2014 Community Campaign begins

  Friday, March 7, 2014 2:00 AM
  News

Pittsburg, KS

The most used word at Friday’s launch of Pittsburg State University’s Community Campaign was “cooperation.” The event itself, which combined the Pittsburg Area Chamber of Commerce’s First Friday Breakfast with the campaign launch in the Wilkinson Alumni Center was a cooperative event.

Each speaker at the event paid homage to the strong ties that have bound the university and the community together for more than a century. That included the keynote speaker, Rich Luker, a nationally recognized sports and leisure researcher who has used the campus-community relationship in Pittsburg to show other NCAA D-II communities how it can be done.

At the event, Pittsburg State recognized Monica Murnan, director of student support services at the Southeast Kansas Education Service Center in Girard, with the 2014 Rex Crowley Outstanding Partner in Progress Award. The award recognizes a member of the Pittsburg community who has been an outstanding partner with the University. It is named for Rex W. Crowley, a well-known figure in the local banking community for many years and a volunteer and friend of the university.

Prior to joining the Southeast Kansas Education Service Center, Murnan was executive director of the Family Resource Center in Pittsburg for nearly 17 years. In recognizing her, Pittsburg State University President Steve Scott praised Murnan for her leadership in a long list of organizations, committees and boards on the local, state and national level.

Murnan is a past national president of the PSU Alumni Association and is currently a city commissioner for the city of Pittsburg. She holds a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in special services and leadership studies from PSU. She and her husband, Robert Murnan, who is also a PSU alumnus, have three children, Francesca, Alexandria and Gabrielle.

The co-chairpersons for the 2014 Partners in Progress Campaign are Lori Ann Spachek, of State Farm Insurance, and Dr. Shane Kannar, of Kannarr Eye Care.

The Community Campaign began with the merger of the PSU Endowment Association and the PSU Foundation in 1985. Funds raised through the campaign support scholarships, academic programs and other university needs.

For more information, contact Jessica Stice, director of annual giving in the PSU Office of University Development, 620-235-6127.

Photos: Above Left -- As Monica Murnan listens to President Steve Scott, she is joined by her three children on their laptops from sites in Boston, Chicago and Lawrence.

Below: Director of Annual Giving Jessica Stice recognizes Partners in Progress co-chairpersons, Lori Ann Spachek and Dr. Shane Kannar.