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TWU
announces Patsy and Fred Patterson and Denton LULAC Council
#4366 as 2008 Founders’ Award recipients
2/18/08
DENTON —
Patsy and Fred Patterson of Denton and the Denton LULAC Council
#4366 will be honored for their exceptional service to the
community and to Texas Woman’s University as the 2008
TWU Founders’ Awards recipients.
The awards will
be presented at the annual TWU Founders’ Day Award Scholarship
Luncheon to be held at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, April 3 in Hubbard
Hall on TWU’s Denton campus.
Tickets for the
event are $30 per person. Patron seats are available for $75.
Benefactor tables for eight are available for $600. For information
on sponsorship opportunities, contact Patrice Benfield Frisby
at (940) 898-3867. Invitations to the event will be mailed
in early March, and reservations are required by Friday, March
28.
“The university is fortunate to have partners such as
the Pattersons and Denton LULAC join us in our mission of
educating the state’s future leaders,” TWU Chancellor
Ann Stuart said.
Proceeds from the luncheon benefit the TWU Chancellor’s
Endowed Scholarships, which are the most prestigious scholarships
awarded by the university. Established by Chancellor Stuart
and other donors in 2000, these scholarships are the largest
awarded by TWU, and the only academic scholarships that offer
a stipend to recipients in addition to paying tuition and
fees. They are awarded to TWU students on the basis of outstanding
academic achievement, leadership and service in school and
community activities.
Shirley Cothran Barret, Ph.D., Miss America 1975 and a TWU
alumna, will be the keynote speaker at the luncheon. A Denton
native, Dr. Barret has more than 20 years of motivational
speaking experience to civic groups, national corporations,
educational organizations, churches, conventions and other
groups.
With a more than 50-year history of community activism in
Denton, Patsy and Fred Patterson have established themselves
as committed leaders in promoting the city, its events and
organizations, and its universities.
“It is completely humbling and unexpected to be honored
with this award,” Mrs. Patterson said. “We help
TWU because we are committed to helping education and Denton,
and TWU is very important to both.”
The Pattersons have been ardent supporters of TWU, contributing
to university athletics, the construction of the new Redbud
Theater Complex and, most recently, the TWU Redbud Revitalization
Campaign.
Mrs. Patterson, whose family once lived on Locust Street across
from TWU, remembered when the university was covered with
redbud trees. Mr. Patterson spoke about the redbuds to Chancellor
Stuart at dinner one evening, which led to the campaign to
bring more of the trees back to campus. To date, TWU has raised
$54,500 to add 438 redbud trees to the Denton campus over
the next two years. The first 225 trees were planted at TWU
in fall 2007.
The Pattersons have had leadership roles with several Denton
community organizations, including the Denton Chamber of Commerce,
the Greater Denton Arts Council, the Denton Community Theatre,
the Campus Theatre renovation, the Denton Benefit League,
the United Way of Denton County, the Denton County Historical
Commission, the Denton Public School Foundation, the University
of North Texas and St. Andrew Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Patterson is publisher emeritus of the Denton Record-Chronicle
.
The Denton LULAC Council #4366 was established in 1981 under
the leadership of charter president Frank Davila and 10 other
Denton community leaders. Today members serve on a number
of Denton boards and committees, including the Cinco de Mayo,
Cena en el Barrio and Fiesta on the Square celebrations and
the Denton Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
For more than five years, the Denton LULAC Council #4366 has
partnered with TWU to award scholarships to deserving Hispanic
students. Since 2002, the organization has awarded scholarships
to 13 Hispanic students at TWU.
“The Denton LULAC Council sees the education of Hispanic
youth as vital to our future,” said Dorothy Martinez,
president of the Denton LULAC Council #4366. “We remain
committed to working with TWU to promote higher education
among Hispanic students.”
TWU’s Hispanic enrollment is 14 percent, one of the
highest percentages in Texas.
The first Founders’ Awards were presented in 1998 to
honor organizations and individuals who have supported TWU.
TWU celebrates Founders’ Day to commemorate the date
the university was established by the state of Texas, April
6, 1901. TWU, the TWU Foundation and the TWU Former Students
Association host the annual TWU Founders’ Day Award
Scholarship Luncheon.
###
Media
Contact:
Amanda Simpson
Director of News and Information
Tel: (940) 898-3456
e-mail: asimpson1@twu.edu |
