TEG
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2016
V V V
PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING
FAMILY OWNED SINCE 1895
V V V
‘C-A-T-A-S-T-R-O-P-H-E’
SPELLS VICTORY FOR MYRA PHILLIPS
KENDRA JOHNSON/GAZETTE
By John Robinson
Good Evening
VVV
Congratulations,
Myra!
WWW.EMPORIAGAZETTE.COM
SPECIAL
OLYMPICS
KANSAS’
FROSTY
FUNDRAISER
[email protected]
By John Robinson
It was a near-catastrophe for
Myra Phillips at the 2016 Lyon
County Spelling Bee on Wednesday, but a trio of missed opportunities from her opponents gave the
eighth-grade student from North
Lyon County Junior High School
a chance to spell out a win.
That opportunity just happened
to be spelled C-A-T-A-S-T-R-O-P-H-E.
Phillips has competed in spelling bees in the past, though she
said she’s never finished in the top
three, and didn’t put much preparation into the 2016 bee.
“I didn’t study at all,” Phillips
said. “I need to laugh at my mom
because she told me to study, and
I didn’t at all.”
[email protected]
KENDRA JOHNSON/GAZETTE
Myra Phillips of North Lyon County Junior High spells a word
while participating in the Lyon County Spelling Bee on Wednesday.
Phillips went on to be the spelling bee champion with the word
“catastrophe.”
Please see Bee, Page 3
Special Olympics Kansas is
hoping a dive in Mouse Lake will
result in a rise in funding as the
organization will host the Emporia Polar Plunge and Strut on Feb.
20.
“Our goal is to have fun and
raise money for Special Olympics,” said Lyon County Undersheriff John Koelsch, one of the
organizers for the event. “We fell
short of our fundraising goal last
year so we hope we can meet our
goal of $15,000 this year.”
The event will feature both
the plunge as well as a 5K and
one-mile strut. Participants are
required to meet a minimum $75
fee to participate in the plunge,
while the fee for the strut is $25.
Please see Plunge, Page 3
KENDRA JOHNSON/GAZETTE
Connor Kueser of Olpe Elementary School watches as other
contestants attempt to spell words during the Lyon County Spelling
Bee. Kueser earned second place in the spelling bee.
KENDRA JOHNSON/GAZETTE
Judge Becky Mayes smiles while judging the Lyon County Spelling
Bee held at Olpe Junior High.
SECOND FOUNDATION CANDIDATE MEETS WITH COMMUNITY
ESU
STUDENTS
PARTICIPATE
IN HIGHER
EDUCATION
DAY
By Jessie Wagoner
[email protected]
By Jessie Wagoner
[email protected]
Darin Kater, the second candidate for the open Emporia State
Foundation president position,
was on campus Wednesday morning. Kater spent time visiting with
ESU faculty, staff, students and
community members.
Kater, a Kansas native, is currently the senior director for development for planned giving and
university libraries at Wichita
State University. During his seven
years at WSU he has been involved
with two successful campaigns:
the in-progress $200 million
Shock the World Campaign and
the Promise for the Future Campaign. Kater previously served in
a variety of roles at Friends University over a 17-year period.
Planned giving is something
that Kater is passionate about.
He spoke about implementing the
Promise for the Future Campaign
and the positive response it received.
“We were in the middle of an
interim period where the presidents were changing and we decided we needed to do a specialized campaign in the interim,”
Kater said. “It was something that
had not been done much across
the nation to create a campaign
VOL. 124, NO. 185
KENDRA JOHNSON/GAZETTE
Darin Kater speaks during an open forum as one of three candidates for the Emporia State Foundation
president on Wednesday. Kater is the senior director for development for planned giving and
university libraries at Wichita State University.
around planned giving. So we designed what we called the Promise for the Future Campaign. Our
goal was over a two year period
of time to document another 100
planned gifts, we exceeded that
goal.”
He describes his role as one of
developing relationships. Those
relationships ultimately lead to
success.
“Every relationship that I build
is a relationship that I have built,”
Kater said. “People define success differently. It could be a $15
million gift to help build a building or it could be a $25,000 gift
for scholarships but for that person it was very very meaningful.
The way I see fundraising is it’s
not what you are giving to someone to help them give money but
what you are doing for them. It is
about allowing us to help them do
what they want and are passionate about.”
Engaging university deans and
faculty, community members, current students and alumni are all
important in maintaining giving
Kater says.
“The whole concept is more
boots on the ground,” Kater said.
“The more connections you can
make with people and relationships
you can develop is very critical.”
Continuing to develop the student foundation and encouraging
student engagement is a priority
for Kater.
“We need to include students
in the fundraising process,” Kater
said. “Introducing them to donors, engaging them in donor activities. Intentionally giving those
students that are benefiting from
the donor meet to hear the story
about how it happened, why they
give. That in turn creates a passion for them to continue the giving cycle.”
Emporia State University
students voiced their opinions
to lawmakers on Wednesday. A
group of 12 students from ESU
participated in Higher Eduction Day at the capital, advocating for two issues that are
important to higher education
students throughout the state
— medical amnesty and level
funding for higher education.
Janet Weaver, associated
student government president
at ESU, was one of the 12 students from ESU who attended
the event. The group met up
with students from other regents universities and Washburn University to p