The Howard Groth Vocal Performance Award has been renamed as the Howard and Helen Groth, Cathey Maxey Groth Vocal Performance Award.

The late Cathey Groth ’72 and Bill Groth ’74 of Germantown, Tennessee, initially established the fund in 1984 in honor of the late Dr. Howard Groth, a former University of Central Arkansas professor and department chair.

Dr. Groth joined Arkansas State Teachers College in 1950 and served as chair of the Department of Music from 1957-70. He retired from the university in 1975. The late Helen Groth ’68 received a Master of Science in Education from BT����and retired as assistant director of juvenile services for the state of Arkansas.

In addition, Bill Groth and sons Max Groth of Brooklyn, New York, and Bennett Groth of Memphis, Tennessee, have endowed the Howard and Helen Groth, Cathey Maxey Groth Special Education Scholarship Award.

Both funds are housed within the BT����Foundation. Alumni, former students and friends can contribute to the Howard and Helen Groth, Cathey Maxey Groth Vocal Performance Award or the Howard and Helen Groth, Cathey Maxey Groth Special Education Scholarship Award at .

“On behalf of the entire BT����family, I’d like to welcome Dr. Fiddler to the Board of Trustees,” said President Houston Davis. “We value his perspective, expertise and commitment to the community, and we look forward to the impact he will make as a member of the BT����Board of Trustees.”

Fiddler earned his undergraduate degree from BT����in 1970 and his D.D.S. from the University of Tennessee School of Dentistry in 1973. He served the Conway community as a dentist for 43 years before retiring in 2016. He is trustee-elect to the American Dental Association’s 12th District. He has also served on the Conway School District Board of Education for 20 years.

Fiddler has a long history of civic leadership in the Conway community. At BT����alone, he’s served on the BT����Foundation Board; the Community Advisory Board of Reynolds Performance Hall; as Purple Circle co-founder, first president and current board member; as a member of the President’s Club since 1980; and as organizer and charter member of the Youth Theatre of Central Arkansas.

He’s currently active in numerous organizations, including Conway Kiwanis, the CARTI Foundation Board and the Arkansas Mission of Mercy, where he is executive director. He is married to Dr. Joyce Fiddler ’70, and the couple has two daughters and four grandchildren.

For spring sports, summer break usually signifies the end of a long, grueling season and a chance for players to recharge the batteries. However, there is one student-athlete at the University of Central Arkansas that chooses to spend her summers a bit differently.

Bears’ softball standout Oakley Sisemore has spent the past three summer breaks assisting at a local orphanage in Uganda.

“There are these ‘moms’ there at the orphanages that oversee as many as eight or nine kids each,” said Sisemore, who traveled with a group of friends and worship leaders to volunteer. “We really just wanted to provide them with a break since they were always so busy. The living arrangements were definitely unique. They stayed in these ‘pods.’ It was basically a small house that most of the time did have cold running water but not much else.”

While working with children was a great experience on its own, Sisemore has always been enamored with working in the medical field. While in Uganda, she was given the opportunity to visit a local hospital and work with patients that had varying conditions.

“There was a doctor there named Bridgett Hurry whose family was there longterm, and they were looking for people to go to this hospital a few hours away,” Sisemore stated. “I just kind of raised my hand, and she said, ‘OK, let’s go then.’ I have always wanted to work in health care or in the medical field, so I loved it. There were a few scheduled surgeries that day, so that whole experience was great.”

This past summer, a few more players from the BT����softball squad decided to join Sisemore in volunteering in Uganda. Cheyenne Kuhn and Rachel Haberman each spent time there contributing to the orphanage and assisting in any way possible.

“One of the things I love is that every time I go back, they all remember my name and everyone knows who I am,” Sisemore said. “A lot of people think that you go on these mission trips and you are just some sort of savior. The reality is these people are so empowered and have so much to offer, but they just lack resources to do the things we can do. The best part to me was realizing how capable they are of living a life like us while developing those friendships.”

Sisemore is pursuing a master’s degree in environmental sciences as she prepares to take her MCAT and apply for medical school. While teaching is something that may interest her down the line, Sisemore plans on practicing medicine during the majority of her career.

Sculptor Gary Keenan used chainsaws to carve a white oak tree trunk on the BT����campus into a life-sized bear. The sculpture is located in front of Wingo Hall, welcoming visitors and students to campus.

Valor II replaces the original Valor I bear sculpture that was erected in front of Wingo Hall in the spring of 2013. Valor I was carved from one of UCA’s World War II red oak Memorial Trees that had to be cut due to disease and rot. Unfortunately, the sculpture continued to deteriorate to a point that remediation could not be done. Valor I was retired in 2017 and removed from campus to mitigate safety issues with the structure.

“Thanks to the generosity of several donors, we are able to replace the much-loved Valor with a more disease-, weather- and bug-resistant sculpture,” said President Houston Davis.