MSCC Foundation Seeks to Honor Dr. Fenter with Endowed Scholarship

Mid-South Community College’s Foundation Board of Directors has announced Campaign for Hope, a $250,000 fund-raising effort to honor outgoing president, Dr. Glen Fenter.

The campaign will focus on the creation of a scholarship endowment in Dr. Fenter’s honor that will support deserving students pursuing their dreams at MSCC.

“Glen Fenter is a visionary president whose leadership has had an extraordinary impact on Mid-South Community College and eastern Arkansas,” said Foundation Board Chair Franklin Fogleman. “By endowing this scholarship in Dr. Fenter’s honor, we ensure a tribute in perpetuity to Glen and the success he has been instrumental in achieving for the College.

“This endowment will build on the 20-plus year mission of Dr. Fenter: locate, lift up, and give hope. Dr. Fenter has given his heart, his endless ideas and innovation, and his tireless effort and resolve to make our institution, our community, and our future brighter. I respectfully request that you join me in supporting this campaign.”

Dr. Fenter said scholarships are an absolute necessity to help the people of this region, and he is honored that the Foundation has chosen to recognize his service to the community in this manner.

“As recently as the 1970’s, a majority of middle class jobs were accessible to high school graduates and provided the opportunity for those who worked hard and dedicated themselves to their crafts to create an improved quality of life for themselves and their families,” he said.

“But today, few if any of those job opportunities remain, driving the reality that without access to affordable, meaningful educational programming beyond high school, a growing portion of our population sadly has very little chance of meaningful participation in our venerable ‘American Dream.’ We can and must change our course before it is too late.

“Sometimes folks with special circumstances need special opportunities, and scholarships help us create those opportunities. Foundation scholarships help them get over the hump and truly focus on a better life.”

MSCC Board of Trustees Chair Mary Toney, who has served on the board since the college’s creation, said the Campaign for Hope is a fitting tribute for the contributions the institution’s first and only president has made.

“Dr. Fenter is the catalyst that has given Crittenden County something we can be proud of, Mid-South Community College,” Toney said. “His synergy brought together a staff of dedicated people willing to work with limited resources for the betterment of our community. Through his leadership, other community colleges in the United States know where West Memphis, Arkansas, is located.

“In my opinion, we can never repay him for his efforts. Because of Dr. Fenter, this college has been recognized with awards that carry measures of significance that epitomize the institution – Bellwether, Excellence, Growth, and Innovator. As a native West Memphian, I am proud to say I witnessed his legacy.”

“Once in a while someone comes along and changes the ‘landscape’ of our community,” added Forrest N. “Joe” Jenkins, a former Foundation Board chair and a current director. “Once in a while someone, very talented, shares his talents with us. Glen Fenter has been that unique person for the past 25 years. He has made a profound difference in the education and economy of Crittenden County and eastern Arkansas.”

Because of all of that, “The community simply owes this to Glen Fenter,” Jenkins said. “This is an opportunity for us to show him how grateful we are that he came along.”

Persons wishing to honor Dr. Fenter with a contribution may make a pledge to the Foundation (payable by June 2018), send a check to the Foundation (2000 West Broadway, West Memphis AR 72301), charge to credit card, or give online at https://www.midsouthcc.edu/foundation/give_online/donationsForm1.html

Donors of $500 or more will be special guests at a Tribute Dinner for Dr. Fenter on June 26, 2015.

For additional information, contact Diane Hampton, MSCC Vice President for Institutional Advancement, at (870) 733-6880 or dhampton@midsouthcc.edu.

Dr. Fenter’s leadership has been without parallel. Under his guidance, the Foundation increased its assets to $6.6 million and received an $8 million grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation to assist in the construction of a facility that has become a regional model. MSCC is one of only two two-year colleges in Arkansas history to receive a Reynolds award.

Fenter collaborated with four other community colleges to create the Arkansas Delta Training and Education Consortium (ADTEC), a comprehensive, regional approach to workforce and economic development that has been regionally and nationally recognized on multiple occasions. He helped the consortium acquire approximately $68 million in federal investments over a seven-year span.

He also helped secure $4.9 million in state funding to support an innovative regional university center offering strategically selected baccalaureate degrees to foster economic development in eastern Arkansas.

Under Fenter’s direction, MSCC received three National Science Foundation grants totaling approximately $3.4 million, making Mid-South only the second two-year institution in Arkansas to receive NSF funding and the solitary Arkansas community college to earn three.

Fenter collaborated with the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services to house a multi-agency One-Stop Center on the Mid-South Community College Campus to centralize key community services in one location for more effective collaboration and customer service. This model is the first of its kind in Arkansas.

He secured funding for the Marion Berry Renewable Energy Center, a LEED-certified facility which supports applied biodiesel research and education, and spearheaded a partnership with Southwest Tennessee Community College to create the a consortium which emphasizes collaboration and shared resources in support of improved workforce education and economic development.

In Crittenden County, he worked with the West Memphis School District to create a conversion charter school to increase access to high-tech, skill-based programming which enables students to simultaneously earn high school and college credits, the first such collaborative charter of its kind in Arkansas.

Fenter also led the way to an innovative partnership with FedEx to support the college’s aviation maintenance technology program and directed efforts toward purchasing the rights to the historic local radio station, KWEM.

Fenter will retire as MSCC president on June 30, 2015, to become fully engaged as the chief executive officer of the Greater Memphis Alliance for a Competitive Workforce.