From the Chancellor
The time passes
quickly. It seems like yesterday
that I accepted the position as chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Monticello thus fulfilling a long-held dream to lead the institution that holds a special place in my heart. Now my time as chancellor is coming to a close. I will officially retire next January 5 to enter a new phase in my life that will include spending more time with my wonderful wife, Judy, our adult children and our seven grandchildren. University of Arkansas System President Donald Bob-
bitt will lead a nationwide search for a new chancellor, with input from students, faculty, staff and alumni. I feel confident that under Dr. Bobbitt’s leadership the search will be successful.
As I prepare to leave UAM I am fully engaged in a number of tasks
important to the institution’s immediate and long-term future. As many of you know, we are preparing for an October visit from an accreditation team from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of
For information, you may contact:
Colleges and Schools. Our faculty and administration are working hard to
Julie Barnes ‘00, Director of Alumni Services P.O. Box 3520 Monticello, AR 71656 (870) 460-1028 barnesj@uamont.edu
insure a positive accreditation review.
We are also working on the preservation of three historic sites donated
to the university which will be part of a planned Southeast Arkansas Heritage Trail: the Taylor House at Hollywood Plantation on Bayou Bartholomew, the Italian Prisoner of War Camp on Highway 35, and the Arkansas City law office of former Governor X. O. Pindall. Our thanks to Governor Mike Beebe, former House Speaker Robert Moore, State Representative Sheilla Lampkin, and the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resource Commission for providing initial funds for these projects. Our plans are to restore and develop these sites as tourist stops without using any university funds. The sites are, and will continue to be, research projects for students in various academic disciplines.
On The Cover: Kenneth Mann of El Dorado, UAM’s 52nd Distinguished Alumnus, in his office at Deltic Timber Corporation.
I have always viewed UAM as a good corporate citizen of the Monticello community.
With that in mind, the university recently offered an option to purchase 85 acres in the POW Camp adjacent to the Monticello Industrial Park to the Monticello Economic Development Commission. This option has been transferred to an industry prospect as a building site for
Linda Yeiser, Vice Chancellor for Advancement and University Relations (870) 460-1028 (office) (870) 460-1324 (FAX) yeiser@uamont.edu If you want to find out what’s happening on campus, or want to contact us about something significant that’s happened in your life, check out our website at www.uamont.edu. When you reach the UAM home page, scroll down and click on Alumni & Development. Let us know what you think. We welcome your suggestions!
Parents, if your son or daughter attended UAM and is no longer living at this address, please notify our office of his or her new address. Thank you.
construction of a 70 to 90 million dollar manufacturing plant that will initially employ 50 to 60 skilled workers.
On campus, we recently completed the replacement of the HVAC unit in the Music Build-
ing which should correct moisture problems in that building. State Senator Eddie Cheatham was instrumental in securing funding for this project.
Make plans to join us next October 11 for Homecoming,, But remember that you don’t
need a special occasion to visit your university. As always, my door is open. Search “University of Arkansas at Monticello Alumni & Friends”
Jack Lassiter Chancellor
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chair Paul Griffin ‘95 / Monticello Vice Chair Beverly (Holloway) Reep ‘81 / Warren
Secretary-Treasurer Amanda (Abbott) Ware ‘84 / North Little Rock Directors Angelia Clements ‘96 / Little Rock Jennifer (Mann) Hargis ‘07 / Monticello
Donney Jackson ‘92 / Monticello Jerrielynn (Moore) Mapp ‘75 / Monticello Randall Risher ‘89 / Houston, Texas Steve Rook ‘ 86 / Mena
Summer 2014
COVER FEATURE Kenneth Mann’s work ethic, his devotion to faith and family, and an affinity for the land
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have led to a highly successful career as chief financial officer of Deltic Timber Corporation. The son of a tomato farmer and a self-described country boy, Kenneth used his UAM education as a springboard to success. He is UAM’s 52nd Distinguished Alumnus.
EVERY ISSUE Chancellor’s Letter | IFC End of an Era | 2 On Campus | 4 Sports | 20 Sports Association | 21 Foundation Fund | 22 Alumni Spotlight | 24 Alumni Snapshots | 26 Friends We’ll Miss | 27 UAM Magazine (Volume 21, number 2) is published three times a year by the University of Arkansas at Monticello, the UAM Alumni Association, and the UAM Foundation Fund. Jim Brewer, Editor Director of Media Services (870) 460-1274 (office) (870) 460-1974 (fax) brewer@uamont.edu
12 16 18 HALL OF FAME
JUST A WINNER
FOR LAUGHS
On a February night in Little Rock, Alvy Early took his rightful place in the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.
Baseball coach John Harvey has taken a once moribund program and turned it into a winner.
Sydney Davis Jr. Jr. (no typo!) is living a dream as a stand-up comic in Chicago.
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ON CAMPUS
END OF AN ERA Chancellor Jack Lassiter Announces His Retirement Chancellor Jack Lassiter, UAM’s 11th chief executive officer, has announced his retirement effective January 5, 2015. “My decision to retire is based on family,” said Lassiter. “Judy and I have been blessed with three wonderful children and seven grandchildren, and we both felt the time was right to spend more time enjoying their company. I have enjoyed every minute of my time at UAM. It has been a privilege to work with a tremendously dedicated and talented faculty and staff who made my job easier. It’s truly been a joy to live and work in Monticello. We will always consider this our home.” UA System President Donald Bobbitt praised Lassiter for his service to the university. “As a dean, vice chancellor and finally as chancellor for the last 10 years, Jack Lassiter has dedicated much of his outstanding career to the University of Arkansas at Monticello and the community it serves in Southeast Arkansas,” Bobbitt said. “Throughout that time, he led UAM with a keen awareness and passion for the university’s mission as an open-access public university that provides opportunities for people to better their lives and community through education. Jack and Judy Lassiter leave a wonderful legacy at UAM and I wish them the best in retirement. It will be a challenge to find another leader who can match Jack’s energy and enthusiasm for UAM.” President Bobbitt said he will conduct a national search in consultation with UAM
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faculty and staff to find the next chancellor of the university. Lassiter became UAM’s chancellor on July 1, 2004, and wasted little time creating and implementing a master plan for the future growth of the campus. The initial stages of the plan included the restoration and landscaping of Weevil Pond, followed by the renovation and modernization of Wells Hall and Sorrells Hall as well as the addition of a campus-wide heating and cooling system. Under Lassiter’s leadership, UAM has upgraded its athletic facilities, including the construction of an indoor practice facility, an expanded press box and chair-back seating at Convoy Leslie-Cotton Boll Stadium, and renovations to both the baseball and softball facilities. Other major accomplishments of Lassiter’s tenure include construction of the George H. Clippert Forestry Annex, which added more than 15,000 square feet of classroom, office and laboratory space to the School of Forest Resources, and the renovation of Bankston Hall, converting the one-time all-male residence hall to a coeducational residential facility. Lassiter also instituted one of the most popular events on campus when he opened the area surrounding Weevil Pond for tailgating before football games and created the Walk of Champions, which has become a cherished pregame ritual. A native of Greenville, Tex., Lassiter and his wife, Judy, first came to UAM in 1977, living in an apartment in Horsfall Hall. Lassiter
worked as director of the Learning Development Center while completing his doctorate while his wife served as director of Horsfall Hall. Lassiter returned to Texas in 1978 to serve two years as dean of college and student services at Wharton County Junior College before returning to UAM in 1980 as vice chancellor for university relations and student services, beginning a 17-year stay on the Monticello campus. In 1993, he became the institution’s chief academic officer when he was named vice chancellor for academic affairs and student services. Lassiter left UAM in 1997 to become chancellor of the UA Community College at Batesville before accepting an offer from UA System President B. Alan Sugg in 2001 to become executive vice president of the UA System in Little Rock. Three years later, Lassiter was named Chancellor of UAM. “I always wanted to come back,” he said at the time. “I missed the campus and I missed the community. UAM is, and always will be, a special place for my family.” Lassiter indicated the timing for his retirement was based in part on the upcoming accreditation visit from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. An HLC accreditation team will visit the campus in October. “This is an important time in the life of the university and I wanted to see the institution through the accreditation process,” he explained.
The First Family of UAM, Jack and Judy Lassiter, have had a close association with the campus for much of the last 37 years.
Summer 2014
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ON CAMPUS Top Ten Finish
P
aced by Chris Brown and the debate team of Kelly Reed and Eddie Weaver, the University of Arkansas at Monticello finished eighth among 141 college and university debate teams at the International Public Debate Association’s national tournament and convention hosted recently by Middle Tennessee State University. Awards were presented for both season-long performance and performance at the national tournament. Brown, a graduate student from Siloam Springs, was a quarterfinalist in the professional division of the national tournament and received the first place speaker award in the professional division for season-long performance. Reed, a senior political science and communication double major from Bella Vista, and Weaver, a sophomore physical education major from DeWitt, placed second in the season-long competition in IPDA debate. Reed captured three individual awards at the national tournament – second place varsity speaker, ninth place team speaker, and reached the round of 16 in varsity debate. Justin Walker, a 2012 UAM graduate competing in the alumni division, was a
Freedom Writer
M
anny Scott, whose life story was told in part in the 2007 hit motion picture Freedom Writers, came to UAM in April as part of the Governor Winthrop Rockefeller Distinguished Lecture Series. A motivational speaker, successful entrepreneur and a Ph.D. candidate, Scott was one of a class of “atrisk” students from inner-city Los Angeles who were considered un-teachable. Scott’s father was incarcerated, he missed 60 to 90 days of school annually from fourth to ninth grade, dropped out of school at 14, lived 26 places by age 16, and suffered the loss of his best friend, who was murdered. When Scott returned to school, he was placed in an English class taught by Erin Gruwell, portrayed by Academy Award-winner Hilary Swank in the movie.
