Monumental Grant Funds Hendrix Odyssey Student Program
CONWAY, Ark. (June 19, 2007)
The Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation has awarded Hendrix College a $2.3 million grant, a challenge gift to endow the Walker Odyssey Scholars Program that provides Hendrix students with significant and life-building engaged learning experiences.
The endowment will expand in perpetuity the college’s already successful Walker Odyssey Scholars Program, previously funded through two grants from the foundation totaling $300,000.
Last year, more than 100 Hendrix students were selected as Walker Odyssey Scholars, choosing to develop ambitious, outside-the-classroom projects through the college’s Odyssey program. These students participated in various one-of-a-kind projects – from the converting of an aquarium in the college’s life sciences building into a coral reef ecosystem and rebuilding a gas kiln for the art department’s ceramics studio – to numerous community-related projects, including the development of the “Sumer Stories” arts program for central Arkansas children, to international travel experiences such as studying Aboriginal culture first-hand in the Australian Outback.
“This gift is monumental to Hendrix and will ensure our students will continue to receive the rewarding and captivating educational experiences synonymous with the Walker Odyssey Scholars program,” Hendrix College President J. Timothy Cloyd said. “We are very appreciative of the Walker Family and their partnership with this renowned engaged learning program.”
Debbie Walker, the executive director of the Walker Charitable Foundation, credited Hendrix for its commitment to the Odyssey program.
“Hendrix’s Odyssey program is a challenging and enriching academic program that has successfully broadened the academic lives of numerous Hendrix College students,” she said. “We are proud to be partners in this engaged learning program and excited to deepen our relationship with the Hendrix community through this challenge grant.”
ABOUT HENDRIX’S ODYSSEY PROGRAM: The Hendrix Odyssey Program, established in 2004, requires Hendrix students to complete three Odyssey experiences during their undergraduate career in areas selected from six categories: Artistic creativity, global awareness, professional and leadership development, service to the world, undergraduate research and special projects. For more information, go to: http://www.hendrix.edu/odyssey/. The grant will ensure hundreds of Hendrix students will continue to participate in this program for decades to come.
ABOUT THE GRANT: The $2.3 million Walker Charitable Foundation grant includes $2 million to be designated as a 1:2 challenge grant, payable over six years. Every $2 received by Hendrix from other donors toward the Odyssey Scholarship Endowment will be matched by $1 from the Walker Charitable Foundation, up to $2 million. The additional $300,000 received through the grant will fund Walker Odyssey Scholars through the 2008-09 school year.
“The Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation’s support of the Hendrix Odyssey program is a ringing endorsement of the role that the Odyssey Program plays in enriching the educational experience and lives of our students and preparing them to be leaders and agents of change in their communities and in the world,” said Rock Jones, executive vice president and dean of advancement at Hendrix. “The Walker Odyssey Challenge is a tremendous opportunity for the College to ensure that this vital program will continue to serve students at Hendrix for years to come.”
WALKER ODYSSEY SCHOLARS – IN PERSON: Walker Odyssey Scholars have developed and completed numerous enriching and thought-provoking projects locally and throughout the world, including:
T.C. Elliott, who plans a career as an emergency room physician, designed a service project to work in a medial clinic in a small village in Mexico. T.C. is now serving as a critical resource for another pre-med student at Hendrix who is developing plans to work in a medical clinic in a different part of the country. These experiences not only shape the students’ future careers in a challenging way, but provide a charitable service to a country in need of medial volunteers.
Kevin DeStefano, participated in a project titled “How the World’s Game Affects the World,” studying “the darker side” of soccer – the bitter rivalries that inspire hatred, violence, riots and racial tension. To get a broader understanding of the sport, Kevin interviewed fans, staff, players and coaches from some of the biggest soccer teams in the world at the 2006 World Cup games in Germany. With fellow student Arzhang Salashoor, he will create a documentary showing what he discovered.
Becky Revoal studied Aboriginal culture at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and supplemented her classroom experience with a cultural tour to the Outback. On her Aboriginal-led tour, she learned about elements of their culture such as music, oral traditions and the Dreamtime. She had a rare opportunity as an outsider to gain firsthand knowledge about the Aboriginals, particularly in the role music plays in the preservation of traditional Aboriginal culture.
Hendrix Professor Susan Clark created “Summer Stories,” an interdisciplinary program based in Conway that intertwined literature and story telling with illustration, mask making and theatrical presentation. The children developed their own stories and collaborated with each other to create larger narratives. They also illustrated their stories and developed the narratives into plays.
Randi Proffitt, who is minoring in Spanish, traveled to El Salvador to teach English in the public schools to underprivileged and abused children. She also taught in an orphanage while living with a host family. A psychology major who hopes to be a clinical psychologist, Proffitt plans to devote her career to reaching out to the Spanish-speaking community. Her project combines her two main interests: helping children in need and improving her own language skills for the future.
Hendrix, founded in 1876, is a selective, residential, undergraduate liberal arts college that emphasizes experiential learning in a demanding yet supportive environment. The college has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.
