MCC Announces Three Permanent Endowments

MCC ANNOUNCES THREE PERMANENT ENDOWMENTS

Madisonville Community College (MCC) President Dr. Judith L. Rhoads and the college s Advancement Office announce the establishment of three permanent endowments that will memorialize and pay tribute to the lives of three accomplished individuals with Hopkins County ties Dr. Lea Ann Davenport, Mrs. Gladys Martin, and C. Edwin Baker. All three endowments will have an initial minimum value of $50,000 and the Davenport and Baker Endowments will be matched by the Kentucky Community and Technical College System s Endowment Match Program that is in support of the Endow Kentucky initiative now underway across the Commonwealth.

Well-known local physician Dr. Dan Martin worked with Dr. Rhoads and MCC Advancement Director John Peters to establish the Gladys Martin Appreciation of Local Arts Endowment. The Martin Fund is designated to the Glema Mahr Center for the Arts and will be used primarily to support local theatre, the popular February dinner theater presentations, and community-related exhibits in the Anne P. Baker Gallery. In special circumstances, the Martin Endowment may also be used to support specific Humanities presentations and to assist with the Jack and Beverly Hamman Reading Series, depending on the academic year and the college s immediate program focus. Dr. Martin stated that her children and I wanted this fund in Gladys s name to reflect her life-long love of education and theater especially from a local perspective. She enjoyed many, many hours of active participation with local arts groups, and we wanted this endowment to have a local feeling and impact. Lisa Miller, Public Information Officer with the Hopkins County Health Department, an organization where Dr. Martin has been very active, stated that It was a piece of good fortune when Gladys and Dan Martin made Madisonville their home in 1965. Dr. Martin joined the Health Department in 1975; Gladys and Dan s love for community, education, arts and especially each other should be an inspiration to us all.

The Dr. Lea Ann Davenport Memorial Endowment, named for the Madisonville native who last practiced dentistry in Newburgh, Indiana, has scholarships as its main focus. The gift was made possible through a planned, insurance arrangement that Dr. Davenport s parents, Ann and Bill Davenport, completed while their daughter was in college two decades ago; Dr. Davenport died of complications from colon cancer in April 2013. The Davenport Endowment will provide two, $1,600 awards to students majoring in the math/sciences areas, including math education, pre-medicine, and pre-dentistry. A small percentage of endowment income will be used to offer professional development opportunities to associated faculty to strengthen the math and physical science classroom offerings. According to President Rhoads, Lea Ann left a legacy of educational and professional excellence. We are going to manage this endowment as a way to nurture future health care professionals and those students strong in math and science. Kentucky has a shortage of workers in these discipline areas, and the Davenport s generosity will help MCC serve academically-strong students. The small portion of Lea Ann s gift set aside to support our on-going Common Reader program, particularly in the physical sciences area, will help our 5-year plan to secure funds from the National Endowment for the Arts grant. It can also be used in partnership with the Dampier Endowment that was recently established.

The Baker Endowment, specifically the C. Edwin Baker Endowment for Progress, is named for Ed Baker and was established by his sister, Dr. Nancy Baker in summer 2012. Mr. Baker, who died unexpectedly in New York City in December 2009, was a constitutional law scholar who taught at the University of Pennsylvania School Of Law and had previously worked with MCC to establish the F.O and Ernestine Baker Diversity Endowment in honor of his parents. Dr. Baker established the new Baker Endowment to provide three, $1,400 awards to serve individuals with special needs and interests, and from special populations. Peters shared, Ed was interested in individual interests and equal opportunity. These scholarships have been established to reflect Ed s lifetime of commitment to progress, democracy, and social change and to help good students continue to live that tradition and get a good degree from MCC. Ed was always very interested in supporting his home town.

Peters followed up saying, All three endowments, though different in focus, continue to show the college s commitment to provide permanent service to families in west Kentucky. Through the arts, direct academic intervention and financial support of talented students, we keep our communities invigorated and growing; we are also honored that families like the Martins, the Bakers, and the Davenports continue to be generous, and that increases the college s ability to serve.

For complete information on the college s endowment giving and scholarship awards, contact John Peters at (270) 824-8593.