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professional semifinalist debate speaker while Brown was the ninth place professional speaker. Tanisha Smith, a junior political science major from Hamburg, reached the round of 16 three times in novice competition. April Wright, a sophomore political science and modern languages double major from Conway, reached the round of 16 in varsity debate and won a season-long award as the ninth place speaker in novice competition. As a team, UAM won three seasonlong awards – third place in the professional division, fifth place in varsity debate, and sixth place in the Founders Cup competition.
Leveling Off
U
AM enrolled 3,539 students for the 2014 spring semester at its three campuses in Monticello, Crossett and McGehee according to the university registrar’s office. The figures were a slight drop from last year’s spring enrollment of 3,591 students. “Our enrollment has leveled off after a decade of unprecedented growth,” said Chancellor Jack Lassiter. “At a time when public school enrollments in our
traditional service area are decreasing, this was to be expected. This is why the institution has embarked on an aggressive advertising and marketing campaign to expand our traditional recruiting base, which is why we are optimistic about future growth opportunities. We will continue to emphasize our core mission of providing educational opportunities as an open admissions institution while maintaining a low cost of attendance. I commend the efforts of Mary Whiting, our dean of enrollment management and director of admissions, and her staff for their hard work in helping us maintain strong enrollment numbers.” From 2003 to 2012, UAM’s enrollment increased by 37 percent – from 2,875 to a record 3,946 in fall 2012. Fall enrollment figures grew steadily since 2003, increasing to 2,942 in 2004; 2,959 in 2005; and exceeding 3,000 for the first time in 2006 with an enrollment of 3,179. The growth continued with an enrollment of 3,187 in 2007; 3,302 in 2008; 3,479 in 2009; 3,638 in 2010; and 3,920 in 2011. “We will continue to explore ways to maintain and grow the institution,” said Lassiter. “I believe strongly that the combination of academic excellence and affordability makes UAM an attractive option for students seeking a higher education. We have tried very hard to keep the cost of attendance reasonable and within reach of our constituencies. We have one of the lowest total costs of attendance of any four-year institution in the state and we plan to keep it that way.”
Student Leaders
T
hree students who serve as consultants for the UAM Writing Center were panelists at the 2014 South Central Writing Center Association (SCWCA) conference March 6-8 at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. Shane Curry, a second-year writing consultant and an English and creative writing major from Warren; Bronte Spencer, a first-year writing consultant and an English major from Moore, Okla.; and J.T. Henderson, a first-year writing consultant
and an English major from Monticello, made presentations at the conference. Franz Holthoff, a history major from Star City, also attended. The students were accompanied by Dr. Julie Platt, assistant professor of English and director of the UAM Writing Center, and Jennifer Jackson, instructor of English and the center’s assistant director. Both Platt and Jackson also served as panelists. The SCWCA conference is a forum for academic expression among writing center scholars. Students and faculty members from colleges and universities throughout the south central region use the conference to present scholarly works and ideas pertaining to writing center culture. UAM students and faculty discussed the recent transformation of the university’s Writing Center into a professional center for academic study. Platt and Jackson discussed the history of the center and the challenges and ongoing efforts toward the center’s improvement. Shane Curry provided a personal perspective of the Writing Center’s shift in management and function, discussing the center’s past and what he terms positive changes resulting from philosophical shifts. Bronte Spencer talked about student resistance to change and the staff’s response to that resistance. J.T. Henderson spoke about becoming an advocate for the center and for a stronger writing culture at UAM.
President-Elect
D
r. Jeff Longing, assistant professor of education, has been elected president-elect of the Arkansas Association of Teacher Educators. Longing joined the UAM faculty in 2003. He holds a bachelor of science degree from UAM and a master’s degree and educational doctorate from Northeast Louisiana University. The Arkansas Association of Teacher Educators is the state representative unit of the national Association of Teacher Educators, which was founded in 1920.
They All Passed!
O
ne hundred percent of the December 2013 practical nursing graduates at the UAM College of Technology-McGehee passed the NCLEX-PN licensure examination on their first attempt, according to Peggie Orrell, director of allied health at the McGehee campus. “We are extremely proud of this year’s nursing graduates,” said Orrell. “This achievement is due to the hard work of students, faculty and clinical site staff, and also reflects the constant support of our college’s administrators and leaders in the healthcare community. The McGehee practical nursing program supplies the majority of the practical nurse workforce locally, and I think our track record speaks for the vital role we play in our healthcare workforce. We have a longstanding reputation for competence and excellence in nursing practice, and our graduates are recognized for their skills and the ability to nurse.” Members of the December graduating class are (from left, first row) Megan Prosser of McGehee, LaKrystal Jennings-Jones of Greenville, Miss., Angela Wash of McGehee, Heather Singleton of McGehee, Danielle Wiley of McGehee, (second row, from left) Witni Boney of Monticello, Mary McMickle of Monticello, Katie French of McGehee, Tyler Clavet of McGehee, (top row) Kim Ray, instructor and clinical coordinator, Peggie Orrell, and Nikki Calhoun, instructor.
Summer 2014
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i a h g n a h S
Trip of a
Lifetime
UAM’s incredible Jazz Band I became ambassadors for the university and for American jazz during a 12-day tour of the People’s Republic of China in March and April. Invited by the U.S.-China Cultural Exchange, the band played to packed houses and enthusiastic audiences at every stop. From Shanghai to Beijing and points in between, it was a trip they’ll never forget! (The Jazz Band’s tour was funded in part by the Centennial Opportunity Fund, made possible by the Centennial Circle Endowment.)
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Forbidden City
Enthusiastic audiences greeted the band at every stop.
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Old Fashioned
Values I
If you want to know something about Kenneth Mann, take a quick look around his office on the fourth floor of Deltic Timber Corporation’s headquarters in El Dorado. Mann is Deltic’s chief financial officer, overseeing the fiscal operation of a far-flung enterprise that includes nearly a half million acres of forest land as well as extensive real estate and manufacturing interests. The trappings of success are there, but so are the things that really matter to a self-proclaimed country boy from Hermitage.
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Distinguished Alumnus
Scattered among books and company reports are photos of his family – wife, Sharon, daughter and son-in-law Jennifer and Robert Hargis, and grandson Grant Bradley Hargis. Perched in the middle of a bookshelf is a stuffed boll weevil and on top of another are a UAM football helmet and pennant clock, reminders of his undergraduate days as a student at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. “This is who I am,” says Mann. The family photos and UAM memorabilia will have to be rearranged soon to make room for a plaque from his alma mater. Mann was recently selected as the university’s 52nd Distinguished Alumnus. “I’m honored, but a little shocked,” says Mann. “I see myself as a hard working guy who’s done okay in life, but that’s all.” “Ken Mann represents all the best qualities of this institution,” says UAM Chancellor Jack Lassiter. “He came from humble beginnings but through hard work and determination, has built a tremendously successful career. I can think of no one who better exemplifies what this university stands for.” Faith, family and hard work define Kenneth Mann. He came by his work ethic honestly, working shoulder to shoulder with his sisters, Gail and Rhena, his mother, Bonnie, and his late father, Billy, on his family’s tomato farm outside Hermitage, a tiny community in southern Bradley County between Warren and El Dorado. His mother was an office assistant at Hermitage High School until one day in 1971 when she decided on the spur of the moment to go back to college to become a teacher. She graduated from UAM in 1974, becoming the first of six members of the Mann family to earn a degree from the Monticello school. Mann’s sisters earned degrees Summer 2014
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“At the end of the day, it’s all about hard work.”
