The annual Boswell Lecture at East Central University will be held Tuesday [MAY 1] along with a luncheon and a Service-Learning and Volunteer Fair. All the events will focus on poverty and its results in Ada and southeastern Oklahoma.
Individuals and organizations that provide services to those in need or to the Ada community are especially invited, said Dr. Pat Fountain, ECU professor of business administration and service-learning director. The luncheon will begin at 12:15 and end by 1:30. Reservations will be taken until all places are filled, so early reservations are recommended. To reserve a place at the luncheon and/or the fair or for more information, e-mail Fountain at pfountain@ecok.edu or call 580-559-5270.
The luncheon, free to those who provide services or are interested in the topic, will feature an explanation of ECU’s service learning graduation requirement. Attendees will learn how a professor goes about setting up a service-learning class and hear examples of what classes have done.
The Boswell Lecture is open to the public and will begin at 1:30 p.m. in the Estep Multimedia Center in the Bill Cole University Center. Latricia Bryant, executive director of Ada Regional United Way, and Amy Elliott, executive director of Tri-County Indian Nations Community Development Corporation, will offer their perspectives on poverty and the resulting situation and outlook in Ada and southeastern Oklahoma.
ECU’s Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team will show four projects students from the School of Business have organized and implemented this year in response to the cycle of poverty in southeastern Oklahoma.
The Service Learning and Volunteer Fair will be held from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the University Center. Service providers and representatives of community organizations can visit with faculty, students, representatives of student organizations and interested Ada citizens about the work, needs and/or volunteer programs of their organizations.
“This part of the event is meant to be a ‘match making’ opportunity to allow those looking for volunteer partners to visit with potential partners,” Fountain said. “Organizations are invited to man a table and visit with attendees about potential partnerships, service projects, internships, observations, field experiences and other opportunities and needs. Local service and civic clubs as well as campus service organizations are invited to visit with potential members.”
Fountain serves as ECU’s S.C. Boswell Professor and is coordinating the events. The S.C. Boswell Award, based on effective classroom teaching, professional development, involvement in student activities and contributions to the department, school and university, is presented annually to a faculty member in ECU's School of Business.
The recipient receives a stipend based on income from the S.C. Boswell Memorial Charitable Trust and sponsors a free, public lecture or forum on topics of interest related to business.
Boswell was a respected Ada businessman who served on the Board of Regents for Oklahoma Colleges for 18 years. He donated funds for the construction of ECU's Boswell Chapel in memory of his wife Kathryn. He helped organize the Ada Industrial Development Corporation and establish Valley View Regional Hospital in 1935. Boswell was president of the hospital's board of directors for 12 years.
The Boswell Trust was established through the ECU Foundation Inc. in 1975 by Boswell's daughters, Sara Boswell and Jane Boswell Maher, in order to help attract and hold outstanding faculty members in business.
Fountain holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from ECU, a master’s degree in regional science from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and both a master’s degree in human relations and supervision and a doctor of business administration degree from Louisiana Tech University.
He is a past president of the Association of Collegiate Marketing Educators, the Career Guidance Network of Oklahoma and the Ada Rotary Club. He is secretary of the ECU Alumni Association and the cubmaster of Ada’s Pack 4 and assistant scoutmaster in Ada’s Troop 4 where his son, Nathan, is a Scout.
Fountain also is an adviser or co-adviser for several ECU student organizations. He is married to Dr. Usha Fountain, a professor in ECU’s Psychology Department. He is a former Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar and a past recipient of the ECU Teaching Excellence Award.