Four dedicated Emporia State University supporters will be honored during the Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon in June for their ongoing service to the university.
Recipients this year will be Virginia H. “Ginny” (Bundy) Higgins (BSE 1962 – Speech, MS 1969 – Speech) of Topeka, Dr. Loren Pennington of Emporia, John T. Staton (BSE 1960 – Elementary Education, MS 1964 – Educational Administration) of Auburn, Alabama, and Marion S’Lee (Choate) Stuart (BSE 1947 – Art, MS 1966 – Art) of Clay Center.
The awards, which began in 1980, are presented by the Alumni Association to recognize unique and significant service to the university.
“Individuals chosen for this award are moved to service by a deep concern for and loyalty to ESU,” according to Tyler Curtis, executive director of Alumni Relations. “Their efforts extend beyond the call of duty and are performed without expectation for compensation. We are proud to recognize these individuals and are grateful for their work on behalf of Emporia State.”
Virginia H. ‘Ginny’ (Bundy) Higgins
Virginia H. “Ginny” (Bundy) Higgins received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Emporia State and went on to receive top professional honors in the state.
After receiving a bachelor’s in speech in 1962, she taught at Topeka High School for two years before returning to Emporia State to teach in the Communication department until 1999. She had earned her master’s in speech in 1969. She served as director of Ethnic and Gender Studies from 1999 to 2008, when she retired as associate professor. She has worked on her doctorate in speech communication at the University of Kansas.
She received the Ruth Schillinger Award in 1998-99, and two service awards from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Higgins was the first person to receive the Outstanding College Teacher of Speech Award from the Kansas Speech Communication Association, won that award a second time, and was inducted into the Kansas Speech Association Hall of Fame in 2006.
She is former chair of the campus AIDS Task Force, the Council on Teacher Education, and the Endowment Campaign; former president of the Faculty Senate and the American Association of University Professors; a past member of the Bonner & Bonner Lecture Committee; and former president of the Lyon County Chapter of the American Red Cross.
Dr. Loren Pennington
Dr. Loren Pennington has been keeping history alive in Emporia since 1960, when he began teaching at the university. When he retired after 48 years at Emporia State, the only noticeable difference was that Pennington no longer kept a classroom schedule.
Pennington continued interviewing World War II and Korean War veterans to build an impressive collection of personal stories from servicemen and women who fought in those wars.
Representing Emporia State, Pennington became involved with the city’s annual Veterans Day celebration each November, presenting Veterans Roundtable panel discussions at the university. His public programs are centerpieces of the week-long event, and consistently draw large crowds to hear backstories of the country’s wars, beginning with World War I and continuing to through the Vietnam War. Recent programs have also revolved around other wars, conflicts, and veteran-related issues.
Pennington wrote for history magazines for many years and was responsible for coordinating the university’s first television station. He was the originator of the Kansas Chautauqua, which ran for many summers in the 1980s and 1990s, where he portrayed historical figures, such as Gov. Alf Landon and General and President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He also participated in the university’s Elderhostel program for several years after retirement.
John T. Staton
John began his service to Emporia State as an undergraduate student, serving as President of his junior class, senior representative for Associated Student Government and several officer positions in Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity. He received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1960. He was an elementary teacher at Grandview School in El Dorado, Kansas, for three years.
Returning to Emporia State as a graduate student, he was part of Dr. Joe Weigand’s Field Services staff and worked on all College Day and College Night programs at high schools across the state. He received his master’s degree in educational counseling and psychology 1964. He remained at Emporia State three additional years in the Field Services offices and served one tennis season as the interim coach. In 1967, John joined S.R.A., an educational publishing company that was a subsidiary of I.B.M., where he remained for 15 years in sales, marketing and management positions.
He has served as a member of the Now and Forever National Campaign Committee and the Alumni Association Board of Directors. With the recently dedicated wall of art in the Memorial Union, he and his wife, Connie, are sponsoring an effort to attract additional fine arts students to ESU.
In addition to an exceptional career in which he garnered multiple performance awards in the business world, the Statons have always devoted their time and efforts to helping improve the lives of others. Through volunteer efforts working with and through their Sunday School Leadership, they strive to “make a difference.” For the last 9 years, they have served with others in caring for Vietnam veteran General “Hal” G. Moore who was the subject of the movie “We Were Soldiers” and portrayed by Mel Gibson. On the lighter side, the Statons got involved in returning Norman, an adult beagle from Chapman, Kans., who was dognapped by Auburn students who had been skiing in Colorado and later abandoned in Alabama. Norman’s return home was followed by national television news for two days as he was returned to his Kansas family all safe and sound.
Having retired and moved to the south to follow our grandkids 19 years ago, John is quick to confirm that Emporia and ESU are and always have been considered “home” for both of them.
Marion S’Lee (Choate) Stuart
Much of Marion S’Lee (Choate) Stuart’s formal education happened on the Kansas State Teachers College campus, before the name was changed to Emporia State University.
Born and reared in Emporia, she attended grade school in the “laboratory school,” a training grounds for future teachers. She returned to earn a bachelor of science degree in art education in 1947 and a master’s degree in art in 1966.
She and her late husband, Charles (BSE 1947 – Social Sciences, MS 1953 – Social Sciences), stayed in Kansas pursuing their careers in education. She taught in Lorraine, Idana, Longford, Broughton and Clifton Clyde.
They established the Charles L. and Marion S. Stuart Scholarship in 1993, primarily to provide scholarships to students from their area who were majoring in any subject that would lead to teacher certification. Along with Chuck, Marion attended numerous Homecomings and Hornet athletic events, represented ESU at the Kansas State Fair booth, and supported Chuck in his roles on the Alumni Association’s Board of Directors and as a Trustee of the ESU Foundation.
She was a founding member of the Clay County Hospital Foundation and has served on the board of directors since 1991.