from UAM, as did his daughter and sonin-law. When Kenneth graduated from Hermitage High School in 1977, he had three options – become a tomato farmer like his father, work in the woods as a logger, or go to college. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” says Mann. “I was good at math and science so I thought I might like to be an engineer.” Mann considered three schools – UAM, the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, and the United States Military Academy. The Fayetteville campus seemed too big, but Mann was enamored with West Point. “I thought the tradition and discipline would be great,” he says. UAM eventually won out, thanks to an academic scholarship that paid a portion of his college expenses. Mann graduated from UAM in 1981 with a degree in accounting and 10
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a 4.0 grade point average, establishing a reputation as a quiet, focused student who drew the attention of his teachers. The late Julian Mettetal, a longtime business professor, steered Mann away from engineering and into accounting. “I didn’t have the background from high school for engineering,” Mann remembers. “I really enjoyed (Mr. Mettetal) and it was one of those moments where it just clicked. The light came on and I said ‘I think I like this.’” Kenneth Green, another long-time business faculty member, was Mann’s mentor. “Mr. Green was a guy that really pushed me to be better than I thought I could be,” says Mann. “He wouldn’t accept anything from you but your best. He told me ‘Ken, you can be good at this. I expect you to set the curve for the rest of the class.’” Green thought so much of Mann
that he gave him an A in intermediate accounting even though Mann never completed the final exam. The day of the final, he woke up with a stomach virus, but managed to drag himself out of bed and make it to Green’s office. “Mr. Green had been letting me work in his office some that semester,” says Mann. “When I got there, he could tell I was sick, so he said to go to his office, sit down and start taking the test. About five minutes later, he came in and saw how sick I was. He said, ‘Tell you what I’m going to do. You take this test home, and when you finish it, you bring it back. I’m going to go ahead and turn in your grade.’” Mann didn’t complete the final and never turned it in, but still received an A in the course. He kept the exam. “I always intended to frame it and put it in my office,” he says. “It was a sign of
Distinguished Alumnus
confidence in my mind. What he really meant was ‘You already made the grade. I’m not worried about the final.’” There was more to Mann at UAM than books and classes, at least during his freshman and sophomore years. He pledged Theta Xi and was active in the fraternity until he met Sharon Walsh of North Little Rock on a blind date in January 1979. It was not love at first sight. Kenneth was more interested in his friend’s date and Sharon was more interested in Kenneth’s friend. “Initially I was more attracted to her friend and she was more attracted to the guy I brought,” Mann remembers, a smile creasing his face. “We ended up going out again, this time just the two of us, and we hit it off. I think we both knew it was meant to be.” Kenneth and Sharon were engaged by March and were married August 11. “It wasn’t too smart to get married before my toughest year in college,” he says. “But I grew up with nothing, had nothing, so getting married in college with no job wasn’t scary at the time. Today it would scare me to death. Back then I didn’t know any better.” Following graduation, Mann was accepted into the MBA program at Louisiana Tech and completed his master’s, again with a 4.0 grade point. The job offers rolled in. “I had 21 offers when I graduated from Louisiana Tech,” he says, matter-of-factly. Mann eventually narrowed his choices to two – Atlantic Richfield (Arco) Oil and Gas in Dallas, and the Big Four accounting firm KPMG in Shreveport. “Arco looked glamorous,” says Mann. “They flew me to Dallas, wined and dined me, and offered a lot of money.” Before he could make a final decision Murphy Oil entered the picture. “They came to campus about a month before
graduation,” Mann says. “I didn’t even know Murphy Oil, but a friend said ‘You’ve got somebody in your backyard coming to interview. You ought to go talk to them.’” Murphy offered Mann a job for less money than Atlantic Richfield. “I couldn’t decide,” Mann says. “I asked Sharon. I said ‘You’re involved in this, too.’ And every time I asked her, she said ‘It’s your decision. You’re the one who went to college. You decide.’ So I finally told her I wanted to go to Atlantic Richfield. We’re going to Dallas. True story. She ran to the bedroom, slammed the door and said ‘If you go to Dallas, you go by yourself.’” Mann accepted Murphy’s offer, a fortunate happenstance when six months later, Atlantic Richfield laid off 1,200 accountants. Mann chuckles at the story. “God has a way of working these things out,” he says. Starting as a staff accountant, Mann began a climb up the corporate ladder. In 1991, he became supervisor of accounting for Deltic Farm and Timber, a subsidiary of Murphy Oil. When Deltic Farm and Timber spun off from Murphy in 1997 to become a stand alone company, Mann was named assistant controller of the newly named Deltic Timber Corporation. In 2003, Deltic hired Ray Dillon as its new chief executive officer. Dillon saw promise in Mann and became his mentor. “About a month after he got here, he called me into his office,” Mann remembers. “He said, ‘Ken, what is your goal? What do you want to be?’ I didn’t understand the question so I told him I wanted to be the best I could be. He said ‘Let me ask you a pointed question. Do you want to be CFO some day? I think you have the potential to be CFO. Obvi-
ously, it won’t happen tomorrow, but I want to start you down that path.’” Mann was promoted to controller in 2004 and in 2007 was named chief financial officer. “Deltic is one of those companies that, if you have an affinity for the land, if you love the land, is a company that’s easy to want to see do well,” says Mann. “I grew up on a farm, I know people who work in the timber industry and make their living off the land. I never really understood the oil and gas business, but with Deltic, the fact that we take trees, turn them into lumber and then into homes, you can see what we’re doing. You can get your arms around that. I believe God puts you in a place for a reason. This was the right place for me.” To Mann, the secret to his success is simple. “At the end of the day, it’s all hard work,” he says. “Yes, God gave me some basic ability, but a lot of people are born smart. I wasn’t the smartest person at UAM, but I probably studied harder than anybody else. Before a test I might reread all the chapters five times until I had basically memorized the pages. I studied for hours and hours. It’s the same way with my job. I work nights, weekends, not because I have to but because I’ll do what it takes to be good.” Even though he’s conquered the corporate world, Mann still has a couple of dreams left. One is to break 90 on the golf course; the other to teach at his alma mater. “I’d really love to erase that 9 on the front of my score,” he says with the conviction shared by weekend hackers everywhere. “And if I wind up having a second career in life, I would love to teach at UAM. I like young people and would love to help them get started well.” Summer 2014
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NINE to go
Alvy Early, UAM’s newest inductee to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, surrounded by members of the Cotton Blossoms softball team – (from left, first row) Lacey Blanchard, McKenzie Rice, Hannah Pendley, (second row) Courtney Wilson, Early, Beth Johnson, (third row) Channing Tharpe, Kali Piha, Korie Parker, Sydney Tipton, (top row) Brittany Eitel and Katie Koen.
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Hall of Fame Coach
Head of the
Class
T
The list is a short one. Only two head coaches have ever won more than 1,000 games at the collegiate level in Arkansas. First on the list is Norm DeBriyn, who won 1,161 games in 33 seasons as baseball coach at the University of Arkansas. A close second – and gaining – is Alvy Early, with 1,081 wins and counting. For 35 seasons Early has served as either head women’s basketball coach, assistant football coach, athletic director or head softball coach at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, sometimes coaching multiple sports while leading the university’s athletic program. He won 425 games as women’s basketball coach from 1979 to 2000 and has won 656 games as softball coach from 1997 through the just-completed season. Those numbers were too much for the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame to ignore. Early was inducted into the Hall February 28 at a banquet at the State-
house Convention Center in Little Rock. He is the seventh coach or athlete with UAM ties named to the Hall, joining former football coaches Willis “Convoy” Leslie, Jim Benton, Larry Lacewell and Jimmy “Red” Parker, basketball coach Mel McGaha, and four-time basketball All-American Tina Webb. “I’ve never really thought about individual coaching awards,” says Early, “but this is certainly an honor and humbling when you first hear that you’ve been chosen.” Early’s coaching pedigree is staggering. In 21 seasons with the women’s
basketball program, he coached 11 All-Americans, was Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference coach of the year four times, NAIA District 17 coach of the year twice, won five conference championships and took the 1990 Cotton Blossoms to the NAIA national championship game, losing in the final to Southwestern Oklahoma, a game he still hasn’t forgotten. “We had a seven-point lead in the second half and couldn’t hold it,” says Early. “Texas A&M Coach Gary Blair said it best at the Hall of Fame ceremony when he said as you get older, losing Summer 2014
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Hall of Fame Coach
Still feisty at 73, Early gives an umpire an earful during a recent game at Blossoms Field.
“I’ve always told myself that I’ll know when there’s no competitive fire and it’s not fun.” hurts more than winning feels good. When you win you move on to the next game, but when you lose, you question what you could have done, what you should have done and what the players could have done differently.” Early hasn’t had to dwell on losses very often. In 1995, he led the Cotton Blossoms to the last AIC championship in women’s basketball before the league folded and a year later won the Gulf South Conference West Division title in UAM’s first year in the league. In 1996, UAM launched a softball program and a year later Early became the head coach, the same year he was named athletic director while still coaching the women’s basketball team. He immediately made the softball team a winner, capturing seven Gulf South Conference West Division titles over the next 13 years. He was twice named the GSC West coach of the year and was selected as the GSC West coach of the decade in 2010, the year the Blossoms reached the NCAA Super Regional to finish No. 11 in the nation. When UAM moved to the Great 14
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American Conference in 2012, the winning continued. Early led the Blossoms to the inaugural GAC regular season and tournament championships with a 40-14 record and was the first GAC coach of the year. In 17 seasons, his softball program has produced 10 AllAmericans, 61 all-conference selections, six GSC or GAC freshmen of the year, six GSC or GAC players of the year, four GSC or GAC pitchers of the year and perhaps Early’s favorite statistic – 43 AllAcademic selections. “It’s a lot easier – and a lot more fun – to coach smart players,” says Early. Early’s association with UAM began in 1963 when the school was known as Arkansas A&M but his journey to Monticello took a few twists and turns along the way. Born in Fort Smith, Early lived in Van Buren until he was seven, when his father moved the family to Pahokee, Fla. “My Dad had already gone to south Florida by the time I finished first grade,” says Early. “That was a boom time down there and everybody was going to get rich quick. I road the train to Florida with my mom.” Pahokee is a small town on the southeast shore of Lake Okeechobee in south central Florida, known for its rich soil locals call “the muck,” a dark, mineral-rich goo ideal for growing sugar cane, citrus fruits and corn. The area is also famous for producing outstanding athletes, including NFL stars Reidel Anthony, Anquan Boldin, Rickey Jackson, Fred Taylor, and Andre Waters. Early was a five-sport star at Pahokee High School, earning letters in football, basketball, baseball, track and tennis. In the hot, sticky south Florida summers, he worked construction with his father, tying steel, rolling wheel barrows full of cement, and tarring roofs. That experience told him he wanted to do
