Alumni

33 UCA Students Initiated Into Honor Society

On November 11, 2014, thirty-three UCA students were initiated into the Gamma Beta Chapter of Phi Upsilon Omicron Honor Society from the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences. The majors included 19 nutrition, 8 interior design, 4 general family and consumer sciences, 1 family and consumer sciences education, and 1 graduate student.

Founded in 1909, the honor society in family and consumer sciences promotes lifelong learning, leadership building, and ethical and scholastic excellence. The UCA chapter was chartered in 1983 and nurtures leaders to continue the legacy.

UCA Alumna Alisha Farris Appears On Good Morning America To Discuss Michelle Obama’s School Lunch Program

2003 and 2004 UCA graduate Alisha Farris made an appearance on Good Morning America as the lead researcher of a dietician team that researched the nutritional value of school lunches versus brown bag lunches. She discussed how lunches packed from home are generally not as nutritious as lunches served at school. Farris is currently attending Virginia Tech University where she is pursuing her Ph.D.

To take a look at the episode, visit: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/cafeteria-lunches-healthier-meals-brought-home-26804452

UCA Alum Brad Cowger Honored As Elementary Physical Education Teacher Of The Year

Brad Cowger is a UCA graduate from the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education and currently teaches at Ida Burns Elementary in Conway, Arkansas. Cowger is being honored as the elementary physical education teacher of the year by the Arkansas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

Tommie Sue Anthony Endows Fellowship For The Education Of The Gifted At UCA

Mrs. Tommie Sue Anthony recently endowed a fellowship for gifted education candidates at the University of Central Arkansas. The fellowship will be used to support tuition, travel to national conferences, books, and/or other relevant student support to students pursuing graduate studies leading to gifted education certification, Master’s degree (M.Ed.), Education Specialist (Ed.S.) degree, or Ph.D. in Leadership Studies with a cognate in gifted education.

Ms. Anthony was honored as the 2014 UCA Distinguished Alumni this past spring. She is a two-time graduate (BSE-1963, MSE-1973) of UCA. She is the Immediate Past-President of the Arkansas Advanced Initiative in Mathematics and Science, Inc. (AAIMS).

Before becoming the President of AAIMS in 2007, Ms. Anthony was the Director of Talented and Gifted Programs for the Pulaski County Special School District from 1983-1998.

Applications for the fellowship will be accepted in the spring for the 2015 fall term.

Jazz Ensembles To Perform Tribute Concert

The University of Central Arkansas Jazz Ensembles will perform a tribute concert for Dr. Jerry Manion, Wednesday, September 24, 2014 in the Snow Fine Arts Center Recital Hall.

The concert is free and open to the public and will begin at 7:30 p.m.

Two UCA student bands will perform: Jazz Ensemble I and the Dixieland Band.

The bands will pay tribute to Manion, a member of the UCA Dixieland Band for more than 35 years and chemistry professor at UCA, who died on July 18, 2014.

“We want to honor him and have a tribute concert for him,” said Dr. Jackie Lamar, professor of saxophone and director of the Dixieland Band.

Lamar has made plans for “a photo-montage” of Manion to be showing on a television screen in the lobby.”

The Dixieland Band performance will include songs from the traditional New Orleans-style era. Lamar said the band would play “Oh, Didn’t He Ramble” by Will Handy, “Just a Closer Walk With Thee” a traditional gospel tune and most popular New Orleans funeral dirge, “Hard Hearted Hannah” by Jack Yellen, “St. James Infirmary” by Joe Primrose and “Swing Low Sweet Chariot/When The Saints Go Marching In” by Luther Presley and Virgil O. Stamps.

Alumni members of the band are encouraged to participate in the performance of the band’s traditional version of “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” and “When the Saints Go Marching In”.

Songs by Jazz Ensemble I, directed by Larry Jones, include “Struttin’ with Some Barbecue” by Louis Armstrong, “King Porter Stomp” by Jelly Roll Morton, “Basie’s Buddy B” by John LaBarbara, and “Hunting Wabbits” by Gordon Goodwin.

The UCA Dixieland Band was formed in the fall of 1975 by now retired UCA music professor Patrick Hasty. The group performs concerts on campus as well as provides music for cultural and civic events in the surrounding area. The ensemble blends all styles of Dixieland music, from Early New Orleans Style to Chicago Style and beyond.

For more information, contact Lamar at (501) 450-5759 or jackiel@uca.edu.

The UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication includes the Departments of Art, Communication, Mass Communication and Theatre, Music and Writing. The college’s primary mission is the preparation of the next generation of artists, educators and communicators. For more information about CFAC, visit www.uca.edu/cfac or call (501) 450-3293.

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