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This society was first organized in 1998 and was
initially made up of six members. The group
decided to form a nonprofit alumni association in order
to accept donations. Officers were: Mike Phillips,
President, Jimmie Hilburn, 1st Vice
President, Phillip Young, 2nd Vice President,
Lynne Rodgers, Secretary, Mark Owen, Treasurer, Tommy
Tooke, At Large, Carolyn Hughes, At Large, Ed Colburn,
Ex Officio, and Guy Wilson, Ex Officio. The first
priority for the group was to set up a scholarship to be
given to agriculture students to honor Dr. Robert Kirst,
Professor of Animal Science in the UAM
Division of
Agriculture. The goal was to create an
endowed scholarship of $25,000. Dues for the
organization were set a $10.00 for annual dues, and
$100.00 for lifetime members dues. Dues for
graduating seniors would be at no cost for the first
year. Dr. Kirst was given a lifetime membership.
Letters were sent to all alumni asking for dues, and the
money donated became a seed to form the endowed
scholarship.
The first activity planned by the
society was held on October 31, 1998 beginning with a
reception at the UAM Agriculture Building followed by a
luncheon recognizing Dr. Kirst for his 25 years of
service to UAM, and concluding with a alumni reunion at
the Drew County Fairgrounds. Five hundred letters
were mailed to agriculture alumni informing them of this
event and inviting them to attend. Approximately
80 attended this event.
In a meeting in January 1999, the
Alumni Society set up the following criteria for the
Robert C. Kirst Scholarship, which was scheduled to be
awarded for the first time in the fall of 1999:
Applicants must be classified as a
junior or senior in the fall of 1999 with a cumulative
GPA of 2.50. The recipient must maintain a GPA of
2.50 per semester. The applicant will need three
letters of recommendation that will be sent along with a
letter applying for the scholarship by the first Friday
in April of each year. The UAM faculty was asked
to select a minimum of two and a maximum of five
applications which would be forwarded to the Board of
Directors by the regular quarterly meeting date, along
with a complete list of applicants. The
scholarship will be applied toward tuition and paid
directly to the school.
The first fund raising activity to
benefit the Robert C. Kirst Scholarship was on October
9, 1999 at the Monticello WalMart. Tyson Foods’
chicken cooking team was on hand to provide and cook
chicken dinners with all proceeds going toward the
scholarship fund. The UAM Agriculture Club members
assisted by selling tickets for the dinners and
distributing dinners to ticket holders. This was
to become an annual event to raise funds for the Kirst
Scholarship. Another fund raiser for the
scholarship was a raffle for a fish cooker which was
given away on June 30, 2000. The
primary activity of the alumni society in recent years
has been the annual fund raising activity held every
November immediately prior to the opening day of deer
season. The funds go to support the Kirst
Scholarship.
The second annual aggie reunion was
held July 29, 2000 at the Drew County fairgrounds in
Monticello.
Sufficient funds were available in
the Society’s treasury in the fall of 2001 to begin
awarding two $250/semester Kirst scholarships.
The goal of endowing the Robert C.
Kirst Scholarship was achieved in October 2007 when the
UAM Agriculture Alumni Society presented a check to UAM
Chancellor Jack Lassiter during the Agriculture Alumni
Reunion for that purpose.
For more information or to join the
UAM Agriculture Alumni Society contact:
| Mark Owen |
Phillip Young |
Linda Outlaw |
| Bank of Star City |
21820 Hwy 35 S |
UAM School of Agriculture |
| PO Drawer 69
|
Warren, AR 71671 |
P.O. Box 3508 |
| Star City, AR 71667 |
(870)357-2803 |
Monticello, AR 71656 |
| (870)628-4286 |
|
(870)460-1091 |
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