{"id":815,"date":"2014-04-29T15:13:40","date_gmt":"2014-04-29T15:13:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lamp1.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/?p=815"},"modified":"2019-06-12T10:23:21","modified_gmt":"2019-06-12T15:23:21","slug":"vartabedians-create-presidents-centennial-circle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/2014\/04\/29\/vartabedians-create-presidents-centennial-circle\/","title":{"rendered":"Vartabedians create President’s Centennial Circle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Vartabedians<\/a>With doctorate degrees in communication and long, distinguished careers
\nin higher education, Drs. Robert and Laurel Vartabedian are dedicated to making
\na difference in the lives of university students. That dedication has led them
\nto make a personal financial commitment of more than $100,000 to Missouri
\nWestern State University, where Dr. Robert Vartabedian serves as president.
\nWith the gift, the Vartabedians establish a new donor recognition program called
\nthe President\u2019s Centennial Circle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really believe in this University
\nand in this community, and Laurel and I wanted to show that in a tangible way,\u201d
\nDr. Vartabedian said. \u201cAs I have said many times, some universities enhance the
\nlives of their students. I truly believe that Missouri Western\u00a0transforms<\/i>\u00a0the lives of its students.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Missouri Western State
\nUniversity Foundation is preparing for a capital campaign, to be conducted in
\nconjunction with Missouri Western\u2019s centennial celebration in 2015. The
\nVartabedians\u2019 gift helps jumpstart the planning efforts for that campaign, said
\nJerry Pickman \u201985, vice president for University Advancement and executive
\ndirector of the Foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cDonors want to know that the people
\nseeking their financial support are themselves deeply committed to the cause,\u201d
\nPickman said. \u201cThis gift by the Vartabedians is a strong demonstration of that
\ncommitment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Vartabedians have pledged a
\ntotal of $144,000 to the future campaign. Most of the gift is undesignated at
\nthis point, but a small portion is supporting the revival of a speech and
\ndebate team at Missouri Western.<\/p>\n

The Vartabedians\u2019 gift also
\ninaugurates a new donor recognition program, the President\u2019s Centennial Circle,
\nwhich will recognize donors with a lifetime history of giving $100,000 or more
\nto the University.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we prepare to solicit
\nleadership gifts for this capital campaign, I cannot ask others to do something
\nthat I am not willing to do,\u201d Dr. Robert Vartabedian said. \u201cLaurel and I want
\nto make a difference, and Missouri Western is the culmination of our lives\u2019
\nwork.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Vartabedian became president in July 2008. Under his leadership, Missouri Western has completed four major
\nconstruction projects totaling more than $65 million, become the summer
\ntraining camp home of the Kansas City Chiefs, formed a unique entrepreneurial
\neducation partnership with Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, and most recently
\ndedicated a permanent memorial to legendary journalist and St. Joseph-born
\nWalter Cronkite.<\/p>\n

Dr. Laurel Vartabedian is a lifelong educator. She has been a supporter of the arts at Missouri Western, including
\nhelping to found both the annual \u201cLights and Tights\u201d Renaissance Feast
\nfundraiser and the Missouri Western Arts Society. She co-wrote two musicals
\nthat have been produced in New York City. \u201cAmerican Story\u201d won the Best of
\nFestival award at the Midtown International Theatre Festival in 2000. \u201cMother
\nDivine\u201d was one of just 10 shows selected for the New York Musical Theatre
\nFestival\u2019s Next Link Project in 2013. It will be produced in St. Joseph this
\nsummer and is being considered for future professional productions in
\nCalifornia and Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis university and community mean a great deal to us, and we wanted to lead the charge on this
\nonce-in-a-hundred-years campaign,\u201d Dr. Laurel Vartabedian added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With doctorate degrees in communication and long, distinguished careers in higher education, Drs. Robert and Laurel Vartabedian are dedicated to making a difference in the lives of university students. That dedication has led them to make a personal financial commitment of more than $100,000 to Missouri Western State University, where […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=815"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4332,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815\/revisions\/4332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}