Coaches, Players Build Bonds That Last a Lifetime Inside: 2024 Annual Report
Mules Football unveils newly renovated office space and pays tribute to a lifelong brotherhood that keeps generations of players connected to one another and to the university.
Founding Philanthropists
Driving Change Opportunity Grants fund safe-driving programs, period products, a portable keyboard and cameras for student journalists.
Learn how this year’s Founding Philanthropists have transformed the lives of students. By the
See how much the UCM Alumni Foundation was able to give back in fiscal year 2024, thanks to donors like you.
Spotlights Hear from students about how donor-funded scholarships have helped them redefine what’s possible.
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UCM was ranked third among large public universities in the U.S.
BUILDING ON A FOUNDATION OF TEAMWORK AND GENEROSITY
Fall is a special time at UCM, a time when our new and continuing students return in full force while marking the start of our fall sports seasons. This year, fall ushered in a new era of UCM Athletics. In May, the MuleNation Road Show connected with many of you, sharing not only our strategic plan to keep UCM at the forefront of NCAA Division II intercollegiate competition, but also reinforcing why alumni and foundation donors are essential members of the team working to make this happen.
The power of teamwork was on full display during the rededication of the Terry Noland Football Office Complex just before this year’s victorious Mules Football home opener. This newly modernized space honors UCM’s championship-caliber program, whose foundation was established in the Coach Noland era. The generosity of numerous alumni, including many from the Muleball Brothers for Life, made this possible and continues to build on that foundation.
In this issue, you’ll hear from the two men on the cover, Mules Quarterback Zach Zebrowski and Head Coach Josh Lamberson, key figures in UCM Football’s recent success. Last season, Zebrowski set four NCAA Division II records and won the Harlon Hill Award, the highest honor in D-II football. Coach Lamberson, a former All-American quarterback, builds upon Noland’s legacy, and explains how “it’s not just what happens in between the stripes; it’s all the stuff people don’t see.”
Donor generosity is transforming UCM, enhancing not just Mules Football, but so many aspects of our university. Philanthropic gifts from the Koch Family Trust have modernized study spaces in the James C. Kirkpatrick Library. Thanks to Rand and Kelly Harbert and other donors, our golf teams now have a dedicated facility at Mules National Golf Club. The recently opened Skyhaven Aviation Center benefits students and our broader community, and the old gymnasium in the Lovinger Building has been converted into the Hough Education and Counseling Center, a multi-use space for the College of Education, thanks to the generosity of an alumnus who wished to honor his nephew’s dedication to “Education for Service.”
These capital projects demonstrate the power of philanthropy. In this issue’s annual report, you will discover how donor-funded Opportunity Grants enhance the student experience. You will read the powerful stories of scholarship recipients achieving their dreams. We also profile our 2024 Distinguished Alumni honorees, and you can visit UCM Magazine online to watch videos about these outstanding individuals.
I remain inspired by our alumni — what you achieve individually and corporately continues to redefine what’s possible. You are the team behind all of us. Thank you for your support!
Roger J. Best, Ph.D. UCM President
Visit UCM Magazine online for embedded videos and links at ucmfoundation.org/magazine.
BEYOND THE STRIPES
It’s not just what happens in between the stripes; it’s all the stuff people don’t see.
— Coach Josh Lamberson “ ”
Mules Football Brotherhood Lasts a Lifetime
By Kathy Strickland
This is the house that football built.
This is the team that named the house that football built.
This is the coach that built the team that named the house that football built.*
The coach is a culture — a commitment to going beyond the limits you thought you had. The team is a brotherhood, spanning all eras of the sport that binds players like laces in leather. It’s a bond shared by everyone who has run, passed, blocked, tackled or punted between the stripes of Central Missouri’s field, whether painted on grass or turf.
Rob Park, ’94, remembers playing on the grass field in the early 1990s with teammates Bart Woods, ’94, ’98, and Joe Grubb, ’94, before returning to the house where they lived with three other Mules Football players. They lived and breathed the motto instilled in them by then Defensive Coordinator Jeff Floyd and Head Coach Terry Noland: “You can do more.”
“That’s something that I and most of my teammates that I played with still tell themselves every day,” Park said. “It really got you ready for life in that everybody thinks they have a breaking point, and they taught us how to go beyond that breaking point and still succeed. … Your mind is actually your weakest link, not your body.”
The Coach
After graduation, Park became director of the National Hot Rod Association, a position he held for 26 years before moving into an advisory role. He also serves on the UCM Alumni Foundation Board of Directors and is a founding member of Muleball Brothers for Life (MBBL), along with Grubb, fellow Alumni Foundation board member Marc Tuttle, ’94, former board member Paul Kaiser, ’97, and Deno Hairston, ’95.
“The commitment the five of us made was that we’d be accountable to each other and that would, in turn, hold us accountable to the university and all the
Players after a game in 1992:
Standing, from left, Byron Mays, Joe Grubb, Chance Wistrom and McCabe Turner. First row: Rob Park and Bart Woods.
other players,” Park said about co-founding MBBL.
Members spanning decades of Mules Football get together at the home opener, Homecoming and one or more away games every season. The group also helps alumni stay connected with the university and the current team. Those who serve on the Alumni Foundation board gain an inside view of the football program’s strengths and needs. One of the most immediate needs was renovating the Terry Noland Football Office Complex, which was first dedicated to the MBBL founding members’ beloved coach on Oct. 12, 2012.
On Sept. 7, 2024, Coach Noland stood on the field again as his former players, those who came after his time and those about to play their first home opener of the season gathered to rededicate the office complex that bears his name on the south side of the stadium.
“I’m just so proud and thankful that this recognition has been provided and that the Noland name will go on established with Central Missouri, because my proudest coaching moment was to be here,” Noland told the crowd of alumni, supporters and fans.
Noland became head coach at UCM in 1983 after assistant coaching positions at Drake University and the University of North Dakota. He led the Mules to an MIAA championship his first season and repeated that success in 1986, ’87 and ’88, claiming the Mules’ first undisputed title and earning MIAA Coach of the Year in ’86.
The Team
As fans watched the touchdowns tally up with each cannon fired at the Mules home opener — nine in all for a 63–21 win over Northeastern State — they paid little attention to what was behind the mule logos on the front of the building, just to the right of the scoreboard. It is inside those doors that coaches and players gather to talk strategy, review practice tapes or opponent game video, grab a snack and, on occasion, put their feet up to relax.
Quarterback
When current Head Coach Josh Lamberson took the helm in February 2022, Noland gave him his ’86 championship ring and told him to give it back when he won one of his own. It didn’t take Lamberson long to return the ring and give Noland a new one to add to his collection after the Mules captured the team’s 14th conference title in 2023. Like Noland in ’86, Lamberson was also named MIAA Coach of the Year.
Lamberson had served as offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator for the Mules from 2010 to 2014 under Head Coach Jim Svoboda before becoming head coach at MIAA member Nebraska Kearney, then associate head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for NCAA Division I Abilene Christian University.
Zach Zebrowski watched the Terry Noland Football Office Complex renovation progress this summer, along with nearly 100 teammates who chose to stay in Warrensburg to practice, work out, swim, golf and just spend time getting to know one another.
“The coaching staff and players, they’re the best connection I’ve ever had with a team,” said Zebrowski, one of eight returning offensive starters, along with eight starters returning to the defensive line.
After setting four NCAA Division II records in the 2023 season, Zebrowski became the second Mule in history to win the Harlon Hill Award, the highest honor in D-II football. He was the first quarterback in the division and only the sixth in all of college football to throw for at least 60 touchdowns in a season and was named Offensive Player of the Year for both D-II and MIAA.
The son of the current co-offensive coordinator at the University of Kansas,
Originally dedicated in 2012, the Terry Noland Football Office Complex is attached to the Nickerson residence hall on the south side of Audrey J. Walton Stadium, which itself opened in October 1995, the year before Coach Terry Noland retired.
Coach Noland hugs Mike Armstrong, ’95, a former defensive tackle, at the rededication ceremony Sept. 7.
Rob Park talks with Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Matt Howdeshell at the rededication ceremony the day of the home opener.
Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Matt Howdeshell, Head Coach Josh Lamberson, former player David Neuenschwander, former Head Coach Terry Noland, Vice President of University Advancement Courtney Goddard and UCM President Roger Best cut the ribbon for the remodeled football offices.
Campus has changed, but it felt the same; I felt like I was home.
— David Neuenschwander, Linebacker, 1994–97
David Neuenschwander presented the key to the renovated complex to Coach Terry Noland at the rededication ceremony.
Zebrowski was a ball boy for his dad at a young age; played football, basketball and baseball growing up in Woodbury, Minnesota; and has always wanted to be a coach. He is a redshirt senior pursuing his master’s from UCM in Sports Management.
Coach Lamberson shares Zebrowski’s sentiments about the 2023 team being the most connected he’s ever known. It’s a testament to a brotherhood that starts from Day 1.
“It’s a Mule brotherhood,” Lamberson said. “It’s not just a saying; they legitimately try to make each other’s lives better. The players live it out in real life, and that’s when it becomes culture, when it becomes the environment and when the special stuff happens.”
The House
At the rededication ceremony Sept. 7, David Neuenschwander, ’98, spoke about his time on the team, which started
in 1993 when Coach Noland “took a chance on an undersized linebacker.” Before retiring last September, it had been decades since Neuenschwander, who lives in Ohio, had returned to Warrensburg. He didn’t waste any time coming back for a Mules Football game in October 2023 and for the first-round D-II playoff game against Henderson State University. He also played in the Mules Football Golf Tournament over the summer.
“I am a proud — and stubborn — Fighting Mule from Central Missouri,” Neuenschwander told the crowd. “And while I Ieft Central Missouri, Central Missouri never left me.”
Neuenschwander commended Coach Noland for teaching him life lessons such as hard work, preparation, resilience and selflessness, often reminding his players, “You play for the name on the front of the jersey, not on the back.”
Neuenschwander also said Noland kept every promise he made while he was recruiting him in the early ’90s, including
Quarterback Zach Zebrowski threw for 503 yards and six touchdowns in the home opener Sept. 7. Last season he set UCM and MIAA records for passing yards with 615 yards.
The Brotherhood
The remodel of the Terry Noland Football Office Complex aligns with objectives of the five-year strategic plan for UCM Athletics announced in August, providing a top-tier facility and championship-level resources for the program.
“This is going to be one of the best facilities in D-II from a learning environment perspective and also give our guys a great place to be proud of and to call their own on campus,”
Coach Josh Lamberson said. “It’s an homage to Mules Football history but also a place where the present and the future are being written.”
Combined university funds and private support from alumni made the renovation possible, and the following spaces are named after former players.
• The Muleball Brothers for Life Lounge – in honor of Joe Grubb, linebacker, 1989-1992
• The Neuenschwander Family Lobby –in honor of David Neuenschwander, linebacker, 1994-97
• The Glaunert Family Defensive Coordinator/Linebacker Office –in honor of Paul Glaunert, linebacker, 1986-90
• The Hulet Family Defensive Backs Coach Office – in honor of Mark Hulet, defensive back, 1984-87; coach, 1988-95
• The Scott and Christine Taylor Office – in honor of Christine and Scott Taylor, kicker, 1985-88
• The Rick Moyer Family Offense and Running Backs Meeting Room –in honor of Rick Moyer, running back, 1998-01
• The Scott and Kerri Loveland Quarterbacks Coach Office –in honor of Kerri (’92, ’94) and Scott Loveland, quarterback, 1981-84
that he would be a better man, equipped to handle life after college, when he left than when he arrived. The fulfillment of that promise is what gives them both the most satisfaction.
“We set high expectations not just during games but in practice sessions, in study halls, in the community with community service projects,” Noland
said. “They were setting standards that were very high for themselves, and then that would relate to what would transpire later on in their lives with their families, in their communities. … It’s great that my name is on that facility, but there ought to be about 1,500 names on there. They’ve given their time and effort to the program, and now they’re giving back again.”
Joe Grubb, who played from 1989 to 1992.
PHILANTHROPY NEWS
Alumni Support Greek Brothers and Sisters
UCM Alumni Foundation Board of Directors President Leslie J. Krasner, ’77, ’78, and Randall Garber, ’75, have established the Linnette McClure Garber Alpha Omicron Pi Endowed Fund for Members with Financial Need to help cover membership fees for incoming students who demonstrate financial need and are seeking new
membership to the UCM chapter of Alpha Omicron Pi.
In addition, a large group of alumni donors has established the Sigma Phi Epsilon Endowed Fund for Members with Financial Need to help cover membership fees for incoming students who demonstrate financial need and are seeking new membership to the UCM chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon.
Show your support at the All-Greek Reunion, celebrating 110 years of Greek Life at UCM, happening April 11–12, 2025. For more information, visit ucmfoundation.org/all–greek25.
Muleball Brothers for Life founding members Paul Kaiser, left, and Deno Hairston, right, pictured with Coach Terry Noland, center, helped dedicate the lounge area — complete with a kitchen and spaces for players to eat, study or relax — in honor of
Kenneth J. Schueller established the Outstanding Advisor Award Endowed Fund after retiring in August as senior director of student success in UCM’s Success Advising Center. Ken joined the university full time in August 2001 after more than two decades of service in the U.S. Air Force. He helped create the Open Option program at UCM and administered career assessments to more than 6,000 students. This new endowment will honor one faculty mentor and one professional advisor annually with a monetary award.
Phil Roberts, a former UCM student, contributed to the renewable scholarship in his name benefiting a full-time undergraduate student who demonstrates financial need and is enrolled in a program in the Harmon College of Business and Professional Studies. Phil was honored as a UCM Founding Philanthropist in 2023.
The Robert E. Oliphant Charitable Foundation contributed to the Military and Veterans Success Center Endowment and the Thrive Educational Scholarship Endowment, both named for the foundation. A contribution was also made to support the new UCM Athletics Fueling Station Fund, providing nutritional snacks and drinks to help student-athletes refuel.
The Estate of Roy Geary has established the Roy D. Geary Scholarship Endowment for a full-time student in good academic standing who demonstrates financial need and who graduated from Lafayette County High School or Holden High School.
The Richard and Joyce Monson Family Endowment in Art was established at UCM in June. Joyce and Rich, seated, are pictured here with UCM Art Chair Melanie Johnson, left, and the Monsons’ daughter, Janet Bryan, who is now an adjunct art professor at UCM. Rich served as a professor of art from 1965 to 1997.
