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WHEELING -- Scores of people who studied, worked and grew at Ohio University Eastern gathered Oct. 14 to celebrate the school's 60th anniversary and learned that fundraising efforts conducted this year will make an OUE education possible for even more local students.
A capacity crowd of 300 alumni and community leaders attended the OUE 60th Anniversary Gala at River City Restaurant & Bar.
E. J. Schodzinski, director of external relations for the St. Clairsville campus, welcomed the crowd and delivered opening remarks. Schodzinski, who has been at the Eastern Campus for 20 years, began by reminiscing about the opening of the Health and Physical Education Center, which happened on Oct. 4, 1997, a little more than 20 years ago.
"I remember the parking lot was full, the bleachers were crowded and the community was very supportive of Ohio University and, in particular, its Eastern Campus," he said. "It was truly a magical night. It is abundantly clear to me by looking out into this audience tonight that the community support for Ohio University Eastern is stronger than ever and we are all taking part in another memorable event."
Ohio University began offering classes at Martins Ferry High School in 1957. By 1967, Shannon Hall had been constructed at the current OUE campus site west of St. Clairsville. Thousands of local residents have obtained college educations because the "branch" campus was available for them to attend close to home.
Schodzinski thanked many people in the audience, including the gala sponsors and members of the OUE Community Advisory Board for their support.
"I cannot thank our sponsors enough for their support of Ohio University Eastern and this event," he said. "Without their support, tonight's event would not be possible."
Schodzinski noted that the community advisory board first began meeting about 18 months ago with the mission of generating ideas to strengthen existing relationships and create new partnerships in the community. The members of the board include Ginny Favede, Rich Greenlee, Debbie Kenny, Sarah Mahan Hays, Dan Milleson, Jerry Narcisi, Denise Penz, Bob Shugert, Harry White and Paul Abraham.
"One of the ideas that the board helped to develop was this gala event tonight," Schodzinski said. "The goal was to bring folks together to celebrate 60 years, and, hopefully, to achieve a fundraising goal of $60,000, which would go toward scholarships for area students. I am happy to report tonight that we have far exceeded that initial goal and are on the verge of hitting $300,000 for scholarships over the last year."
Schodzinski said the minimum scholarship endowment at Ohio University Eastern is $15,000.
"Our goal was to strive for four scholarship endowments at $15,000 each to reach our goal and provide scholarship assistance for four students," he said. "We currently have new commitments for eight scholarship endowments and our employee giving drive is fast approaching an additional endowment. This is extremely important as it shows that our faculty and staff are fully committed to the university and our students. In addition, all of the proceeds from tonight's event, including the sponsorships and the tickets, will go toward scholarships. The end result is $300,000 in scholarship endowments that will benefit local students."
Schodzinski singled out Denise Penz of Home Savings Bank for getting the momentum going.
"A year ago, we had our kickoff celebration for the 60th anniversary. During this event, Denise made the announcement that Home Savings Bank was going to make a $30,000 endowment. This initial gift was significant and had a domino effect that carried over during the entire year."
Several of the new donors were in attendance, and each was recognized for their endowments to the university. These included the Dutton family, the Patrick Greenlee family, Dan Milleson, Mike McTeague and the Ebbert family.
Major sponsors of the event included Capstone Holding Co., Eagle Creek Farm Properties and Shugert Farms.