something else with his life. His high school football coach, Web Pell, led Early to coaching. “He was a special person,” Early says. “I thought about the things I saw him do and the way he interacted with his players, the success that those guys had after they left high school. It seemed like that was what I wanted to do.” Following high school, Early accepted a partial football scholarship to Potomac State College in Keyser, West Virginia. Partial scholarship meant Early got a few dollars from the athletic department and made up the rest by working in the school’s cafeteria serving line. Homesick and uncomfortable with his situation at Potomac State, Early went back to Pahokee after his freshman year and spent the next three years hanging around the coaches at Pahokee High and working while trying to sort out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. “Coach Pell told me you have to go through the system if you want to coach,” Early remembers. “You can’t just hang around here.” Early got to Monticello thanks to Robert Maxson, a teacher and assistant coach at Pahokee High who had graduated from Arkansas A&M and would go on to become president of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Maxson had already sent several Pahokee athletes to Monticello and encouraged Early to give the school a try. A friend drove Early (and Early’s car) to Monticello and took the car back to Florida. “I thought if I still had my car, I wouldn’t stay and would end up in Vietnam,” Early says. He almost did anyway. Three weeks after arriving in Monticello, Early was summoned to Miami for a pre-draft physical. Football Coach Red Parker sent Early to see John Downey Jones, A&M’s dean of men, who got the physi-
cal moved to Monticello and arranged for Early to receive a student deferment. Early lettered in football, baseball and tennis at A&M, graduating in 1967 before eventually landing in West Fork, just south of Fayetteville, where he coached the football and girls’ basketball teams. He married Nancy Baker of Monticello his second year at West Fork and by the time the women’s basketball coaching job opened at UAM in 1979, the couple had three sons. Early had already determined that he would not coach his boys professionally and gravitated toward women’s athletics. “Coach Pell had two sons,” Early says. “Both played and started while he was coaching and there was always backlash from the community because some people thought he was showing favoritism. I wanted to protect my sons from that kind of criticism. I did get to coach them in summer programs and I remember standing in the third base coach’s box and shaking hands with all three of my sons after they hit a home run. That’s a thrill to be able to do that.” Early has a simple response to anyone who asks why he’s spent his entire career coaching girls. “I’ll make some people unhappy with this comment, but girls seem to pay more attention, they give you better effort, they want to learn and they don’t all think they’re going to be drafted and go on to the NBA or NFL.” Early’s ex-players are his biggest fans and most have stayed close to their former coach and mentor. “We still have a relationship now,” says Carol Harrington, an All-American center in 1995. “I played 16 years and had one of the best relationships with him that I had with any coach. He was like a father to me. If you love and respect your coach, you want to give him everything you have.” Emilie Hobbs, who played second
base for Early’s softball team from 2008-10, remembers her coach as “an inspiration on and off the field. Playing for Coach Early was one of the best experiences of my life. He always stressed academics and chose players who could excel on the field and in the classroom.” Early’s three sons followed their father into coaching. Preston, 43, is the winningest girls basketball coach in the history of Rogers High School; Brian, 41, is the new defensive line coach at Arkansas State; and Kent, 38, is a successful softball coach at Bentonville High School. “My dad has always been a hero to me,” says Preston Early. “Looking back now, I think I pursued coaching because of the life I had growing up. All of my memories are from being around sports and teams. Coaching’s not for everybody, but I consider myself lucky to earn a living doing this.” “One of the things I learned from Dad is to focus on what you have, not what you don’t have,” says Brian Early. “Dad wasn’t a complainer. He consistently outperformed his resources and produced championship teams. He put all his time and energy into out-recruiting you, out-scheming you, and getting his team to play harder than you. Dad always believed, and still believes UAM is one of the top jobs in the country. That resonated with his teams. His players felt like they were part of something special and they expected to win every game he ever coached.” Early’s coaching success stems from a simple philosophy – get good players and get them to play hard. “I think the key is getting character in your talent and being able to get them to perform at a high level,” he says. “The worst thing in coaching is to have a talented player and you see the potential they have and you as a coach can’t get it out of them. “
Now 73 with two artificial knees and five grandchildren, Early is in the twilight of his career, but has no immediate plans to retire. “People I know and respect in the coaching profession have all said do it as long as you can,” he says. “Because once you’re through, it’s just not the same. I don’t have any hobbies. I don’t hunt, fish, play golf. I’m fortunate that my job is my hobby. I still enjoy the interaction with the players and the challenge of getting a team ready to compete. I’ve always told myself that I’ll know when there’s no competitive fire and it’s not fun.” Until then, he’ll keep doing what he’s always done, winning games and influencing lives.
Early (below) makes his acceptance speech following induction into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.
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Mostly soft-spoken on and off the field, Harvey makes his point with an umpire.
The Man For The Next Few
SEASONS
J
John Harvey is an optimist. He’d almost have to be to become the head baseball coach at UAM. In the four seasons prior to Harvey taking over the program in 2011, the Boll Weevils won 35 games, lost 143, tied one and achieved a dubious perfect record in 2008, losing all 37 games while being outscored 494 to 134.
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Baseball Coach John Harvey
Six years after that winless season, UAM is nationally ranked and fighting for a spot in the NCAA Division II playoffs and a possible trip to the D-II College World Series. The Boll Weevils began the 2014 season with wins over three nationally-ranked opponents – 15th-ranked St. Mary’s of Texas, No. 19 Central Missouri, and No. 1 Minnesota State-Mankato. They finished the regular season with a school record 36 wins and as UAM Magazine went to press, were awaiting word from the NCAA on a possible regional playoff berth. Through the years, UAM’s baseball program has enjoyed what could best be termed spotty success. There were good teams in the 1950s, a couple of conference championships in the 1960s, an NAIA district title in 1990, and a league and district title in 1993. The rest of the school’s baseball history is mostly forgettable and coaches have come and gone on a regular basis. Harvey gives the appearance of a man who means to stay a while. “I always thought this was a place where you could win,” he says. “One of the things that sold me on this job was the amount of support I felt from the administration and the community.” When Harvey accepted the UAM job in September 2010, he left behind a solid program at Henderson State, a program he put on sound footing after being elevated from assistant coach to head coach in 2004. In six seasons, Harvey guided the Reddies to a 154-148 record, including a 31-18 mark in his final season. He used his success at Henderson to convince his initial recruiting class to take a chance on UAM. “I tried to sell them on the fact that we did win at Henderson and it had been a while since anyone had won there,” Harvey says. “They had to know there was a reason I came
here after we’d had a couple of good seasons my last two years at Henderson. I showed them this was a good place to go to school and was able to put together a financial package that would allow some of our transfers to live off campus. It was a good deal for them.” A native of Lufkin, Tex., Harvey was a four-year letterman at Lyon College in Batesville, where he set nine school records and was named “Scot of the Year” in 2001, the year he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. He spent one season as an assistant coach at Ittawamba (Miss.) Community College before returning to Henderson in 2003, where he earned a master’s degree in sports administration in 2004. When he got to Monticello, he faced the challenge of upgrading the baseball facilities and reversing a losing culture. Consider it done. In the last three years, the University has made significant improvements to Weevil Field, from a better playing surface to new dugouts, backstop and screen, permanent metal bleachers (including chair-back seating), a new press box, and an elevated left field terrace for seating and baseball’s version of tailgating. On the field, Harvey has raised the talent level and instilled a hard-nosed competitive fire in his team. “The biggest challenge we faced was getting the right kind of players,” says Harvey. “The seniors we had last year, that was a very good group. Our plan was to bring in a group like that who were great kids and good students who demanded the rest of the guys in the program meet their expectations. They took ownership of the program and it just went from there.” Harvey is a disciple of baseball’s new wave, using saber-metrics made famous by Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane in Moneyball. “I’m a believer in
not giving away outs if you don’t have to,” says Harvey. “And I believe in playing with what you have. But if I have my choice, I’m going to play more the Earl Weaver style of baseball where you get base runners on and hopefully you have guys who can knock them in.” To accomplish that, Harvey started looking for big boppers. Two years ago, the Weevils were so small they might have passed for a high school team. No more. Harvey has added size and muscle to the lineup. “Right now in college baseball, with the new bats (that have less pop), there’s a tendency to sign smaller, faster guys,” Harvey explains. “The whole Moneyball deal was to value something that other teams didn’t value. So now we’re trying to value the bigger guys who can really hit. And if you can hit you can hit at any level in my opinion.” The Boll Weevils’ success may be surprising to some, but to Harvey his program is right where he expected it to be and the sky is the limit. “The better we get, the better players we’ll continue to get,” he says. “I don’t think there are any limits. And there are still many improvements we can continue to make.” Harvey’s wish list includes a clubhouse where the players can dress year around and lights for the field. Those items might not come right away, but Harvey, his wife, Jaime, and sons, Brooks Michael and Brock Maddox, have put down roots in Monticello. “My wife and I have never been more comfortable anywhere,” he says. “ We absolutely love it here. It may be the time in our lives, but we certainly love it here and so do our kids.”
From managing his pitching staff to teaching fundamentals, Harvey has changed the culture of Boll Weevil baseball.
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She keeps them
LAUGHING
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S
Sydney Davis is putting her creative writing degree from the University of Arkansas at Monticello to good use, just not in the way you might expect.
Davis is living out a childhood dream as a stand-up comic in Chicago. She writes her own material and performs four nights a week at the Greenhouse Theater Center in a show she created called The Atomic Comic. Davis performs and introduces other comedy acts while studying stand-up and improvisation at The Second City, Chicago’s legendary comedy club and school of improvisation. The Second City’s alumni include John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Mike Myers, Tina Fey, and Steve Carell. Someday, Davis hopes to see her name mentioned alongside those comedy legends. Anyone who’s known Davis for long is probably not surprised by her unusual line of work. Growing up in Bentonville, Davis was a self-described class clown and cut-up. At an early age, she wanted to be a cartoonist until a family vacation to Chicago introduced her to the world of stand-up comedy. “I was 13 and we went to a comedy club,” Davis remembers. “That’s when I realized people got paid for being funny.” Sydney, her mother, Carol Davis, and her stepfather, Kevin Moore, moved to Chicago when Sydney was in the 11th grade, and shortly after, Sydney performed her first stand-up routine at The Edge comedy club. She was only 16.
