Recently, more than 150 students who received scholarships from the University of Central Arkansas Foundation met over 100 donors who helped fund those scholarships. It was energizing to see connections being made between donors and recipients.

UCA has its largest enrollment since 2009 with just over 11,500 students. In fact, it is one of only a few universities statewide to have an increase in enrollment. UCA remains among the top 30 best public institutions in the south according to U.S. News & World Report rankings that were released in September.

The University’s finances are stable. This year the administration provided equity funding to faculty and awarded a cost-of-living increase to faculty and staff. Currently, construction is underway to expand UCA’s Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) Center by 43,227 square feet; and, plans for a Greek Village and a renovation of Lewis Science Center are being considered. The University’s administration is also developing a comprehensive plan to make the corridor of Donaghey Avenue attractive for both the campus and community.

Educating the youth of this state and region begins with access to a higher education. Private scholarships are crucial in providing this opportunity to students. It is also important to provide support for faculty so they can be on the cutting-edge of their fields. UCA’s faculty, administration, and staff, give students the best educational opportunities, which enable them to have the greatest impact in the workforce.

UCA needs alumni and friends to be active participants as the University continues to achieve its mission of Academic Vitality, Integrity and Diversity (AVID). I am asking you to support this progressive institution of higher education. UCA’s exceptional legacy is what it is today because people believed in, engaged with and supported the University.

There has never been a better time to support UCA. I invite you to become an active partner in helping the University have a successful second century of providing a quality and affordable education to students. If you are interested, please contact UCA’s advancement team at advancement@uca.edu. We have much to accomplish but, with your participation, UCA will continue to be a successful institution of higher learning.

Sincerely,

Tom Courtway
President

By Scarlet Sims

Aaron Nolan, ’04, caught his big career break as a student at the University of Central Arkansas.

“UCA is where I started my career,” Nolan said.

The 33-year-old newscast anchor for “Arkansas Today” at KARK took time from his hectic schedule to talk about why UCA matters.

“Without UCA, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” Nolan said.

Nolan has been in the news business for more than eight years.

The Maumelle native is a well-known news personality in Arkansas. In September, he became a co-anchor for Nexstar Broadcasting’s statewide newscast, making his way back to Central Arkansas after working at KOLZ in Springfield, Mo., in 2012.

He and his wife, Ashley Ketz, an evening anchor for KARK, are moving back to Little Rock, Nolan said.

Previously, he worked four years as a sports anchor and reporter for KARK’s “Razorback Nation.” He also worked for an NBC-affiliated television station in Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas River Valley.

Nolan’s first anchor position was for Channel 6 at UCA. Some stories he thought at the time were just “busy work,” ended up helping him learn skills that propelled him forward in his career, he said. Everything he learned while earning his degree in telecommunications helped, Nolan said.

Nolan continues to push himself to improve. He uses social media to reach new audiences and strives to “evolve” as a reporter, he said.

“It’s pushing yourself,” Nolan said.

That drive and ambition comes partly from Nolan’s UCA experience. He said he wishes he had been more focused and given 100 percent for every UCA assignment. He advised current students to take each assignment seriously.

“It’s all about how you do it, and how you embrace it,” Nolan said. “I wish I would have, for that assignment that seemed like busy work, just soaked it up. You’ve got to dive in. Whatever you are doing at UCA, make it worthwhile.”

The university and Central Arkansas helped Nolan develop his news style, he said. He strives for news that is entertaining and informative.

“I want to give people a reason to watch every single day,” Nolan said.

That outlook — working hard and having fun — is something UCA taught Nolan, he said.

“I think that’s what you take away from UCA is work hard, play hard,” Nolan said.

By Scarlet Sims

University of Central Arkansas alumni smiled as they passed a purple pen among themselves and signed their names to a commemorative poster. The group recently made history — creating the university’s first, official Black Alumni Chapter.

“We are on the cusp of something great,” said Franklin Holbrook, ’86, a charter member.

At least eight founding members and several other alumni gathered Saturday, Sept. 21, at Buffalo Alumni Hall to share toasts, hug each other and consider new ways to reach out to black alumni. Holbrook said black alumni share a connective experience at UCA. He wants to see graduates from the 60s through the 2000s build relationships, find ways to fund student scholarships and strengthen ties to UCA.

The chapter joins seven others under the UCA Alumni Association.

Greg Hunt, ’03, said having the chapter creates new opportunities for students. Chapter members want to connect African Americans with jobs, he said.

