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c t u r a ArtsMen wore black ties.Women wore formals or fancy dresses. The food setting was elegant.The entertainment was crowd-pleasing.Just about everything went as planned Sept. 23, 1995 during dedication ceremonies of theBrown Center for Arts, Sciences and Technology. About 650 people attended, including collegeemployees and students as well as community supporters.Nearly three yearsafter ground breaking,Brown Center dedicatedTwo separate dedication ceremonies took place that evening. On the east side of the buildingpeople gathered around to listen to the official dedication ceremonies of the sculpture workand the Patrick J.McAtee Plaza, named in honor of the current Cowley president. Bob Storbeck,then chairman of the Board of Trustees, read statements dedicating the artwork and the plaza.The four bronze sculptures - three together in the immediate plaza and one on a bench closerto the entrance - were made by Ann LaRose of Loveland, Colo., who was present for the ceremonies.The other sculpture, the "Point of Light" by Gary Kahle of Arkansas City, sits on the southeastcorner of the Brown Center.McAtee, with wife Sandy, his mother Bernice McAtee and mother-in-law and father-in-law,Dan and Lil Urbanek at his side, broke down in tears as he accepted the honor of having theplaza named after him. As a token of their appreciation, Board members presented McAtee withminiature versions of three of the bronze sculptures found outside the Brown Center."I am deeply touched and honored," said McAtee, only the third president Cowley has everert A. Brownhad. "But none of this would have been possible, this building would not have become a reality,without your support."McAfee then honored Sid Regnier, vice president of business services, and Terri Morrow,associate dean of development and college relations,for their work. Regnier was project coordinatorand Morrow headed the capital fund-raising campaign that generated $1.6 million.After a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony in which Robert Brown and Roger Brown, chairman ofthe board and president of The Home National Bank of Arkansas City participated, the crowdentered the building forhors d'voures, tours by Cowley's Student Ambassadors, and viewing ofartwork in the Earle N. Wright Community Room and Gallery.One of the artists whose paintings was on display in the Wright Gallery was in attendance.Janda Allred from Salina was recognized for her work. David Young of Grand Island, Neb.,whose small sculptures were the firstpurchased for the interior of the Wright Room, also attendedthe dedication and was recognized for his work.Inside the Robert Brown Theatre, McAtee took the stage and honored the Brown family andRoger BrownThe Home National Bank for their support of the project from the firstday."When Pat McAtee and TerriMorrow came to us and showed us the plans, we knew thatthis was going to be a magnificent facility," Roger Brown said. "We wanted to become a bigpart in seeing that this building became a reality, and here it is."The Browns made an initial contribution of $250,000 to become the lead donor toward theproject. But they added another $50,000 to that to help get the balcony portion of the projectFormer State Senator Dick Rock, rightand Tony Butala of The Letterman.completed. They also paid for all of the expenses during the dedication.At 8:30 p.m., The Lettermen, a vocal trio that originated in the early 1960s, took the stagefor a concert that lasted two hours.Many of the group's big hits were sung, including "Put YourHead On My Shoulder," "Goin' Out Of My Head/Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" and "HurtSo Bad." Several people in the audience also got the chance to sing with the group.The Lettermen - Tony Butala,Bobby Paynton and Donovan Scott Tea - have sold 20 millionrecords and performed 7^000 concerts. Butala is the only original Lettermen still with thegroup. He started with Bob Engemann and Jim Pike. The group's first album, titled "A Song ForYoung Love," was recorded in 1962. That title song was written by Bill Post of Arkansas City. Postwas recognized by Butala during the concert.20