Zack ’74 and Mary ’76 Workman recently made a pledge over the next five years to the Missouri Western State University Foundation to support the development of an academic resource room in the Griffon Indoor Sports Complex.
Initial plans include converting a break-out room in the GISC to a study room with computers and a place for mentors to work with student athletes. More equipment and computers will be added each year.
“The new student center will give the student athletes a place to call home where they have access to support, guidance and technology that will allow them to perform at the highest level on and off the field,” Zack said. “Study habits, researching topics of interest and communication skills are a must if they are going to be successful.”
Kurt McGuffin, director of Athletics, said he has been wanting a centralized location for student athletes to study and work with tutors and mentors, and he is pleased that the Workmans have agreed to fund it.
“I wish we had 1,000 people like them,” McGuffin said. “It’s not just the monetary support, it’s the time volunteering, supporting us through good and bad.”
Mary and Zack, who was a Griffon football player, own Lawns Unlimited, Inc. in Cameron, Mo., and Mary is a retired teacher.
McGuffin said the department’s increased efforts to mentor and tutor student athletes in the past two years has paid off. The fall 2013 and spring 2014 grade point averages for the approximately 275 student athletes were the highest on record for Missouri Western, and its retention rate increased 12 percent to 66 percent from the 2012-13 academic year, also the highest on record.
“This room will only help us to improve,” McGuffin said.
“The experience Mary and I obtained at Missouri Western provided us with more than we ever realized when we graduated,” Zack said. “We received a great educational experience and connections that have lasted a lifetime. Now it is our time to give back.”