November 2005 Development Newsletter

Article Body: Thanksgiving has come and gone but it's never too late to go on record giving thanks for a person whose passion was Graceland. Orville Hiles spent 19 years working on "the hill" serving as Director of Business Services and Student Activities. He died November 20 after suffering a stroke. The proud member of the Graceland class of 1947 was 80 years old and is survived by his wife Norma (Derry) Hiles '48, and children, Barbara '72, Nancy '79 and Tom '81. This photo is from his time in the United States Navy during World War II. You can read about Orville's military service in the 2005 Winter issue of Horizons.

On an upbeat note, it's been awhile since Graceland's fall sports teams have done as well as they have this time around. All 6 squads made it to the postseason. The Football team finished out a 9-3 Co-Conference Championship campaign with a 17-14 loss to Tabor College in the opening round of the NAIA playoffs. The women's Volleyball squad wrapped up with a 30-10 record. A Region V semi-final loss to Columbia College ended their season. Four Cross Country stars from Graceland ran in the NAIA National Championships in Louisville, Kentucky. And what a year for both soccer programs! The women made it all the way to the Elite Eight of the NAIA National Soccer Championships. The men finished 12th in the nation but lost in overtime in the second round of the playoffs. Maybe we should check the Lamoni water.

You'll want to "check out" the new fancy artwork adorning the Graceland campus the next time you visit Lamoni. Thanks to a $22,000 grant from Vision Iowa, four modern art sculptures have been placed along the campus loop of the bike trail. The most spectacular piece has to be the tall metal violin created by Jerry Cower of Waterloo, Iowa. "Opal's Song", as it's called, now sits along University Place between The Shaw Center for the Performing Arts and The Helene Center for the Visual Arts.

We can't promise a cameo appearance on TV's Survivor show, but an unforgettable time will be had for all who sign up for the Yellowjacket Club sponsored Lower Rogue River Rafting Trip set for July 1-4, 2006. It will be 4 days of exhilarating rafting in beautiful Medford, Oregon. December 31 is the deadline for getting in on this trip package that costs $1075. Please contact Stu Sherman at ssherman@graceland.edu, if you have the passion and the nerve.

Passion for Graceland is pretty obvious in the gifts we salute this month in our Investor Spotlight. Ray and Arlene Chase of Gainesville, Virginia have made their commitment to the Graceland Forever Campaign by pledging $325,000. They have actually secured naming rights to the new Science and Technology building's Physics Center. And Kelly and Cherry Hartnett of Glenn Mills, Pennsylvania took full advantage of an employer matching program and have gifted $30,000 over the past two years to a Humanitarian Service Program fund. It's been set up to make it less expensive for Graceland students to travel abroad to work on service projects. The Hartnetts' plan on establishing an endowment for the fund in the years ahead.

We sure hate repeating ourselves in this Development Office newsletter, but this is information well worth repeating in Todd's Tip of the Month. This year those who itemize are allowed to deduct 100% of qualified gifts of cash if postmarked by December 31. If you're over 59 1/2, you're allowed to withdraw and gift from your IRA or any qualified retirement plan. Withdraw $1,000 or $1,000,000! Remember that withdrawals from IRA's will increase adjusted gross income (AGI), but these gifts may be deducted up to 100% (usually we are only allowed to deduct half of that amount.) Whether you make your gift in cash or from your IRA, your deductible gift is limited to 100% of adjusted gross income. Everyone's situation is different, so we recommend you contact your tax advisor to determine how you could benefit this year. For gifts from IRA's, be sure to plan early. There could be a longer than normal process when making such withdrawals from your investment company. For more info please contact our Director of Development, Todd Sturgis, at tsturgis@graceland.edu .

May we say "thank you" to all of you who took the time to speak with our Fall Phonathon staff. We have crunched the numbers and are celebrating outright gifts and pledges to the tune of $150,740. To quote ESPN basketball guru Dick Vitale: "awesome baby!"

We sure hope you enjoy catching up with Graceland each and every month and now that we have celebrated a full year of the Development Office newsletter, we invite you to provide us with feedback. Please forward this e-mail with any thoughts or comments you may have back to our development staff.

That's it for now...thanks for listening...you've been great. May you and your family enjoy a safe and spiritual Christmas season.
Event Date: 11/29/2005 2:00 PM