2007 Press Release text

Construction workers worked tirelessly throughout the summer to have the new Bulliner-Clayton Visual Arts Center ready for the students’ return to class. While students have enjoyed the new building, since the first day of classes, the opening ceremony is scheduled for September 24.

“It has been fun having class in the new building during the final stages of construction because there is something new every time I go to class!” said Jessica Wise, a junior art major. “It’s really exciting to have a building specifically for art classes! It makes everything so much easier when your classes are all in one place rather than spread out over the entire campus.”

The Bulliner-Clayton Visual Arts Center is an 11,550-square-foot building. It includes classrooms specifically designed for printmaking, painting, drawing, and graphic arts instruction. Other areas in the building are equipped for film development and printing, woodwork, and sculpture. Also, a state-of-the-art show gallery is available to students, faculty and visiting artists for the display of artwork.

We owe a great deal of gratitude to Dr. Jim and Kay Clayton,” said Dr. Milton Sewell, president of Freed-Hardeman University. “We are so thankful for their generosity to the prospective students of West Tennessee and the current students of Freed-Hardeman while honoring two very special icons in the community, Jack and Patsi Bulliner.”

The new facility will bring a whole new dimension to the Henderson community. An exhibit of famous pieces of art by many celebrated artists including Picasso, Renoir and Dali is planned for September 24 through October 26. The exhibit will be open to all university students, faculty and staff as well as members of the community.

“The new facility is a dream come true for our art faculty and students. We now have a building that matches the standards of a premier university,” said Dr. Sam Jones, FHU’s Vice President of Academics. “The building will allow our art students to be taught in a technology enhanced, first-class art facility.”

“In the past, art students had to create their projects in their dorm room or apartment, and because artists tend to be messy and listen to noisy music while they are working it was difficult for our art majors students to feel like they had a place where they could be really creative and expressive with their art,” explained Dr. Barbara England, the chair of the FHU Department of Fine Arts. “The new Bulliner-Clayton arts center will allow art students to work without feeling like they are disturbing anyone. We’ve never had that before.”

The Bulliner-Clayton Visual Arts Center will also serve aspiring teachers as well as children in the community. FHU hosts after-school and summer art programs for local school children every year. The new visual arts center includes a children’s art lab that is designed specifically for these purposes. It is equipped with small desks, low countertops and cork wall areas for displaying children’s artwork. As the children of the community take advantage of the special lab, FHU education majors will use the opportunity to better learn how to instruct children in the discipline of art.

The visual arts center is one of several capital goals of FHU’s $80 million Beyond Believe Campaign. Other goals include a new library, a renovation and expansion to the university’s Associates Science Center and several building and renovation projects for student living .

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FHU's Brown Bag Lunch Concerts-A Cultural Experience
“Our Brown Bag Lunch Concert Series has brought many famous musicians to the Henderson community over the past five years,” said Dr. Richard England, a music professor at FHU. “We have hosted performers from all over the world, musicians who have worked with Grammy award winning artists and singers who have performed at Carnegie Hall. We have even had members of Carl Perkins’s family speak about his music and his career.”

The Brown Bag Lunch Concert Series has been a great success for the FHU Music Department. The average attendance of the concerts has grown from about 15 people per show to over 100 in only five years. The concert series began as a way to expose FHU students and faculty as well as members of the surrounding community to different forms of music. The concerts are very informal and laid back; people are encouraged to bring their lunch, relax and just enjoy the music.

Next week, the University is hosting its annual Fine Arts Week. As a part of Fine Arts Week the Music Department’s monthly Brown Bag Lunch Concert will take place on Tuesday, September 25 at 12:00 p.m. in Chapel Hall in the Old Main Administration Building on FHU’s campus. The concert will feature the Konstantin Zhigulin Music Ensemble. The ensemble will be performing a number of spiritual songs composed by Zhigulin himself. Zhigulin is a member of the Church of Christ in St. Petersburg, Russia who has been composing spiritual songs based on the Psalms and other Scriptures since he was a young man.

Throughout 1995 and 1996 Zhigulin and his wife worked to form an a cappella singing group that could travel to churches to teach his hymns and perform at various evangelistic outreach efforts around the former Soviet Union. Several of Zhigulin’s hymns have since been translated into English. During the past year the current ensemble traveled extensively in the United States introducing Zhigulin’s music to American churches. During their time in the United States they have recorded many of Zhigulin’s hymns in English and have performed for various congregations, lectureships, and seminars.