Anand Suryakant Mehta, ’75, and Rupande Mehta have endowed a scholarship for full-time junior or senior undergraduate students pursuing a degree in Finance, Accounting or Computer Information Systems. Anand Mehta served as CFO and senior vice president of financial services of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and was honored with UCM’s Distinguished International Alumni Award in 2014.
Buddy Ramos, ’74, ’78, and Mary Ramos, ’75, ’80, ’83, have established a scholarship endowment for a full-time student who demonstrates financial need and participates in UCM’s academic success advising program. When Buddy was invited to join the Mules Football team as a walk-on nonscholarship player, the coach assigned an advisor to help the first-generation student-athlete complete all necessary financial aid forms and learn how to navigate higher education. He says that without this assistance and guidance, he would not have earned a degree.
Professor Emeritus Wesley True, pictured here with his daughter, Carolyn True, established the Dr. Wesley and Mrs. Marilyn True Piano Scholarship Endowment for a student who is studying piano in UCM’s Division of Music. Wesley taught at UCM from 1962 to 1996 and performed often in Hart Recital Hall — solo, with other faculty and with Marilyn, who maintained an independent piano studio in Warrensburg for more than 40 years. Marilyn helped establish the Epsilon Omega chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota at UCM, and Wesley and Professor Emeritus Richard Smith founded the UCM Summer Piano Institute in 1988, which continues today.
Beth Tankersley-Bankhead, ’83, has endowed a renewable scholarship for a first-generation student from Morgan County High School in Versailles, Missouri, who is pursuing a degree in Elementary Education. Beth herself was a first-generation student from Versailles who earned her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from UCM. She later helped launch the KC Scholars program, which provides scholarships to low-income students from a six-county, bistate region of Kansas City. Beth was honored with UCM’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2022.
The World Wide Technology Foundation has made a generous gift to support the greatest needs at UCM through the Central Annual Fund. World Wide Technology was co-founded by alumnus David Steward, ’73, who was honored with UCM’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2004.
ANNUAL REPORT 2024
Alumni and Friends,
Thank you! Your generosity has fueled incredible advances for our university over the past year. Because of your continued support, we are creating opportunities for our students that they never imagined possible. The investments of alumni and friends like you continue to yield significant outcomes for our university. The future is very bright at UCM.
This past fiscal year, you and thousands of other proud donors provided $8.75 million in gifts, pledges and newly documented planned gifts. We are incredibly grateful to the many individuals who contribute to our work and the increasing number of businesses, foundations and corporations stepping up for UCM.
We have also made great strides toward improving UCM’s physical campus. In the past few months, the remodeled Terry Noland Football Office Complex was unveiled, and the brand-new Hough Education and Counseling Center has opened in what was once the Lovinger gymnasium. The university also unveiled the Skyhaven Aviation Center and the Harbert Collegiate Golf Center, both funded in large part by donor support. Renovations to the James C. Kirkpatrick Library opened new study spaces for students, and work continues on a complete remodel of the Humphreys Building.
For the first time in the Alumni Foundation’s history, assets under management surpassed the $100 million mark. This remarkable achievement for our relatively young foundation speaks to the trust and faith of those of you who give back. Because of careful management and investment of donor gifts, our annual payout from the endowment was over $2 million. These funds significantly impact UCM’s greatest needs today and for years to come. We also awarded over $1.66 million from donor-funded scholarship endowments — a new record — to 1,102 students.
Our Alumni Foundation Board of Directors is pleased to share the enclosed 2024 Annual Report, with information regarding our many successes and our progress over the past year.
No matter the year of your graduation, where you are in MuleNation or the amount of your gift, we value you as a part of the UCM community. Thank you for redefining what is possible for all who learn and learn to lead at the University of Central Missouri.
With thanks and appreciation,
Leslie
J. Krasner,
J.D., ’77, ’78 President, Alumni Foundation Board of Directors
Courtney E. Goddard, J.D. Vice President for Advancement Executive Director, UCM Alumni Foundation
ANNUAL REPORT 2024
Celebrating the Spirit of Philanthropy
Established in 2021 during the University of Central Missouri’s 150th anniversary Founders Day celebration, “An Evening of Appreciation” is the UCM Founders Society’s signature event. On the evening of April 20, 2024, members of the UCM Alumni Foundation’s most prestigious giving society came together to honor the following individuals with the Founding Philanthropist Award.
Ed and Sandra Elliott
Ed and Sandra Elliott’s 14 years of service to UCM as president and first lady were marked by record enrollment increases, expansion of academic degree programs and renewed efforts to endow the university with philanthropic support.
Sandra and Ed Elliott have played an indelible role in making UCM what it is today.
Both Ed and Sandra grew up in Grain Valley, Missouri, graduating from Grain Valley High School. Ed received an artium baccalaureus degree from William Jewell College, where he earned 10 varsity athletic letters and was captain of the football and wrestling teams. Sandra attended what was then Central Missouri State College and joined the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority. She married Ed in the Alumni Memorial Chapel on campus the year before she graduated with a degree in Business Education in 1961.
Ed went on to coach and teach at various high schools and universities. Sandra taught elementary and high school, and the couple raised three children. Ed earned his master’s degree from Columbia University in New York and his doctorate from the
University of Northern Colorado. The Elliotts eventually served as president and first Lady of Wayne State College in Nebraska for three years before Ed was appointed as UCM’s 12th president in 1985.
Ed and Sandra made lasting contributions, including establishing the Emeriti Association and University Art Collection; spearheading fundraising efforts to build Walton Stadium and Crane Stadium; building a modernized Central Village, Greenwood Park and the South Recreation Complex; and constructing Smiser Alumni Center in the student union. The crown jewel of their construction legacy is the James C. Kirkpatrick Library, which opened the year Ed retired in 1999.
In appreciation of their service, the student union was renamed the Elliott Student Union, with the ballrooms named for Sandra Temple Elliott. Ed was inducted into the UCM Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007, and the Elliotts remain active supporters of UCM Athletics. They also have established the Sandra Temple and Ed M. Elliott Family Scholarship, which supports UCM undergraduate students who have been active volunteers supporting the university.
UCM’s Global Vision Founder
While many donors to the University of Central Missouri are acknowledged publicly, some choose to keep their philanthropy anonymous. Inspired by a service-learning experience with international nonprofit Global Volunteers, this donor wanted to bring a similar opportunity to students in Warrensburg. To fulfill this mission, the Global Vision Endowment was established through the UCM Alumni Foundation in 2015.
UCM students enjoy a view of Kathmandu, Nepal, from 256 feet at Skywalk Tower during a Global Vision service-learning trip in May 2024.
Since then, more than 250 volunteers from UCM have taken service-learning trips abroad to places like Tanzania, Peru, Cuba, Saint Lucia, Nepal and Poland. All expenses are paid through the endowment, including airfare, meals, room and board.
During the two-week trips, volunteers help the communities they visit in many ways — teaching conversational English, caring for malnourished and at-risk children, conducting workshops for mothers, planting container gardens for sustainable nutrition, renovating school buildings and working in health clinics. Although intent on remaining anonymous, the donor would often attend (always sitting incognito in the audience) the presentations students gave to the campus community about their transformative experiences.
Upon this donor’s passing, the UCM Alumni Foundation received a large bequest from their estate, making the Global Vision Endowment the largest at the university. A committee was then formed to assist with carrying out the donor’s wishes, which have manifested through the expansion of the Global Vision program. Many more students now have the opportunity to go beyond “the Burg,” with four trips planned for 2025.
ANNUAL REPORT 2024
Rand and Kelly Harbert
Rand and Kelly Harbert embody the University of Central Missouri’s motto of “Education for Service.” As firstgeneration students from rural Missouri, they have committed to giving back to causes and institutions they believe in, including higher education.
After playing football, basketball and golf in high school, Rand attended what was then Central Missouri State University on a golf scholarship. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Graphic Arts Technology Management in 1985 and was awarded the George Charno Outstanding Senior Award. He later earned an MBA from Webster University and graduated from the General Management program at the Harvard School of Business.
Kelly attended CMSU on a full-ride academic scholarship and graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting. As a student, she was a cheerleader with Rand, a University Ambassador and a member of Delta Zeta sorority, while Rand was a member of Alpha Kappa Lambda. She graduated as valedictorian in 1986.
After graduation, Kelly worked in KPMG’s estate planning group, and Rand worked in various roles for H.J. Heinz and Marion Merrell Dow before joining State Farm Insurance as an agent in 1992. When he retired from State Farm 30 years later, Rand was serving as executive vice president and chief agency, sales and marketing officer.
Kelly currently serves as president of Spectrum Partners, a company she founded in 1995 that operates assisted living facilities. The Harberts have been happily married for more than three decades and have raised three children.
Rand and Kelly continue to give back to their alma mater. In addition to their support of the university’s greatest needs through the Central Annual Fund, they have established the Randall and Kelly Harbert Marketing Professorship in the Harmon College of Business and Professional Studies. They are also champions of Mules and Jennies Golf, elevating the programs through generous gifts to purchase vans for the teams and to construct the Harbert Collegiate Golf Center, which opened April 20, 2024, the same day they were honored as UCM Founding Philanthropists.
From my University High School graduation in 1976 to covering the University of Central Missouri as a journalist in the 1980s, then serving the institution professionally for more than three decades, UCM and its many different facilities have impacted me as a student, employee and alumnus. As I transition into retirement from the Office of Integrated Marketing and Communications, it is gratifying to share information about the progress UCM is making through various buildings and grounds projects while also offering personal anecdotes that, for me, transcend bricks and mortar. — Jeff Murphy
Rand and Kelly Harbert, center, cut the ribbon at the April 20 dedication of the Harbert Collegiate Golf Center at Mules National Golf Club. Pictured with them are UCM Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Matt Howdeshell, Mules Golf Head Coach Tim Poe, Vice President of University Advancement Courtney Goddard, UCM President Roger Best and Jennies Golf Head Coach Chris Port.
Jeff Murphy took this photo of students on a dock at Pertle Springs while working as a reporter for the Warrensburg Daily Star Journal in the 1980s.
The More Things Change After Half a Century of Expansion and Renovation, UCM Still Feels Like Home
By Jeff Murphy, ’80, ’95
Harbert Collegiate Golf Center
As a newspaper reporter in the 1980s, I covered Easter egg hunts for children in need and an annual Teddy Bear Jubilee that brought collectors from across the United States to the old lodge at Pertle Springs. The festival of bears was started by Warrensburg native and UCM Theatre alumnus William “Bill” Boyd, ’55, as a fundraiser for the Good Bears of the World organization, which donates teddy bears for first responders and grief counselors to use.
Pertle Springs was a popular spot for student and community gatherings in the ’80s. I spent many summer weekends with my daughter
at the Pertle Springs pool, and was defeated shamelessly by every friend who ever played golf with me at what was then known as Keth Memorial Golf Course.
Fortunately, today there are a lot of university members, alumni and friends who are much better than I at golf, and many of them have claimed the Mules National Golf Club at Pertle Springs as a great place to engage in their favorite pastime. It is also the location where some of the best collegiate competitors in the nation perfect their skills as members of Mules and Jennies Golf. Efforts to better serve these students and other golf course users received a significant boost during the 2023–24 academic year when Rand, ’85, and
Kelly, ’86, Harbert donated the lead gift for the construction of a new golf center at Mules National Golf Club.
UCM launched this building project on Sept. 22, 2023, and on April 20, 2024, the community celebrated the opening of the Harbert Collegiate Golf Center. Located on the west side of Traditions Restaurant with a view of the beautiful, well-manicured golf course, this 2,100-square-foot, single-story building is the pinnacle of such facilities in NCAA Division II collegiate golf programs. Amenities include lounge space for both the men’s and women’s golf teams, offices, restrooms, a recruit lounge/meeting room, a laundry room and a large outdoor deck.
The Harbert Collegiate Golf Center features lounge spaces, offices, restrooms, a laundry room, a meeting room and a large outdoor deck.
Skyhaven Aviation Center
For someone who built a nearly 35-year public relations career by sharing stories about UCM, Aug. 28, 2005, was a memorable day. During my Sunday morning ritual of thumbing through The Kansas City Star, my eyes turned to the weekend issue of Star Magazine. On the cover was a photo of a 15-year-old boy wearing a headset and a beaming smile while seated in the cockpit of a UCMowned single-engine Cessna 172 airplane. Experiencing flying for the first time, this young man was part of the first Aviation Youth Academy Summer Camp, a Kansas City-based program that partnered with Kansas City Public Schools and the university’s Max B. Swisher Skyhaven Airport to expose 20 underrepresented youth to aviation careers.
ANNUAL REPORT 2024
While this article reached thousands of metropolitanarea readers, it highlighted one of many examples of events that have taken place at the airport since it was donated to UCM in 1968 by former Warrensburg resident, entrepreneur and businessman Max B. Swisher. Such events have not only introduced young people to aviation but have also provided opportunities for pilots from Missouri and beyond to utilize resources at the state’s only university-owned communityuse and educational-use airport. From its humble beginnings as a place where private pilots took off on grass runways, this airport has continued to improve and expand.
A milestone at the airport was reached in 2021 with the campus celebrating “50 Years of Aviation Excellence.” This observance recognized the university aviation program’s growth from 25 students and a fleet of four Cessna aircraft to nearly 500 students and more than 24 airplanes on property that now features vastly improved runways, taxiways and hangars. But there was much more to come.
In September 2023, a significant step forward was celebrated at the airport with a ribbon-cutting ceremony commemorating the opening of the 10,000-square-foot, $5.1 million Skyhaven Aviation Center. This facility was the result of a vision that became a reality, thanks to $2.8 million in donor support, $1 million in state funds and remaining funding from UCM.
The campus and local community celebrated the new Skyhaven Aviation Center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Sept. 8, 2023.
ANNUAL REPORT 2024
Cutting the ribbon Sept. 8: David Pearce, UCM director for governmental relations; Scott Fitzpatrick, state auditor; Lynn and Jackie Harmon; President Roger Best; Missouri Sen. Denny Hoskins; Tyler Young, a ’23 Professional Pilot graduate; Courtney Goddard, executive director of the UCM Alumni Foundation; Mark Suazo, former dean of the Harmon College of Business and Professional Studies; and Ed Hassinger, MDOT interim director and chief engineer.
