ISSUED: 10 May 2019
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — The Shepherd University Foundation welcomed new members into the Joseph P. McMurran Society at the organization’s annual dinner reception on May 4. Hosted by President Mary J.C. Hendrix and sponsored by the Shepherd University Foundation, the annual event brings together society members and their guests, along with Shepherd faculty and administrators, to honor those who have chosen to share their lifelong financial achievements with the university through estate and other planned gifts.
Held in the atrium of Erma Ora Byrd Hall, the event featured a four-course dinner prepared by Chartwells, which operates catering on campus. During a brief program prior to the meal, Monica Lingenfelter, executive vice president of the Shepherd University Foundation, spoke about the value of planned gifts.
“We recognize and appreciate what an honor it is for our members to designate a portion of their material assets earned over a lifetime to make a gift to Shepherd University and to invest in the education of students they will never know,” she said. “That is a very special kind of legacy.”
Foundation president Christopher S. Colbert then welcomed 12 new members into the Joseph P. McMurran Society. They included Dennis Barron, Walter and Mary Jo Brown, Donald and Lynne Cosner, Lyndsey Matschat, Susan Mills, Dr. Joseph J. III and Robin L. Renn, Cynthia Smailes-Rybak, and Raymond and Phyllis Smock. Each new member was presented with a commemorative gift featuring a framed medallion with personalized nameplate. New members who were unable to attend the event include Chris and Sherri Janelle, Glenn and Barbara Patterson, and Paul and Pattie Wilmoth.
Following the program, there was a performance by Shepherd music majors Kyle Colliflower, Frederick, Maryland, and Matthew Gray, Magnolia, Delaware, accompanied by Dr. Yu-Hsuan Liao, associate professor of music. Colliflower is a Foundation scholar who received the Walker H. Shipley Music Scholarship and the William and Jo Ann Knode Scholarship.
Recognized as the first president of Shepherd, Joseph McMurran set standards of academic excellence that inspired him to make personal financial gifts in order to keep the college operating. Through his dedication to Shepherd, McMurran began a tradition of philanthropy which is carried on today by the society’s members.
To learn more about establishing a planned gift through the Shepherd University Foundation, contact Monica Lingenfelter, Shepherd University Foundation, P.O. Box 5000, Shepherdstown, WV, 25443-5000; 304-876-5397; mlingenf@shepherd.edu; or visit https://shepherduniversityfoundation.org/.
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