Everyone is invited to attend the ensemble’s concert at FHU next week. A limited number of box lunches will be available for sale at the door. There is no admission charge.

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FHU Names New Trustee
Freed-Hardeman University has added a new member to its board of trustees, FHU president Dr. Milton Sewell announced. James Rand Shaw of Belleville, Ill. was recently added as the newest member to the FHU Board of Trustees.

“The university is pleased to have Mr. Shaw serving on the board. I look forward to working with him, and know he will do an excellent job supporting the university and its mission,” said Sewell.

FHU now has 39 members on its board of trustees.

Shaw, who attended FHU from 1966 to 1968, is the owner and CEO of the Shaw Management Corporation/Benefit Protection Group in Belleville, Ill. Shaw completed his B.A. at Harding University in Searcy, Ark. and his M.A. at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Mo. He is a member of the National Association of Disability Representatives and has served as the organization’s vice president from 2000 to 2004 and president from 2004 to 2006. Shaw has also been a member of the American Disability Representation Specialists Association and currently participates in the National Association of Disability Examiners and Mensa International.

Shaw and his family are members of the Fairview Heights Church of Christ in Fairview, Ill. where he serves as an elder and a teacher.

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FHU to Celebrate Fine Arts Week
Art, music, and theatre will be the theme at Freed-Hardeman University during the week of September 24-27 as students, faculty and staff celebrate Fine Arts Week. The annual celebration of the arts is hosted by the FHU Department of Fine Arts during the fall semester each year. “The main purpose of Fine Arts Week is to celebrate the arts, make students aware of the arts and the different art programs on our campus and to bring art and culture-related events to the community,” said Barbara England, the chairwoman of FHU’s Department of Fine Arts.

The University will kick-off Fine Arts Week on Monday during FHU’s daily chapel service by honoring Jim and Kay Clayton with a recognition for service award for their donation of $1 million to FHU’s new Bulliner-Clayton Visual Arts Center. The official opening ceremony of the new arts center will take place immediately following chapel.

FHU’s arts center will also play host to Tom and Judy Duncan’s collection of classic art. The couple has been collecting art since the early 1970s. “The majority of the collection consists of pieces created by high modernist artists, although some pieces date as far back as the 19th century,” said Warren Greene, an FHU art professor. Whistler, Renoir, Dali, Braque and Duchamp are a few of the famous artists whose work will be featured in the exhibit at FHU. The collection will be available for viewing at FHU September 24 through October 26.

Visual art is not the only art form that will be celebrated during Fine Arts Week. FHU’s music and theatre departments will also have a chance to showcase their talents during the week.

FHU’s monthly Brown Bag Lunch Concert Series will host Konstantin Zhigulin’s Music Ensemble on Tuesday at 12:00 p.m. in Chapel Hall in the Old Main Administration Building. Konstantin Zhigulin is a member of the Church of Christ in St. Petersburg, Russia; his four person acapela ensemble performs original songs based on the Psalms and other Scriptures. Everyone is invited to bring lunch and attend the concert. There is no admission charge.

The week will conclude with a presentation by FHU alumna, Sherie Evans. Evans is a 2002 theatre graduate who has been working as a professional actress in Chicago for the past few years. She is planning to move to Los Angeles in the near future to begin her film career.

For more information on FHU’s Fine Arts Week, contact Dr. Barbara England at 731-989-6089 or blengland@fhu.edu.

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FHU to Exhibit Famous Art Collection
Picasso, Whistler, Renoir, Dali, Braque and Duchamp. Sound familiar? These are the names of some of the world’s most celebrated artists, and they are the names of the artists that created the artwork in the collection that will be displayed in Freed-Hardeman University’s Bulliner-Clayton Visual Arts Center September 24 through October 26.

Tom and Judy Duncan, owners of this prestigious collection, have been collecting art for over 35 years, but they have never put their collection on public display. The exhibit at FHU will mark the first time the public has been able to see these pieces of art by Picasso, Whistler, Renoir, Dali, Braque, and Duchamp on display in a single place.

“The majority of the collection consists of pieces created by high modernist artists, although some pieces date as far back as the 19th century. The collection also has art from a variety of mediums including painting, drawing and printmaking,” said Warren Greene, an FHU art professor.

The Duncans have been collecting regional and international art since their marriage in 1964. Art sources include artists, galleries, traveling exhibitions and Sotheby’s auctions. The collection spans from the early 19th century to the 21st century. Oil paintings, aquatints, etchings, sculpture, lithographs and a 23-carat gold painted embossing will be featured in the FHU gallery.