Hunt is a charter member and organized the kick-off event. Members said he was instrumental in getting the chapter together.

Holbrook said the chapter aims to foster diversity and long-lasting connections at UCA. The group will create a sense of community, he said. In the past, black students felt disconnected from UCA, but Holbrook wants that to change. The chapter will act as a “bridge” for past, present and future students and alumni, he said.

With three generations of black alumni represented, Hunt said the fledgling chapter could easily reach about 1,000 black alumni for its base.

Starting the black chapter comes at a time when UCA is pushing to increase attention to diversity issues, Hunt and others said. UCA officials are working to implement a university-wide diversity plan. Hunt said his chapter is another piece that fits into UCA’s plans.

“We just thought it was a unique way, and a creative way, to reach out,” Hunt said.

As UCA grows, it’s important to embrace its diversity, said Karen Sullards, ’72/’75, UCA Alumni Association Board president. The kick-off event is a way to celebrate diversity at UCA, she said.

Kimberly Gardner, ‘99/’03, said the black chapter is a way for UCA alumni to give back to the university that helped them succeed.

“The purple and gray runs deep,” Gardner told chapter members. “We appreciate the University of Central Arkansas and want to give back to the next generation. We want you to give back in any way you can.”

Holbrook said he promotes UCA more now than when he was a football player. He sees the chapter as a team, one that will create greatness.

“It’s important that we approach this endeavor as something that’s going to be magnificent, as something that’s going to be wonderful,” Holbrook said. “We want to make UCA proud of what we’ve established.”

By Scarlet Sims

A new scholarship will fund a brighter future for history or English majors at the University of Central Arkansas and honor former professor Maurice Webb, who inspired his students for decades.

“I hope, year by year, that this scholarship helps a deserving student,” said Rosalie Sanderson, who started the scholarship with her husband Steve.

The Sandersons are UCA alumni. They said they want to honor Webb, who retired in 2004, and help students who might not otherwise have access to scholarships in history or English.

Steve Sanderson, who is president emeritus and senior advisor to the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York, was named a distinguished alumni in 2008.

Rosalie Sanderson was a respected law professor and law librarian and authored many research and teaching articles. She was elected chairwoman of the Academic Law Library Section of the American Association of Law Libraries in 2001.

The Sandersons both graduated in 1971 with bachelor degrees in history. They met at UCA and have been married 42 years. UCA matters on many levels and its education is top end, both said.

The new scholarship, which was announced at a recent reception honoring donors and recipients, is meant to help future UCA students. The Sandersons hope to set an example for other alumni.

“You don’t have to be a Rockefeller to give to the place that gave you your start,” Rosalie Sanderson said.
“We want the scholarship to show how deeply we feel about UCA,” Steve Sanderson said.

The couple started working with UCA to create the Maurice Webb Scholarship about 18 months ago, Steve Sanderson said. This past summer, the scholarship was awarded for the first time.

Courtney Sithem, 21, of Conway, earned the first Webb scholarship. She is a senior history major working on two minors. She wants to teach at the high school level.

“It’s exciting we’ve got our first scholar,” Steve Sanderson said. “This is a big thing for us.”

The $1,000 Stithem received from the Webb scholarship will go toward buying textbooks, the cost of which aren’t covered by her other UCA scholarship, Stithem said.

“Without this, I probably would have had a harder time paying for textbooks,” Stithem said.

Stithem, who will have a fifth year at UCA because of her minors, said she hopes to get the scholarship again. The Sandersons said they plan to help UCA fundraise for the scholarship to bring it up to a $25,000 endowment level — the amount needed to make the scholarship permanent.

The Sandersons said they want the scholarship to reward deserving students, like Stithem. Stithem said she is grateful because not many scholarships are specifically for history or English majors.

During the 2012-2013 school year, the UCA Foundation awarded 398 scholarships from 170 named scholarship funds within the Foundation, according to UCA records. The Webb scholarship is among only five for either history or English.

The Sandersons said they wanted their scholarship to focus on students studying humanities because humanities, like English and history, give students an appetite for lifelong learning.

The scholarship is named for Webb, who was a strong influence on Rosalie Sanderson.
She learned to be a lifetime learner from her professor and friend, she said.

Webb taught Sanderson in 1967 when he was a first-time professor teaching a Western Civilization class and she was a freshman. That one class gave Sanderson a passion for learning, she said.

“We did a lot that was worthwhile, and it made a huge impression on us,” Rosalie Sanderson said. “He could engage students. He cared about whether they learned.”