Replacing and expanding the role of the old administration and terminal building that was constructed in the 1970s, the Skyhaven Aviation Center includes amenities such as a pilots’ lounge, lockers, a bathroom with shower, and a quiet room to serve local and corporate aviators. It also features shared space with a dispatch station, a break room,
airport staff offices, a conference room, a work room and 30 private “pods,” or small meeting rooms where Aviation students can visit individually with flight instructors. Adding to this project, Missouri legislators appropriated $850,000 for UCM to build self-service fuel facilities that will operate 24 hours a day.
The airport will continue to play an important role at the front and center of Johnson County aviation, serving the community and preparing the next generation of professional pilots and industry leaders.
Testyouraviation knowledgewiththe MuleNation Aviation crosswordpuzzleonthe inside back cover!
A view of the runway from around the time the airport was gifted to the university in the mid-’60s.
Paige McCarty, right, was one of the high school students who spent the summer of 2021 learning from UCM Certified Flight Instructor Keaton Rex, left, and others at the Air Force Junior ROTC Flight Academy.
James C. Kirkpatrick Library
As a university student in the late ’70s, trips to the Ward Edwards Library on the north side of campus were an important part of my university experience.
ANNUAL REPORT 2024
Whether as a place to meet up with classmates to work on a project, to spend hours combing through card catalogs or to stand in line with other students for rented textbooks at the beginning of each quarter, the library often beckoned my attention.
By the end of the first decade of my employment at UCM, Ward Edwards’ role at the university began to change. The Board of Governors approved the construction of a new library on the south side of campus to replace the building completed in 1939 and bearing the name of librarian Ward Edwards, who had operated the university’s library out of other campus
buildings until enough funds were raised after the 1915 fire.
The new library would be named for James C. Kirkpatrick, a former newspaper man who served for 20 years as Missouri’s secretary of state, the longest tenure to date for that office. He was also a 12-year member and former president of UCM’s governing board.
Kirkpatrick was part of the groundbreaking for the new library in October 1996 but died a year later at age 92 before the building was finished. He did not witness the official dedication
ceremony on March 24, 1999, or the “book brigade,” which was a human train of volunteers who transported books hand to hand down a line they formed on the sidewalk from Ward Edwards to the new location. The act was largely ceremonial, as professional movers were ultimately needed to load and unload an estimated 836,000 books and other bound materials.
Decades after the James C. Kirkpatrick Library (JCKL) opened, a new milestone occurred on Nov. 28, 2023. Demonstrating the power of philanthropic support, UCM celebrated Giving Tuesday, a global day of philanthropy, with the library’s rededication. This was a day when members of MuleNation came together to raise support for the Central Annual Fund and to check out state-of-the-art renovations made at the library last fall. These included modernized study and collaborative learning spaces, new study nooks, a wellness room and soft furnishings made possible by a gift of $975,000 from the Koch Family Trust.
Students, faculty and staff members line the sidewalk to pass books hand to hand from the library at Ward Edwards to the new James C. Kirkpatrick Library in February 1999.
Students read and relax on the lawn outside of what was then Ward Edwards Library.
The trust was established by Oliver T. Koch and Mary G. Koch in 1990. Oliver graduated from Central Missouri State Teachers College in 1941 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. During their lifetime, the couple supported student scholarships and the Kirkpatrick Library Construction Fund.
UCM alumna Ashley Perrin, ’11, an Interior Design graduate, served as lead designer on the renovation project with Odimo, an architecture, design and consulting firm. She also returned to campus during the academic year as a guest speaker for the [Shirley] Kleppe [’67] Foundation Visual Arts Visiting Artist Endowment series coordinated by the UCM Gallery of Art and Design.
Donors continue to support JCKL as the library serves the academic needs of the UCM community, with more than 200,000 square feet of floor space and more than 1.3 million physical and online books, documents, journals and media resources. The facility serves as a hub of scholarly research and houses the McClure Archives and University Museum, a designated Blue Star Museum and Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area.
While I never got to use JCKL as a student, professionally I have made good use of its vast resources in search of information for articles or reports I was writing, to attend training sessions with colleagues in the facility’s meeting rooms or to seek out a quiet spot to conduct an interview.
ANNUAL REPORT 2024
Above: The library under construction after the October 1996 groundbreaking. Below: The library completed.
UCM President Ed Elliott, James C. Kirkpatrick and Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan at the groundbreaking ceremony of the new library.
Students can now enjoy comfortable furniture, study pods and small-group study spaces on the first floor.
Hough Education and Counseling Center
The gymnasium on the second floor of the Lovinger Building became a place where I learned the value of patience and how to keep a bench seat warm as a sophomore on the University High School (UHS) Colts basketball team. Two years later, the gymnasium was the spot where a major announcement was made during the allschool assembly. A day when many tears were shed by my teachers and classmates, it sealed my fate as a member of the last senior class to ever graduate from UHS, which closed in 1976.
My transition to college was easy, as I was already familiar with most of the buildings on campus, and many of the educators I studied under as a student continued their service to the university outside the high school classroom. The men and women I admired and respected as a student later became friends and colleagues through my work at the university. The lockers that lined both sides of the hall on the ground floor of Lovinger — a relatively new facility when I attended high school — remained for many years like ghosts from the past.
Fast-forward to 2024: the same area that once housed a wood basketball court, bleachers and a stage has been reimagined and has undergone significant renovations to create a state-of-the-art mixed-use educational facility that will help the College of Education
ANNUAL REPORT 2024
continue to be a leader in counselor education in Missouri and beyond. This renovation was made possible by a generous gift from UCM alumnus Greg Thurman, ’74, of Franklin, Tennessee, in honor of his nephew, Mike Hough, ’93 and ’98. Hough earned three bachelor’s degrees from UCM in Biology, Chemistry and Secondary Education, followed by a Master of Science in Education, Secondary School Administration. He also earned education specialist and doctoral degrees as part of a career that has included serving as an adjunct professor at UCM, a chemistry teacher at Lee’s Summit West and Knob Noster high schools, a middle school principal in Holden, Missouri, and currently as superintendent of the Holden R-III School District.
The university community celebrated the new center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 24, 2024. Alumni like me no longer recognize the Lovinger gymnasium, which has been completely converted into an area that includes counseling rooms, a play therapy room, multifunctional space, faculty offices and a welcoming lobby. Faculty and students work alongside school-based practitioners and engage with communitybased clinicians and counselors to better understand how trauma-informed care can be practiced through play therapy, which can then be integrated back into the classroom. The center also offers individual and group counseling services to the community as well as free services to UCM students.
The gymnasium in the Lovinger Building was where the University High School Colts played basketball until the school closed in 1976.
The Lovinger gym was transformed into a multi-use education and counseling center.
The new center is named after Holden, Missouri, superintendent Michael Hough, shown here with his wife, Kim, and children.
The Hough Education and Counseling Center features counseling rooms, a play therapy room and meeting spaces serving the university and local community.
Humphreys Building Renovation
During my sophomore year at University High School, the Humphreys Building — the site of the original Training School to prepare generations of Missouri teachers — became one of my favorite spots while I was enrolled in a driver’s education course. Although most of my classes were on the first floor of the Lovinger Building, as an eager young man who was only months away from his 16th birthday, I was focused on becoming a licensed driver.
While I was mostly oblivious to all of the great programs that were taking place in the Humphreys Building, I learned the rules of the road on the automobile simulators there. This was followed by more advanced lessons in one of the ’70s-era Chevrolets available to our class at the highway safety instructional park south of campus. (Sometimes I even won the mad dash to drive the Camaro!)
While the primitive driving simulators have long disappeared and many changes have
As a University High School student, the author learned to drive using one of these 1970s “driving simulators” in the Humphreys Building.
taken place within Humphreys over the past 50 years, this facility continues to be one of tremendous importance to UCM. With the words “Education for Service” etched into the building’s north exterior wall, Humphreys is home to students in areas that embody the spirit of that longstanding UCM motto. To better contribute to the education of students in areas such as Criminal Justice and Criminology, Safety Sciences, and Military Science and Leadership, an extensive renovation project is underway. The project will modernize resources and address $21 million in deferred maintenance needs.
As renovation began in December 2023, faculty, staff and students were relocated
from Humphreys to other buildings on campus. The first phase entailed asbestos abatement, and additional work to follow includes modernizing classrooms, open collaboration areas, faculty open office areas, the UCM Counseling Center, the Reserve Officers Training Corps program area and a new esports facility.
Action taken by the university’s Board of Governors made it possible to take advantage of the summer 2024 schedule to renovate office suites used by academic departments in Humphreys. An additional $9.95 million installment of funding for the Humphreys renovation project is part of the state’s fiscal year 2025 capital appropriations. This installment, along with prior funding, constitutes 100 percent financing by the state of Missouri for the $39.8 million project, scheduled for completion in 2026.
These five capital projects, started or completed in fiscal year 2024, exemplify the university’s strategic forward movement to meet ever-changing needs, and the master plan adopted in 2023 provides a detailed roadmap for the future. As always, the generosity of UCM alumni and friends is essential to driving the facility renovations and innovations that enhance both the student experience and the role of the university in our larger community.
As a new member of UCM’s emeriti family, I treasure the fond memories of my alma mater and workplace and look forward to celebrating more project milestones in the years to come.
Historical photos for this story were provided by the McClure Archives and University Museum.
The renderings at right show how the front and back of Humphreys is expected to look when the renovation is completed, including a new front entrance being created where the two halves of the building meet.
Driving Opportunity Opportunity Grants Fund Safe-Driving Initiatives
By Cloe Pohlman, Public Relations Undergraduate Student
College is about freedom, but with freedom comes responsibility. A big part of that is being able to go where you want to go, which in central Missouri means having a license to drive. Two programs were made possible by donor-funded Opportunity Grants in fiscal year 2024 to help students get a license and get around safely: Drive Safe UCM and Cannabis Impairment Education.
Drive Safe UCM
Drive Safe UCM was designed to help international students learn about driving in the U.S. and acquire their driver’s licenses. It is a four-hour course in a classroom setting that discusses the rules of the road, how to obtain a license, what to do in encounters with law enforcement and the American culture around cars and driving.
The popular culture surrounding driving in the U.S. has ties to the mass production of the earliest automobiles, car shows, the glamorization of hot rods and drag racing in post-World War II entertainment, the lore of Route 66 and Americans’ general infatuation with owning a vehicle.
“There are differences with the United States and other countries around the world as to what driving actually is,” says Mike Perkins, senior program manager for the Missouri Safety Center, who taught the Drive Safe UCM classes. “For the United States, it’s not just necessarily a way to get from point A to point B; there’s a big portion of the population that actually uses cars for entertainment to go out and drive around. The culture of cars and how they evolved and things like car clubs ... a lot of the international students found that to be really interesting.”
In some countries, including India, which is home to the majority of UCM’s international students, people drive on the left side of the road instead of the right,
The Drive Safe UCM initiative teaches international students Missouri rules of the road and the culture behind driving in the U.S.
with the steering wheel being on the right-hand side of the vehicle. Other differences that may surprise international students include less public transportation, more complex and expensive ride-share services, and fewer walkable cities.
Since January, more than a dozen students have completed the Drive Safe UCM program, and the Missouri Safety Center plans to continue offering the course in the future.
OPPORTUNITY GRANT HIGHLIGHTS
Since 2013, the UCM Alumni Foundation has offered faculty and staff the opportunity to apply for Opportunity Grants. Powered by donations to the Central Annual Fund, these grants are awarded for initiatives and technology designed to enrich students’ learning experience.
In December 2022, recreational marijuana was legalized in Missouri. The Cannabis Impairment Education program was designed to educate students about the dangers of driving under the influence.
According to the 420 Drug-Impaired Driving Enforcement Campaign by the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety, drug-impaired driving contributed to 7% of all 2023 Missouri traffic fatalities. In 2023, 73 people were killed and 167 seriously injured in crashes that involved at least one drug-impaired driver. Drugimpaired Missouri drivers under the age of 21 were involved in five fatal and 13 serious injury crashes in 2023, in which eight people were killed and 22 seriously injured.
In an effort to reduce the number of students driving under the influence, Sergeant Joe Jennings with the UCM Department of Public Safety applied for and received an Opportunity Grant to purchase cannabis impairment goggles. Similar to goggles used to mimic drunkenness, these devices and five paired activities are designed to mimic the cognitive and physiological impairment caused by cannabis use.
One activity involves a maze on a dry-erase board. The first time students
do the activity, it’s generally quick and easy to complete. However, when students put on the goggles and try the same maze again, it is significantly harder due to the visual impairment the goggles cause and the inability to remember the route they had previously taken to complete the maze.
“What cannabis is ultimately doing is affecting that psychophysical ability to see something, react to it and understand what you’re seeing, which is all pretty important when you’re driving a car,” says Jennings, who is known as one of the top four most active drug recognition experts in Missouri.
The equipment is used in introductorylevel college-orientation classes at UCM and at various university events. The goal is to reach as many people as possible and raise awareness about how quickly cannabis can affect your memory and judgment while driving. Since August 2023, approximately 500 campus community members have participated in the Cannabis Impairment Education project.
College life brings a thrilling mix of freedom and responsibility. These two Opportunity Grants not only educate students but also foster a safer and more informed community for everyone.
Cannabis Impairment Education
Students try out the Fatal Vision cannabis impairment goggles at the New Student Carnival during UCM’s Week of Welcome in fall 2023. Pictured from left are UCM Police Sgt. Joe Jennings, Officer Payton Graham and Officer Lane Embry.
Activities designed to demonstrate how cannabis can impair visual perception and reaction time include a maze and a Connect 4-style memory challenge.
Period Poverty
Addressing the Stigmas and Solutions
By Cloe Pohlman, Public Relations Undergraduate Student
Period poverty remains a pressing and often overlooked issue on college campuses, where access to menstrual products can be a significant barrier to academic and personal success. This is why Associate Professor Sarah Ray Rondot applied for and received a donor-funded Opportunity Grant from the UCM Alumni Foundation to provide students, faculty and staff with free period products in a total of 32 women’s and gender-neutral restrooms across campus.
The National Library of Medicine describes period poverty as “having insufficient access to menstrual products, education and sanitation facilities.” According to the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments, in the U.S. it is estimated that 14.2% of women attending colleges or universities have experienced period poverty in the past year, with 10% consistently unable to afford menstrual products every month.
