October 1, 201212 THE PROFILE

The Hendrix Murphy Foundation went from having $250,000 in the budget to having about $1.4 million. Charles Murphy estab-­

lished the Hendrix Murphy Foundation in 1980. Murphy wanted to “create a legal separate entity within the Hendrix endowment that would be in perpetuity designed to support the study and ap-­preciation of language and literature at Hendrix College,” said President Cloyd, the Chair of the Hendrix-­Murphy Board. The Foundation was initially funded by Murphy oil stock, and stock from another Murphy owned company, Deltic Timber Corporation. For 25 years, the funds available for Hendrix-­Murphy programming,

other items were determined by dividends paid on the Murphy stock. In 2004, the Foundation

the money. The Foundation now functions as a true endowment at Hendrix College. The Foundation went from having $250,000 in the budget to having about $1.4 million. The Foundation funds enrichment programs in literature and language, and enables the campus to bring in speakers and lecturers, as well as fund the writing center, the language house, study abroad scholarships, reading groups, the Creative Writing Program, Hendrix-­in-­Madrid, Hendrix-­in-­Florence, the visiting theater direc-­tor, visiting poets, a visiting librettist, research trips, cultural activities and other programs to enrich the student experience in literature and language. Henryetta Vanaman, program manager for the Hendrix-­Murphy Founda-­tion, handles the logistics of the programs and works in the Murphy House on campus. The Murphy House was built to house administra-­

-­tion. It also provides a place for events to take place, for students to study and have spontaneous discussions with each other, and

-­drix-­Murphy visitors, Vanaman said. “There’s so much that Murphy does in the Hendrix student lives,” she said, “and we’re all about the students. That’s why we’re here. That’s why the whole thing was endowed.” “I am always thankful of Murphy,” said Adelia Shiffraw, student and Hendrix-­Murphy publicity intern. “It is a gift to us. It is one of the reasons I came to Hendrix. It’s one of the most awesome resources on campus,” she said.

this year, there were freezes on certain programs that had received funding from the Hendrix-­Murphy Foundation in the past. One of the affected programs was Film Studies, a program in the English department alongside Creative Writing and Literary Studies. The Board made a decision that the Film Program was not in ac-­cordance with the original donor intent that was set forth 35 years ago, said Dr. David Suther-­land, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and Director of the Hendrix-­Murphy Foundation. Sutherland compared the situation to a student with an 89.5% and a 90.1%. “Where do you draw the line?” he said. The Board decided that the Film Program did not fall under the category of literary studies, but fell under the category of

Dr. Kristi McKim, chair of the Film Studies Program, said, “Thanks to the programming committee and the generosity of the Hendrix-­Murphy Foundation, our Film Studies Program gained momentum from visiting scholars,

faculty-­student trip to the New Directors/New Film Festival in New York City.” In light of the recent freezes to Film Studies funding, McKim states, “Film Studies has been

cuts extremely disappointing and surprising—

especially given students’ enthusiastic participa-­tion in these successful programs. Just as we’re building our momentum, having more majors than we’ve ever had, offering more events than ever (all of which enjoy positive reviews and

under our feet to destabilize what had been our Foundation of programmatic offerings.”McKim has worked to create a list of low-­budget options in which Film students can participate this academic year. She made a “Film Studies Interest Survey,” that allows students to state their preference of local and free events (“Skype

Fausett classrooms, for example). “I’m writing an ACS grant with a Film Studies colleague at Rhodes to create a Hendrix-­Rhodes Film Studies Colloquium, where our students can present and discuss research;; I’m also working with students to create Odyssey proposals for opportunities previously funded by Murphy,” McKim said. In

has arisen, McKim said. “Our students, on a dai-­ly basis, in messages and in conversations, have rallied to help this change in funding become an inspired cry for community cohesion,” she said. The Film Program saw a 50% increase in de-­partmental funding, but that only amounted to $1,200, Shiffraw said. “$1,200, when consider-­ing the price of tuition, is inadequate,” she said.

THE HENDRIX-MURPHY FOUNDATION FREEZES FUNDING FOR FILM PROGRAM, BEGINS PLANNING NEW INITIATIVE

CHANGE isHard

BY KIMBERLY LANE

Photo by Michael Tarne

www.thepro!leonline.com 13

“Shouldn’t a new program be bolstered by pro-­

students, so that the department can grow?”“The sudden changes at Murphy, and the relatively smaller, in comparison to previous Murphy funding, support from the school, has actually provoked some rather exciting mobiliza-­

kind of an intimidating prospect, because it feels like the future of this Program and community rides on the extra-­curricular efforts of a few people,” she said. Unrelated to the freezes in funding, The Hendrix-­Murphy Board is undergoing a total revisioning process. “The family felt like it was time to really refresh our thinking about the Hendrix-­Murphy Fund,” President Cloyd said. In addition to doing a thorough examination of Murphy funded programs, there is a push to cre-­ate a vision for the Foundation, Cloyd said. In order to research and create a new vision, Dr. Alex Vernon, English Department faculty member, was recently named the Strategic Initiative Coordinator. “I’m consulting with a lot of people both internally and externally,