“I was sooooo nervous!” she says. With the support and encouragement of her parents, Davis began taking classes at The Second City. It was about that time that Davis picked up her unusual stage name – Sydney Davis Jr. Jr. “When I was a teenager and I was first starting out doing stand-up comedy, I was doing an interview on Chicago Public Radio,” she remembers. “The DJ asked me what my stage name was and said I needed a cool nickname for when he introduced me on the air. The only thing I could think of was my favorite movie, (Everything Is Illuminated) where the dog was named Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. I thought it sounded clever, and then it stuck. After that, everyone called me that. Even through college and around the city, people always refer to me as ‘Jr. Jr.’ or ‘J.J.’” Her journey from Chicago to Monticello began when Sydney was a high school freshman in Bentonville. Scott Kuttenkuler, at the time UAM’s director of debate and forensics, noticed her at a high school debate tournament and offered her a scholarship on the spot. “She was good,” says Kuttenkuler, currently UAM’s director of residence life. “She has a presence to perform. She can present herself as multiple characters. She’s very intelligent as a performer.” Davis excelled as a member of UAM’s
award-winning debate team and was selected to UAM’s homecoming court before graduating in 2012. With degree in hand, she headed back to Chicago where she started as a writer for Comedy Sportz’s satirical sketch comedy show Talk Hard. On her website – “sydneydavisjrjr. com” – she describes herself as “the only ginger in her family” although she recently changed her hair color to jet black. “I wanted a different look,” she says. Perhaps her biggest challenge is explaining what she does for a living to relatives. On her blog “HowItIsbyJuniorJunior” she lists the Top Ten Things I Can Expect This Holiday Season. Coming in at number two is “Answering all of the . . . ‘So, what exactly do you do?’ questions that come with explaining stand-up comedy to various relatives and friends.” Despite the questions, Davis loves the life she has chosen. “I love living in Chicago,” she says. “There’s always something to do. I enjoy having so many different options. I can write, I can do stand-up. What I’d really like to do is write a book or be a comedy writer on a sitcom. Or do a stand-up routine on Jimmy Fallon. That would be awesome!”
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SPORTS
Beth Johnson
Ben Agredano
Top Athletes
A
pair of softball players and two baseball players are UAM’s top athletes and scholar-athletes for 2014. The male and female athletes of the year are Ben Agredano of Anaheim, Calif., and Beth Johnson of Allen, Tex., while Tyler Caruthers of Denham Springs, La., and Brittany Eitel of Hallsville, Tex., are the year’s outstanding male and female scholarathletes. Agredano, a senior second baseman on the Boll Weevil baseball team, had a teambest .388 batting average to go with a .541 slugging percentage, 40 runs scored, 71 hits, 46 runs batted in, two triples, 99 total bases and 207 plate appearances. He is one of only two players to start every game during the 2014 season.
Honoring Tommy
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Brittany Eitel
Beth Johnson, a senior centerfielder on the Cottom Blossoms softball team, is a four-year starter with a .344 batting average in 54 games. Johnson had 56 hits, 11 doubles, a team-high six triples, seven home runs, 33 runs batted in and a slugging percentage of .613. She ranked in the top 10 of seven different GAC statistical categories. Johnson is president of UAM StudentAthlete Advisory Committee, a member of Alpha Chi Honor Society and a three-time all-conference selection. Tyler Caruthers, a senior outfielder, has a 3.41 grade point average in health and physical education. He ranked second on the team with a .320 batting average in 33 games with 32 hits, six doubles, one home run and 19 runs batted in. He was also second on the team in stolen bases. Caruthers is also a member of the
W
hen the late Tommy Barnes became head football coach at UAM at the end of the 1984 season, it was the best thing that ever happened to Lance Gasaway’s football career. Barnes installed a wide-open offense built around quarterback Joe Don Samples and Gasaway, who quickly became his favorite wide receiver. Samples and Gasaway torched opposing defenses, including one memorable game against Henderson State, when Gasaway caught a school-record 16 passes for 196 yards in a 36-31 upset over the Reddies. Now Gasaway wants to repay his former coach by commissioning a sculpture of Coach Barnes that will be displayed in the lobby of the Indoor
Tyler Caruthers
GAC All-Academic Team and has been heavily involved with UAM Student-Athlete Advisory Committee fundraisers benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Brittany Eitel, a senior catcher on the softball team, has a 3.9 GPA in accounting. She is a four-year starter and had 36 hits in 2014, including seven doubles, one triple, five home runs and 25 runs batted in to go with 19 walks. Eitel is a two-time all-conference selection, a 2011-13 GAC All-Academic Team member, 2011-13 D2 Athletic Directors Association Academic Achievement Award recipient, and a 2012 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete Award recipient. She is a member of UAM’s Alpha Chi Honor Society, team co-captain and president of UAM’s student chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants.
Practice Facility. Gasaway recently made a pledge to the UAM Foundation Fund to pay for a bronze bust by nationallyrenowned sculptor David Deming. Deming, a successful sculptor, teacher and arts administrator, has displayed his work in more than 100 public and private collections. Once completed, the bust will be unveiled to the public on September 27 at 2 p.m., prior to UAM’s home football game against Southwest Oklahoma State, which kicks off at 6 p.m. All of Coach Barnes’ former players and friends of the university are invited to attend the unveiling ceremony. For more information, contact the Department of Athletics at (870) 460-1058.
SPORTS ASSOCIATION “Thank you” to the generous donors listed below for their outstanding support of UAM Athletics during the 2013-2014 sports year. Your annual donation to the UAM Sports Association provides operating resources that allow over 200 UAM studentathletes to excel in the classroom and in competition. Preparation for the 2014-2015 sports season will begin in June with the UAM Sports Association Membership Drive. Make plans to renew your membership or join for the first time. Your annual gift of $50 or more qualifies you for membership in the UAM Sports Association. Thanks again for your outstanding support of the Blossoms and Weevils. For more information, please contact Matt Whiting, assistant athletic director for external operations, at (870) 460-1758 or whitingpm@uamont.edu. (Contributions listed from July 1, 2013, to April 25, 2014.)
Legacy Club ($2,500+) Ms. June Carter Mr. Anthony Fakouri Mr. and Mrs. Bob Lee, Sr. Dr. Betty Matthews Mr. and Mrs. Brian Moore Mr. and Mrs. Tim Pruitt
Varsity Club ($1,000-$2,499) Mr. and Mrs. Larry Clary Mr. and Mrs. Rick Futrell Hon. and Mrs. Gene Mazzanti Mr. and Mrs. Louis McGuire Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Owyoung
Coaches Circle ($750-$999) Green – White Club ($500-$749)
Mr. and Mrs. Derek Bell Mr. and Mrs. Darrell Bowlin Maj. and Mrs. Eric Grider Mr. John Harmon Mr. and Mrs. George Harris Ms. Elaine Hutchison Mr. and Mrs. Lee Johnson Mr. and Mrs. Brad Koen Mr. and Mrs. Ronald McFarland Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Owen Mr. and Mrs. Chris Ratcliff Mr. and Mrs. Bennie Ryburn III Mr. and Mrs. Carl Roebuck Mr. and Mrs. Scott Slaughter Mr. and Mrs. Chris Thomas Mr. and Mrs. James Thomason Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Usry Mr. and Mrs. James West Mr. and Mrs. Fred Williams
Ring of Champions ($300-$499)
Dr. and Mrs. Carl Blythe Dr. Russell Bulloch Mr. and Mrs. Kelton Busby Mr. and Mrs. Denzil Cox Mr. and Mrs. Chip Durham Mr. and Mrs. Jake Fenolia Mr. and Mrs. Larry Fisackerly Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Ford Mr. Jerry Gibson Mr. and Mrs. Don Hartley Mr. and Mrs. Hud Jackson Dr. and Mrs. Louis James Mr. and Mrs. Rich Johnson Dr. and Mrs. Jack Lassiter Ms. Karen Linton Dr. and Mrs. Steve Morrison Mr. and Mrs. John Nanneman Mr. and Mrs. Chase Owyoung Mr. Adam Patrick Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Pierini Perez Reconstruction Contractors, Inc. – Mr. Freddy Rodriguez Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Rushing
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Russell Dr. Kelly Shrum Mr. and Mrs. Woody Smithey Mr. and Mrs. Dean Steinke Mr. and Mrs. Michael Wigley Mr. Tom Wingard Mr. and Mrs. Bill Wisener Dr. and Mrs. Jimmie Yeiser