Motivated by these statistics, Rondot, who serves as the director of Gender and Sexuality Studies at UCM, and then-undergraduate student Kylie Dannatt, ’23, conducted their own research. They found that 30% of the 224 students who
Key the Music
responded to the survey reported having a hard time purchasing period products every month.
While price is a big factor, there are other reasons for inaccessibility, such as the lack of time or transportation to get to a store.
“Having products in the bathrooms alleviates this pressure and potential feelings of shame or embarrassment in having to ask for products,” Rondot explains. “Many students commented on our survey that the boxes were a ‘lifesaver’ when they needed a pad or tampon in the middle of class but didn’t have one. Others commented that simply knowing the boxes were there was helpful in lowering feelings of anxiety or stress surrounding menstruation.”
The initial donor-supported Opportunity Grant provided enough funds to stock the boxes for one semester. The effort that started with an idea and an Opportunity Grant will now be funded through the university, giving students one less thing to worry about.
Portable Keyboard Benefits Theatre and Dance
The Division of Theatre and Dance in UCM’s School of Visual and Performing Arts was awarded an Opportunity Grant to purchase a portable keyboard stage bundle. The equipment has traveled to student showcases, auditions, classrooms and performances at the Highlander Theatre and the Nickerson Black Box Theatre.
“Within our classes, it provides many opportunities for students to easily practice and hone their craft and will allow us to continue to produce an excellent level of productions in the years to come,” says Ashley Miller-Scully, chair of UCM Theatre and Dance. “We are able to make the keyboard accessible to our students and have it available for their use so they have all the means necessary to succeed both inside and out of the classroom.”
Alongside each box was a QR code that people could scan if the box was empty. Some boxes needed to be refilled biweekly and others only once a month, depending on the location. In total, the QR code was scanned 145 times in the 2023–24 academic year.
UCM Theatre and Dance used the portable keyboard during the spring musical, “Xanadu.”
Backpack Journalism Pro Camera Kits Allow Students More
Mobility
Students participating in the production of UCM’s student newspaper and associated multimedia are benefiting from a 2024 Opportunity Grant to purchase four Canon T8i professional camera kits.
The Muleskinner is a student-led organization that provides students in any major the opportunity to generate news content. The newsroom previously had only one camera for approximately 75 student journalists to use. While photographers, videographers, podcast creators and members of the promotions team are the primary users, writers and editors occasionally take their own pictures for stories.
“Overall, each story submitted for coverage must have a standard of excellence to include a visual to help the student journalist show and not just tell the story,” says Julie Lewis, ’05, ’15, associate professor of Communication and faculty adviser for the Muleskinner. “The grant’s cameras have the ability to provide both still photography and video images.”
Lewis is excited that the new photography equipment is allowing more students to have real-world experience covering
news at the university, in the Warrensburg community and beyond. At the fall 2023 National College Media Convention in Atlanta, the Muleskinner’s 2023–24 multimedia manager, Ellie Whitesell, took home first place in the division for Best Feature Photography. This was one of many awards the Muleskinner staff won last year, including Missouri College Media Association recognition for Best in State, Best Overall Newspaper and Best Overall Website in Division I, competing with the largest institutions in the state.
This fall a team of student journalists relaunched the Backpack Journalism Project. Their first assignment was covering places in Warrensburg, including the Farmer’s Market, Java Junction and Retrograde. Throughout the year they will be covering stories in other locations along Amtrak’s Missouri River Runner route.
The Muleskinner publishes a print issue monthly during the academic year, with ongoing coverage at muleskinnernews.com.
Linda Alviar, the Muleskinner’s news editor, adjusts the lens of a Canon EOS Rebel T8i DSLR, one of the four cameras awarded to the Muleskinner by a donor-funded Opportunity Grant.
Staker, Ambati, Alviar, Mostaffa and King scout out campus news with their mobile photography equipment.
From left, Darby Mostaffa, managing editor; Riley King, staff writer; Vinaydeep Reddy Ambati, business promotions manager; and Sadie Staker, editor in chief, view the photos they took outside the Martin Building.
H OW YOU R G E N E ROSIT Y SU PP O RTS UCM
As the University of Central Missouri continues to transform students into leaders, the UCM Alumni Foundation continues
t o me e t t he tas k o f c reatin g oppor tunities that enhance their
w h at' s po ss i b le
Together with thousands of donors across the globe, we have delivered
— June 30, 2024) of incredible suppor t for UCM’ s students, faculty and programs. We are proud to have secured:
• $8.75 million in total giving, including donations, pledges and documented planned gifts
• $1.66 million distributed in direct scholarship suppor t to students
• 21 new endowed funds that will support UCM in perpetuity
• $2 million in endowment earnings paid out to UCM, the largest amount ever!
ANNUAL REPORT 2024
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
By Caitlin Mendenhall, Public Relations Undergraduate Student
Leah Holt
Leah Holt is a first-generation transfer student from Kansas City, Kansas, majoring in Health Studies with a minor in Nutrition. She received the Katzentine/ Carswell/Cheatham Scholarship.
“At a time of uncertainty, this scholarship provided me an opportunity to continue my education and also my experience here as a Mule,” Leah says. “I’m proud of the work I’ve been able to do within my short time here, and although I’m excited for what’s to come, I’m even more thankful for the opportunity of just being able to attend this great university.”
Leah is involved in the Association of Black Collegians, Sisters of Ujima, the Honors College, the Health Studies Student Leadership Committee and Paramedico, a student organization that does health-carerelated community service.
Leah became a McNair Scholar through the federal TRIO program aimed at helping first-generation, low-income undergraduates prepare for graduate study. After graduation in May, she plans on attending graduate school to study public health.
Mauro Hernandez Hadley Oden
Mauro Hernandez is a first-generation student from Monett, Missouri, who came to UCM to pursue his dream of flying. In addition to learning to fly in the Professional Pilot degree program, he had the opportunity to fly to another country for the first time, thanks to the Global Vision Scholarship, made possible by a generous anonymous gift to the UCM Alumni Foundation.
Mauro and 14 other students traveled to Nepal in May 2024 on an all-expenses-paid service-learning trip.
“My parents immigrated from Mexico with no high school education,” Mauro says. “If it wasn’t for my high school teacher Mr. Marcus Reynolds [’02], an alum from UCM, I would have regretted not following my dreams. … I am beyond grateful for his guidance and advice because UCM has truly opened up a whole new world for me!”
For the 2024–25 academic year, Mauro received the Kenneth W. Thomason Aviation Opportunity Scholarship. After graduating in May 2027, he wants a high-flying career — potentially as a bush pilot, aerial firefighter, crop duster or pilot for sightseeing tours.
Hadley Oden is a first-generation student from Hermann, Missouri, majoring in Criminal Justice, with minors in History, Political Science, and Legal Studies. She received the Sandra Temple and Ed M. Elliott Family Scholarship and the Leslie J. McClure Krasner Criminal Justice Scholarship.
“I have worked hard throughout my educational career this far to get where I am, and am incredibly excited to see what the future holds,” Hadley says. “I proudly have been able to pay for my schooling myself so far, but I know that I couldn’t have done it without the support and generosity of scholarships.”
Hadley is captain of the Mock Trial team and served as chair of the Sustainability Committee of the Student Government Association. She also holds a distinguished position as the student representative for UCM’s Board of Governors.
After graduating in May, Hadley plans to attend law school and eventually return to her hometown to work in a general practice firm.
ANNUAL REPORT 2024
How scholarships create possibilities
Ethan Gerst Neely Humphrey Mingzhu Zhou
Ethan Gerst is a first-generation student from De Soto, Missouri, majoring in Economics with a minor in Aviation. He received the Craig R. Korvas Memorial Scholarship in Aviation, the Department of Aviation Scholarship and the Global Vision Scholarship.
“My time at UCM has been instrumental in shaping my academic and professional journey,” Ethan says. “The university’s robust programs, supportive faculty and opportunities for extracurricular involvement have prepared me to pursue my dreams in the financial and aviation industries with confidence and determination.”
Ethan holds an on-campus position in the Career and Life Design Center as the lead Walk-In Studio Experience (WISE) coach.
Ethan beat out 45,000 applicants to earn one of 289 internships at United Airlines this summer and was offered a position as an associate analyst on the company’s Financial Planning and Analysis team in Chicago. He plans to start full time after graduation in May.
Neely Humphrey, ’24, was a first-generation student from Payson, Illinois, who earned her degree in Public Relations and Strategic Communication. She received the Mary Beth Vogt Bailey Sigma Sigma Sigma Scholarship in her senior year at UCM.
“This scholarship helped me pay toward my tuition for my final semester without having to take out student loans,” Neely says. “This was such a blessing and one that I certainly do not take for granted.”
Neely was chapter president of Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority and served on the leadership team for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She also held two campus jobs, in the Registrar’s Office and as a personal trainer at the Student Recreation and Wellness Center.
After graduating in May 2024, Neely continued working at a marketing agency and now offers contractual services for businesses in the realm of marketing, copywriting and advertising.
Mingzhu Zhou was an international student from Guangzhou, China, who earned her MBA with a concentration in Marketing in May 2024. Her tuition was fully covered by the Adrian and Margaret Harmon Business Graduate Scholarship.
“The scholarship really helped me validate what I was working on and that I’m putting effort there and somebody sees that,” says Mingzhu. “It makes me really proud.”
Mingzhu served as promotions manager for UCM’s student newspaper, the Muleskinner, and as a communication specialist for International Student Services. She previously worked as a reporter and photographer at the Washburn Review, the student publication for Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Media with an emphasis in Creative Advertising and a minor in Theatre in spring 2022.
Mingzhu is currently pursuing a Teaching English as a Second Language Graduate Certificate at UCM and considering a Ph.D. in marketing or communications.
STEPHEN
R. JENNE,
’69
Distinguished Alumni Award
Steve Jenne has been featured on “The Tonight Show” with both Johnny Carson and Jimmy Fallon and “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” — plus radio shows, newspapers and other media.
The story that brought him his moments of fame began in September of 1960, when then-Vice President Richard Nixon visited his hometown of Sullivan, Illinois, on the campaign trail. Even as a 14-yearold Boy Scout, Steve recognized a golden opportunity when Nixon left his halfeaten sandwich on a paper plate at the town barbecue.
“[Nixon] excused himself, got up to go elsewhere to make his political speech, and everybody else followed him, including my fellow Boy Scouts,” Steve explains. “But I saw that sandwich there and thought, ‘You know, nobody else is going to think of this.’ … I literally ran home with it and burst in the door, said, ‘Mom, I’ve got the sandwich Richard Nixon bit into!’”
His mother put the sandwich in a jar and froze it for safekeeping. Sixty years later, the sandwich was largely unchanged when
Steve sat down to write his autobiography, “The Sandwich That Changed My Life.”
While earning his bachelor’s degree in Mass Media, Steve spent summers in Illinois working with archaeology crews at Lake Shelbyville, Dickson Mounds and Cahokia Mounds. In the summer of ’65, he worked with Don Johanson, the paleoanthropologist who discovered prehistoric hominid “Lucy” a decade later and has been a guest lecturer at UCM three times.
A member of Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE), Steve stays connected to his alma mater by attending reunions with his fraternity brothers, golfing at Mules National Golf Club and giving annually to support UCM Golf and other programs. The only time he has missed a UCM Homecoming was when he was drafted to serve in Vietnam.
The September after graduation in 1969, Steve said goodbye to his mother and father, who was a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War, and boarded the train in Springfield, Illinois, for his military induction in St. Louis. When
“Stay in touch with your alma mater. Come back to Warrensburg. Come back to the campus. And I know that you’ll get as much enjoyment out of it as I have since 1969.
“
Steve arrived at the induction, a major stood in front of the crowd and asked,
“Is Stephen Jenne here?”
“I raised my hand, and everybody’s looking at me and whispering, ‘Oh, I wonder what he did,’” Steve recalls.
“I was escorted into a private room, and there’s Mom and Dad. Dad was in his military uniform. There was a photographer from the St. Louis PostDispatch, and mother was well dressed. And that was the induction ceremony, by my own dad … sworn in.”
After returning from two years of combat deployment with the 101st Airborne Infantry Division in Vietnam, Steve began a 31-year career in public relations with Hanson Engineering. Since retiring in 2002, he has undertaken several entrepreneurial endeavors, including a restaurant, disc jockey business and lawn mower repair service. Steve served six years on the UCM Alumni Association Board of Directors and was inducted into the Founders Society in 2022.
“I am the first female to serve in this role [as president], and I’m grateful for that. … I work every day to ensure that I’m not the last and that other individuals realize that they, too, have the opportunity to achieve whatever it is that they set their mind to.
“
LaTonia Collins Smith is the first woman to serve as president of Harris-Stowe State University (HSSU), a Historically Black College/University (HBCU) in her home city of St. Louis. A grant-funded project at HSSU scheduled to take nine months turned into a 14-year career.
“When I got to Harris-Stowe, I saw myself,” LaTonia says. “I saw students who looked like me. … I saw students who were from neighborhoods like mine, and they were like sponges. They soaked everything up, and they just wanted an opportunity to be successful.”
LaTonia saw an opportunity to be for first-generation, low-income students what members of the Association of Black Collegians (ABC) were for her at UCM. An only child, LaTonia found her brothers and sisters on campus.
“That was a really good organization for me in order to be able to build relationships and friendships,” LaTonia says. “When I left UCM, I left with this feeling that I was a super social worker with a cape, and I could do just about anything I wanted to do.”
After earning her bachelor’s in Social Work, LaTonia returned to St. Louis to serve as
an adoption and foster care worker. She moved into the medical field after earning a dual master’s in Social Work and Public Health from Saint Louis University, followed by supervisory positions in truancy court, juvenile justice, mental health and elementary education.
LaTonia worked part time in the counseling services department at HSSU as part of a White House Initiative on HBCUs grant to educate minority students about HIV/AIDs, substance abuse and hepatitis. After earning her doctorate in Higher Education Leadership from Maryville University of St. Louis, she was hired to direct, then lead the university’s Center for Career Engagement and served as a co-principal investigator of a National Science Foundation grant to strengthen Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) in Missouri. Eventually she became the university’s chief academic officer.