Webb gave his students a “total experience in Western Civilization,” Sanderson said during the Foundation’s scholarship reception held at UCA on Thursday, Sept. 26. Webb taught students vocabulary, geography, drama, literature and current events.

Webb served with distinction as a faculty member in the History Department for 37 years. His students felt strongly about him and his course, Rosalie Sanderson said.

“Professor Webb by his hard work, dedication and skill in the classroom epitomizes what a college professor should be,” said a UCA Board of Trustee resolution that honored Webb in 2004.

Stithem said she wished Webb had been at UCA to be her teacher. She met him for the first time at the scholarship reception.

“He just seems like an extremely fun guy,” Stithem said.

Ronnie Williams sees opportunities.

With new responsibilities as vice president for student services and institutional diversity, he hopes that the Office of Diversity and Community can build on an established foundation and help under-represented populations campus wide.

“I think it’s evolving. I really don’t want the focus to be on the position and the person responsible for leading this initiative,” Williams said. “I won’t even call it a new initiative. The focus is going to be continuing to do some things that I think we’ve done well, and that’s sensitivity training. I think we’ve led the state in that. I think Charlotte Strickland and her office has done an excellent job in continuing to challenge the campus in ways that will help us to become and be culturally competent.”

Williams has served as the vice president of student services for 18 years before taking on the new title; however, having served as the first director of minority affairs, the fit seemed perfect.

“It is a challenge, because I have one division that is very demanding,” Williams said. “We should have 11,000 plus students (at the beginning of the fall semester), so it is a command (challenge), but again with the resources we can do it, and the president is committed to and providing the resources necessary to get it done.”

Williams added that President Tom Courtway has a three-pronged approach to tackling diversity issues. The hope is to house compliance within the president’s office, with responsibilities ranging from Title IX to affirmative action. A human resources component will report to Associate Vice President for Human Resources Graham Gillis. The third prong will be Williams’ office, which will handle programming related to campus diversity.

The first step in tackling that plan is instituting a strategic plan related to diversity, which Williams hopes to implement by the end of the fall semester.

“There is a need to implement a university diversity strategic plan,” he said. “What we hope will happen is that at the end of the fall semester is that we will have implemented a university-wide diversity plan, so that’s time sensitive and something we need to get up and running.”

President Courtway has also asked that every department and college on campus be reviewed to “assist them in meeting the diversity expectations of not only their respective colleges, but also for the entire campus,” according to Williams

“That will be a work in progress; that work will continue for years to come,” Williams said. “I anticipate the strategic plan to be a document that is a living document that we continue to massage from this point on.”

Another area in which Williams hopes to affect change is in the retention and graduation of under-represented students, particularly African American students.

“It’s not where we would like for it to be; it’s certainly not for me personally,” Williams said. “We have always been, and continue to be, a place of choice for under-represented students, African American students in particular. We have not been as successful in retaining and graduating those students at a rate that I think is acceptable for an institution like UCA.

“I don’t see it as a challenge; I see it as an opportunity. We have ideas as to what we can do to improve those numbers...we have a critical mass to work with, so we continue to work with those.

“On the academic side, I think there is opportunity there as well, because I think Provost Runge and President Courtway and others as well will tell you that we’ve got to beef up those numbers of faculty of color. I think there has to be improvement there as well.”

As a whole, Williams sees more positives than negatives with the work laid out before the office and is upbeat about the days ahead.

“Our focus has been on doing everything that we could to create an environment that allows our students to grow and develop and be everything that they could be, and that has been our focus for 18 years,” he said.

“It is a challenge, but we’re going to try to do everything we possibly can to make it work, and the president has assured us that we’ll have the resources necessary to do everything we can to help our institution be and become a 21st century institution in the truest sense of the word.”

The Association of Future Alumni will celebrate 10 years in existence this year. Special events, including a 10-year reunion on Oct. 5, are still in the planning phases.

The AFA is an elite group of University of Central Arkansas students who have achieved at least 30 credit hours, maintained a 2.5 GPA and are selected during a rigorous process of applications and interviews.

“There can only be 35 members each year and they have to renew that membership every year,” said Haley Fowler, Assistant Alumni Director.

“I speak from experience, it is an honor to be chosen,” said Miranda Parks-Crabtree, a charter member of the group. “There is a process to joining in order to keep the group elite. They want the best of the best.”

