ucmfoundation.org/give.

Jerry Elliott Jerry D. Elliott, 76, of Warrensburg, manager emeritus of revenue, died Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016, at his home.

He was born Sept.

17, 1939, in Kansas City, MO, to Gareld D. and Clara L. Jones Elliott. A graduate of Latour High School, he earned a bachelor’s degree in education from UCM in 1961, then served as an elementary physical education teacher in Raytown and as a junior high basketball coach in Knob Noster and Warrensburg. He coached Warrensburg High School basketball, tennis and football, in addition to teaching physical education and driver’s education.

In 1970, he joined UCM as assistant director of financial aid. After completing a master’s degree in education in 1970 and

education specialist degree in 1973, he was promoted to assistant director of financial aid with the rank of assistant professor. After earning his doctorate from the University of Missouri, in 1981, he became business manager for revenue and assistant professor of administration, supervision and higher education. He retired in 2002.

He and Mary Sheilia Wilson married Dec. 17, 1960, in the Alumni Memorial Chapel on campus. She survives.

He was a member of the Warrensburg Rotary Club, Phi Delta Kappa and the Teacher’s Pet Barbershop Harmony group. For several years, he chaired the Johnson County United Way. He also coached Little League baseball for the Bobcats and the Elk’s Warriors and was head coach for the Warrensburg American Legion Baseball Team.

Rosezetta “Julie” Giese Rosezetta “Julie” Giese, 97, former nurse of the university’s elementary lab school, died Tuesday, June 7, 2016, in Spencer, IN. She was born April 15, 1919, in Emporia, KS, to Calvin E. and Nora Belle Cowen. She married Holten E. Giese on Aug. 13, 1945; he preceded her in death.

She graduated from Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia, then received a nursing degree from Christ’s Hospital School of Nursing in Topeka. She became a registered nurse. Her favorite job was being school nurse at Central Elementary School from l961 until it closed in 1980. She lived in Warrensburg until 2009 when she moved to Indiana to be with her daughter.

I N M EM OR I AM

Larry Jones Larry Jones, 75, professor emeritus of business education, died Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016. He was born Jan. 31, 1941, to Lester and Lillian White Jones. He attended the one-room Berry schoolhouse through eighth grade and graduated from Livonia High School in 1958, valedictorian of his class of 17 students.

He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Northeast Missouri State University and completed a doctorate at the University of North Dakota.

He joined the UCM faculty in 1969, after two years as a high school business teacher in Iowa and five years as a business instructor in junior colleges in Missouri and Illinois. During his 30-year tenure at UCM, he taught such courses as Special Methods of Teaching Business Education, Word Processing II and Desktop Publishing for Business. He also supervised student teachers in business education.

When he wasn’t in a UCM classroom, he kept active in other education-related pursuits. During the summer session, he directed the Missouriana Study Tour and taught workshops sponsored by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in the Kansas City area.

He was a member of a number of professional organizations and societies, including Delta Pi Epsilon, Pi Omega Pi, Missouri State Teachers Association and the National Business Education Association. He retired from teaching in 1999.

During his next assignment at Brooks Air Force Base near San Antonio, he met his future bride, Aileen, on a blind date. They married Sept. 24, 1960.

He served two years in the Vietnam War, advising the South Vietnamese Air Force and flying missions with the original “Dirty Thirty” squadron. He was awarded the Air medal and Vietnamese flight wings.

While stationed next in Memphis, TN, he attended Memphis State University, earning a master’s degree in history and leading the ROTC program. During his assignment with the U.S.A.F. Academy in Colorado Springs, he earned his jump wings, was promoted to lieutenant colonel and became a flight instructor for academy students.

His service took him next to Bangkok, Thailand, where he was chief protocol officer for the U.S.A.F. and U.S. Embassy. Returning to the U.S., he was at Richards Gebaur Air Force base in Kansas City as head of military and civilian personnel. Following his military retirement in 1975, he taught at Longview Community College, led the ROTC program at Ruskin High School and worked for Saudi Arabian Airlines. There, he helped establish an airline training program and assisted the Saudi government in airport infrastructure.

He came to UCM in 1987 to teach aviation classes and fundamentals of flight. After retiring in 1997, he continued to stay involved with the program.

