Where's Walton? In Dallas!

Image from here

Earlier this month, Katy Nelson (our director of development and external relations) and I traveled to Dallas to meet with several Walton College alumni and attend the Dallas Chapter's annual Gala. Dallas is always a fun place for us to visit, because there are SO MANY of our alumni there!

We started our trip by having dinner with Steve Barnes (BSBA '88) who is married to Kelly Barnes (BSBA '87 & MSA '88). Steve and Kelly endowed a doctoral fellowship in the Walton College during our Campaign for the Twenty-First Century. We are very appreciative of their support, because doctoral fellowships are key in our efforts to recruit PhD students to the Walton College.

The next day, Katy met with Jeff Cole (BSBA '85 & JD '88) while I met with Barry Davidson (BSBA '74 & MBA '77). Barry's daughter, Brittany, is actually a junior in the Walton College. She may be guest blogging for us this summer, so stay tuned for her posts!

Next, I had lunch with one of our Business Alumni Advisory Council members, Keith Williams (BSBA '97). Keith and his wife, Stacey (BA '98), are very active in the Dallas Chapter and have been encouraging us to attend the Dallas Gala for several years now. We were so glad to finally make it this year and were the guests of Ethan Bonar (BSBA '99), another of our graduates.

Before the Gala, though, we spent a little time with Sean Davenport (BSBA '93). Sean works for BNP Paribas and is a former member of the BAAC. It is always great to catch up with our former board members who continue to stay involved and hear all about the fantastic things they are doing in their careers.

From there, it was on to the Gala at the lovely Bent Tree Country Club. We were excited to see many familiar faces there and enjoyed calling the Hogs. The Dallas Chapter is one of the Arkansas Alumni Association's largest chapters and is a great resource for those who are moving to the Dallas area. They offer many fun events and activities throughout the year and even have their own chapter t-shirt:

To learn more about the Dallas Chapter, visit their web page, follow them on Twitter, and join their Facebook group.

Finally, on our last day in Dallas, Katy and I met with Michelle Gass, whose son is a senior in the Walton College. She also happens to be the daughter of Bill (BSBA '61) and LeAnn (BA '58) Underwood. Michelle did not graduate from the University of Arkansas, but we appreciate her all the same because she is a wonderful advocate of ours.

Our time in Dallas concluded with a lunch visit with Steve (BSBA '70 & MBA '73) and Kirk (BSBA '03) Meyer. Steve and his wife, Becky, created an endowed scholarship to benefit undergraduate students in the Walton College during the capital campaign. Scholarships are always appreciated - especially during a difficult economy - so if you are interested in establishing one of your own, please contact us.

Dallas, we enjoyed the visit! I'm sure we'll be back again soon.

Jennifer Holland
Associate Director of Development

A Note to the Class of 2010

Dear Walton College Senior:

Each year, thousands of alumni offer their financial support to the University of Arkansas.These private gifts have enhanced your experience at the Sam M. Walton College of Business by providing scholarship dollars, technology upgrades, and funds for student travel and research.

Very soon it will be your turn to close the chapter of student life and embark on a journey outside the walls of this campus. My hope is that you take the spirit of the University of Arkansas and the pride you have in your college with you. My challenge is that you become a passionate graduate who continues to support the mission of our institution.

The Class of 2010 recently voted on this year's class gift and decided that it is most fitting to let each of you pick the area that will benefit from your first gift to the university. Furthermore, your gift can be made in honor of someone who has helped you become who you are today. These honorees will be notified that your gift was made to their tribute. What a great way to thank a professor, advisor, parent or friend who has impacted your college experience.

I am pleased to support the Class Gift campaign and ask that you consider joining your fellow classmates in this endeavor. Your gift has the power to significantly impact the experience of future students and the operations of our college. Maximizing participation is the ultimate focus of this campaign. Your gift, no matter how big or small, will make a difference to students who walk in these halls after you.

The Class of 2010 has set an ambitious goal of $10,000 and 100% participation so they'll need your help to reach it. For more information, please visit CLASSGIFT.UARK.EDU or call 575-3238.

I wish you continued success and hope to see you back here for frequent visits in the future.


Sincerely,

Dan L. Worrell
Dean

Lauren Dech - Bonjour from France!

Lauren Dech is a Walton College Honors Student who is studying International Business with a concentration in Economics. Last year, she participated in the summer program in Dangriga, Belize, and has agreed to blog for us again as she studies abroad in France this spring. Links to her previous posts from France can be found at the bottom of this entry.

Though it’s taken a bit, I’ve finally started to get settled. These past 6 days in France I’ve managed to get a cell phone, metro pass, appointment for a bank account (necessary to receive CAF, government assistance for students for housing, the last girl that lived in my house got 130 euros a month!), find the cheapest place to buy groceries, do laundry, attend orientation, get some sleep (jet lag was messing with me so much, I didn’t sleep at all the first couple of nights), try foie gras (fantastic!), begin to have some clue of where I’m going around the city, eat a croissant, and be a lot less awkward at “bisous,” the cheek kisses the French here use to greet one another.

