CONWAY, Ark. (Jan. 23, 2009) – Hendrix alumni Dr. Rex and Johnnie Amonette of Memphis, Tenn., have pledged a $50,000 challenge grant to the college’s Annual Fund. The grant will match all new or increased gifts up to $50,000 to the Annual Fund before May 31.

The Hendrix Annual Fund includes the college's Alumni Loyalty Fund and Parent Fund.  Gifts given to the fund provide student scholarships, financial aid, library resources and other student needs.

The Amonettes said they issued the challenge because of the difference Hendrix made in their lives.

“Our experiences at Hendrix were extraordinary for so many reasons: the excellent education we received, along with the close, interactive student-faculty relationships; the special friendships we developed; the opportunity to explore our individuality; and the confidence we gained in realizing there was nothing we could not do. Hendrix College fulfills its mission, and it is accomplished…..day after day, year after year, decade after decade,” the couple said.

The gift will help meet the college’s $2.1 million goal for the Annual Fund this year, according to Leigh Lassiter-Counts, Hendrix’s Director of Annual Giving and a 2001 graduate of the college.

“We are so grateful to the Amonettes for this challenge.  With the current economic situation, now more than ever gifts from alumni, parents and friends are vital,” Lassiter-Counts said. “With the Amonette challenge matching all new and increased gifts, donors can double the impact of their gifts and help our students even more.”

More than 1,500 Hendrix alumni have already made their Annual Fund gifts to the college.

Hendrix, founded in 1876, is a selective, residential, undergraduate liberal arts college emphasizing experiential learning in a demanding yet supportive environment. The college is among 165 colleges featured in the 2009 edition of the Princeton Review America’s Best Value Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.