There is always something to get excited
about at the FHSU Alumni Association. Every time Tigers gather, they have a good time, and we strive to provide those opportunities as often as possible.

In July, alumni and friends will gather on the 11th in Manhattan to revisit “The Rail”. Golfers will gather for an annual tournament in Liberal on July 26 and in Goodland on July 31. Both tournaments support scholarship funds for future FHSU alumni.

Sign up today to be a part of the Tradition of FHSU – just as Twila Flowers '55, (pictured) did – and get excited about being a member of the FHSU Alumni Association. As always, the FHSU Alumni Association is here to support the Tiger community. If we can be of assistance to you at any time, please feel free to e-mail us at alumni@fhsu.edu or call our toll free number at 1-888-351-3591. Also, please check our website link at http://www.fhsu.edu/alumni for further information on the services our Alumni Association offers. Sign up today at https://www.fhsu.edu/alumni/memap.shtml.

Fort Hays State University announced recently announced the hiring of Chas Thompson ’03, as Head Wrestling Coach. Thompson becomes the 13th coach in the wrestling program's history. Thompson is pictured (center) with former wrestling coaches Bob Smith (left) and Cody Bickley '97, '00, (right).

Thompson comes to Fort Hays State from Pratt Community College, where he served as head coach for two years from 2006-2008. In his time at PCC, Thompson led the Beavers to 10th and 21st place finishes at the NJCAA National Tournament and coached two NJCAA All-Americans. Thompson is no stranger to the Fort Hays State program, where he served as an assistant coach for three years prior to becoming the head coach at Pratt Community College. Thompson was a graduate assistant coach for two years at FHSU from 2003-2005 and was a student assistant coach during the 2002-03 season. Thompson had the privilege of helping coach five NCAA Division II All-Americans as an assistant at FHSU.

Thompson wrestled for Fort Hays State University from 1999-2002. He earned a bachelor's degree in Physical Education from Fort Hays State in 2003, and is currently working towards completion of his master's degree in Sports Administration.

Elvira Dubach came to work for FHSU in
January of 1957. Hired by Nita Landrum who supervised the alumni and correspondence departments, Elvira worked for the alumni department. Nita told Elvira, "I hope you will stay longer than the last five people." The average stay for the previous hires had been one or two months due to a variety of reasons. After Mrs. Landrum's service as alumni director came Hugh Burnett, followed by Harold Stones '58, '58, Milford Messer '58, '63, Richard Burnett '50, Ron Pflughoft '70, and Sally Ward '70.

Elvira oversaw the updating of the alumni records, which were originally kept on paper cards, and then eventually IBM cards were used for mailings. While she was there, she developed the biographical files and began to read numerous newspapers to track alumni activities. FHSU had a good reputation among peer universities for accuracy in records, and Elvira once made a presentation to CASE featuring her procedures. Twenty-one years after her employment began Elvira took early retirement at the beginning of 1978. She is now the oldest living former employee of the FHSU Alumni Association and resides in Hays.

Season ticket information for 2008-09 Fort Hays State University Athletics will be distributed soon to current season ticket holders.  There will be chairback seating available in Gross Memorial Coliseum starting this year on the lower level.  Reserved Lower Level and Reserved Upper Level ticket packages will be available.  Alumni Association members qualify for a ten percent discount. If you are not a current season ticket holder and would like more information, check the athletics website at www.fhsuathletics.com, or call (785) 628-4050.

Fort Hays State University Alumni and Friends – it’s time to “Let the Games Begin,” FHSU style! Sponsored by the FHSU Alumni Association, Homecoming Weekend is a celebration for all FHSU alumni and friends including the honored classes of 1948, 1958, 0-10yrs, including K-Club, Nursing #4, Cheerleaders and Baseball reunions. This annual weekend celebration is a perfect time for the Tiger community to gather and relive old memories. Visit campus and join us for football, Oktoberfest, reunions, banquets, dances and more.

Special congratulations are extended to the 2008 award recipients: Alumni Achievement Award: Rick D. Kellerman, M.D., ’75, Chair, Dept. of Family & Community Medicine, KU School of Medicine, Wichita; Stephen H. Scheck, Ph.D., ’75, Dean, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Western Oregon University, Monmouth, Ore.; and Rick L. Smalley, ’71, '73, Chief Executive Officer, Dickinson Financial Corporation, Kansas City, Mo. Honored with the Young Alumni Award is Simin Marefat, ’95, registered nurse, Intensive Cardiac Care Unit, University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco, Calif.

The Nita M. Landrum Award will be presented to Edward H. Stehno Ph.D. retired professor of Education Administration & Counseling, Fort Hays State University, Hays; and the Distinguished Service Award to Earl D. Merkel, M.D., ’53, Family Physician, Russell Regional Hospital Physicians Clinic, Russell.

Why wait until next spring to feast and have fun when “Let the Games Begin” is happening on campus September 25-28 and will give you and your family and friends something to celebrate!

Fort Hays State University’s Alumni Association Board of Directors recently announced the 2008-2009 Executive Council. Brian DeWitt '89, Hays, was selected as president of the FHSU Alumni Association Board of Directors and ex-officio member of the FHSU Foundation Board of Trustees. He works as a Certified Public Accountant for Adams, Brown, Beran, and Ball, Chtd. Bonnie Lowe '83, Lawrence, will serve as past-president of the Board having completed a two-year presidency. Lowe is the Market President of Landmark National Bank in Lawrence.

