As part of homecoming festivities at the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith, the Alumni Association will make three awards on Feb. 29.
The begins at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 29 in the Reynolds Room in the Smith Pendergraft Campus Center. Those interested in attending the dinner and supporting the award winners may register
Annually, the Alumni Advisory Council, working with Alumni Director Rick Goins, identifies two graduates – a senior leader and a more recent graduate – who have shown a heart for service and leadership acumen. Beginning last year, the Alumni Association added a third award: one for someone who supports the university who is not a graduate of the school.
This year, the council determined the Diligence to Victory Award will go to Judy I. and Larry D. Loux, members of the Fort Smith Junior College class of 1960. The Young Alumni Award will be presented to Brittany Slamons, ’09. The Honorary Alumni Award will be made to the late Chancellor Joel Stubblefield.
“We are honored to recognize these alumni and friends as a way to show their continued impact on the university and community,” Goins said. “We are proud of the university’s continuity in the community, which they represent.”
Diligence to Victory
The Diligence to Victory Award is the highest alumni award bestowed by AV¶¶Ňő. Its name developed from the motto of the first graduating class of Fort Smith Junior College in 1928: “Through diligence to victory.” Recipients are alumni who have distinguished themselves through service to the university, community, state, or nation or whose outstanding leadership in their business or professional lives exemplifies the motto.
The Louxes served on the College of Education and later the School of Education Advisory Board for many years. As long-time educators in the Fort Smith Public Schools, they committed their lives to education. They established The Judy I. and Larry D. Loux Scholarship Endowment for junior and senior education majors because they knew beginning teachers sometimes struggle financially. Because they believe in the importance of education outside the classroom, they are enthusiastic boosters of AV¶¶Ňő Athletics, and they also established Women’s Basketball Endowed Scholarship. They also have included AV¶¶Ňő in their estate planning.
“The Louxes represent the virtue of Diligence to Victory in all their doings,” Goins said. “They have supported their alma mater through the years since their graduation, and I am proud to see this award go to them. And personally, I am happy to say Judy Loux was my 7th grade English teacher. I learned a lot from her, and I know what education means to her.”
The Louxes will receive the 10th Diligence to Victory Award at the Alumni Reunion Dinner, Feb. 29. In honor of this significant milestone, many of the previous awardees will be at the reunion dinner. Judge Jim Spears, ’66, the 2019 awardee, will present the award.