Judy Duncan is an alumna of Peabody University where she earned a degree in biology. Dr. Duncan, a native of Linden, Tennessee, is Fellow Emeritus of the American College of Radiology, a Vanderbilt mathematics alumnus and VU Clinical Professor of Radiology (retired) with an MD degree from the University of Tennessee Center for the Health Sciences. He completed his internship at New York City’s Kings County Hospital and his radiology residency at Vanderbilt. An AIP certified parliamentarian for the American Institute of Parliamentarians (AIP), he is a writer and literary critic for the Parliamentary Journal. Dr. Duncan is former vice-president for education and board member of Nashville Opera and former board member of Lipscomb University, Columbia Academy, Christian Academy of Greater St. Louis and the City of Brentwood Park Board.

The exhibit will be open to all university students, faculty and staff as well as members of the community. Gallery hours are 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday or by appointment. Admission is free.

For more information contact Warren Greene or Barbara England at 731-989-6000.

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Jim Edmonds Appointed to Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence Board of Examiners
FHU business professor James Edmonds, J.D., has taken on a new responsibility this year. In addition to teaching various business law classes on the undergraduate and graduate levels at the University, Edmonds will be playing an integral role in the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence Award Program. Edmonds was appointed to the 2007 Board of Examiners by the TNCPE Board of Directors.

Established in 1993, TNCPE promotes economic development by helping companies grow to be more competitive in today’s global marketplace. Every year the TNCPE Award Program recognizes organizations demonstrating excellence in business operations and results. More than 1,000 organizations have participated in the program. TNCPE patterns its award program after the Baldrige National Quality Program, which is recognized as the national standard.

“TNCPE is all about continuous improvement. Its purpose is to assist organizations of all types to improve,” explained Edmonds. “Becoming involved with TNCPE allows one to assist others in their improvement areas while gaining valuable professional development experience.”

As an examiner, Edmonds is responsible for reviewing and evaluating applications submitted in the award process. The Board of Examiners is composed of experts from all sectors, including business, industry, education and health care organizations, professional and trade associations and government. Those selected meet the highest standards of achievement and peer recognition in their fields. All members of the board must complete extensive training in the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence.

“Both the University and the School of Business are accredited by organizations that utilize Baldrige-like criteria employed by TNCPE. Becoming more proficient in the use of these criteria will help me in my work at FHU,” said Edmonds.

Edmonds has been a professor at FHU since 1981, and has taught full-time in the School of Business since 1983.

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FHU Joins the Environmental Protection and Personal Property Rights Debate
The staff at Freed-Hardeman University’s Research Center has decided to join the discussion on the current issue of environmental protection and personal property rights. The Research Center staff will host a seminar entitled “Environmental Protection and Personal Property Rights: Extreme, Ignorant, or Entitled?” next Tuesday on FHU’s campus.

“The goal of the seminar is to get students to think about the environment outside of their environmental science classes and to inform members of the community about current environmental issues,” said Kathleen Richard, the Assistant Director of the FHU Research Center.

The seminar will be conducted by a panel of professionals who hold different views on the subject. Panel members will include Vaughn Cassidy, West Tennessee environmental coordinator, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Jay Smith, Tennessee Forestry Association, Brian Butterfield, associate professor and chair of the Freed-Hardeman University biology department and Dr. Dwayne Wilson, Executive Vice President of Freed-Hardeman University and former dean of the school of business.

The panel members will discuss their opinions on a number of subjects including: the number of landowner restrictions that can be permitted before the term “land ownership” becomes void of meaning; the willingness of rainforest demolition opponents to relinquish personal property rights for an endangered, threatened or protected species on their own land; methods for quantifying the unique value of a specific plant or wildlife species; and the consideration of such value when determining what protections a landowner should extend.

The seminar will be held on Tuesday, September 18 in Ayers Auditorium. Ayers Auditorium is located on the first floor of the Brown-Kopel Business Building. The seminar will begin at 6:30 p.m. and is expected to end at 8:00 p.m. Everyone is invited.

For more information contact Kathleen Richard at 731-983-3560 or krichard@fhu.edu.

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Keith Smith to Serve as TSAE President
Freed-Hardeman University accounting professor Keith Smith, C.P.A., will be able to add a new title to his resume this fall. On September 28 he will be inaugurated as the 2007-08 president of the Tennessee Society of Accounting Educators at the annual meeting in Brentwood, Tennessee.