Founded in 2003 by Jan Newcomer, Director of Alumni Services, AFA has continued its tradition of service and dedication during the decade since, incorporating programs and projects each year, including welcoming activities for incoming freshmen and assisting with graduation and alumni events.

“We want these bright young people to maintain a relationship with the university after they have graduated,” Fowler said. “We want them to be invested in the success of the university and the alumni groups.”

Fowler said former members of the AFA go on to join the Alumni Association and continue to build on the university’s traditions. Several of the former AFA members are on the UCA Alumni Association Board of Directors and Young Alumni Chapter board.

“AFA is very important,” Fowler said. “They are the voice of the students when it comes to the alumni.”

Fowler said she always looks forward to the AFA members’ return to campus, bringing with them their families, but also their accomplishments.

“I always love it when they return, and I get to catch up with them,” said Fowler.

During the first year of the AFA, Parks-Crabtree said the 10-member group helped with the alumni tailgate events by setting up tables and chairs, and helped hand out caps and gowns at graduation. Members also sold roses for families to give to their graduates.

Today, in addition to assisting freshmen and helping at graduation, the group hosts Mudstock, a day-long mud volleyball tournament; promotes and sells the UCA Official Ring; presents UCA tradition keepers and fight song shirts to freshmen; organizes the Homecoming parade, and participates at the Half-Century Club Brunch and the Alumni Homecoming Party. The group also participates in at least one community service project each semester. The group continues its tradition of Roses for Grads each year as well.

“We got to go to conferences all around the United States,” said Parks-Crabtree. “We were able to work with the Alumni Association and represent our school.”

Parks-Crabtree said she has many fond memories of her time in AFA but spending time with other like-minded students was most important.

She added that current and future members of the group should take their role seriously.

“You are representing yourself, the student body, the university and all alumni of UCA,” Parks-Crabtree said. “We’re counting on you to show others why UCA is the best university in Arkansas.”

Parks-Crabtree, who is now a Speech-Language Pathologist at Alma Middle School, also served as an advisor for AFA during her time in graduate school.

All former members of the AFA are invited to the upcoming reunion, said Fowler.

“We want as many members of AFA as we can get,” Fowler said. “I look forward to catching up with the AFA members and their families.”

For more information about the reunion or AFA, contact Haley Fowler or Jan Newcomer at (501) 450-3197 or visit uca.edu/alumni/afa.

A project spearheaded by three University of Central Arkansas faculty members has helped channel the energy of aspiring young writers.

The camp, called “Bearswrite: From Pencils to Pixels”, helps rising fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders delve deeper into the world of writing as well as providing guidance for the campers.

“The point of the week is writing,” said camp director Dr. Donna Wake, who is teamed with Drs. Stephanie Vanderslice and Jeff Whittingham. . “We provide the kids with a lot of experiences and time for writing and guidance and structure for their writing.”

The students not only are involved with traditional writing methods, but are also introduced to writing with technology. They create digital portfolios of their work during the weeklong camp, culminating in a public performance of their work and a reception for their parents.

“The focus of the program is really the kids,” Wake said. “We really saw a need in this area for writing for kids, and particularly this age level seemed to have kind of a gap in terms of camps and availability. We just really loved writing and we wanted the kids to love writing, too.”

“The benefit to the college of education is probably getting some kids in here and getting some good information out about what good writing is and what we hope for writing in the school systems.”

The camp was started last year with seed money from the UCA Foundation. Tuition from the campers will help continue the camp, but materials used by the campers were provided by the initial grant.

This year, funding from the foundation was used to bring in children’s author Spelile Rivas to help inspire and encourage the campers.

“We saw her at the National Council for Teachers of English conference,” said Wake. “We thought she was engaging and very personable. The people with the grant told us that they usually don’t give money twice to the same organization, but we had made a strong enough case for what we were doing in bringing the author that they went ahead and gave us the funding to bring her, and we’re very grateful.”

Grants such as the one used to fund Bearswrite are made possible through unrestricted giving to the UCA Foundation’s Annual Fund. For the 2012-2013 academic year, the foundation was able to provide seed money in the amount of $35,000 for grants such as these, as well as allocate $35,000 for faculty grants this academic year.

Finding a way to motivate physical therapy patients to do their exercises led a group of University of Central Arkansas computer science students onto the world stage in Russia recently.

