Issue: Summer 2012 | Posted: June 18, 2012

Old School

Loyalty, consistency and faithfulness: Union’s long-term donors

Many donor tributes rightfully focus on sacrificial giving at a time of great need. At Union in recent years, donors have stepped up to help rebuild the campus after the 2008 tornado and to contribute to the construction of Union’s new library.

Sometimes lost in those moments is the role of another kind of donor — one who contributes faithfully and consistently, year-after-year.

About 350 donors have given to Union for at least 10 consecutive years; roughly 75 of those for more than 25 consecutive years. Many churches appear on those lists, as do the names of alumni and friends who have invested in the long-term mission of the University.

Among them: Mark (’51) and Christine (’51) Fairless.

“So many of the (church-supported) colleges have adjusted to what the world wants, but Union has stayed with their mission,” says Christine. “Union has stuck to our idea of what a college should do and could do.”

Christine is a retired teacher. Mark is a retired pastor and also served for 26 years as an Air Force chaplain, a job that took them all over the world. The couple now lives in Jackson again and “counts it a privilege” to attend Union athletics events and music recitals.

“We are West Tennesseans, and Union has been in our vocabulary since those early childhood years,” Mark says. “(Union has) done so well with what resources they’ve had, in good times and bad times.”

History teaches that reliable annual giving has played a crucial role in Union’s overall development.

“There is much to be said for loyalty, consistence and faithfulness,” says Union President David S. Dockery. “Partnerships that stretch over many years have benefitted this place in ways that are beyond measure.”