May 2005 Development Newsletter

Article Body: April showers certainly bring May flowers, but the merry month of June brings good things for Graceland and its sponsoring church, the Community of Christ. With the special World Conference just a few weeks away, we thought it would be best to start off this Development Office newsletter with a tid-bit to make your experience even more memorable.

On Saturday June 4, Graceland's Independence Campus is holding an open house. We will provide a shuttle service so that conference goers can check out the various booths set up for the Seminary, Nursing, Education, Development, Graceland Learning Venture programs, and the Center for the Study of the Korean War. The open house runs from 4:30-6:30 p.m., with the shuttles ready to go from the west entrance of the auditorium. Appetizers will be available as you watch the brand new Graceland Forever capital campaign DVD. Please do not think for a minute that we would leave you stranded - we promise to have you back at the auditorium in plenty of time so as not to skip a beat.

To be in the loop, you should know that the Graceland Students in Free Enterprise Team (SIFE) has done it again - they are the newly crowned Regional Champions! Our team defeated the likes of Loyola, Auburn and Alabama State in New Orleans. Now fifty of Graceland's finest students are gearing up for Nationals, which is held in Kansas City May 22-24. This past academic year, Graceland's SIFE team put in more than 5,000 hours of work on various entrepreneurial projects, including some in Ireland, Tahiti, and Bulgaria.

The annual International Night was held on the Lamoni campus and it was quite an experience. Traditional clothes, dance and food samples made the event absolutely wonderful. You must check out the photo gallery below to enjoy many of the Kodak moments! Incidentally, this school year, some 150 international students representing 34 countries attended Graceland.

The 10th annual Hawaiian Luau was held in the Memorial Student Center. Many hours of preparation from the Graceland Hawaiian Club made the event simply marvelous. Some 450 guests enjoyed a traditional Luau meal while taking in various forms of Polynesian dancing. This year's costumes were especially colorful and lively. We even had folks come all the way from the Islands.

Let's move this Development Office newsletter to the great outdoors where there was plenty of fun in the Arizona sun. Eighteen Graceland alumni and friends teed it up for almost 5 full days of golf at the Rancho de los Caballeros Resort in Wickenburg, AZ. The event was organized by the Graceland Yellowjacket Club with a grand total of $14,000 dollars raised. This year's special project is the remodeling of the Closson Center basketball locker rooms. Graceland's very own teaching pro, J.D. Turner, provided golf swing analysis and his support team was headed up by Yellowjacket Club President, Tracy Bridge. It is time to sharpen up your swing, so let us know if you would like to tee it up at the next event by contacting the yellowjacketclub@graceland.edu

It has been years since Graceland had a radio station, but now the "dead air" is over. Remember two months ago, National Public Radio began broadcasting to southern Iowa courtesy of a satellite station on the Lamoni campus. This just in: the students have teamed up and created their own radio station. It is an internet based station that listeners tune in by connecting to web link http://radio.graceland.edu/ . This fall, "The Buzz" will web cast select on-campus events along with Yellowjacket teams in action!

This month's Donor Spotlight is on Mark and Barb Brandt of Dunedin, Florida. They provided $10,000 dollars to the Fred and Martha Dearborn Scholarship Endowment. Mark sent a heartfelt letter to his aunt and uncle thanking them for being tremendous role models during his formative years. The Brandt's way of paying tribute was to make the gift to the scholarship.

Anyone making a gift to the Annual Fund before the end of May will get in before the deadline for a mention in the fall issue of Horizons. Development Officers are standing by, ready to take your call! You can also direct your computer to make a gift today and be well on your way.

Todd Sturgis is our Director of Development. Todd's Tip of the Month addresses Life Insurance. There are many creative ways for you to make a gift to Graceland University that involves an insurance policy you may have owned for years or a new one you may want to set up. Please contact Todd at tsturgis@graceland.edu to explore the many possibilities.
Event Date: 5/31/2005 2:25 PM