The students – R. Kyle Eichelberger, Michelle Enfinger, Ben Tackett and John White – researched and developed the Bear Claw system, a glove fitted with sensors that interfaced with a Windows-based smart phone. With tutelage from professors Dr. Tansel Halic and Dr. Sinan Kockara, their finished product was entered into Microsoft’s Imagine Cup competition and made it to the world finals held in St. Petersburg, Russia in July.

“It was a wild ride getting to Russia,” said White. “The travel took us almost 30 hours. I don’t think I’ve ever feared for my life more than when I was in a Russian taxi.”

The idea’s genesis came in the form of a digital stress ball, which Enfinger proposed out of her personal experiences with relatives undergoing physical therapy.

“As we were working on that project, about halfway through we looked at each other and said, ‘You know, it would be cool if the sensors were on a glove instead of a ball.’ So, that’s where we started, and we added in the game aspects,” White said.

“The idea didn’t come from one specific place; it was several months of evolving and growing to be what it is today.”

One of the major hurdles that the team faced was being unfamiliar with the rehabilitation procedures the glove would be used to treat. This required a good deal of research by the team.

“We’re all computer science students,” Eichelberger said. “We really didn’t know a whole lot about physical therapy or what that entails. The entire product hinges on our ability to be successful in those fields, so we had a lot of research that we had to do about that, about everything medical, the problems facing that side of the project, and all of the previous work done by people who wanted to do similar things to what we’re doing.

With 71 countries represented in the competition, the team came away with a keen sense of bigger things that may be a part of our future.

“Our idea was really cool, but ours is only one of 86 ideas that were there,” White said. “You’re talking to all of these different people who have this incredible vision for the future, and so it’s almost like a preview of the future. It’s very exciting and very motivating being around 300 other students who are really excited about changing the world.”

According to White, the team has a new idea that it is keeping “under wraps,” and it plans not only on competing in the Imagine Cup in the future, but also ideas that they hope to take to the marketplace.

“I have learned a lot of things from this about what I’m capable of and people that I work with are capable of,” Eichelberger said. “With that knowledge, I realize it’s possible to achieve your dreams. We’re in the works of developing this further, which is definitely something we’ve been thinking about from the beginning.”

“I’ve always told people the reason I went into computer science is because I want to change the world, and this is just step one in that,” White added. “Kyle and I have a very big vision of some things we want to accomplish in terms of starting a company and doing things, maybe not necessarily with the Bear Claw, but making a lasting impact on people’s lives.“

The year 2014 will mark 100 years of melody, music and marching at the University of Central Arkansas. The UCA Band Alumni are in the planning stages of special events and concerts to commemorate the occasion, including special emphasis at the 2013 Homecoming for the Alumni Band.

Back in 1914, fewer than 10 years after the university’s founding, student musicians were banding together to support the school’s football and basketball teams.

That tradition continues during the upcoming 2013 Homecoming festivities, when the UCA Bear Marching Band and Alumni Band members will perform together during pre-game activities and will tailgate before the game. Alumni Band members will play the university’s fight song and alma mater and support the band during the Homecoming game on Oct. 26.

“We have between 25 and 50 members each year in the Alumni Band,” said Jackie Lamar, professor of saxophone. “We would love to have a lot more this year, to really show the band’s impact during its 100 years at UCA.”

The university’s first band, organized around 1914, had about 20 members. It was a student-run organization, explained Lamar, adding that football and basketball games were the extent of the band’s performances. Sometime in the 1920s, the band acquired a faculty sponsor and has continue to grow since then.

Today, there are more than 200 members, with performances scheduled throughout the marching and concert seasons across Arkansas and other states.

To commemorate the band’s 100th anniversary, special guest alumni will be soloing with the band at concerts in Arkansas and in Dallas’ Meyerson Symphony Center, home of the Dallas Symphony. Guest alumni soloists include a professor of trombone at University of North Texas at Denton, and another who is a clarinetist with the U.S. Air Force Band.

A special piece has been commissioned by renowned composer David Gillingham, but is still being written, according to Dr. Ricky Brooks, director of bands.

Other events, including concerts and reunions will be held beginning January, according to Lamar.

“Alumni Band at Homecoming is our opportunity to give back to the university and see each other again,” Lamar said. Alumni Band members also raise funds for the UCA band scholarship fund.

Events to celebrate the 100th anniversary have been in the planning stages since last year, when new Associate Director of Bands Brantley Douglas, who had been part of a 100th-year band celebration when a student at University of Wisconsin -- Madison, came upon the information about the first UCA band in a book written by a retired music faculty member.