LaTonia was appointed interim president of HSSU in 2021 and inaugurated as the 21st president of the university the following year. She has overseen
LATONIA COLLINS SMITH, ’95 Distinguished Alumni Award for Service
significant capital projects and renovations on campus, including the new Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The creation of a College of STEM expanded the institution from three academic colleges to four, and the 2022-23 senior class was the largest in university history.
Her personal mission through it all has been “to inspire change in others through the power of education, scholarship and service.”
In addition to her role at Harris-Stowe, LaTonia finds purpose and passion in community service as chair of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Statewide Celebration Commission of Missouri, co-chair of the Concordance First Chance Campaign and a board member for the United Way of Greater St. Louis, the Covenant House of Missouri and several other nonprofits.
Her engagement with UCM remains strong as a former member of the Alumni Foundation Board of Directors and a founder of the university’s Black Alumni Association. This past spring, LaTonia was honored with UCM’s prestigious James C. Kirkpatrick Excellence in Governance Award.
of
JOEL F. SWIFT, ’14
Distinguished Alumni Award for Early Achievement
While water is a basic requirement for plants, too much can have dramatic consequences. When plants are flooded, roots rapidly deplete available oxygen, leading to oxygen starvation, the buildup of stress compounds and, eventually, plant death.
As a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Joel Swift is exploring links between plant genetics, root anatomy and the microbiome — or collection of microorganisms inhabiting their environment — to understand how plants tolerate flooding.
Joel was a first-generation student from Marshall, Missouri, who started his higher education journey at State Fair Community College in Sedalia, where his passion sprouted from his first research project: tissue-culturing carnivorous plants like the Venus flytrap. After earning his associate degree, he enrolled at UCM to study integrative biology with an emphasis on plants. He took all the courses he could about the inner workings of plants —
from a physiological, morphological and chemical perspective.
“It’s actually quite rare to have a lot of plant classes at a university,” Joel says. “One of the particular courses that I really loved and learned a lot from was an outdoor plant ID course that I took over the summer with Dr. Jay Raveill.”
During his time at UCM, Joel was a member of the Horticulture Club, taking field trips around the region and growing plants in the university’s greenhouse for the annual plant sale. He also participated in UCM Breakers, volunteering with Habitat for Humanity over spring break.
Joel was selected for a research internship at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis and spent the summer of 2014 studying Polygala lewtonii (Lewton’s milkwort), a federally endangered plant endemic to five counties in central Florida.
After graduating from UCM, he was hired at the Missouri Botanical Gardens as a research technician. His work focused on employing genetic techniques like DNA fingerprinting to rare and endangered plant species across the country — “from Mexico to Florida to Missouri to Madagascar.”
“When I look out at a tree line, what I see is all different kinds of trees.
I see maples, I see oaks, hickories, tulip poplar, mulberry. If you look past the wall of green, you see that there’s a whole new world to explore.
“In 2017, Joel was awarded a prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and entered a Ph.D. program in Biology at Saint Louis University. His research examined the impact of grafting — the horticultural process of connecting individual plants, such as a Chardonnay stem to a heartier rootstock — on the microorganisms that associate with wine grapes. Funded in part by the Missouri Grape and Wine Institute, this research took Joel from the humid farmland of southern Missouri to the hot, dry Central Valley of California.
Joel’s current research in KU’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology seeks to develop plants that meet farmers’ needs in the face of changing climates. As with the outdoor learning experiences at UCM, much of his research takes place outside the lab.
“In our field station we have to compete with all manner of environmental problems,” Joel says. “And these are problems that any farmer would experience in their fields.”
UCM NEWS
Faculty/Staff Achievements
Lover Chancler, director of the Center for Multiculturalism and Inclusivity, received the UCM Care to Act Champion Award.
Jenise Cook, assistant professor of Theatre and Dance, won the Region V Acting Teacher of Excellence Award at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.
Jeff Kaiser, associate professor of Music, received an American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Plus Award.
Alex Kent, ’11, ’14, a senior academic success advisor, earned UCM’s Outstanding Academic Advisor Award for Staff.
David Kreiner, professor of Psychological Science, received the UCM Care to Act Faculty Champion Award.
Brandy Lynch, associate professor of Physical Education, is the recipient of UCM’s 2024 College of Education Distinguished Tenured Faculty Award.
Mike Makara, professor of Political Science and International Studies, won the Frank J. Klingberg Award for the best paper delivered by a faculty member at the International Studies Association Midwest Conference.
Conversation Starters
This year UCM launched a new marketing campaign. UCM Magazine asked university leaders what “Redefining What’s Possible” means to them and to the students they serve.
Joe Moore, Professor, Department of Communication and Digital Media Production
”
When I think about redefining what’s possible, I think about being forward-thinking and recognizing that the industry as we know it today is going to be different from the industry that we see tomorrow. It’s different from the industry that we grew up in, when I was a student. It’s recognizing there are so many different options, so many different avenues for our students to take.
”“I think one of the most amazing things about the university is how students come here and they find themselves. They find talents they didn’t know that they had. They hone talents that they had but didn’t necessarily understand how valuable those talents were. … And through their experience here with the support of their fellow students, with the support of faculty and staff, they start to find confidence in themselves. They start to open themselves up to opportunities at the university.
“Ray Pierce, program manager of the Missouri Motorcycle Safety Program at UCM, has been selected as one of 13 national members of the Motorcycle Advisory Council for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Stella Roden, ’23, professor of Music, won second place in the Professional Division of The American Prize, Women in Art Song, and was selected as the 2024–26 Phi Kappa Phi Artist.
Ronnie Rollins, associate dean of UCM’s College of Health, Science, and Technology, was named to the American Association of State Colleges and Universities 2024 Emerging Leaders Program.
Beth Rutt, ’78, ’83, director of Student Activities and the Student Recreation and Wellness Center, received the UCM Care to Act Facilitator Champion Award.
Shari Bax, Vice President for Student Experience and Engagement
Cory Wicker, Associate Vice President of Human Resources
Matt Howdeshell, Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics
Redefining what’s possible, to me, is pushing those limits, those perceived boundaries. It takes a mindset of resilience, determination. And at UCM, we equip our students … and our employees with that mindset of growth and pushing those boundaries.
““When we talk about redefining what’s possible within intercollegiate athletics, it touches a lot of different areas. We have a lot of firstgeneration students who are experiencing college for the first time in their family. And so when you think about the impact that a college degree can have, not only on those individuals but their family and future generations, that’s really redefining what’s possible in a lot of different ways.
Courtney Swoboda, ’17, ’20, director of Military and Veteran Services, was presented with the Walter Hicklin Excellence in Service Award and also received the 2024 HigherEdMilitary Spotlight Award.
”Ashley Gage, Associate Professor of Social Work and 2024 Outstanding Academic Faculty Advisor
”Students and alumni redefine what’s possible through our tight-knit community. We all really leverage this small community. And in Social Work, that’s what we teach our students. We teach them that relationships and community are the most important tool that you have when you’re trying to make change.
“ ”
Sushil Thapa, assistant professor in the Department of Agriculture, has been honored with the President’s Volunteer Service Award–Gold by the president of the United States.
Rahila Weed, professor of Art, Design and Photography, received first place in the mixed media category at the Missouri Music Educators Association Spring Conference Member Show.
Tim Welch, assistant professor of Human Development and Family Science, earned the American Marriage and Family Therapy Approved Supervisor designation.
Tyler Habiger, ’24, Director of Annual Giving, UCM Alumni Foundation
”Redefining what’s possible means the ability to do things that otherwise you wouldn’t think you would have been able to achieve. We have a program here at the Alumni Foundation called the Opportunity Grant Program, started in 2013 for faculty and staff members that have amazing ideas but don’t have the seed money to make that program or that opportunity work. … No matter what your gift is to the Alumni Foundation, whether it’s $10,000 or $10, everybody can make a difference and help redefine what is possible for our students, our faculty and our staff.
“Lynn Urban, Chair, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology
”Redefining what’s possible means that students do things that they never thought they could or they never thought they would. … If you come from a small town or even a big urban center, maybe you never even imagined that you would study abroad in Spain or Scotland or even travel anyplace outside the United States.
SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS
MULES BASKETBALL
Under first-year Head Coach Adam Bohac, the Mules finished the regular season with a record of 13-15, including a record of 8-5 inside the Jerry M. Hughes Athletics Center, highlighted by a 68-60 win over 22nd ranked Missouri Western at home.
Two Mules players earned All-MIAA honors: guard Jordan Hayes, who was named to the All-Defensive Team, and freshman Tim Jordan Jr., who earned Honorable Mention accolades.
JENNIES BASKETBALL
Jennies Basketball posted an overall record of 21-8 and an MIAA mark of 15-7.
Head Coach Dave Slifer earned his 800th career win and became just the second active coach in NCAA Division II history to achieve at least 800 victories after UCM defeated then No. 24-ranked Missouri Southern in February.
In March, redshirt junior guard/forward Brooke Littrell eclipsed 2,000 career points in UCM’s 81-65 triumph over Northeastern State on Senior Day, becoming just the third student-athlete in Jennies basketball history to net at least 2,000 career points.
Littrell, along with redshirt junior guard Olivia Nelson, earned All-MIAA accolades. In addition, Littrell earned D2 CCA Second Team All-Central Region honors and was an Honorable Mention WBCA Coaches’ All-American.
JENNIES BOWLING
Jennies Bowling compiled five Top 15 finishes in seven tournaments. UCM had two student-athletes earn All-GLVC postseason honors, as Andrea Perez Perez earned First Team All-GLVC accolades and Bree Heathscott was an All-GLVC Second Team selection. Perez Perez was named the 2023–24 NTCA Baker Frame Average Statistical Champion after posting an average of 20.26, the top Baker Frame Average in all of NCAA Bowling. In addition, Perez Perez became the first Jennies Bowling All-American since 2019 when she earned NTCA Honorable Mention All-American accolades.
UCM TRACK & FIELD
It was another banner year for UCM Track and Field as a combined 10 Mules and Jennies earned All-American honors across the indoor and outdoor seasons. Five of those came at the NCAA D-II Indoor Championships (Kayla Goodwin, indoor pentathlon and triple jump; Parker Wormek, 60m hurdles; Rachael Molloy, weight throw; and Evans Yamoah, high jump).
The remaining five came at the D-II Outdoor Championships (Kayla Goodwin, heptathlon and triple jump; Evans Yamoah, high jump; Parker Wormek, 110m hurdles; and the Mules 4x100m relay team of Ariel Kerr, Brockton McLaughlin, Rawley Chard and Antonio Lay). This relay team broke their own school record five times during the course of the season.
Other records were set by Brooklynn Holtman in the 100m, 200m and 400m dashes, Wormek in the 110m hurdles, and the Jennies 4x100m relay team of Anayla Waters, Holtman, Kylee Terry and Lenetta Lee.
For the second consecutive year, Goodwin won the MIAA Women’s High Point Award at the Indoor MIAA Track and Field Championships. She was also named a College Sports Communicators First Team Academic All-American. In March, Yamoah won the gold in the high jump for his home country of Ghana in the 13th Africa Games, breaking Ghana’s record with a 2.23m performance.
Jordan Hayes
Evans Yamoah
Kayla Goodwin
Assistant Coach Dan McCarty, Ariel Kerr, Brockton McLaughlin, Rawley Chard and Antonio Lay
Brooke Littrell
Bree Heathscott Andrea Perez Perez
ATHLETICS
MULES BASEBALL
Mules Baseball went an impressive 52-10 and captured both MIAA Regular Season and NCAA D-II Central Region Championships.
UCM finished with a conference mark of 29-4 en route to its 30th MIAA Regular Season crown. The team’s Central Regional Title was the 20th in program history and helped the Mules secure their 20th appearance in the D-II College World Series in Cary, N.C.
The Mules set three MIAA records, hitting a single-season UCM-record 126 homers and 38 triples and stealing a UCM season-record 197 bases. In addition, UCM compiled program and MIAA single-season records for RBIs (605), runs (662) and total bases (1,344).
JENNIES SOFTBALL
The Jennies finished the season with 23 victories, including three wins over Top 25-ranked teams in Washburn and Rogers State (ending their 18-game winning streak), and snapping a 24-game winning streak of Central Oklahoma.
Head Coach Susan Anderson collected career win number 700 in March against the Missouri–St. Louis Tritons, while pitcher Paige Petefish tossed two no-hitters, highlighted by a perfect game in the 8-0 (5 inn.) victory over the Newman Jets in April.
Outfielder Brennen van Breusegen was named MIAA Player of the Year, while Conner Wolf was tabbed the conference’s Pitcher of the Year. Pitcher Jack Scott was the MIAA Co-Freshman of the Year, and Head Coach Kyle Crookes was honored as Coach of the Year. Wolf was also voted D2 CCA Central Region Pitcher of the Year, while Crookes received both ABCA and NCBWA Division II Central Region Coach of the Year accolades.
In addition, van Breusegen, Wolf and outfielder Carter Young were named All-Americans, while van Breusegen, Young and Vance Tobol were named College Sports Communicators Academic All-Americans.
JENNIES GOLF
Senior outfielder Abby Allnutt earned the MIAA “A” Game Scholar-Athlete Award for a second consecutive year,
MULES WRESTLING
The Mules had three wrestlers qualify for the D-II National Championships: Damon Ashworth (184 pounds), the First Team All-MIAA selection and the 67th All-American in program history, Anthony Erickson (157 pounds) and Jacob Tangpricha (125 pounds).
Garrett Lyons (149 pounds) was named to the MIAA’s Second Team under second-year Head Coach Cody Garcia, who had nine Mules place at the Roger Denker Open in January.
designated hitter Hayden Serna was named to the All-MIAA Second Team, and freshman Taylor Thompson earned All-MIAA Honorable Mention accolades. Abby Allnutt
MULES GOLF
Mules Golf posted five Top 10 finishes in six tournaments, highlighted by a win at the Firekeeper Open in Mayetta, Kansas, and a runner-up showing at the MIAA Men’s Golf Championship in Kansas City.
Sophomore Jack Hope earned runner-up honors at the MIAA Men’s Golf Championship after posting a 7-over par 220 during the three-round event. Hope and Robbie Sager both compiled Top 10 performances and earned All-MIAA men’s golf accolades.