Weevil – Blossom Club ($50$299) Ms. Donna Allen Mr. and Mrs. Frank Antoine Mr. Reginald Awalt Mr. and Mrs. John Bachman Ms. Amanda Barth Mr. Dwayne Beaumont Mr. K. Berzent Blagg Mr. and Mrs. Price Boney Sr. Mr. and Mrs. Danny Bourne Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Boyd Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Bozzo Mr. and Mrs. Dwain Brady Mr. and Mrs. Jay Brasell Mr. and Mrs. Jim Brewer Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Brown Mr. and Mrs. Brian Brown Mr. and Mrs. Donnie Brown Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Brunet Mr. and Mrs. Jason Bryant Mr. and Mrs. James Buchanan Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Burgner Ms. Jami Burns Mr. William Byers Mr. Ray Camp Ms. Mae Carpenter Mr. and Mrs. Steve Carpenter Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Caruthers Mr. and Mrs. Phil Clem Ms. Pauline Comeau Mr. and Mrs. Chris Crandall Mr. and Mrs. William Crow Dr. and Mrs. Randy Crowder Ms. Loraie Dallke Mr. and Mrs. Earl Dansby Mr. Terry Davis Ms. Ellen Day Mr. Albert Dean Ms. LaTisha Denson HD Masonry – Mr. Harvey Detillieux Mr. and Mrs. Bill Dey Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Dodge Drew Slack, Inc. Dr. and Mrs. Richard Dunn Mr. Michael Efird Ms. Martha Ellis Ms. Carolyn Ellison Mr. and Mrs. Joe Fakouri Farm Bureau Insurance – Grenada, MS Feta Metrics, Inc. First National Bank of Wynne Mr. B.A. Flores Mr. Ronald Forte Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Jack Fox Mr. and Mrs. John Free
Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Gavin Ms. Sarah Gentry Mr. and Mrs. John Gibson Drs. Glen and Mary Jane Gilbert Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Glenister Mr. and Mrs. Reginald Glover Mr. and Mrs. B.J. Goforth Ms. Pam Goforth Mr. Vernon Goforth Mr. Reggie Goodwin Mr. and Mrs. Whitney Gordon Mr. and Mrs. Jim Grace Mr. and Mrs. Michael Gray Mr. Forrest Greene Ms. Jennifer Gregory Mr. and Mrs. Paul Griffin Ms. Shelia Hall Mr. and Mrs. Truman Hamilton Mr. Werner Haney Mr. and Mrs. Joey Hartley Mr. and Mrs. Mike Hartley Mr. and Mrs. Darren Hartness Mr. and Mrs. Larry Harvey Mr. and Mrs. C.F. Hazlewood Mr. and Mrs. Larry Hedden Mr. Phillip Herring Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Hill Mr. Gary Hilliard MD Hair Designs – Dartha Hodge Mr. and Mrs. Rommie Hodge Mr. and Mrs. Mickey Hollis Mr. and Mrs. Dan Hornaday Mr. and Mrs. Ed Horvath Mr. and Mrs. Ray Howard Mr. and Mrs. Jon Howell Mr. and Mrs. Jay Hughes Ms. Linda Hunter Mr. Charles A. Jenkins Jr. Mr. Robert Johnson Ms. Ada Johnston Mr. Wade Johnston Mr. Jeffrey Jones Mr. and Mrs. Jack Jordan Mr. and Mrs. Joe Kelnhofer K&K Veterinary Supply, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Don Koen Ms. Danette Lankmayr Ms. Shirley Laurence Mr. and Mrs. Leo Lightsey Mr. Ronnie Lightsey Mr. and Mrs. Michael Loisi Mr. Ralph Loisi Lonoke Tire and Lube, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Chris Loyd Mr. and Mrs. Frank Maldonado Pacific Rim Landscape – Gary Malone Mr. M.L. Mann Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Mann Ms. Dolores Marcolli Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Marett Ms. Rolanda Martin Ms. Virginia McElroy Mr. and Mrs. Robert McKenzie Mr. and Mrs. Mike McKeown Mr. and Mrs. W.J. McKiever
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph McKnight Ms. Pam Mencer Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Moore Mr. and Mrs. John Nanneman Mr. and Mrs. Larry Nipper Baker Finance, Inc. – Crystal Nunneley Mr. and Mrs. Bret Nutt Ms. Ann Ohara Protec Building Services – George Van Oosbree Mr. and Mrs. Gary Orr Mr. and Mrs. Tim Pate Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Paul Mr. Thomas Pearson Mr. and Mrs. Mark Pennington Mr. and Mrs. Keith Phillips Mr. and Mrs. Tommy Pierce Jr. Mr. Mike Potts Ms. Denise Powell Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Prince Mr. Brian Ramsey Mr. Max Ray Mr. and Mrs. Richard Reinhart Mr. and Mrs. Bob Richardson Mr. Robert Ritchie Dr. and Mrs. Sean Rochelle Mr. and Mrs. James Ross Mr. and Mrs. Denny Rozenberg Mr. and Mrs. Scott Saffold Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Sander Mr. and Mrs. Mike Sanderlin Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Santo Ms. Debra Schoultz Mr. Buster Schwab Mr. Brian Smith Mr. and Mrs. Doug Smith Mr. and Mrs. Gary Smith Mr. and Mrs. Jason Smith Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Smith Mr. Rusty Smith Mr. Edward Snook Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Stanford Mr. and Mrs. Harold Steelman Mr. and Mrs. James Stoll Dr. Jane Strong Ms. Melissa Taylor Dr. Max Terrell Mr. and Mrs. Chris Thille Mr. and Mrs. Robert Thrower Mr. and Mrs. Bill Thurman Ms. LeAnne Thurmon Mr. Mark Tiner Ms. Tonya Tittle Mr. Rogers Todd Ms. Susan Vickers Mr. Chad Waldrop Ms. Shaye Walker Mr. and Mrs. Cody Wall Ms. Cheryl Waters Ms. Carole Webb Mr. and Mrs. Howard Wells Oak Tree Animal Hospital – Dr. Scarlette White Mr. and Mrs. Bill Whiting Mr. Matt Whiting Mr. and Mrs. Deryl Wieser Total Building Care – Jeff Wilson Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wise Ms. Patty Withers Mr. and Mrs. James Womack Mr. John Woodie Mr. and Mrs. Nick Woodruff Ms. Mary Wright
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UAM FOUNDATION FUND BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chair Scott Saffold* / Monticello Vice Chair Gregg Reep / Warren Ex-Officio Jack Lassiter / Monticello Secretary-Treasurer Linda Yeiser / Monticello * UAM representative to the University of Arkansas Foundation, Inc., board of directors.
Directors Ed Bacon / Monticello Bettye Gragg / Monticello Nat Grubbs / Monticello Lesa Cathey Handly / Little Rock Kenneth Mann / Jersey Mellie Jo Owen / Monticello Sean Rochelle* / West Fork Lynn Rodgers / Crossett Ted Thompson / Dumas Jeff Weaver / Hot Springs
The UAM Foundation donors list includes alumni, friends and other contributors whose gifts were received January 1 – April 25, 2014. Please report any corrections to Linda Yeiser in the UAM Advancement Office at (870)460-1028 or yeiser@uamont.edu
Unity & Movement Club $2,500 or more Mr. William H. Bowen Mr. Phillip and Dr. Laura Evans Mr. and Mrs. Rick Futrell Mr. Lance L. Gasaway Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Gibson Mr. and Mrs. William A. Harrison Mr. and Mrs. Daniel J. Hornaday Mr. Stephen W. Huselton Mr. and Mrs. Herb Hutchison Mr. and Mrs. Bobby E. Jelks Mr. and Mrs. Donnie D. King Dr. and Mrs. Jack Lassiter Mr. and Mrs. Bob Lee, Sr. Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth D. Mann Dr. Betty A. Matthews Dr. Stephen C. Moss Mr. Lester Pinkus
Mr. and Mrs. Randall S. Risher Dr. Thomas P. Springer Dr. and Mrs. Jimmie Yeiser
Galaxy Club $1,000-$2,499 Mr. and Mrs. Joe Bob Allaire Dr. and Mrs. Michael Fakouri Dr. and Mrs. Dexter E. Gulledge Mr. and Mrs. Jay L. Hughes Ms. Angela Marsh Ms. Robin McClendon & Mr. Tom Wingard Mrs. Debbie McKnight Mr. and Mrs. Kent McRae Dr. James F. Roiger Mr. William M. Winstead
BUSINESS / ORGANIZATION DONORS Baker Finance Clearwater Paper Commercial Bank & Trust Co. Community Communications, Co. Deltic Timber Company Employers Staffing Services, Inc. ExxonMobil Foundation First National Bank of McGehee Georgia-Pacific H.B.H. Enterprises K & K Veterinary Supply
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KPMG Foundation Leesco, Inc. McQueen & Co. Ltd. Oklahoma United Methodist Foundation Society of American Foresters Southeast Chapter of ASCPA State Farm Insurance Companies Union Bank & Trust Company Wells Fargo Foundation UAM Institute of Management Accountants
Emerald Club $500-$999 Dr. J. Morris Bramlett Mr. and Mrs. Raymond C. Chao Hon. and Mrs. Eugene Mazzanti Mr. and Mrs. Curt W. Preston Mr. and Mrs. Timothy R. Pruitt Dr. and Mrs. Sean C. Rochelle Mr. and Mrs. Carl C. Roebuck Ms. Carol B. Slaughter Mr. Dean Steinke Mr. and Mrs. Scotty Watkins
Loyalty Club $200-$499 Ms. Cynthia L. Adair Mr. and Mrs. Whit Barton Dr. Gregory A. Borse Ms. Jacqueline D. Bryant Mr. and Mrs. John Bullock Dr. and Mrs. Robert H. Burch, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Carl G. Carlson Ms. Susan Decan Ms. Memorie S. Dickson Mr. Edward Eaves Ms. Martha Ellis Ms. Christine L. Felts Mr. and Mrs. Byron A. Galloway Mr. Dan Gibbs Dr. Robert S. Graber Mr. and Mrs. Rogie Greenway Mr. and Mrs. Harry E. Halstead Mr. and Mrs. Werner Haney Mr. John R. Harmon Ms. Lynn Harris Ms. Marla Harvey Mr. Rommie Hodge Mr. William (Hud) Jackson Dr. and Mrs. Louis James Mr. Richard Johnson Dr. Carl B. Johnston
Mr. Jay S. Jones Mr. Mark Kaufman Mr. Scott R. Kuttenkuler Mr. and Mrs. Frederick C. Leonard Ms. Alice Guffey Miller Mr. John T. Nannemann, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Chris R. Pruitt Ms. Linda F. Rushing Ms. Mary Ann Rushing Mr. and Mrs. Paul Russell Mr. and Mrs. Peter Smykla Mr. Ted D. Thompson Mr. Mark Tiner Mr. and Mrs. Arthur R. Tipton Ms. Shela F. Upshaw Mr. and Mrs. Bill Whiting, Sr. Mr. and Mrs. William C. Wisener
Century Club $100-$199 Mr. Timothy Beckham Mr. and Mrs. Stephen B. Boyd Mr. James L. Brewer Ms. Lolli Burgner Ms. Sandra K. Campbell Ms. Patti J. Carter Drs. Lloyd and Peggy Crossley Ms. Patricia A. Ewens Ms. Gail Fox Ms. Paula Gathings Mr. and Mrs. Whitney Gordon Maj. and Mrs. Eric J. Grider Mr. and Mrs. Joseph M. Guenter Ms. Sherry M. Harris Mr. Calvin Hill, Sr. Ms. Dartha Hodge Mr. and Mrs. Brandon Hogg Mr. and Mrs. John C. McFarland Ms. Quinton L. Morgan Mr. Max T. Ray Mr. and Mrs. Clinton Ross Mr. and Mrs. Jason Smith
Automatic Bank Draft Available Would you like to include the UAM Foundation Fund in your monthly budget? If so, make life easy by opting for an automatic bank draf t. It ’s a sim ple onetime step. Contac t Roxanne Smith in the Advancement Of fice at (870) 46 010 28 for information . UAM students appreciate you!
