Methodist University announced this evening that the 2018 Loyalty Campaign Supporter of the Year is Woodrow W. Wells, Jr., retired United Methodist Church minister.
Methodist University announced this evening that the 2018 Loyalty Campaign Supporter of the Year is Woodrow W. Wells, Jr., retired United Methodist Church minister. He was honored with a crystal plaque at the Loyalty Campaign Celebration held at 6 p.m. at the Fairfield Inn & Suites.
“Woody has a long history of service and support of Methodist University,” said Assistant Director of Annual Giving Stacey Prevette. “He and his wife, Carole, both graduated from Methodist. After being ordained as a pastor in 1970, Woody served the United Methodist Church for 42 years before retiring in 2012. He wrapped up his pastoral service right here in Fayetteville, at Haymount United Methodist Church. We are proud and honored to have Woody as a longstanding and involved member of our community, our Methodist University family, and as our 2018 Loyalty Campaign Supporter of the Year.”
Since retiring, Wells has been an active member of the Methodist University Alumni Association Board of Directors, and has served as a Loyalty Campaign volunteer the last two years. In 2015, Wells was honored with the Alumni Association’s Outstanding Alumni Service Award. He also serves on the advisory board of the Salvation Army of Fayetteville.
The goal of Methodist University’s 63rd annual Loyalty Campaign is to raise $210,000 for student scholarships. Last year’s campaign raised a record $202,000.
In the month leading up to Feb. 27, 20 teams made of up of 140 community volunteers personally reached out to more than 1,200 individuals and businesses in our community to ask them to make a gift to the Loyalty Campaign for Student Scholarships. More than 5,000 alumni and friends were also solicited nationwide.
Though the main fundraising efforts for the Loyalty Campaign are conducted in the month leading up to and weeks following Feb. 27, a gift may be made year-round to the Loyalty Campaign.
This year’s Loyalty Campaign chair is Tim Price, vice president and co-owner of Lafayette Ford Lincoln. Members of the Price family are long-time supporters of the Loyalty Campaign. Tim’s father, Don Price, served as the chair in 2012.
“I am honored to serve as the 2018 Chair of the Methodist University Loyalty Campaign for Student Scholarships. It is my pleasure to support the tradition of giving that Lafayette Ford Lincoln established more than 60 years ago and continues with my family,” said Tim Price.
“The institution owes its very founding to community leaders who believed in the philosophy of university-community partnerships,” said Methodist University President Dr. Ben Hancock.
Though the Loyalty Campaign was originally about raising funds to help the college operate, in 2005 the focus shifted to student scholarships, something that MU dedicates more than 26 percent of its budget to each year. With more than 95 percent of Methodist University students receiving financial aid, many students would not be able to attend the university without scholarships like the ones funded through the Loyalty Campaign. In the 2016-2017 academic year, MU awarded $21.4 million in financial aid to students.
About the Loyalty Campaign for Student Scholarships
Methodist University’s Loyalty Campaign is rooted in a tradition of local support older than the school itself. Before the then-named Methodist College opened to its first class in 1960, secular and religious community leaders gathered pledges and donations from the local community for a small, private, liberal arts college that would be built in Fayetteville.
In 1956, the Fayetteville College Foundation, which has since been renamed the Methodist University Foundation Board, pledged to raise an annual contribution of $50,000. The University celebrated its 60th anniversary of the signing of the University charter in 2016 and is now in its 62nd year of providing excellent education to students from all over the nation and world.
Like the original board, the current Foundation Board is made up of business owners and community leaders from all walks of life in Cumberland County. The Advancement Office estimates that nearly 600 local leaders have served on the Foundation since it formed, with thousands more community members serving over the years as Loyalty Campaign volunteers, making phone calls, personal visits, and other efforts to appeal to residents and businesses for the fundraising event.