Jennies Golf captured its second straight MIAA Women’s Golf Championship after posting a threeround team score of 43-over par 907 in Bolivar, Missouri, highlighting an outstanding season. UCM posted a program-record six tournament victories. Sophomore Mia Rallo became the all-time leader in tournament wins in Jennies Golf history after compiling three victories during the course of the season. Freshman Maya McVey earned runner-up honors at the MIAA Women’s Golf Championship, compiling a three-round 8-over par 224. McVey, Rallo and Hayley Jones all finished in the Top 10. Rallo was named MIAA Golfer of the Year, McVey was the conference’s Freshman of the Year, and Head Coach Chris Port was MIAA Coach of the Year. Mia Rallo, Nicole Rallo, Jones, McVey, Claire Solovic and Libby Green all earned All-MIAA honors. Mia Rallo (Second Team) and Jones (Honorable Mention) earned WGCA All-American honors. In addition, Jones was named a First Team Academic All-American by the College Sports Communicators.
Damon Ashworth
Jack Hope
Paige Petefish
UCM alumni, faculty, staff and students painted Kauffman Stadium red while cheering on the boys in blue at MIAA Day at the K this summer!
Universities from across the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association were invited to Kansas City on Sunday, July 21, and UCM fans showed the competition who rules the realm.
2024 MuleNation Road Show
Featuring UCM Athletics
At the end of the 2023–24 spring season, UCM Athletics coaches and staff teamed up with the UCM Alumni Foundation to mix and mingle with the team behind the teams — UCM alumni and fans! The MuleNation Road Show visited eight cities in three weeks, with MuleNation chapters and supporters hosting at some of their favorite places.
Warrensburg, May 2 at Traditions Restaurant
Clockwise:
Kurt Davis, Sandy Davis, ’81. Josh Lamberson, Rob Park, ’94.
Mike Joyner, ’03, Carly Joyner, ’03, Sarah Jeffrey, ’14, ’19, Shawn Jeffrey, Evan Harris. Chuck Dudley, ’80, Courtney Goddard, Diane Dudley, ’81.
Lee’s Summit, May 9 at Lakewood Local
Clockwise:
Wilfred Mistele, ’74, ’81, Joy Mistele, ’76, ’83, Sandra Elliott, ’61, Ed Elliott.
Jeffrey Bellamy, Craig Coen, ’97, ’01. Steve Bloess, Roger Best, Kim Anderson. Cathy Abney, Caitlin Peterson, ’10, ’12, ’23, Jake Lotspeich, ’01, Amanda Lotspeich, ’07, Mandy Lamberson, ’14, Josh Lamberson, Billy Ukhrazenko, Stu Rogers, ’82, ’86, Teera Rogers, ’82, ’84, ’92, Kathleen Brandt, Alan Brandt.
Top to bottom:
Kenneth Johnson, ’64, Mike Armstrong, ’95. Andrea Luebbert, ’76, Steve Luebbert, ’76, Mark Leicht, ’78, Patricia Leicht, ’78.
Fred Bruner, ’77, Greg Mines, Terri Mines. Adam Bohac, Ned Doelling, ’74, Jan Donovan, ’72, Bob Donovan, ’72.
Springfield, May 23 at Millwood Golf and Racquet Club
Left to right:
Lanny Curnes, ’86, Josh Lamberson, Scott Loveland, ’85. Kevin Hageman, ’91, Brent Ross, ’89.
Construction Management KC Golf Tournament, June 7, 2024, at Adams Pointe Golf Club
Nate Morgan, ’19, Logan Carrier, Eric Heiman and Tyler Diibon, ’19.
Boman Redd, Marcus Cody, ’16, Carson Pickard and Ben Lutz.
Matt Wasowicz, ’09, Elliott Taylor, ’14, Zac Goodner and Beau Lynch.
2024 Design and Drafting, June 20, 2024, at the Chicken N Pickle in Overland Park, Kansas
Craig Napier, Josiah Kim, Jake Saunders, ’24, Blanca Carter, ’85, and Robert Carter, ’83, ’85.
Paul Brown, Kyle Palmer, Erica Spurgeon, ’09, ’17, Jane Scott, Gina Eairheart and Grayce Martin.
MuleNation Colorado, Aug. 7, 2024, at Pindustry in Denver
Martin, ’24, and Jace Uchtman, ’24.
MuleNation Dallas-Fort Worth, June 22, 2024, at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas
Pat Moriarty, ’75, ’77, Tiffany Cochran, ’05, ’23, and Karen Moriarty, ’77.
Ken Kempker, ’86, and Rob Ruth, ’75.
Nathan Magnuson, Alexandra Dyckman and Cale Magnuson, ’08.
Jeff and Jill Robertson.
Trevor
Stephen Kirkbride, ’15, and Kimberly Tritsch, ’09.
Gary Clevenger, ’97, Tina Clevenger and Christy Uden.
MuleNation Mid-Missouri, June 27, 2024, at Redhead Lakeside Grill in Osage Beach
John Rex Spivey, Kathy Pollard, Rick Frye, ’74, and Jim Pollard, ’73.
Larry Wade, ’70, ’81, and Linda Wade, ’70, ’80.
Erica Spurgeon, ’09, ’17, Amanda Lotspeich, ’07, Leah Harris, Steve Abney, Levi Spurgeon and Leo Kostas.
Tyler Habiger, ’24, Kelly Murphy-Small, ’89, ’92, ’03, and Chris Small, ’87, ’89, ’92.
MuleNation at the Missouri State Fair, Aug. 13, 2024, in Sedalia
Karson Weymuth, Kim Weymuth, Ken Weymuth, ’78, Kim Anderson, Ryan Anderson, ’11, ’13, and Brett Anderson.
and Kristi Craig, ’96.
and
Lynn Alkire, ’85, ’88.
Kim Weymuth, Ken Weymuth, ’78, Barry Whitworth, ’84, Diane Whitworth, ’77, and Melissa Anderson.
Alex Holsten, Julie Holsten, ’09, ’14, and Joan Kidwell, ’75.
Doug Craig, ’85, Emily Westermier, ’14, ’18, Elizabeth Dunkie, ’20,
Taylor Hawk, ’14,
Dani Holtzclaw.
Pat Mergen, Robert Mergen, ’75, Joel Dalton, ’00, Linda Dalton and Andrew Dalton.
Lindsey Adkison and Jacqueline Peterson, ’91.
Tara Carlyle, ’09, ’14, Tiffany Cochran, ’05, ’23, Amanda Lotspeich, ’07, Carmen Mallery, ’95, Julie Carman, ’03, ’09, Courtney Goddard and Ashley Lotspeich, ’07, with UCM Mule Rider Tori Happy.
CLASS NOTES
While UCM Magazine comes out only twice a year, the alumni community’s conversation goes on year-round on social media! If you are a UCM alum, submit news of your promotion, new job, award or achievement from the past year at ucmfoundation.org/class-notes.
Jack Williams, ’71, ’74, ’81, started a new family business called Grandma Morrelli’s Pasta LLC.
Joel Tietjens, ’78, received the Board of Certified Safety Professionals’ Lifetime Achievement Award.
Dan Droege, ’85, has been promoted to executive vice president and regional president at Austin Bank, based in Longview, Texas.
Jeff McLanahan, ’90, received an OnCon Icon Top 50 Award for Learning and Development professionals.
James Walls, ’90, a U.S. Marine Corps legal administrative chief officer, retired after 27 years of military service.
Roger Thompson, ’91, was named the 31st president of Saint Mary’s College of California.
Harry Winston John, ’93, was included in Marquis Who’s Who for his expertise in the field of economics.
Gary Liguori, ’93, was appointed chancellor of Penn State’s Abington campus in North Philadelphia.
Dave Lobo, ’93, completed his Doctor of Education at the University of Miami.
Bill Richardson, ’93, received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Glenn Miller Birthplace Society.
Allison Pope, ’97, ’00, became assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction for Missouri’s Webb City R-VII School District.
Keith Dorrian, ’98, was promoted to president of A.L. Huber in Overland Park, Kansas.
Brock Fisher, ’98, has been named vice president for academic affairs at Walters State Community College in Tennessee.
Troy Lentz, ’98, was hired as superintendent of Mexico School District in Mexico, Missouri.
Keena Arbuthnot, ’99, has been named dean of the Pinkie Gordon Lane Graduate School at Louisiana State University.
Chien-tsung Lu, ’99, is the new director of Southern Illinois University’s School of Aviation.
Brooke Wilkens, ’99, was named executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of West Central Missouri Board of Directors.
Melissa Vernon, ’00, was promoted to principal of Pioneer Trail Elementary in Jefferson City, Missouri.
Ekuwah Moses, ’01, was honored as National Life Group’s 2023-24 Life Changer of the Year.
Christopher Rodriguez, ’02, received the Internal Revenue Service Deputy Commissioner Award.
Haley O’Neill, ’03, has joined the Murchison Law Firm in Dallas, Texas, serving the pipeline industry.
Mike Mayer, ’04, has been named president of the national Fraternity Executives Association.
Terry Mayfield, ’04, ’08, is the new assistant superintendent of business operations for Fort Scott Unified School District 234 in Kansas.
Amanda Jackson, ’05, has been promoted to principal of Washington Elementary School in Sedalia, Missouri.
Jessica Backs, ’06, ’09, was named Elementary Teacher of the Year for Missouri’s Richmond R-XVI School District.
Kate Wilkerson, ’06, became director of special events at Bishop DuBourg High School in St. Louis.
Anthony Arton, ’07, ’10, was appointed health services director for Lake County, California.
Brian Schaeffer, ’08, has become the new fire chief for Columbia, Missouri.
Jason Schram, ’08, was promoted to director of preconstruction at A.L. Huber in Overland Park, Kansas.
Joshua Moore, ’09, was promoted to director of preconstruction and principal at Kadean Construction in Kansas City.
Barry Pabst, ’10, ’13, has been named director of Missouri’s Benton County Health Department.
Cory Bittner, ’11, was listed among the Top 10 for Kansas in the 2024 Forbes Best-in-State NextGen Wealth Advisors ranking.
Heather Hayes, ’11, was selected for an endowed professorship at Northwestern College in Iowa.
Nathan Muckey, ’12, ’15, is the new principal at Lee’s Summit High School in Missouri.
Jacob Watson, ’17, was hired as assistant superintendent of Missouri’s Southern Boone County R-I School District.
CLASS NOTES
Brittney Sanford, ’19, has joined the staff at Mercy Southeast in Jackson, Missouri.
Everett Babcock, ’21, has joined Kansas City Police Department’s District 22 Criminal Investigative Division.
Cecilia Savala, ’21, has been hired as an assistant professor of writing at Arizona State University.
Andrew Fischer, ’22, was promoted to band director for Missouri’s Sedalia School District 200.
Collin Kinman, ’23, is a new trooper for Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop H in St. Joseph.
Bryce Lautenschlager, ’23, has been assigned to Missouri Highway Patrol Troop A in Lee’s Summit.
Madelyn McKinney, ’23, was recognized by City Year Kansas City for her impact on students in KC Public Schools.
Dillon Seckington, ’23, has been hired as a digital content producer at FOX4 in Kansas City.
Seth Gutzmer, ’24, was hired as a sportsman landowner and depredation biologist with Idaho Fish and Game.
Letters to the Editor
From Nikhil Kumar Pulipeta, ’22
I recently got to read the “Conversation Starters” article in the Spring 2024 issue of UCM Magazine. The article effectively captures a range of viewpoints from different academic disciplines. This diversity enriches the discussion and highlights the multifaceted impact of artificial intelligence in education. The article does an excellent job of not just focusing on the present impact of AI, but also considering future implications. This forward-looking approach is essential to preparing students for a rapidly evolving job market.
I am an alumnus of UCM’s Computer Science program and currently work as a senior applications engineer at Skyworks Solutions, where I previously interned during my master’s program. I am a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and have presented at several conferences on the topic of generative AI. I’ve come to appreciate the immense value it brings to the semiconductor industry, particularly:
• AI’s influence spans the entire semiconductor value chain, from design and manufacturing to testing and deployment.
• Advanced AI algorithms are enabling more efficient and accurate chip designs, significantly reducing development time and costs.
• AI-powered predictive maintenance systems are enhancing manufacturing processes, minimizing downtime and ensuring higher yields.
The integration of AI in semiconductor technology is also driving innovation in numerous applications, including autonomous vehicles, health care and the Internet of Things (IoT). These advancements are opening new horizons for the semiconductor industry, creating opportunities for growth and development. I believe this discussion is valuable for a deeper understanding of how AI is shaping the future of this critical industry. Thank you for sparking a meaningful conversation about the transformative power of AI.
From Terry Bays, ’98, ’18, ’20
I graduated from UCM in 1998 with a B.S. in Psychology at 42 years old. I returned to UCM to receive my M.S. in Technology 20 years later at 62 years old and my Ed.S. in Educational Technology at 65 years old. I recently started my Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership, which I plan on receiving prior to my 69th birthday. The intent is to let students know you are never too old to continue your education.
I currently work for the Department of Defense’s Defense Health Agency out of the D.C. area, where I oversee the construction of billion-dollar military hospitals and medical centers all over the world. I am currently based out of Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where we are also building a new $500 million hospital. My job consists of a lot of travel, but I enjoy every moment and the opportunity to see the world.
My responsibility is to oversee the Corps of Engineers and the prime contractors’ construction from the ground up to the final outfitting of all medical equipment and transferring patients to new facilities to ensure the government gets what they are paying for and assisting in the medical expertise for the installation of medical equipment. Continued education is important, especially in the medical field due to the constant advances in the medical equipment we are installing today versus even 10 years ago. I hope to someday semiretire and return to UCM to teach classes, but no full retirement soon.
From
Lindsay Huusko, ’03
As I’m officially in my mid-40s, I look back at my career and can confidently say that my time at Central Missouri provided a strong foundation for success. My path from Warrensburg led to law school, a judicial clerkship and a career as a civil servant at both the state and federal levels.
CLASS NOTES
CornerBaby
Ashley (Eckelkamp) Baumstark, ’15, and John Baumstark, ’18, welcomed Beau Allen Melvin Baumstark in October 2023.
Stephanie (Cain) Arbogast and Jerid Arbogast welcomed Palmer Arbogast in November 2023.
Britni (Strong) Hume, ’15, ’18, and Travis Hume, ’15, ’18, welcomed Kaleb Hume in October 2023.
