Download - University of the Ozarks

University meets Mabee challenge
U of O has met the requirements
to receive a $1 million challenge grant
from the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation
of Tulsa, Okla., university officials
announced in July.
Ozarks raised more than $1 million
to match the Mabee Foundation’s challenge
gift of $1 million, which was issued
in October 2008. The university
had until Sept. 30 to meet the challenge.
The University raised a total of $3.6 million
during the challenge.
The funds will be used as part of
a capital improvements project that includes
the renovation and expansion of
the Seay Student Center and the construction
of a new residence hall.
A total of 55 donors contributed to
the Mabee challenge, according to Executive
Vice President Steve Edmisten.
“The Mabee challenge generated
broad support from donors with great
capability down to those with relatively
Family members have established
a scholarship at U of O in memory of
longtime family therapist John Barnes
Coleman for students who are majoring
in psychology or sociology and
who want to work with children and
families.
The John Barnes Coleman Memorial
Scholarship was established by his
son, Dr. Sean T. Coleman, associate
professor of biology at the university;
his daughter-in-law, Jennifer A. Coleman;
and his widow, Cheryl A. Coleman.
John Coleman worked as a family
therapist for many years in Rochester,
Minn., and Russellville, Ark. He passed
away on Sept. 2, at the age of 60.
“Serving and helping children and
their families was my father’s passion,”
said his son, Sean Coleman. “I
think this scholarship is the best way to
Board of Trustee Members (from left) Jim
Bruning, Judy Borck and Arvid Bean all
played key leadership roles in helping the
University meet a challenge grant by the
Mabee Foundation. Borck is the chair of
the Board and Bruning and Bean served
as co-chairs of the capital campaign.
Coleman Scholarship to honor father
Dr. Sean Coleman (left) and President
Rick Niece hold up a photo of Coleman’s
father, John Barnes Coleman.
help the next generation of people who
want to follow in his footsteps.”
Anyone interested in contributing
to the scholarship can contact the University
of the Ozarks’ Advancement
Office at 479-979-1230.
low capability but a great will to help,”
Edmisten said. “Raising funds for any
purpose has become incredibly difficult
in our nation’s current economic circumstances,
and I am convinced that without
the Mabee Foundation’s generous
challenge acting as a catalyst, we would
not have been able to achieve our goals
to improve student services in a timely
manner.”
The university is expected to hold a
ground-breaking ceremony on the project
during the 2010 Spring Semester.
Key elements of the student center
improvements include a new student
health and fitness center, a new community
conference center, and increased
dining capacity for the student body. The
new apartment-style-residence hall will
house 20 students and will be the final
complex in a four-hall quad area in the
northeast section of campus.
The Mabee challenge is part of the
University’s current $40 million Promise
of Excellence Campaign, which ends
in March 2011. More than $37 million
had been raised in the campaign by the
end of September.
Family starts scholarship
in memory of Jake Tull
The Jake Tull Memorial Endowed
Scholarship has been established at
Ozarks in memory of the junior environmental
studies major from Little Rock
who died in May 2009.
The scholarship was established by
Tull’s mother, Sue, as well as other family
members and friends. As of the end
of October, more than 100 people had
contributed to the scholarship.
The Tull Scholarship will aide students
who use the services of the Jones
Learning Center and demonstrate financial
need. The recipients will be nominated
and selected by the director of the
Jones Learning Center with the assistance
of the Director of Financial Aid.
For more information on the Jake
Tull Memorial Scholarship or to establish
a memorial scholarship in memory
of a loved one, please contact the Advancement
Office at 479-979-1230.
Today, FALL/WINTER 2009 9