The 10th anniversary of President’s Honors, MNU’s premier fundraising event for student scholarships, broke records April 8, raising $833,331 through sponsorships, auction bids and gifts. This brings the total raised for President’s Honors over 10 years to more than $6 million.

Board of Trustees member and current Co-Chairs of the Bright Futures Capital Campaign, Tim and Gail Buchanan, were honored with MNU’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The Buchanans are longtime supporters of the university, the Church of the Nazarene and numerous non-profit organizations.

Tim is a Wichita Business Hall of Fame inductee and is the owner and CEO of Legend Senior Living, which operates 40 facilities throughout the nation. Gail attended MNU and has served with her vocal talents in church choirs and small groups since junior high and as a Wichita Grand Opera board member.

The couple has contributed their talents on multiple mission trips and continues to support civic and philanthropic efforts abroad and in Kansas. A video presentation about the couple’s prolific work can be viewed on MNU’s Vimeo channel. The couple’s two children, Emily and Matt, and daughter-in-law, Lauren, are MNU alumni.

Honorary Co-Chairs for President’s Honors 2022 were MNU Board of Trustees Chairman Dr. Dan and JoAnne Rexroth. The couple also serves as Co-Chairs of the Bright Futures campaign. Dan is president and CEO of John Knox Village in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. Dan is active in civic and church work in Missouri and Kansas, serving on several professional boards. JoAnne contributes her time and talent to area church and volunteer efforts. In addition to supporting MNU through philanthropy and service, the Rexroth’s daughter Bethany is an alum of the university.

Energetic live-auction bidding was entertaining and provided significant funding for scholarships. One of the most competitively bid items was the game ball and net from Men’s Head Basketball Coach Rocky Lamar’s 800th career win achieved this February. The item was won by Dr. Gary Morsch, who presented the item to Rocky, the beloved coach who was in attendance with his wife, Dr. Jo Lamar.

The evening ended with brisk bidding for the President’s Scholarship Challenge, providing additional scholarship dollars for students. Giving to the scholarship challenge is still open at connect.mnu/generosity. A gallery of photos from the evening is on MNU’s Flickr channel.

The date for the 2023 President’s Honors is April 14, 2023.

Event organizers wish to thank the 2022 President’s Honors sponsors, including:

PRESENTING SPONSORS
Cara Dumaplin and Taking Cara Babies
Friends of the Buchanan Family
Additional sponsors and more information are at presidentshonors.org.