I absolutely love Toulouse! The place I’m staying at is great, I’m living with a family here and they’re fantastic. It’s very nice to have all the comforts of home: washer/dryer (a dryer in France, oh la la!), big (for Europe) kitchen, fantastic espresso machine, big furnished bedroom, and a puppy! My family is also extremely nice and helpful; they only speak to me in French, it’s so good for me! Talking to my family so much already has increased my confidence in the language. I’m surprised at how much I can understand, and how easy it is for me to just go up and talk to people in French. Sometimes I’m not understood (pronouncing something even slightly wrong here often leads to confusion) but I’m getting better. I’m excited to see how my language skills progress.

Yesterday was actually my first class here. We have a week and a half refresher course in French, and then next Wednesday my actual business classes start. My school is nice, it’s a lot smaller than the U of A, but very modern. The French courses don’t seem to be too difficult at all.

It’s quite cold here. I thought I left the snow in Memphis, but it’s snowed almost every day since I’ve been here so far! Despite the less than ideal weather, the city is still absolutely gorgeous. All of the architecture is very old and distinctive. There are also a lot of developed trees around the sidewalks, a river, and a canal that runs through the city. I’ve seen a lot of Toulousians running along the canal (they are hardcore runners here, I never run in the snow) which is exciting. I love to run, and since I live about 5 minutes from the canal I plan to join them soon when the weather gets just a little bit warmer!

I’ve met a lot of international students so far. My school has a “Welcome Team,” which is a group of French students who organize parties, events, and trips for the international students. We already had a party Friday night to welcome the international students with tapas (good in every country, especially when there’s foie gras and cheeses!). Since then we’ve been hanging out together to figure things out (we all got cell phones together) and have been trading off on making dinner. Dinner for four or five just seems to be cheaper and a lot more fun than dinner for one (also dinner in is cheaper than dinner out!). Last night at our friend Dylan’s house we met up for dinner and I made fried rice. Just having a big group of us representing so many different countries (America, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, France) makes conversation so fun. One of the French students, Emilie, who is living with an American student, Sara, here was excited to try fried rice, “So this is American food?!” I said yes. It’s not technically Chinese at all, and really, what is American food?

And that is the question for tonight. We’re having an international food party at Sara and Emilie’s apartment. Sara is making macaroni and cheese because none of the French have had it before and want to try it. It’s just so funny to me, these past six days have been some of the freshest (the cheapest food here is what is local therefore the freshest, unlike the US where one typically has to pay more for good food, what a concept!), yummiest food I’ve had and the Toulousians want Mac & Cheese. It will be fun though, I’m planning on taking some pictures (sorry I’ve been slacking on the pictures!) and post them later.

Ciao!


Lauren Dech


Previous Posts:
Packing for France

Lauren Dech - Packing for France

Lauren Dech is a Walton College Honors Student who is studying International Business with a concentration in Economics. Last year, she participated in the summer program in Dangriga, Belize, and has agreed to blog for us again as she studies abroad in France this spring.

Packing both a Winter and Spring wardrobe for the next four months into two suitcases might prove to be quite a feat. I was initially hoping to cram everything into one suitcase ($50 to check a second bag, that’s ridiculous!) but I now believe that might be impossible to do without my suitcase becoming overweight (which is a $150 to $350 fee depending on the weight, that’s even more ridiculous!). I had been putting off any type of packing until I took the LSAT on Saturday (it’s over, what a relief!) and now it’s time to get this done. Even though I hate packing I can’t complain, I’m headed to France in two days!

Some background information on my study abroad program:

I will be participating in a direct exchange program this semester through the University of Arkansas and the Sam M. Walton College of Business. U of A partners with a business school in Toulouse, France. Toulouse is nicknamed “The Pink City” because the style of brick used in the city’s architecture has a pinkish glow when the sun hits it. It’s the second largest college town after Paris (over 100,000 students!) and should be a really fun place to live. The school I’m attending is called l’Ecole Supérieure de Commerce, or the Toulouse Business School, and through the exchange program I’ll pay normal U of A tuition and fees while taking courses over in France. All the credit will count towards my International Business degree as upper-level Management electives and International Business electives. About half of the courses I take will be in English and half will be in French. I already have my French minor, but I want to increase my fluency and taking courses in French should help. The way Toulouse structures their classes, I’ll take one class at a time but go to that one class four to five days a week. I’m taking my English classes during the first part of the semester and my French classes during the second part of the semester, so hopefully by the time I get around to taking my business classes in French I’ll be much more fluent, at least that’s the plan for now!

I’m a little nervous about living in another country for the next four months, but I’m also excited and ready to finally start classes - most of my friends have been in school for about a month already! I fly out of Memphis Tuesday at 3:00 to Houston, then Frankfurt, then Toulouse. I’m staying with a host family and they’ll be picking me up at the airport when I get there Wednesday at 3:00 (French time, they’re about six hours ahead). My host family has wi-fi, so once I get settled in I’ll write another blog post, until then I need to pack, à bientôt!


Lauren Dech

Walton College Faculty Award Winners

The Walton College Awards Committee recently selected the 2010 recipients of our faculty awards. The following individuals will be recognized this spring for their excellence in teaching and research.

Best All-Around
Raja Kali
Economics

Teaching
Carol Reeves
Management








Research
Venki Viswanath
Information Systems







Service
John Delery
Management

Diversity
Moez Limayem

Information Systems

Grad Teaching
Kevin Lee
Finance







Please congratulate these winners if you see them on campus!