FOUNDATION NEWS Nursing Gift
H
azel Owen Dahms last attended classes at what was then Arkansas A&M College in 1935, but nearly 80 years later, she remembered her alma mater, leaving 25 percent of her estate to the University of Arkansas at Monticello Foundation Fund.
Mrs. Dahms died December 15, 2013, at Butterfield Trail Village Health Care Center in Fayetteville at the age of 99. In her estate, she left more than $350,000 to the UAM Foundation Fund for nursing scholarships. “This is a wonderfully significant gift from the estate of Mrs. Dahms,” said Linda Yeiser, vice chancellor for advancement and university relations. “She was a woman who led a remarkable life but never forgot her roots. We are thrilled to accept this generous gift from her estate.” The gift will be held as an endowment named the Hazel Owen Dahms and Angie Faye Owen Waldrum Nursing Scholarship, which will be awarded to every nursing major seeking either a bachelor of science in nursing degree or the associate of applied science in
Seven Endowments
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even endowed scholarships and awards have been added to the UAM Foundation Fund, according to Linda Yeiser, vice chancellor for advancement and university relations. The endowments will provide scholarships in perpetuity. “Endowments are wonderful ways to provide opportunities for tomorrow’s students to attain a higher education,” said Yeiser. “If you value education and all that it means for students, I can’t think of a better gift.” Drs. Glen and Mary Jane Gilbert Endowed Scholarship – established by Drs. Glen and Mary Jane Gilbert and their family, friends and former students. The scholarship is for a junior or senior athlete from any of the University’s women’s intercollegiate athletic teams.
nursing degree. The scholarship will be awarded their last semester of course work for qualified tuition and related expenses. “This endowment will provide much-needed scholarships,” said Dr. Laura Evans, dean of the School of Nursing. “I can’t think of a better way to make a lasting impact on our program than by guaranteeing educational opportunities for future generations.” Mrs. Dahms was born December 1, 1914, on a farm near Cornerville in Lincoln County. She graduated from Monticello A & M High School in 1933 when the campus still offered high school classes, then attended Arkansas A&M College from 1933-35. She received a master’s degree in home economics with emphasis in textiles and clothing from the University of Tennessee in 1937.
Susan Phillips Echols Memorial Endowed Scholarship – established by the family and friends of Ronald K. Echols to memorialize Susan Phillips Echols. The scholarship is for a junior or senior of any major. Montre Bulloch “Angel” Endowed Nursing Scholarship – established by the family of Montre Bulloch to honor her. The scholarship is for a junior or senior seeking a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. C. H. Barnes, Jr., Football Scholarship – established by the late Tommy Barnes and other family and friends to honor his father. The scholarship is for a student football athlete. Troy and Betty Davis Endowed Scholarship – established by Mr. and Mrs. Andy Davis and Mrs. and Mrs. Kent Davis to honor their parents. The scholarship is
Mrs. Dahms taught home economics at Hamburg High School for two years and then began work as a home demonstration agent for the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service serving in Yell, Desha and Cleveland Counties. In 1947 she moved to Chicago to work for Sears Roebuck and Company in home furnishings and appliance testing. In 1952 she moved to New York City to work for the Ladies Home Journal as the assistant editor in appliances and housekeeping. In 1962 she married Reynold G. Dahms, an entomologist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, in Silver Spring, Maryland. They retired in Fayetteville in 1974.
for a full-time incoming freshman of any major who graduated from Monticello High School. Gary Marshall ‘Mars Hall’ Award – established by Alice Guffey Miller and friends of Dr. Gary Thomas Marshall to memorialize him. The scholarship is for an exceptional junior or senior communication major or minor who is very creative. William D. Moss Scholarship – established by Dr. Steven C. Moss to honor his brother, Bill. The scholarship is for a fulltime student in the School of Business, with first preference to an accounting major. Anyone interested in creating an endowed scholarship fund may contact the Office of Advancement at (870) 4601028.
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ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT Jamie Abrams (‘99-’01) Jamie Abrams, a three-year football letterman for the Boll Weevils from 19992001, has been named head football coach at Lamar County High School in Barnesville, Ga. Abrams, a graduate of Rivercrest High School in Wilson, Arkansas, played defensive back collegiately at the University of Arkansas-Monticello for three years and Minnesota State University-Mankato for one year. He graduated from Minnesota State with a B.S. in physical education and later graduated from Jacksonville State University with both master’s and education specialists degrees in physical education.
Darrell Rhodes (‘82) Darrell Rhodes (BS ‘82) was one of three former student-athletes inducted into the White Hall High School Sports Hall of Fame in May. Rhodes was a three-sports star at White Hall before graduating in 1978. He went on to become the only two-sport All-American in UAM history, earning the honors in baseball and basketball. Rhodes helped lead the Boll Weevil basketball team to a 21-10 record in 1981-82, at the time, the best record in school history. In baseball, Rhodes earned All-America honors as a shortstop and was a seventh round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays. He was inducted into the UAM Sports Hall of Fame’s second induction class in 2001. Rhodes is currently vice president of commercal underwriting for the Mid-Atlantic Region of Chrysler Capital Corporation.
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In addition to coaching football, Abrams coached the Lamar County High School track and field team to a regional championship this spring. Prior to moving to Barnesville, Abrams coached defensive backs at Dublin (Ga.) High School. He was also the head coach at Wadley High School in Wadley, Ala., and the defensive coordinator at South Paulding High School in Douglasville, Ga. Other coaching stops include, East Paulding High School, Woodland (Ala.) High School and Minnesota State University. Abrams and his wife Katie have a four-year-old son, Jett.
Dr. Kurt Grafton (‘92) Dr. Anthony Kurt Grafton (BS ‘92), chair of the Division of Math and Science at Lyon College in Batesville, was recently promoted in academic rank from associate professor to full professor. As an undergraduate at UAM in the early 1990s, Grafton excelled in the classroom while serving as chief photographer for the Boll Weevil yearbook and providing photographs for the Office of Sports Information. Following graduation, Grafton attended graduate school at the University of Oklahoma, where he earned a Ph.D., in chemistry. Grafton joined the faculty at Lyon College in 2003. He is a physical chemist with expertise in molecular modeling and computational chemistry. His research involves modeling everything from “imaginary” chiral systems to small enzyme inhibitors to carbon nanotubes. In addition to his research, Grafton teaches courses in general chemistry, physical chemistry, and junior and senior seminars. Outside of the lab and classroom, he advises chemistry majors and undeclared students. He helps direct the annual Service Day activities, teaches in the APPLE Program and serves as a Cub Scout leader.
O. H. “Doogie” Darling (FT ‘48)
Chuck Dearman (‘82)
The Arkansas Funeral Directors Association has named Charles F. Dearman, Jr. (BS ‘82), of Monticello as Funeral Director of the Year. Dearman is vice-president, general manager and funeral director of Stephenson-Dearman Funeral Home in Monticello. The honor is based on a distinguished career, professional and community service, and responsible care for the families of Arkansas. Dearman is co-owner of Dearman Companies Inc., Monticello Monument Co. and Lamar Crossing Inc. A life-long resident of Monticello, Dearman graduated with honors from Monticello High School, graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in accounting from the University of Arkansas at Monticello, and earned an MBA degree in accounting from Louisiana Tech University. He is a graduate of the Dallas Institute of Mortuary Science where he was named valedictorian and president of his class, and received the Bill Pierce Outstanding Student Award. He is a member and past-president of the Arkansas Funeral Directors Association, member and pastpresident of the Southeast Arkansas Funeral Directors Association, member of the National Funeral Directors Association, member of the board of directors for Selected Funeral & Life Insurance Co. and member of Union Bank Board of Directors.
O.H. “Doogie” Darling (FT ‘48) of Crossett was one of six class of 2013 inductees to the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame. The inductees, selected for leadership, service and for bringing distinction to Arkansas agriculture, were Darling, former U.S. Rep. Marion Berry of Gillette, the late J. Keith Smith of Hot Springs, Leroy Isbell of England, Ruben H. Johnson of Magazine and Keith Lusby of Fayetteville. The group was honored at the 26th annual induction luncheon on March 7, 2014 in Little Rock. Darling, 85, a retired forester of Georgia-Pacific Corporation and former commissioner of the Arkansas Forestry Commission, has been revered as one of the most respected leaders in forestry for five decades. After earning his forestry technician certificate from Arkansas A&M College (now the University of Arkansas at Monticello) in 1948, Darling went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in forestry from Louisiana State University and a master’s in forestry from Yale University. In the 1950s, Darling was a young forester working for the Fordyce Lumber Company where he pioneered the first landowner assistance program, a new innovation in the forest industry at the time. This program combined a forester’s knowledge with landowners struggling to make ends meet following the Great Depression and World War II. The program helped farmers generate a supplemental income from their farm woodlots through scientifically based forest management and improve the value of their property while improving the
forestland’s health and productivity. When Georgia-Pacific bought the Fordyce Lumber Company, Darling continued his landowner assistance efforts, further expanding the program. At the peak of Darling’s career, he was responsible for managing 3 million acres of Georgia-Pacific timberland, delivering wood to 28 forest production mills in eight states. “My greatest accomplishment was being able to help farmers make their forests productive again after the virgin timber had been cut in the early part of the 20th century which allowed me to watch our forests develop over my 44-year forestry career,” Darling said. “It is a great honor to be inducted into the Ag Hall of Fame.” After retiring from GeorgiaPacific, Darling served on the board of director’s for Deltic Timber for 12 years. He has been a member of the Arkansas Forestry Association for almost 50 years and served as its president in 1988 to 1989. He is also a member of the Arkansas Foresters’ Hall of Fame and mentored many young foresters throughout the state.
