Currently viewing the tag: "Membership Matters"
Living in Kansas City, Phil Schoettlin does not let the distance between Fayetteville and Missouri keep him from staying connected with the University of Arkansas. Serving as president of the Arkansas Alumni Association’s Greater Kansas City Chapter and as a member of the Kappa Sigma XI Corporation and XI Alumni Association, Schoettlin enjoys the time he spends interacting with students and alumni.
Forty-nine years after graduating with her Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism, Nancy Philley Russ, an annual member of the Arkansas Alumni Association and member of the Capital Chapter, continues to view her alma mater with pride and appreciation. However, as she reflects on the years spent at the University of Arkansas and the people she has come to know, Russ acknowledges the important role that the Arkansas Alumni Association played in her academic career.
Northwest Arkansas and the University of Arkansas have always been home to Dr. Darrin Storms. Working as an orthodontist at Storms Orthodontics, his dental office in Fayetteville, he spends much of his time taking care of the people of Northwest Arkansas and their smiles. However, for Storms, who is a member of the Arkansas Alumni Association, it is important for him to find time give back to the university by reaching out to its students and helping those who express an interest in the world of dentistry.
Growing up, Allyson Twiggs Dyer dreamed of becoming a Lady Razorback basketball player. That dream came true when the University of Arkansas offered her a basketball scholarship in 1990. Once she received the opportunity to attend the University of Arkansas, “there was no doubt” that’s where she belonged. Dyer had always loved the traditions of the university and its Razorbacks, so to be able to play in both Barnhill and Bud Walton arenas, she felt “honored to wear the red and white uniform.”
The University of Arkansas holds many memories for Jonathon Modica. As an institution with a “great athletic reputation and culture,” he recalls the times he spent on the basketball court in Bud Walton Arena playing for the Arkansas Razorbacks and his involvement in Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. as two of his most memorable experiences as an undergraduate student. However, when considering what impacted him the most while attending the University, he attributes the opportunity to build relationships among faculty members and alumni as one of the most beneficial aspects of his academic career.
McGruders’s involvement with the University of Arkansas did not stop when he graduated in 2006. He now serves on the Young Alumni Board of the Arkansas Alumni Association and provides “insight and my opinion on how the Alumni Association can better serve young/recent alumni.”
How does a University of Texas graduate serve as the president of the Arkansas Alumni Association’s Austin Chapter? This is a question Brad Clutter, online banking product manager for Texas Dow Employees Credit Union, has gotten from perplexed, prospective employers since he took on the role four years ago.
Add all their years together and Jerry Williams, his father and his brother have 110 years of service to the state of Arkansas in agriculture. Williams and his brother Kenneth grew up on a University of Arkansas agriculture experiment station in Crittenden County where their father, Wallace, was resident director. Kenneth was staff chair in Ashley County for many years. Both brothers retired from Extension within a year of each other.
As alumni, Natalie and Ryan Biles of Lonoke strive to lead with humility and a joy to give back to the University of Arkansas that poured so much into them. As recent graduate members of the Arkansas Alumni Association, they have ventured to take on exciting new leadership roles at the University of Arkansas through their involvement in the Young Alumni Board. The couple hopes to encourage fellow grads to find creative ways to stay in touch with their alma mater.
They not only keep me in touch with the alumni and friends who have already gone out into the world to make a difference, but they also help me tell my story, my piece of the constantly evolving, dynamic University of Arkansas, to the alumni of yesterday and tomorrow.