Sarah (Malott) Stuenkel, ’15, ’18, and Clint Stuenkel, ’15, welcomed Clara Lou Stuenkel in February 2024.
I also was selected and am currently completing a detail opportunity with the U.S. Senate. Thank you to all of the teachers and mentors at Central for helping me start off strong! Are you the proud parent or grandparent of a new arrival? Get a free UCM bib when you share your news and a baby picture at ucmfoundation.org/ baby-news.
We love hearing from alumni! Whether you have feedback on a UCM Magazine article or an interesting story to tell, please write to us at ucmmagazine@ucmo.edu. All submissions will be used at the discretion of our staff.
Sriveni Mora, ’23, and Goutham Gangula welcomed Vignesh Gangula in April 2024.
Kaitlyn (Krumm) Stoll, ’16, ’19, and Bryton Stoll welcomed Finley Jack Stoll in May 2024.
Jenny Bluth, ’08, and Justin Ensign, ’11, welcomed Luke Kenneth Ensign in March 2024.
Cassie Bittner, ’10, and Cory Bittner, ’11, welcomed Daisy Lou Bittner in June 2024.
IN MEMORIAM
The UCM Alumni Foundation holds dear the memory of emeriti, alumni, faculty and friends who have passed away. Every person listed here was an integral part of the university family and will be missed.
Harold Kelly Conner
Harold Kelly Conner, age 60, was born Sept. 22, 1963, in Kansas City. After graduating in 1981 from Van Horn High School in Independence, Missouri, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served from 1982 to 1985. He married Shawnda M. Jones in Warrensburg in 1989 and began working at the University of Central Missouri the following year. Conner served the university as an electrician for 25 years until he retired in 2015. He enjoyed fishing, shooting and traveling.
Emma Lou Diemer
Emma Lou Diemer, age 96, was born Nov. 24, 1927, to Myrtle Casebolt Diemer and George Willis Diemer, who served as president of the University of Central Missouri from 1937 to 1956. Emma Lou played the piano and composed as a young child and throughout her school years in Warrensburg. She studied composition with Howard Hanson, Ernst Toch, Roger Sessions and Paul Hindemith, earning degrees from Yale School of Music (B.Mus., M.Mus.) and Eastman School of Music (Ph.D., 1960). She also studied in Brussels, Belgium, on a Fulbright Scholarship. Diemer served as a composer-in-residence for the Arlington, Virginia, schools under the Ford Foundation Young Composers Project and then became a consultant for the MENC Contemporary Music Project. In 1965, she began teaching music composition and theory at the University of Maryland and five years later was offered a full-time faculty position at the University of California at Santa Barbara. There she created an innovative electronic music program and taught composition and theory until retiring in 1990. Diemer was awarded an honorary doctorate from UCM in 1999.
Robert Verlon Graybill
Robert Verlon Graybill, age 91, was born Aug. 7, 1932. He attended the University of Central Missouri and spent nearly 35 years giving back to the institution and its students as a faculty member in the Department of English and Philosophy. In 1964, Graybill joined the UCM faculty as an instructor of English, and at the time of his retirement he was serving as an assistant professor. He especially enjoyed the opportunity to teach courses dealing with medieval and renaissance subjects, as well as Old English. Graybill published at least six books and more than 30 articles in professional journals and other publications.
Marguerite Joann Hanna
Marguerite Joann (Cooper) Hanna, age 87, was born Dec. 29, 1936, in Warrensburg. She married her high school sweetheart, Hugh Allen Hanna, in Warrensburg, and they were married for 50 years. Joann attended the University of Central Missouri before transferring to the University of Kansas Nursing program. She worked briefly as a nurse
in the psychiatry unit and in 1962, she and Hugh moved for his medical doctor training to Phoenix, Denver and Columbia, Missouri, before returning to Warrensburg in 1967, where they resided for the rest of their lives. As Hugh developed his surgical practice and real estate endeavors in Warrensburg, Joann actively pursued the calling to give back to the community. At the time, she had a friend who had lost her husband and was new to the Warrensburg community from Air Force relocation. Joann created the Warrensburg Darlings Over 40 (aka the WD-40s), a group that has since met regularly for 29 years. She and Hugh supported a variety of academic scholarships as well as the UCM Athletics program.
Dennis Williams Jones
Dennis Williams Jones, age 77, was born April 2, 1946, in Atchison, Kansas. He moved to Rock Port, Missouri, in 1954 and earned his bachelor’s degree in 1970 from Northwest Missouri State. Jones taught driver’s education and coached football, basketball and track for several years at the high school level in Missouri and Guam. He began teaching traffic safety classes at the University of Central Missouri in 1978, and one of his favorite classes was evasive driving for the police academies. After retiring, Jones spent the last decade of his life enjoying winters playing bocce ball and golf in Sun City, Arizona.
Richard August Luehrman
Richard “Dick” August Luehrman, age 96, was born Dec. 10, 1927, on a farm near Lexington, Missouri. From 1946 to 1948 he served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army and as a basic instructor at Fort Dix, New Jersey. In 1952 he graduated from the University of Central Missouri with a Bachelor of Science in Education, followed by a Master of Art in Painting from the University of Missouri–Columbia and a Ph.D. in Humanities from Florida State University. Luehrman joined the faculty of UCM as an assistant professor in 1965. He progressed through his career to full professor and became Art Department chair in 1979. He was recognized with UCM’s Distinguished Faculty Award in 1978 and the university’s highest faculty honor, the Byler Distinguished Faculty Award, in 1992. Other career highlights included numerous art shows, both regionally and nationally, and participation in the Missouri in London program in 1986. Memorial gifts may be made to the Richard A. Luehrman Art Scholarship Endowment at ucmfoundation.org/give/luehrman.
George Albert Millen
George Albert Millen, age 83, was born Nov. 11, 1941, in Tacoma, Washington. He earned his bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Puget Sound in 1965 and a master’s degree in Library Science from the University of Washington
a year later. He held library staff positions at Buena Vista College in Iowa, South Dakota State University, and Midwestern College in Denison, Iowa. Millen joined the University of Central Missouri’s library staff in 1970 and served as the interim assistant dean of James C. Kirkpatrick Library from July 1, 2006, to June 30, 2007, retiring as a professor emeritus of Library Services. During his tenure, Millen earned his second master’s degree in History from UCM in 1987. He had a passion for woodworking, which he shared with the Warrensburg community.
Terry Lee Nieman
Terry Lee Nieman, age 72, was born July 22, 1952. He served in the U.S. Air Force for eight years before joining the University of Central Missouri staff in 1992. He dedicated 23 years of his career to UCM, retiring in 2015 as director of aircraft maintenance. Nieman also enjoyed working in an aircraft restoration business with his family.
Arthur Joseph Norton
Arthur Joseph Norton, age 91, was born June 16, 1932, in Denver, Missouri. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1951 to 1955. After his military service, Norton earned his Bachelor of Science in Education in 1958 from Northwest Missouri State University, followed by his Master of Arts in Accountancy in 1959 and Ph.D. in Accounting in 1973 from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He became a Certified Public Accountant in 1962 and served as professor and chair of the Department of Accounting at the University of Central Missouri from 1965 to 1993. Memorial gifts may be made to the Arthur Norton Accounting Scholarship at ucmfoundation.org/give/norton.
Larry Roy Olpin
Larry Roy Olpin, age 85, was born June 4, 1938, in Fillmore, Utah. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from the University of Utah, followed by a Ph.D. in English from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The focus of his dissertation was the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Olpin began his career in education at the University of Central Missouri, where he taught from 1969 to 2001, serving for a time as chair of the English department. During his tenure at UCM, he spent two years teaching at Bosphorus University in Istanbul, Turkey, as a Fulbright Scholar in American Literature, and a semester abroad in London. He also became one of the top collectors of Civil War novels, specifically those set in Missouri, and built an impressive collection of rare Emily Dickinson books. Olpin established himself in the Warrensburg community as a Master Gardener and member of the local Tree Board.
Rita Marie Resch
Rita Marie Resch, age 87, was born Dec. 26, 1936, in Minot, North Dakota. A third-generation teacher, she followed in the tradition of her grandfather and mother, earning a Bachelor of Science in Education from Minot State College in 1957. She went on to earn a Master of Music in Literature from Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York; a Master of Arts in English Literature from the University of North Dakota; a Master of Fine Arts in Voice from the University of Iowa; and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Chamber Music/Accompanying from the University of Iowa. Before joining the faculty at the University of Central Missouri in 1974, Resch taught at Fontbonne College in St. Louis and Wisconsin State University in Stevens Point. She served UCM for three decades until her retirement as a professor emerita of Music in 2005. Resch co-authored the book “Art Song in the United States: An Annotated Bibliography” and contributed 25 years of service as a patroness and advisor to the Epsilon Omega Chapter of the Sigma Alpha Iota music fraternity. She was a life member of the Hereditary Society of Teachers and the National Society Descendants of American Farmers. Memorial gifts may be made to the Rita Resch Vocal Studies Scholarship Endowment at ucmfoundation.org/give/resch.
Joe Junior Winters
Joe Junior Winters, age 91, was born Aug. 2, 1932, in Wichita, Kansas. He graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in Architecture and had a fulfilling 35-year career at Hallmark Cards. He was a dedicated advocate for mental health resources and those with developmental disabilities. He served as a founding member and president of Clay-Platte ARC, president and board member of Missouri ARC, board member for the National ARC, chairman of the mental health commission and with the metropolitan council on developmental disabilities. His work laid a foundation for many social services available today, and he is a member of the University of Central Missouri Alumni Foundation’s Founders Society. Memorial gifts can be made to the Joe and Mary Lu Winters Scholarship in Strings Endowment at ucmfoundation.org/give/winters.
IN MEMORIAM
1940–1949
Mary Elizabeth (Parsons) Sanders, ’45
Margaret “Maggie” Isabel (Rages) Boyd, ’49
1950–1959
June Martin McCoy, ’50
Rachel “Cathy” Catherine (Cruce) Freytag, ’51
Marilyn Leona (McCarty) Greene, ’51
Gertrude “Gertie” C. (Yodler) Max, ’51
John Lee Yoder, ’51
Marion Lorene (Davis) Kleinau, ’52
James “Jim” Clifton Fowler, ’53
James “Jim” Hamilton Truesdale, ’53
Eric Lyn Walther, ’53
Doris Lee (Warren) Grigsby, ’54, ’61
Mary Ann (White) Canfield, ’57, ’71
Larry W. Downey, ’57
Billy “Bill” Bruce Grace, ’57, ’65
Mary Joan (Riley) Wiechen, ’57
Dorothy Deane (Burkhart) Edmonds Anthony, ’58
Mabel Elizabeth (Lawson) Brewer, ’58
Marion F. Starr, ’58, ’68, ’77
Frank Leon Clark, ’59
Donald “Don” Max Ferguson, ’59
Jean Carlyle (Prigeon) Parkhurst, ’59
Benjamin “Ben” Homer Walter, ’59
1960–1969
Frank Allen Droz, ’60, ’65
Hilton Edward Hodges, ’60
Norbert “Bodie” Paul Sandbothe, ’60
Yvonne G. (Ent) Schluter, ’60
Patricia “Pat” Lorraine (Selover) Arey, ’61
Wallace “Wally” J. Fredrickson, ’61
Marilyn M. (Kueck) Oehlschlaeger, ’61
Doris D. (Morrison) Ridgway, ’61
Claude Gabriel Roe, ’61
Phyllis “Raylene” (Dollard) Cornine, ’62
Marva Joyce (White) Dyer, ’62
Ruby Jeanine (Fischer) Echohawk, ’62
Ruth Ann (Wilson) Hash, ’62
Larry Donald Kamin, ’62, ’65
Judith “Judy” Emily (Hackerott) McKee, ’62
William “Frank” Franklin Peterson, ’62
Dorothy “Dottie” Louise (Hedges) Salchow, ’62
Linda L. (Momberg) Yeager, ’62
Janice (Jones) Southwick, ’63
Robert “Bob” William Wiley, ’63
Mary Sue (Carter) Young, ’63, ’67
Larry Daniels, ’64
Carol Diane (Deck) Epps, ’64
Mary Ruth (Hutchison) Horn, ’64
Raymond “Keith” Lawrence, ’64
Terrence “Terry” M. Leigh, ’65, ’67
Jack Little, ’65, ’73
Brock “Wayne” Loy, ’65
Thomas “Tom” Francis Oliver, ’65, ’66
John “Jack” Vincent Bozarth, ’66
Julia “Julie” P. (Prout) Kunesh, ’66
Susan Josephine (Swartz) Lynn, ’66
Sharon Kay (Mitchell) Reimal, ’66, ’74
Elaine Marie Wallis, ’66, ’01
Sandra “Sandy” L. (Reavis) Doussard, ’67
Gary Dean Flansburg, ’67