Dr. Herman Ginger (‘64) Dr. Herman Ginger (BBA ’64) is seeking another term as District Six Justice of the Peace on the Jefferson County Quorum Court. During his terms on the Quorum Court, he has served as chairman of the Finance Committee and the Public Safety/Emergency Services Committee. He has also served on the Community Development and Grants Committee and the Solid Waste/Recycling Committee. Ginger is a native of Jefferson County and has practiced optometry in Pine Bluff for 42 years. He received a BBA from Arkansas A&M in 1964 and earned a doctoral degree in optometry from Southern College of Optometry at Memphis, Tenn.
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ALUMNI SNAPSHOTS Wee Weevil Bibs
2000’s
McClain Matthew Hudgens, born September 18, 2013, to Brandi and Matt Hudgens (TC ’02) of Monticello. Carson Lane Ross, born December 7, 2013, to Chelsey (Gaulden) (BSN ’07) and Colby Ross (BGS ’12) of Little Rock. Owen Scot Davis, born January 19, 2014, to Susan and Jason Davis of McGehee. Jason is an instructor at the UAM COT-McGehee. John Mark Adams, born January 21, 2014, to Heidi and Joshua Adams of Monticello. Joshua is a member of the forest resources faculty. Abigail Lee Patrick, born March 7, 2014, to Haley (Jacobs) (BA ‘08) and Evan Patrick (BS ’05) of Monticello. Tucker John Waschalk, born March 20, 2014, to Jessica (Winkler) (BS ’11) and David Waschalk (BA ’10) of Monticello. Mattie Grace and Matthew Richard Shepherd, born April 6, 2014, to Lacey and Matt Shepherd (TC ’10) of Monticello. Nash William and Owen Mack Montgomery, born April 8, 2014, to Hillary and Byron Montgomery (BSN ‘06) of Monticello. Gunner Clint Ross, born April 15, 2014, to Jade (West) (BSN ’07) and Zack Ross of Monticello. Gatsby Fitzgerald Spencer, born April 16, 2014, to Rebecca and Mark Spencer of Monticello. Mark is UAM’s dean of arts and humanities. Anniston Lynn Weast, born April 22, 2014, to Ashley (Tiner) (BA ’13) and Chris Weast of Monticello. Colyn Todd Fendley, born April 28, 2014, to Candis and Bryan Fendley of Monticello. Bryan is UAM’s director of academic computing.
Lindsey Richelle Randall (BS ’10) and Joseph Clayton Howell (BS ’08) were married May 10, 2014. Lindsey is employed as a K-5 physical education teacher and also coaches softball at Caddo Parish Schools in Louisiana. Clayton is serving as a missionary of Pauline Baptist Church in Kenya, East Africa. Whitney Paige McGregor (BS ’12) and Jacob W. Beaty (TC ’07) were married March 22, 2014 at the Overflow Lodge in Wilmot. Whitney is a biology teacher at Rison High School and Jacob works at Organic Solutions and 4-B Cattle Company. Witni Brook Boney (TC ’13) and Cory Ray Knowles were married April 5, 2014. Witni works at The Woods Nursing Care Facility in Monticello. Alisha B. Dickinson (BSN ’13) and Nick Engelkes were married Saturday, May 17, 2014. Alisha is an RN at Jefferson Regional Medical Center and Nick works for Weedbusters of Arkansas.
UAM SEEKS your comments The University of Arkansas at Monticello is seeking comments from the public about the University in preparation for its periodic evaluation by its regional accrediting agency. UAM will host a visit October 20 to 24, 2014, with a team representing The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association. UAM has been accredited by the Commission since 1940. The team will review the institution’s ongoing ability to meet the Commission’s Criteria for Accreditation. The public is invited to submit comments regarding the University:
Third Party Comment on the University of Arkansas at Monticello The Higher Learning Commission 230 South LaSalle Street, Suite 7-500 Chicago, IL 60604-1411
The public may also submit comments on the Commission’s website at www.ncahlc.org Comments must address substantive matters related to the quality of the institution or its academic programs. Comments must be in writing. All comments must be received by September 20, 2014.
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FRIENDS WE’LL MISS Friends We’ll Miss
Allen Maxwell The American flag at Monticello City Hall was lowered to half-staff February 10 in honor and memory of Monticello Mayor Allen Maxwell. Mr. Maxwell died that morning. He was 70. A former state legislator, Maxwell was serving the last year of his first term as mayor and had recently filed for a second term. Maxwell grew up in Warren and attended the University of Arkansas at Monticello from 1961 to 1963, playing two seasons on the Boll Weevil football team. He retired from Southwestern Bell in 1991, ending his career as the company’s personnel director in Missouri. In that position, he managed a 1,500-employee work force, a $400 million dollar capital and maintenance budget, and all labor relations. After his retirement, Maxwell moved back to Southeast Arkansas and spent six years working for former U.S. Rep. Jay Dickey. “We will all miss Allen Maxwell: his family, friends, the people of Monticello and all citizens of Southern Arkansas,” Dickey said. “I count myself as one of his friends, but also an admirer. He was smart, hard-working, dedicated, disciplined, loyal, tough and fearless. My thoughts and prayers go to his family.” After six years as Dickey’s chief of staff, Maxwell served three terms representing District 10 in the Arkansas House of
Representatives. As state representative, he focused his legislative agenda on tax cuts and lower energy taxes for Arkansas manufacturers. He promoted the Arkansas forestry industry and UAM, helping secure $4 million to improve the Forest Resources Center. “While working with Allen while he was in the legislature, his passion as an advocate for Southeast Arkansas was always evident,” Gov. Mike Beebe said. “It is no surprise that he continued that work after his time in Little Rock and until his last days on Earth.” Ineligible to run for re-election in 2010 due to the term limits, Maxwell ran for mayor of Monticello winning with 70 percent of the vote.
Don W. Adams ’76, of Sherwood, May 19, 2013. Eddie L. Baugh, of Jefferson, April 20, 2014. Susie Irene Bryant ’64, of Little Rock, September 20, 2013. James D. Carter ’81, of Monticello, February 27, 2014. Sara L. Courtney, of Dermott, January 31, 2014. Robert C. DeArmond ’59, of Conroe, Tex., July 13, 2013. Melvin G. Dunlap, of Chicago, Ill., February 8, 2014. Thomas D. Foote, of Hot Springs, April 14, 2014. Cordell Gill, of Lakeport, Calif., February 27, 2010. Eleanor S. Gill, of Dumas, February 26, 2014. Donald C. Graves, Jr., of White Hall, March 19, 2014. Gloanna Hall, of Monticello, March 27, 2014. Billy H. Hartness, of Monticello, March 7, 2014. Kathy “Tuck” Henderson ’81, of McGehee, February 10, 2014. Joan T. Hill ’71, of Monticello, February 18, 2014. Mary J. Hoagland-Bassett ’74, of Gering, Neb., November 17, 2013. Helen Josephine Hodges ‘32, of St. George’s, Utah, March 22, 2014. Betty J. Holt ’59, of Fordyce, February 9, 2014. Mary L. Jaggers ’74, of Monticello, April 6, 2014. Martin W. Katilius ’78, of Carterville, Ill., September 27, 2013. Donald W. Martin ’71, of Rison, February 26, 2014. Guy Nelson, of Monticello, June 7, 2013. Homer Pace, of Wilmar, April 12, 2014. Carolyn J. Smith ’75, of White Hall, February 16, 2014. Britney Stanley, of Hamburg, March 2, 2014. Peggy Suitt ’69, of Little Rock, May 9, 2013. Lavon L. Vaden ’55, of Hamburg, March 12, 2014. George D. Williams ’68, of Pocahontas, November 12, 2013. Curtis W. Wilson, of Monticello, February 23, 2014.
Clifton Bond (BA ‘50) The city of Monticello lost a favorite son recently when Elza Clifton Bond Jr., more commonly known as Judge Bond, died at the age of 86. Judge Bond attended Arkansas A&M College, earning a bachelor of arts degree in social science, language and literature in 1950. He was licensed to practice law by the Arkansas Supreme Court in 1953 and was admitted to the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court along with other federal and state courts of Arkansas. In 1960, Bond was elected Judge of the Monticello Municipal Court, a position he
held for 26 years until his retirement from the bench in 1986. In 1997, he was elected to the Monticello City Council, where he served as Alderman for 13 years. Bond was a former president of the Monticello Rotary Club and a Paul Harris Fellow. His wife, the late Marjorie Mae Bond, was the first female member of the Monticello club. In honor of their service to Rotary, Monticello Rotary has created an endowment in the UAM Foundation Fund to honor Judge and Mrs. Bond. Anyone wishing to contribute should contact the Office of Advancement at (870) 460-1028. Summer 2014
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Get your bids in soon! The UAM Department of Athletics will be conducting an online auction to name Tailgate Row adjacent to Weevil Pond. Bidding will run from June 1 to August 1 at 11 a.m. To acquire the one-year naming rights,* go to our website: www.uamsports.com (*Name subject to approval by the University.) 28
UAM MAGAZINE
ciation Membership sso A i mn lu A M A U 14 0 2 Your membership matters!
the UAM Alumni lifies you for 2014 membership in qua ple cou $50 or ual ivid ind A minimum gift of $30 and UAM Magazine. rds, Homecoming, alumni events, awa s, ship olar sch d fun ps hel Association. Your gift Ways to Give: ni ONLINE: www.uamont.edu/alum PHONE: (870) 460-1028 mail, please include your 3520, Monticello, AR 71656 (If by Box P.O. , tion ocia Ass i mn Alu UAM ) MAIL: : ress add il ema VISA and MasterCard accepted
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University of Arkansas at Monticello Alumni Association P.O. Box 3597 Monticello, AR 71656