The University of Central Arkansas Honors College held its annual alumni association meeting on the weekend of July 22-23. Honors College faculty, staff, and about 150 alumni attended the event themed “Celebrating Norb” to honor Dr. Norbert O. Schedler, founding director of the Honors College, who retired last spring.Events kicked off Friday night with a pizza party and social mixer. Saturday?s schedule began with a continental breakfast followed by a lunch and business meeting. A Lifetime Member Plaque was presented and recipients were given certificates. Campaign speeches for those running for office were given along with updates from various committees.
Later in the day, Honors College alumni led academic breakout sessions. Those presenting and their titles were: Mike Allen (’05), a Web developer/applications programmer for the Honors College, “Community Dynamics in the 21st Century: Exploring the Space Between Real Life and Cyberspace in the UCA Honors Community”; Laura Bowles (?95), an instructor in the Honors College and UCA?s Writing Department, “Hillbillies and White Trash: Images of Arkansas? Other”; Chad Terrell (?96), an English instructor at Conway High School, “You are Being Lied to: Conspiracy and Paranoia in American Popular Culture?” Also presenting an academic session was Dr. Charles Harvey, professor and chair of UCA?s Department of Philosophy and Religion, “The Malice of Inanimates.”
The banquet on Saturday evening included speakers and entertainment. The evening began with Dr. Rick Scott, director of the Honors College, presenting plans for the new Honors College Village located at the west end of the campus. Scott later unveiled a painting of Dr. Schedler by Gene Hatfield, a retired UCA art professor. Also shown was a video scrapbook presentation of Schedler?s career in the Honors College that contained heartfelt recollections from the alumni and clips from his most famous skits and lectures.
The highlight of the evening was the keynote address “The Evening Knows What the Morning Cannot Even Imagine” given by Dr. Schedler as he reflected on his time as the founder and director of the college and closed with a reading from his biography. In a twist on Plato?s famous assertion, Schedler stated, “The uncommitted life is not worth living.” Surrounded by his many students, it became clear that Schedler has led a worthy life indeed.