Fred H. Price, ’67, ’78
Dorothy “Joann” (Leiter) Rages, ’67
Robert “Bob” Leroy Rogers, ’67, ’68
Lyle Leon Smith, ’67
Ronald “Ron” Edward Thoma, ’67
Penny L. Beebe, ’68
Gerald “Darwin” Brower, ’68
Linda S. (Reynolds) Hanel, ’68
Janet “Jan” Elaine (Sechrest) Penrose-Roland, ’68
Ronald “Ron” J. Rowland, ’68
Sammy “Sam” John Summers, ’68
Ronald “Ron” Herbert Bromert, ’69
Gary Gene Brown, ’69
James “Jim” Edward Duly, ’69
Ralph “Bill” William Hancock, ’69
Samuel “Sam” Jacob Hartman, ’69
Faith Anne (Evans) Lovell, ’69
James “Jim” David Parsley, ’69
Shirley Dean (Koelling) Ross, ’69, ’73, ’88
1970–1979
Jose Felipe Aponte, ’70
James “Jim” Edward Baxter, ’70
Louis “Lou” A. Bosso II, ’70
Gary Glen Connor, ’70
Harold Spencer Fricke, ’70
Thomas “Thom” David Reece, ’70
Patsy Ann (Truman) Reed, ’70
Charles Conrad Steele, ’70
Thelma Annette (Leonard) Barr, ’71
Donald “Don” D. Brinser, ’71
Dudley Wayne Chapman, ’71
Gary Carr Crispell, ’71
Larry Gene Ficken, ’71, ’75
Jerry R. Morris, ’71, ’76
Jeffrey Lynn Conkle, ’72
Michael “Mike” Robert Deeny, ’72
John Bernard Foley, ’72
Anthony “Tony” Joseph Mercurio, ’72
James “Jim” Roberts Miesner, ’72
Mary Lou (Weaver) Noble, ’72, ’76
Clyde “Dick” Richard Repp, ’72
Janice Kay (Burrus) Taylor, ’72
John Andrade Jr., ’73
Arleta Lynn (White) Briner, ’73
Betty Ray (Albers) Holman, ’73
Denis Louis Plassmeyer, ’73
William “Bill” R. Sapp, ’73
William “Jack” Jackson Sooter, ’73
Sheryl Ann (Decker) Bachus, ’74, ’79
Christopher “Chris” Mitchell Burnette, ’74
Michael “Mike” Ray Evans, ’74
David Edward Wagner, ’74
Joseph “Joe” Edward Ware, ’74
Jacqueline “Jackie” Ruth (Horine) Greeson, ’75
Susan Beth (Hibbard) Jones, ’75
Dwight Errol McCarty, ’75
George Alvin Wheeler, ’75
Lawrence “Larry” R. Graves, ’76
Ellen Kathleen (Higginbotham) Herndon, ’76
Senovia Jean (Haskins) Howse, ’76
Kathryn “Kathy” J. Lamkin, ’76
Paul David Warnex, ’76
Cynthia Lee (Adams) Young, ’76
Patricia “Patti” J. (Pfeifer) Dean, ’77
Glenda Louise (Arwood) Pittman, ’77, ’82
Melvin “Mel” D. Robinett, ’77
JoAnn (Stuckwisch) Brown, ’78
Kevin A. Brackman, ’79
Mary Lou (Sayers) Denny, ’79
Mark Stephen Gilday, ’79
Ervin Cole Osborn, ’79
Mary Vaughan (Hammett) Pautler, ’79
Elizabeth “Liz” Ann (Briggle) Ruehter, ’79
1980–1989
Gary Don Balke, ’80
Steven “Mike” Michael Betts, ’80
Terry McCollum, ’80
Diana Lynn (Bishop) Pauley, ’80
Evelyn Marie (Goodrich) Trickel, ’80
Alice L. Latham, ’81
David William Schroeder, ’81
Donald “Don” Ray Burgin, ’82
Edwin “Ed” Lee Childers, ’82, ’85
Barbara “Bobbie” Josephine (West) Davis, ’82
Michael “Mike” Lee Finley, ’82
Douglas Karl Schmidt, ’82
Debra Elizabeth Thoenen, ’82
Lawrence “Steve” Zink, ’82, ’83
Jerry Dale Dysart, ’84
Donna Jean (Rollins) Gelven, ’84, ’95
Daniel “Dan” Joseph Linsenbardt, ’84
Scott “Scotty” B. Stewart, ’84
Charles “Chas” Ray Mullins, ’85
Linda Kay (Belker) Ricker, ’85
Jerry Newton Pratt, ’86
Lawrence “Larry” Cleveland Benton, ’87, ’88
Theresa Rose (Hunt) Eads, ’87, ’94
George Albert Millen, ’87
Jon Clark Cooper, ’89, ’90
Virginia “Jean” (Rehkop) Edwards, ’89
Bradley “Brad” Alen Tunnell, ’89
1990–1999
Gene “Geno” E. Martin, ’90
Christopher Michael Como, ’91
Brian Charles Short, ’91
Wanda Lea (Haley) Crawford, ’92
James “Jim” Patrick Henzi, ’92
Mark Kendall Brown, ’93
Rebecca “Becky” S. (Castle) Cramer, ’93, ’03
David “Kyle” Kempker, ’93
Jack Stephen Reynolds, ’93
Kenneth “Ken” J. Michaelis, ’94
Christy Jennifer (Cook) Millen, ’94
Mark William Schaffer, ’95
Angela Dawn (Cook) Farazzo, ’96
Jennifer Kathleen Grosse, ’98
David “Dave” Richard Hout, ’98
Joseph “Pat” Patrick O’Connor, ’99
2000–2009
Brent Michael Ermeling, ’04
Laine Jeffrey Cartee, ’08
2010–2019
Troy Elwood Bartley, ’11
Dara (Gilkey) Bigler, ’12
Brian Patrick Riley, ’12
Samantha “Sam” Joyce Templer, ’16
Samantha “Sam” Marie Lacy, ’18
IN MEMORIAM
2020–2024
Adam Thomas Hutson McLain, ’20
Former Students
Larry “Duane” Adkins
Trudy (Hammond) Appleby
James “Jim” Christopher Anderson
Larry Wayne Barb
Charles “Ben” Benjamin Basye
Vyrdel Sue (Bebensee) Basye
Carol Jean (Metcalf) Berger
Amy Michele (Inskeep) Boyer
Donald Burns
Denzil “Deon” Burriss
Mike Cannon
George Kiernan Carr II
Robert “Bob” Lee Coomes
John Eugene Cox
Charles Wendell Davis
Daniel Carson Davis
Mary Frances (Evans) Easterwood
Kent Brian Fischer
Mary “Mary Beth” Elizabeth (Fowler) Fitzgerald
James “Jim” Clifton Fowler
Robert “Rob” Edward Fredenberg Jr.
James “Jim” Gillespie
Robert “Bob” William Ginavan III
Sue Ann (Stone) Goens
Joyce (Kelly) Guillemot
Ira Samuel Hammond
John D. Harris
Ruth Ann (Wilson) Hash
Ruth Ann (Keuper) Hawkins
David “Dave” Lee Heidbreder
Robert “Bob” Lee Hinkle
Margaret B. (Baile) Hoefle
Jamie “Jim” Dale Holbrook
Dennis “Denny” Allan Hollingsworth
Vicki LaDawn Howerton
Herbert “Tim” Timothy Hudson
Barbara Elaine (Mead) Janis
Adrienne Yvonne Johnson
Monica “Lynn” (McNichols) Johnson
Sandra “Sandy” Kay (Dickey) Jones
Reba Mae (Yokley) Koch
Nancy Sue (Rice) Kurth
Christopher “Chris” Adam Krugh
Amanda Lou (Maloney) Land
Logan James Lee
Russell “Russ” W. Logan
Heather Lea (Hix) Luttrell
Cheryl Diane (Edwards) Massie
Jeffrey Keene Masterman
Richard “Dick” L. McGowen
Larry Leroy Merriman
James “Jim” A. Miller
Faye Marie (Watson) Morgan
John Moses Morris
Shirley (Orscheln) Newhouse
Joseph “Pat” Patrick O’Connor
Charles Dewayne Pardon
Carol J. (Morales) Patterson
Judith “Judy” Ann (Dennett) Perry
Donald "Don" Lee Pratt
James Duane Rudy II
Mary Rae (Stadler) Scott
Dorothy Juanita (Bilquist) Sevy
Steven Allen Singer
Todd L. Shackleford
Marshall “Chris” Christopher Simpson
Michael Eugene Simpson
Robert “Bob” Merrell Stauffer
Shirley L. (Erdman) Tempel
Timothy “Tim” Aquinas Thompson
Theodore “Ted” Allen Tompkin
Roger “Tom” Thomas Trueman
Sterling Price Tyler
Payson Tremayne Van Orden
Brannon Chase Walker
James “Jim” M. Weber Jr.
Jacqueline “Jackie” Louise (Hobbs) White
Arlene M. Williams
Kenneth “Kenny” Wayne Williams
Michael “Mike” Warren Williams
Tony Lee Wood
Lawrence “Larry” Woodring
Sharon (Wymore) Wright
Tara (Strother) Zent
Faculty/Staff
Carole Marlene (Meier) Del Vecchio
Sandra “Sandy” L. (Reavis) Doussard
Roger Henderson Hadley
Robert “Bob” L. Kendall
Jack Little
James “Jim” Raymond Machell
Christy Jennifer (Cook) Millen
James “Jim” Francis O’Hare
Patricia “Pat” Ann VanDecar
Friends
Shirley J. (Galloway) Bilbruck
Peggy Jane (Dinwiddie) Derrington
Patricia “Pat” Ann (Bush) Harbison
Elaine (Stone) Heckler
Raymond “Ray” Eugene Markley
Donald “Don” Leslie Murphy
Phyllis Ann (Johnson) Noe
Richard Dean Orr
Kathie (Braun) Rafferty
Beatrice G. (Dick) Ricke
Bonnie Kay (Ballentine) Slattery
Mary Elizabeth (Briese) Weyant
College High Alumni
Virgil Lee Ackerson
Anna Catherine (Elwell) Allen
Gary Gene Brown
Sandra “Sandy” L. (Reavis) Doussard
Jacqueline “Jackie” Ruth (Horine) Greeson
Ira Samuel Hammond
Margaret B. (Baile) Hoefle
Janet “Jan” Elaine (Sechrest) Penrose-Roland
Marjorie “Margie” Ann (Browning) Simmons
Scott “Scotty” B. Stewart
Make a gift to UCM in a loved one’s memory care of the UCM Alumni Foundation, PO Box 800, Warrensburg, MO 64093, or online at ucmfoundation.org/give/in-memory.
Couple Makes a Case for Giving
Scott, ’89, and Christine Taylor experienced different higher education journeys that both led to successful careers as lawyers. Scott credits two former professors in the Political Science program at the University of Central Missouri, Jerald Adams and James Young, with encouraging him to go to law school. He calls law “the Swiss army knife of degrees.”
Like a Swiss army knife, an unrestricted fund allows a university to perform many different functions in order to meet a variety of student needs. Scott witnessed the need for unrestricted donations again and again during his 13 years on the UCM Alumni Foundation Board of Directors and former UCM Alumni Association Board.
“A very small slice of our total money is unrestricted, and it really ties the foundation board’s hands if there’s an emergency that needs to be met,” he explains. “We have to have a portion of unrestricted funds that are banked away for a rainy day.”
Scott served as president of the Alumni Foundation Board from 2020 to 2022, during which time he and Christine chose to make a planned gift to UCM’s unrestricted fund, the Central Annual Fund. The couple was motivated to give to this fund to support the university’s greatest current needs and provide just-in-time financial assistance for students at risk of dropping out — sometimes over a balance of less than $1,000.
“Until I joined the board, I didn’t understand how little the state actually contributes to the cost of a public education and what has to be done to make up the difference,” Scott says.
Christine has also played key leadership roles in higher education since graduating
from the University of Valparaiso School of Law and obtaining her Master of Law from the University of Missouri School of Law. She returned to her native state of Wisconsin to work as an adjunct professor, then Title IX coordinator, at Marquette University in Milwaukee, where Scott earned his juris doctorate. She also served as director of equity and compliance at Wichita State University before becoming Equal Opportunity Officer and Title IX Coordinator for the University of Oklahoma.
“Unless you’re involved in higher education, you really don’t understand the impact that it has on an individual’s life and their earning capacity going forward,” Christine says. “It can be very life-changing and transformational to have that degree.”
Christine recently took a position as senior counsel at Husch Blackwell in Milwaukee, the city where Scott has served for 25 years as a managing partner and attorney at Urban & Taylor S.C. The couple raised their daughter, Caroline, in Milwaukee, and she is now following in her parents’ footsteps, completing her final year at the University of Kansas School of Law.
Scott, who grew up in Columbia, Missouri, came to UCM on a football scholarship to play under Coach Terry Noland, who at the time had been in that position for only two years. Noland led the Mules to an MIAA championship win his first year of coaching in 1983, and Scott started as a freshman punter in 1985. A year later,
the team launched a three-year conference championship winning streak that lasted through Scott’s senior year.
“He was fiery,” Scott says of his beloved coach. “He was hard on us, but he also knew when to let up. He let us know that he believed in us and that we were good enough.”
Coach Noland was named MIAA Coach of the Year in 1986, and Scott was inducted with that year’s undefeated conference team into the UCM Athletic Hall of Fame. He and other teammates in a group of alumni and supporters called Muleball Brothers for Life raised funds to renovate and rededicate the Terry Noland Football Office Complex on Sept. 7, 2024. An office space bears Scott’s and Christine’s names, as does a football locker in the stadium’s locker room.
Scott and Christine enjoy coming back to campus to watch Mules Football, knowing their contributions and planned gift help current and future UCM students continue their legacy of excellence.
Christine and Scott Taylor
Above: John Shivers, ’05, learned to fly at UCM’s Max B. Swisher Skyhaven Airport while earning his bachelor’s degree in Aviation Technology. Fifteen years later, he drew this “Charlie Mike” 463 while training for a Hawker 800XP nine-passenger business jet he was flying for a charter operator in St. Louis. Shivers is the owner of J. Shivers Design, focused on automotive- and aviation-inspired artwork, and still recreationally flies a Cessna Skyhawk similar to the one he sketched here. See his gallery online at jshiversdesign.com
MuleNation Aviation
Test your aviation vocabulary with this crossword puzzle celebrating the completion of the Skyhaven Aviation Center in fiscal year 2024 (see the feature story on page 10). Check your answers against the answer key on the Table of Contents.
Across
2. The ______ is the area of an airport where aircraft are parked, loaded and unloaded.
3. Located at the front, this contains the instrument panel and pilot seats.
6. A building designed to accommodate passengers and baggage.
9. The rear aircraft structure that provides aerodynamic stability.
12. A company or organization that offers regularly scheduled flights and routes.
13. ______ is a science dealing with the operation of aircraft.
15. A piece of aircraft equipment that contains rotating blades, creating engine thrust.
16. The name of UCM’s airport and aviation center.
19. The act of decreasing aircraft altitude.
20. A sudden shift in airflow caused by irregular atmospheric motion.
Down
1. A covered enclosure for housing, maintaining or repairing aircraft.
2. A navigation instrument for monitoring altitude.
3. The most common type of plane in UCM's fleet.
4. A person who flies or is qualified to fly an aircraft.
5. A control ______ is an elevated structure with an unobstructed view of a landing field.
7. The wing’s ______ increase the lift or drag.
8. A device that controls the amount of power output by the engine.
10. The goods or merchandise carried on an aircraft.
11. The primary purpose of an aircraft’s ______ is to provide lift.
14. A paved strip of ground for landing and taking off.
17. The phase of flight when the pilot intends to land on the runway.
