WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. – The Board of Trustees at Williams Baptist University recognized two retiring employees who have logged over 80 years of combined service on Friday, April 8. Trustees, meeting in regular session on the Williams campus, also approved the school’s budget for the coming year and endorsed the slate of 2022 WBU graduates.
Dr. Bob Magee and Mrs. Lynette Rose received a standing ovation from the board for their years of service at WBU. Both plan to retire this year. Magee, who is completing 37 years at Williams, is chair of the Department of Fine Arts and longtime director of the Williams Singers choir. Rose, a 44-year employee and a WBU alumna, serves as administrative assistant in the Office of Business Affairs.
“Dr. Magee and Mrs. Rose personify what I call the Williams Way,” said WBU President Dr. Stan Norman. “They have poured their lives into this university and its students. They have demonstrated a passionate commitment to our mission of Christ-centered higher education. Thousands of WBU students over those years are the beneficiaries of their commitment.”
Beyond their professional contributions, the president said WBU’s campus community will miss Magee and Rose on a deeply personal level.
“Bob chaired the search committee that brought me to Williams, and Lynette’s expertise in the business office has been a great benefit to me in our financial management of the university,” Norman noted. “It is hard to imagine WBU without them, but we pray for them as they pursue God’s next step for their lives. We wish them both a long and happy retirement.”
The board approved a $20 million budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The budget reflects a 9% increase from the previous year.
“We have been blessed with enrollment growth of more than 30 percent over the past three years,” Norman said. “This budget addresses many of the needs of our growing university, but it is also the product of a strategic planning process. We work carefully and meticulously to ensure we are good stewards of the resources God has provided to WBU.”
And the board approved the list of prospective graduates for the WBU Class of 2022. The university expects to hand out diplomas to more than 80 graduates at its commencement exercises, set for Saturday, May 7.
While they were on campus, trustees helped with the ribbon cutting at the Williams Corner store. The store, at the corner of Hwy. 67 and Fulbright Ave., sells produce from WBU’s Eagle Farms and a wide assortment of gift and home decor items.
The board also took part in a groundbreaking ceremony at WBU’s meat processing plant. Construction at the plant, which will process local beef and pork, is expected to be completed later this year.
Williams is a private, Christian university in Walnut Ridge.
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