“He said ‘Do you realize that in 2014 we will have the 100th anniversary of the band?’” Lamar recalled. “We worked with others to get more historic information for this celebration.”

There are currently more than 700 band alumni on the music department’s mailing list, but Lamar said there is always room for more involvement.Band Alumni include any UCA alumni who have ever been in the band.

Lamar said there would be further announcements about upcoming 100th anniversary events as plans are completed. Alumni who plan to play in the Alumni Band should contact Lamar or Dr. Ricky Brooks to have an accurate head count and secure any needed instruments.

“We are so excited for this year’s Alumni Band,” Lamar said. “We encourage our Band Alumni to participate in this year’s Homecoming.”

For more information about the Alumni Band or anniversary happenings, contact Lamar at (501) 450-5763 or jackiel@uca.edu; or Dr. Brooks at (501) 450-5764 or rickyb@uca.edu. There is also a Facebook group for UCA band alumni.

For many undergraduates, the choice of a major is made without much experience of the actual jobs included in the major. Mentor Connection set out to change this, and has been rousingly successful for its participants.

Mentor Connection is a partnership between a current University of Central Arkansas student and a young alumnus, helping to establish relationships that provide a learning experience for the students and a leadership opportunity for the alumni, according to information provided by Haley Fowler, Assistant Director Alumni Services.

Two of the matches recently reported on their own experiences.

One of the most successful partnerships, according to Fowler, is that of student Tyler Rodgers and alumnus Ike Linck. Linck and Rodgers met several times a week, allowing Rodgers to consult not only with Linck, but with many of Linck’s colleagues at American Management Corp, an insurance firm located in Conway.

“I am someone who places high value in stability and security,” Rodgers said. “When I heard about this opportunity to actually get in the field and get some hands-on experience, I jumped right on it. In today’s world, any experience you can get before joining the workforce is essential.”

Rodgers learned about every aspect of the insurance business, from underwriting to claims to loss control, which Rodgers said allowed him to pinpoint which aspects he liked and which he didn’t.

Linck said he also learned a lot during Rodgers’ meetings with other departments.

“His opportunity turned into an opportunity for me that I didn’t have a chance to experience when I was finishing college and entering the insurance field,” Linck said.

Linck said he took a second glance at the Mentor Connection program while looking through a recent alumni newsletter and realizing the importance of mentoring those who are entering the workforce.

“One of the most important steps in advancing in a career is helping others,” Linck said. “It is my opinion that the golden rule should apply in business as well. Years from now Tyler and I may be working on the same team somewhere, and together our relationships and connections may prove beneficial to both of us in the long run.”

Student Kyndal Saverse and alumna Courtney Dunn have also forged a bond in their shared love for animals and conservation.

“While I was an undergraduate, I struggled to find other students who were interested in the same field as I was – conservation and zoological biology,” Dunn stated. “I knew that by participating in Mentor Connection that I would be able to help students overcome those hurdles that I once faced myself.”

Dunn and Saverse found they had many common interests in their initial meeting, and Saverse said she was “inspired” by Dunn’s work. Dunn helped Saverse with resume support and introduced her to opportunities for her to pursue in the future, one of which involved a trip to Branson, Mo.

“The most influential activity we participated in was a full shadow day at my place of research, the National Tiger Sanctuary,” Dunn said.

During the shadow day, Saverse helped lead educational tours for the public and provided “enrichment” in the form of large barrels as toys for the animals in the sanctuary. The tigers at the sanctuary come from several different backgrounds, including good homes in which the owners passed away to being confiscated after being sold illegally. Some have been abused or neglected.

Dunn explained that the barrels give the tigers a chance for fun activities and help them lead a stress-free life. During the shadow day, Saverse learned the steps to caring for the big cats, including feeding them a proper diet.

“This day gave my mentee an introduction to how amazing these critically endangered animals are,” Dunn said. “Experiences like these often inspire students to do more to preserve our natural world and, thus, overcome any obstacles they may have in their academic career to get to that point.”

Saverse echoed Dunn’s statement, adding that the experience “opened my eyes to other issues I wasn’t even aware I would become concerned with.”

Each participant has expressed their appreciation for the program, and its benefits to both mentor and mentee. They also encourage other students and alumni to participate.

“It is all rewarding and beneficial,” said Rodgers. “Don’t be afraid to take it and run with it. If you play your cards right, put in the effort and shake a few hands, it might even lead to a job.”

For more information, contact Alumni Services at 501-852-7463 or alumni.uca.edu.