and eventually we’ll make a set of recommen-­dations to the Hendrix-­Murphy Board about what a new structure would be.” There are two things Vernon will be researching in terms of structure. One is looking at the “operational structure of how decisions are made and who runs the programs,” he said, explaining that a structure that was once designed to function on spending $50,000 a year on programming can-­not handle the several hundreds of thousands of dollars a year that is currently spent by the Foundation. Vernon will also be researching the ways in which we can use the resources that are provided to us, he said. Vernon will visit a number of akin institutions (Tulane, North Carolina, Duke, Kansas and Rhodes are all possibilities) to gather ideas and information about the new initiative, he said. “Several of us on the Board will be visiting some of these other places. Sort of talk with them, bring our ideas back here, work ideas through with the faculty here. It is going to be a year long

ideas are,” Vernon said.While there has not been a decision made re-­garding what the new vision will entail, a num-­ber of ideas have been brought to the table: a more serious creative writing program, a global literary studies program, a new major and new

professors. “I want to try to do something as

if it’s too vague, then it’s sort of meaningless. It doesn’t make things cohere,” Vernon said. “We can sort of create something new, and we get to

he said. The changes may be in effect as early as the fall of 2014, Vernon said. “It’s hard for me person-­ally to imagine that on a certain day, August of 2014, there’s a new building, doors open and everything is the way it’s going to be for the next 30 years. I sort of imagine a gradual process,” he said. Provost Entzminger, the Chair of the Admin-­istrative Committee of the Hendrix-­Murphy Foundation, claimed, “I will say that I think that within a year or so we’re going to have some-­thing that’s even more powerful than what we’ve had in the past. I’m really very eager to see how this whole thing shakes out because I think that the opportunity is here to do something that will make this program really very distinctive and will give us something that they’re not going to be able to get any place else.” While the revisioning process is under way, certain programs will be examined and tempo-­rarily put on hold, Sutherland said. “There has not been a theme decided for next year, and there probably won’t be so that we can get ready for what is to come when we get reorganized,” he said. “People should be excited rather than worried. Change is hard. We’ve been doing the same thing for almost 35 years and it’s time to refresh it.” Vernon has been “instrumental and innova-­tive,” President Cloyd said. “That’s the kind of thinking we need. If you don’t innovate, you die, and liberal arts colleges are places that are won-­derful because of the ideas that are generated both by students and by faculty,” he said. Cloyd, who has watched his children develop

positive things to say about the future of the Col-­lege and the sustained importance of the Film

the Hendrix campus, as was demonstrated by his idea to start the Red Brick Film Festival after

-­ers on the Hendrix YouTube page. Students are

them.”

I think it’s an emerging art form and it’s an emerging form, some would say, of literature.

-­ture modality. He doesn’t sit down and write a novel, but he tells a story,” Cloyd said.Questions that are being considered are whether

whether the Film Program should be under the umbrella of the English department, Cloyd said. “I think Film Studies in and of itself deserves its own space in the discipline, but I would expand it from Film Studies to talk about digital media, new media,” he said. “There’s a sociological, political, historical element to it, as well as a language and litera-­ture element. Mr. Murphy, Charles Murphy, understood that. He was interested particularly in the history of ideas and the way those have an

impact on literature and language and the way in which we study and express this essence of ourselves through this medium. He was inter-­

are shifting, and maybe it’s on the cutting edge,” Cloyd said. “I would like to see an endowment that would endow a Hendrix Film Society and then perhaps as we look at this new strategic plan and initiative, there would be an oppor-­tunity for us to create some more tenure track lines in Film,” he said. “The question is not whether Film will be funded. It’s a question of what is it that should be funded to maintain the integrity to the donor intent, and then what the College should do,”

to raise additional funds in this next capital campaign.” Cloyd is currently in the process of packaging and raising donor awareness about the Film Studies program. It may happen this year or it may take a little while longer, he said. “To make the College continuously relevant to the world we’re in doesn’t mean you throw away the novel and start focusing only on digital expression, but it means that you have to take digital expression into consideration. As a liberal arts institution, you constantly have to think about things like that. So this is a process, and I’m sure it will turn out great,” Cloyd said. “I think there are ideas that we have not even considered,” Cloyd said. “We’re having some

-­ture, others might have a different perspective, but that’s part of this whole process of opening it up, and I hope it has a greater impact on Film Studies.”

People should be ex-cited rather than wor-ried. Change is hard.

We’ve been doing the same thing for almost

35 years and it’s time to refresh it.”

“

Of!cers of the Foundation President (Cloyd)Vice President (Entzminger) Secretary/Treasurer (Siebemmorgen)

Board of DirectorsPresident of the College (Cloyd) Spouse of Lineal Descendant of Bertie Wilson Murphy (Suzanne Murphy) Lineal Descendant of Bertie Wilson Murphy (Martha Wilson Murphy) Vice Chair of the College Board of Trustees (David A. Knight) Chair of Trustees Finance & Investments Com-mittee (Allen McGee)

Executive Committee Provost & Dean of the College (Entzminger) Vice President for Business & Finance (Siebenmorgan) Lineal Descendant of Bertie Wilson Murphy (Martha Wilson Murphy) Foundation Director (Sutherland D) Foundation Program Review and Evaluation Committee (Duina)

Hendrix-MurphyFoundation