54th Founders Day

Iota Theta Zeta celebrates

54th annual Founders Day

Russell D. “Russ” Harrington Jr., president and chief executive officer of Baptist Health, Arkansas’ third largest employer, delivered the keynote address for the 54th annual Founders Day banquet of Iota Theta Zeta on Saturday, April 13, in the Arkansas State University Reng Student Union.

Russ Harrington (left), chairman and chief executive officer for Baptist Health of Arkansas, talks with Judith and Charles Long of Jonesboro before the 54th annual Lambda Chi Alpha Founders Day Banquet Saturday night at the Reng Student Union on the Arkansas State University campus. Harrington, originally from Jonesboro and a Lambda Chi member here, graduated from ASU in 1966. Charles

Long was one of the founding members of the organization when it was chartered in 1959.

Brother Russ, Iota Theta 178, graduated from ASU in 1966. He now lives in Little Rock and has headed Baptist Health, which is composed of seven hospitals and several other facilities, since January 1984. He is originally from Jonesboro.A copy of his text can be downloaded below.

During the banquet new officers of the zeta were installed. They are:
• High Alpha — Nathan Tripod, a sophomore from Paragould;
• High Beta — Dylan Bateman, a junior from Paragould;
• High Theta — Morgan Hawley, a freshman from Marmaduke;
• High Gamma — Aaron Schenk, a sophomore from Paragould;
• High Iota — Dirk Tanner, a sophomore from Little Rock;
• High Tau — Zach Draper, a sophomore from Malvern;
• High Sigma — Dakota Watson, a junior from Crossett;
• High Epsilon — Caleb Garrett, a sophomore from Bryant;
• High Rho — Carter Lee, a freshman from Sherwood;
• High Delta — Jacob Tucker, a freshman from Paragould;
• High Kappa — John Robinson, a junior from Newport;
• High Phi — Peter Hasik, a junior from Paragould.

Voting members of the Executive Committee are Howard Watts, a junior from Poplar Bluff, Mo., and Zach Tate, a junior from Jonesboro. Non-voting member is Joe Paul Glidewell, a junior from Newport.

Continuing as High Pi for the chapter is Rian Snell, a Jonesboro pharmacist and ASU graduate in 2008.

Earlier Saturday the annual meeting of the alumni association-house corporation, officially known as LXA at ASU Inc., was held in the Alumni Room at the house.

Six current members of the Board of Directors were elected to new 2-year terms — Jim Stearns, David Merrell, Barry Forrest, Brent Davis, Pete Murphy and Chris West. Twelve board members serve 2-year terms, with six slots coming open each year. Automatically on the board are the High Pi, High Alpha and High Tau.

Unveiled before the meeting were three bronze plaques in the foyer of the house recognizing alumni who have contributed to the High Five for Lambda Chi and Retire the Mortgage capital campaigns.

The board also met briefly and re-elected its current slate of officers: Stearns, president; Merrell, vice president for programming; Forrest, vice president for fund-raising, Murphy, secretary; and Roy Ockert, treasurer.