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FOUNDATION DONOR DINNER A SUCCESS
Motivating, informative, emotional. All these words described the Donor Dinner put on by the Northwestern Foundation for its donors on September 25. Over 150 donors, students, faculty, and staff attended the annual thank you to those people who make it a priority to give and keep Northwestern moving forward. Every year, the Northwestern Foundation invites every donor who has given to the university in the last 18 months. It gives the Foundation a chance to personally say thank you to all the donors for making it possible for so many students to attend Northwestern. The Donor Dinner also provides a pleasant evening of conversation as well as the opportunity to listen to an inspirational story. The crowd received nothing short of inspirational from Dr. James Fouse, administrator of the El Dorado Promise. Before he spoke, Dr. Fouse showed everyone a video about The Promise, which was featured on “The Today Show.” Following the video, Dr. Fouse spoke about how in 2007, Murphy Oil Company stepped forward and established a scholarship program to aide the students in the El Dorado, Arkansas public school system fulfill their desires for higher education. It is called the El Dorado Promise. It is a promise to the students that they have a chance to follow their dreams without the monetary obstacle. The Promise allows all El Dorado High School graduates, for the next 20 years, to attend any accredited two-or-four year, public or private, college or university, in or out of state, tuition free. Many in the crowd were moved by how excited and passionate Dr. Fouse was and left thinking that something like this could happen in the community. Ken Schultz, president of Alva State Bank, was one of those people. “I was very impressed and enjoyed listening to Dr. Fouse,” Schultz said. “Investing in a student’s education is something I find inspirational. What really communicated to me was when the Murphy CEO said ‘Education is the only thing you can provide people that permanently changes their lives’.” Bart Bouse, chairman of the Foundation Board of Directors, also spoke. He talked about how well the Foundation is doing and reminded the crowd that what it was doing the right thing for them, for the university and for northwest Oklahoma. Bouse said that the Foundation had had its second best year in fundraising having raised more than $3 million. It’s best year came in 1998 when the Foundation raised $3.5 million -- $2.5 million of which came from the City of Enid when it endowed 10 faculty chairs for the Northwestern-Enid campus. He also pointed out that every gift was from people who are willing to make a difference now. This event was made possible because of the generous sponsors, Central National Bank of Alva, Alva State Bank, Community Bank of Alva, Midfirst Bank of Woodward and the Ira and Jane Painton Endowment. “As I was reflecting on the evening, I felt very positive that we have so many giving people and organizations like the Charles Morton Share Trust, the Alva incentive scholarship plan, and most recently the Wisdom Family Foundation,” said Skeeter Bird, Foundation Chief Executive Officer. “These organizations are going to allow Northwestern and northwest Oklahoma remain successful in the years to come.” The 2008 Donor Dinner was a success because of all the willing, active donors who felt the passion for Northwestern and its success. The Foundation is looking toward a successful year in 2009 and continues to appreciate all the support from its donors, the university, and the surrounding communities.
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