“The Tennessee Society of Accounting Educators involves accounting teachers at two and four year educational institutions in the state of Tennessee,” explained Smith. “Its purpose is to improve accounting instruction for accounting majors, business majors and all other students who are interested in the field through the sharing of ideas and methods.”

As president, Smith will work with the program director, president elect and other TSAE officers to plan next year’s meeting and facilitate the continuation of the professional education program.

Smith is no novice when it comes to leading and participating in professional clubs. He has been an active member of TSAE since 2001. He served one term as the program’s director and one term as the president elect. Smith is also a member of the Tennessee and Arkansas Societies of Certified Public Accountants. He served a two-year term as treasurer of the Arkansas Society of CPAs.

“I like to be professionally involved,” said Smith. “It gives me the opportunity to serve and learn from others.”

Smith taught at Arkansas State University for 16 years in addition to his 17-year accounting education career at FHU.

TBEA, with about 200 members, is an organization for business teachers on the middle school, high school and collegiate levels. The organization is affiliated with the Southern Business Education Association and the National Business Education Association.

Johnson, who has been a TBEA member since 1979, has served several times as the association’s West Tennessee board representative, twice as treasurer and last year as president elect.

As president, she will serve as the state representative at regional and national meetings, will head up the TBEA board meetings, will set the board agenda for the 2007-08 year and will facilitate the 2008 TBEA conference.

Johnson has taught at FHU since 1979.

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FHU Jumps 18 Places in U.S. News Rankings, Top 13 in Best Value

“This is an excellent reflection of Freed-Hardeman’s commitment to academic excellence and overall quality,” said Dr. Milton Sewell, FHU president. “It is an honor to be included among such excellent Southern universities. Students who choose Freed-Hardeman can know they are choosing an education of high quality and value.”

The university was also ranked 13th among Southern regional universities for best value.

“It is important to the mission of our university that we provide an outstanding education, one of value and distinctiveness, while also keeping in mind the cost of that education. Because of that, we froze all costs on campus for the 2007-08 school year,” Sewell said.

Of 119 schools in the Southern region, FHU was the only school in Tennessee to be ranked as a best value. In addition to this ranking, FHU has ensured that costs will not increase for the 2008 rankings.

“We are striving to provide new programs that are unique while still maintaining a level of excellence among our traditional programs,” said Dr. Dwayne Wilson, executive vice president of FHU.

This can be seen in the School of Business and the School of Sciences and Mathematics at FHU. While traditional classes are taught in the School of Business, the faculty and friends of FHU have provided additional opportunities for students that make their program unique and superior. One opportunity specifically allows students to manage a “real” $1 million investment portfolio. Dubbed the Clayton Investment Analysts, this group of students has an opportunity to invest real money for Dr. Jim Clayton, friend of the university.

“That’s actually how it is done in the real world,” said Ken Moran, a finance professor and advisor to the analyst team. “It’s nice for students who work in this program to say on their first interview, 'Oh, and by the way, I’ve helped manage a $1 million investment portfolio.'”

The School of Sciences and Mathematics also provides unique opportunities at FHU. Through FHU's Research Center, students are provided outside-the-class opportunities to participate in undergraduate research. Some of the research includes the study of characteristics of bats, exotic amphibians, risk analysis of ovarian cancer, fluctuating water tables in West Tennessee and how major highway construction affects wetlands.

“This provides the student an opportunity to 'do' science as opposed to just talking about science in the classroom,” said Dr. LeAnn Self-Davis, director of the Research Center. “I also think from a university standpoint, a lot of universities our size do not have the commitment from the administration and faculty to have a research center. I think that says something about Freed-Hardeman and our commitment to excellence and our commitment to our students. Our university is trying to make sure students benefit as much if not more than the faculty when research is being conducted.”

“I think these new programs and the promotion of these new programs, combined with our focus on keeping costs as low as possible, have been noticed and are a part of the reason for our surge in the rankings," Sewell said. "I hope our commitment to these programs and our value will continue to make our university a stronger academic institution within this region and in our nation."

To arrive at the rankings, U.S. News evaluates colleges and universities nationwide, noting their standings in terms of student-to-faculty ratio, class sizes, freshman retention, graduation rates, financial resources, academic reputation and other areas.

The U.S. News rankings are available at www.usnews.com/colleges beginning Aug. 17.

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