Memorials are suggested for a scholarship being established in his name that will benefit the UCM aviation flight program and help students who share his passion for flying. Gifts may be sent to the UCM Alumni Foundation, Smiser Alumni Center, Warrensburg, MO 64093 or made online at ucmfoundation.org/give.

Robeson S. Moise

Milton Overby

Lt. Col. Robeson S. Moise, 85, retired U.S. Air Force officer and professor emeritus of power and transportation, died Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016.

He was born July 21, 1931, in Atlanta, GA, to Robert E. and Beryl S. Secrest and was later adopted by Stanley C. Moise. He was enrolled in the U.S. Air Force ROTC program and graduated from the University of the South, in Sewanee, TN, with a bachelor’s degree in history.

Following graduation, he was commissioned as a first lieutenant, earned his flight wings and was voted Airman of the Year. He took a duty assignment in France, working in a troop transport division. While in France, he was awarded the Italian Service Medal by the Italian government.

Milton S. Overby, 91, former head of library science, died Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2015.

He was born July 4, 1924, and had a substantial academic record, earning degrees from Mercer University, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Texas Wesleyan College, North Texas State University and the University of Illinois.

His life was divided between the church and libraries. In addition to serving as a clergyman, he held library positions at several colleges. He came to UCM as assistant librarian in 1967.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Agnes and daughter, Angelyn Overby-Kirk, both UCM alumni; and his son, Malcolm.

Memorials are suggested to the Angelyn Overby-Kirk Special Education Scholarship, which he and his wife established to honor their daughter’s lifelong education legacy of helping special needs students. The scholarship benefits a junior or senior pursuing a degree in special education. Gifts may be sent to the UCM Alumni Foundation, Smiser Alumni Center, Warrensburg, MO 64093 or made at ucmfoundation.org/give.

Trevor Reese Trevor David Reese Sr., 93, a former university bookstore employee, died Monday, July 25, 2016, at his home in Warrensburg.

He was born March 14, 1923, in Kansas City, MO, to Ivor E. and Gertrude Cramer Reese. On May 15, 1948, he married Alma “Sue” Alley who preceded him in death in December 2015.

He graduated from North East High School in Kansas City before enlisting in the U.S. Navy, flying with the Army Air Corps at the end of World War II. He then attended the University of Missouri where he obtained his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.

His 30-year career as a civilian missile engineer took him to California and Oklahoma, before leading him to Warrensburg where he was chief missile engineer. After his second retirement, he worked for 15 years in the UCM Bookstore.

Hal Sappington Hal M. Sappington, 85, professor emeritus of electronics technology and respected old-time fiddler, died Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016, at his home in Warrensburg.

He was born Jan. 7, 1931, to Elson and Ethelyn Martin Sappington. Following his graduation in 1948 from Ashland (MO) High School, he served four years in the U.S. Navy.

He graduated second in his class at the electronics school, Great Lakes Naval Training Station, and served on the LST Ship 983-525.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of MissouriColumbia in 1957, a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Denver in 1966, and a doctorate in industrial education from the University of MissouriColumbia in 1979. He married Carol Wilson Dec. 30, 1954; she preceded him in death.

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IN M E MO R I A M

Before entering the teaching profession, he was an engineer at Collins Radio Co. in Cedar Rapids, IA; a flight test instrumentation engineer at McDonnell Aircraft Corp. in St. Louis and at Edwards Air Force Base near Lancaster, CA; and group leader of the systems engineering laboratory at the University of Denver Research Institute.

For more than 26 years, he was a professor of electronics technology at UCM, serving as department chair for eight years. He retired in 1996.

Music was a big part of his life, and he was an accomplished old-time fiddler. He played throughout his life, including with two local bands, Johnson Grass and later the Pickin’ Friends. He enjoyed repairing and refurbishing old fiddles.

Emerson Smith Emerson G. Smith, 94, former agriculture instructor, died Monday, July 18, 2016, at the Missouri Veterans Home in Warrensburg.

He was born October 16, 1921, to Ross Clark and Grace Nolte Smith. Emerson attended Osage School, a one-room country school in St. Claire County, and was a 1939 graduate of Rockville High School.

