JQH Arena 

Missouri State receives more than $1 million for scholarships, JQH Arena

SPRINGFIELD – More than $1 million in gifts have been committed to Missouri State University in recent weeks. About half of the gifts are for academic purposes and the other half to support the JQH Arena.

Three new gifts have been established in the Missouri State University Foundation to support academic programs. Two of the gifts support scholarships for students, and the third provides an endowed professorship. 

“Endowments are key to the future of Missouri State University,” said Missouri State President Michael T. Nietzel. “The fact that so many individuals have chosen to invest in our faculty and students is very gratifying. Our goal remains to attract and retain the best faculty, and to recruit and graduate the outstanding students. These endowments will help us accomplish those goals.”

In July 2005, the university had two endowed faculty positions; today, 22 months later, that number has risen to 13.

The most recent gifts and endowments include the following:

• Missouri State Promise Scholarship – John and Cathy Youngblood are the lead individual sponsor of the new Missouri State Promise Scholarship. The Missouri State Promise Scholarship, which will be implemented in fall 2007, is for students who are at or below the national poverty level. The scholarship will cover the difference between the cost of tuition and any grants and scholarships the student has. The scholarship is available for four years to incoming freshmen and for two years to transfer students. The Youngbloods own and operate Youngblood Motors.

• Endowed Scholarship for Lady Bears – John and Cathy Youngblood also have made a commitment to endow a scholarship for the Lady Bears basketball team. 

• Noel Boyd Endowed Professorship – Retired bank executive Noel Boyd has funded an endowed professorship that can be used at the discretion of the president in one of three areas: business, the humanities areas of the College of Arts and Letters, or sports-related fields. The professorship will be awarded to a faculty member who has made outstanding contributions in one of these areas.

The gifts for JQH Arena support the Grand Entrance and the Hall of Fame.

• Grand Entrance – Bill and Virginia Darr, and H.E. “Spook” and Liz Whitener and the Whitener Family have joined the list of those supporting the Grand Entrance. The Darrs are both alumni and own and operate American Dehydrated Foods and other subsidiary companies. The Whiteners own Trailiner Corporation. Alumnus and Springfield attorney Tom Strong and Family had made an earlier commitment to the Grand Entrance. Although there will be multiple exits to JQH Arena, the Grand Entrance will be the only public entry into the facility.

• Hall of Fame – Fred and Ramona McQueary, along with Jim and Sally Wachtman, alumni from St. Louis, have committed to help fund portions of the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame will be located throughout the concourses, but primarily in the East Concourse near the Grand Entrance. Ramona McQueary is an alumna, a past-president of the Missouri State governing board and a member of the JQH Arena Planning Committee. Fred McQueary has a long-time association with the university. The Wachtmans are alumni, and Jim Wachtman is president and CEO of TLCVision.

The new $67 million JQH Arena, named for John Q. Hammons in recognition of his $30 million gift, is under construction and will be completed in time for the 2008-09 basketball season.

In September 2006, Prime, Inc., made a $1 million gift commitment to JQH Arena for the club, named Prime Overtime Club. Another $1.75 million in gifts was announced in March 2007 for the Strong gift to the Grand Entrance; the Price Cutter East Concourse; the St. John’s South Concourse; and the University Suite sponsored by Bill R. Foster and the Foster Family Foundation.

In addition, on Dec. 19, 2006, Great Southern Bank announced that it had committed a gift to the university for the purchase of a new video scoreboard for JQH Arena, estimated to cost between $1.5 million and $1.8 million.

JQH Arena will be built just east of Hammons Student Center, with a connecting corridor between the facilities. Ground-breaking for the project was Dec. 21, 2006.

“We are very fortunate to have these great alumni and friends supporting the activities of the university,” said Nietzel. “It speaks to the great love many people have for Missouri State University. It will be privilege for us to recognize them by naming portions of the new arena in their honor.”