Brenda Herrman '00, Hays, currently serveing as the director of public works for the City of Hays, has been selected to serve a second year as the Awards and Recognition committee chair. Dennis Spratt '71, Lawrence, has been named the Finance and Operations Committee chair. He is president and founder of SPRATT Wealth Management Group, Inc., a wealth and investment advisory business. Stacy Kohlmeier '84, Manhattan, currently employed as business development director for Florence Manufacturing Company in Manhattan, has been selected to serve as the chair of the Membership Marketing committee.

New to the Board is Karen McCullough '02, '04, Hays, who has been selected to serve a three-year faculty appointment term. McCullough is the assistant director of the FHSU International and Disability Student Services (Higher Education). The Board of Directors is an 18-member governing board that sets the policy and direction of the FHSU Alumni Association in developing life-long relationships between the university and its alumni and friends. For further information, visit www.fhsu.edu/alumni, e-mail alumni@fhsu.edu, call (785) 628-4430 or toll-free 1-888-351-3591.

Hey Tigers!  If you would like to see some fast
video sports action from Tigerland, go to the Athletic Department web site, www.fhsuathletics.com and click on the icon on the right hand side of the page. You will want to watch the video two or three times because it moves so quickly you will miss something the first time you view it. If you like what you see, e-mail blowen@fhsu.edu and tell him so. And remember, "Once a Tiger, Always a Tiger."

Click here if you can’t wait to see the video, http://www.fhsu.edu/athletics/montage/

If you are looking to ways to contribute to FHSU - but not necessarily through athletics - check out the new and improved Foundation web site at http://www.foundation.fhsu.edu.

On Sunday, July 20, Dr. Earl Merkel ’53, will be
hosting a reception to thank the Russell community for the warm welcome he received 50 years ago and for the loyalty and support during those fifty years. This thank you is for the community, patients, family, friends, allied health personnel, Russell Regional Hospital Administration and staff. Dr. Merkel will be assisted by his wife, Kathy, and the Russell Regional Hospital and Ladies Auxiliary. Light refreshments will be served from 1 to 4 p.m. at a “come and go” gathering at the Russell Elks Lodge.

The 2008 Kansas Notable Book List has been released. Fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books all populate the list, which is considered to contain the best of the books published by Kansas authors or about Kansas in the preceding year. The Kansas Notable Book List, a project of the Kansas Center for the Book (KCFB) at the State Library of Kansas, is an annual selection of 15 titles of books written by Kansans or about Kansas published in the previous year. Kansas is only one of two states that choose to promote their authors and stories in such a manner.

At number 13 on the list is Sea Monsters: Prehistoric Creatures of the Deep, by Michael J. Everhart. As curator of paleontology at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History at Fort Hays State University, Michael Everhart plunges readers into the Late Cretaceous oceans of 80 million years ago. This official companion book to the National Geographic film, “Sea Monsters,” explores the relatively unknown world of the monstrous marine reptiles that lived underwater during the same time as dinosaurs roamed the land. The book presents additional information on the sea monsters depicted in the film, the world they lived in, the paleontologists who first discovered and studied their fossils, why the monsters disappeared and the story behind the making of the movie.

The 2008 Kansas Youth Leadership Academy
summer camps were a huge success! The middle school camp took place June 4-6, and the high school camp was held June 17-20 on the Fort Hays State University campus. KYLA’s mission is to encourage the development of new ideas regarding civic leadership in the emerging leaders of tomorrow. Students from all over the state of Kansas were encouraged to build their leadership skills through hands-on academic sessions, fun teambuilding activities, and the ropes course on campus.

Service projects provided students with a service-learning approach to civic involvement. The middle school students assisted with the preparation for the annual Hays Relay for Life. High school students traveled to Greensburg to help with the continuing clean-up and rebuilding efforts from last summer's F5 tornado. In order to interact with community members, KYLA hosted a community barbeque, and various residents engaged in a panel discussion. The students came back to Hays with a better understanding of the importance of community involvement, and the difference that can be made by volunteers. The KYLA summer camps helped prepare students for challenges in the future.

The Diversity Awareness Committee has
worked in cooperation with the FHSU Garden City Higher Education Center, Admissions Office, Social Work Department and other campus organizations to recruit nearly 50 Camp College attendees, who were on campus from June 9-11. The campers ranged from high school sophomores to seniors, and came from targeted school districts in southwest Kansas.  These students participated in a 3 day, 2 night “total college experience," living in Wiest Hall and attended college interest sessions and college preparatory sessions throughout the day.

One of the goals of Camp College was the encouragement of Faculty and Staff to work together to improve the University’s image in the target market of southwest Kansas. 

At a banquet in Dallas on June 4, Fort Hays State University's Information Assurance Curriculum was certified by the Committee on National Security Systems for its 4011 and 4013E standards. Such certification is an elite form of accreditation for Information Assurance Education. Presenting the certificate was David Wennergren (left), Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Information Management and Technology and DOD Deputy Chief Information Officer. Receiving the award was Dr. Mark Bannister ‘85, (center) Chair, Department of Information Networking and Telecommunications and Dr. Keyu Jiang, (right) Assistant Professor of Information Assurance.

ABC-TV's "Prime Time Crime" news program featured the work of Mel Hanks, an assistant professor of information networking and telecommunications at Fort Hays State University, in a one-hour special network presentation June 25.

The show featured the repercussions of Hanks' 1989 television investigative report in Arkansas concerning the mysterious death of 15-year-old Janie Ward near Marshall, Ark., during a party in a remote cabin in the Ozarks. The Arkansas medical examiner at the time ruled that Ward died of a broken neck as a result of an accidental fall off a small porch. Hanks, who was an investigative reporter for a Little Rock television station, was the only broadcast journalist at the time who probed the possibility that Ward may have been murdered. The ABC News special was broadcast locally on the network's Wichita affiliate, KAKE-TV.