He attended the University of Missouri, majoring in agriculture, followed by a master’s degree in biology from Drake University in Des Moines.

He graduated from Mizzou’s ROTC program as well as the Army Officer Candidate School, earning the rank of second lieutenant. He served during World War II with artillery troops in France, Germany and Czechoslovakia and was in the first group of American soldiers who liberated Pilson.

In addition to the 16th and 79th infantry divisions, he was part of the first infantry division known as the Big Red 1.

Following the war, he and wife, Kathryn, moved to Warrensburg where he taught instructional on the farm training to veterans at UCM. When that program ended, he taught science and agriculture and coached basketball at Latour High School for a year.

From 1958-1981, he taught chemistry and biology at Warrensburg High School. He was a lifelong farmer, raising registered breeds of sheep, hogs, horses, dogs and cattle.

Virginia Wall Virginia Blanche Wall, 94, the 1943 Charno Award winner, died Sunday, July 17, 2016, in Chillicothe, MO. She was born May 10, 1922, to William Warner and Mary Lydia Stephens Wall and was a 1939 graduate of Hardin High School.

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ONE HUNDRED YEARS

THE UNIVERSITY’S MOTTO, “Education for Service,” turns 100 years old this year. It was adopted in 1916 following the most destructive fire in campus history.

In his book of the university’s first 100 years, the late Les Anders writes: “It was quite in keeping with the historian president’s reflective nature that time was taken for the things of which tradition is made. Challenged by the need for an appropriate inscription over the entrance to the Training School, [President Eldo] Hendricks adopted Miss [Laura] Runyan’s (above) suggestion of ‘Education for Service,’ which appealed to him and to later presidents as a fitting motto.”

At UCM, she majored in English and social studies, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1943 and receiving the Charno Award as outstanding senior girl. In 1953, she earned a master’s degree from the University of Missouri in Columbia.

Her 48-year teaching career included three years at Holden and 45 years at Chillicothe High School. She taught English classes from sophomores to seniors including English as a college preparatory course and was senior class sponsor for 41 years. She also directed 52 three-act plays and managed 41 baccalaureates and graduations. She earned many professional awards throughout her career and was known for her singing talent as a soloist.

After her retirement in 1991, the library at Chillicothe High School was renamed the Virginia Wall Media Center. On Nov. 12, 1997, then Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan presented her with a proclamation recognizing her “high level of professionalism and dedication to the education field.” In 2001, she received the Golden Apple Award

by Newspapers Education.

Harold Wilson Harold Lewis Wilson, 84, professor emeritus of psychology, died Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016,

at his home in Knob Noster.

He was born March 8, 1932, to Leonard and Lillian Leggat Wilson. He was a veteran of the Korean Conflict, serving four years in the U.S. Navy. Upon his honorable discharge, he pursued a college education.

He earned a bachelor’s degree at Hastings College, a master’s from Kearney State and an education specialist degree from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.

Wilson came to UCM in 1965 as an assistant professor, was promoted to associate professor in 1970 and full professor in 1979. He previously served as high school principal, guidance counselor and teacher in Nebraska public schools.

He was a member of several professional associations including the American Association of University Professors and Phi Delta Kappa. Among his accomplishments during his 30-year career at UCM, he was proudest of his work to develop and implement a master’s degree program in psychology.

Memorials are suggested for the Arthur J. Ter Keurst in Psychology Scholarship. Gifts can be sent to the UCM Alumni Foundation, Smiser Alumni Center, Warrensburg, MO 64093 or contributed online at ucmfoundation.org/give.

L U M N I F O U N D AT I O N B E Q U E ST S UCM A

e

Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way Voncile Huffman died in 2002 but her teaching legacy survives. Through a will bequest she made to the UCM Alumni Foundation, she found a way to continue her love of teaching through an endowed scholarship that has helped hundreds of students follow in her footsteps.

Now is an excellent time to create or review your will.

Have you considered including a charitable bequest that will create a lasting legacy and directly benefit UCM students?

Contact Joy Mistele at 660-543-8000 or mistele@ucmo.edu to discuss this and other estate giving options that can benefit both you and UCM.

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