The Seminole State
College Educational Foundation recently received a $10,000 grant from the
Arvest Foundation. The donation will help provide leadership opportunities for
students at the College – specifically members of the President’s Leadership
Class.
The PLC program
was established at Seminole State College over a decade ago. The two-year scholarship program provides approximately
40 to 45 students with unique educational, cultural, volunteer and leadership
opportunities. Throughout the year, they
are able to meet with state leaders, learn about local government and
philanthropy, study leadership styles and participate in community volunteer
work.
Each year, the
Arvest Foundation asks for suggestions of outstanding nonprofit charity
organizations doing great work to improve their local communities for
consideration of grant funding. This year, Arvest Bank President Chris Clark provided
a recommendation for the SSC Educational Foundation.
Clark has served
as President of Arvest Bank in Shawnee for the past 20 years. A native of Seminole. His family has a long association with
Seminole and Seminole State College. His
father, C.M. Clark was a Seminole banker, member of the Seminole School Board and
on the first Board of Regents for Seminole “Junior” College. Chris Clark graduated from SJC in 1975 and
was inducted into the College’s Alumni Hall of Fame in 1998. He served many years as a Trustee on the
Seminole State College Educational Foundation.
SSC President Lana
Reynolds expressed her appreciation to the Arvest Foundation and to Clark for
recommending SSC for the grant. “The funds from this grant will help provide
students in the PLC program additional opportunities to develop their
leadership skills and further enhance their personal and professional growth.
We are always excited to expand this exceptional program at SSC, and we are
extremely thankful to Mr. Clark and Arvest for helping us to continue to do
that.”
Arvest Bank owns
and operates 14 community banks in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas
offering banking, mortgages, credit cards and investments. The bank began in Bentonville, Arkansas in
1961. They now have more than 270
locations in more than 135 communities.
For more
information about the PLC program at Seminole State College, contact Director
of Community Services Kristin Dunn, who serves as coordinator of the program,
at 405-382-9218 or k.dunn@sscok.edu.