As you'll read in this issue, we're planning a slew of events for fall. Mark your calendars now for Oct. 2, this year's Homecoming game. The Tigers will face off against the Houston Cougars, and we're cooking up the biggest celebration in years! If you'd like to be a part of the Homecoming planning team, contact us at alumnievents@memphis.edu or 901/678-5314.

Award-winning Coming Home! exhibit opens at AMUM June 19
Visit the new Alumni and Friends Web site
Alumni Association progresses with strategic planning process
Fall calendar packed with events - Stay tuned for details!
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Award-winning Coming Home! exhibit opens at AMUM June 19

Visitors to the Art Museum of the University of Memphis will be immersed in the world of Southern folk art when Coming Home! Self-Taught Artists, the Bible and the American South opens June 19. Coming Home! is the first comprehensive exhibition to explore the impact of evangelical Christianity on the work of contemporary Southern folk artists.

Among the 73 artists whose work is included in the exhibition are Howard Finster, Sister Gertrude Morgan, William Edmondson, Clementine Hunter, Joe Minter, Elijah Pierce, Robert Roberg, Mary T. Smith, William Thomas Thompson and Myrtice West.

Organized by the Art Museum of the University of Memphis and curated by Associate Professor of Art History Carol Crown, Coming Home! is the recipient of awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation and Humanities Tennessee.

An opening reception will be held June 18 from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public.

Admission to the exhibit is free. For more information, visit the Art Museum online at http://www.amum.org or contact artmuseum@memphis.edu or 901/678-2224. The exhibit closes Nov. 13.

Enhanced chapter and club information, stories on Alumni Scholarship winners and alumni, surveys - these are a few of the features that are (or will be) included in the new Alumni and Friends Web site.

One feature sure to be popular is a "goodies" page including fun U of M-related downloads such as desktop pictures for your computer, the fight song, and later this summer, screensavers.

We hope you'll find the new site useful, and that you'll visit often for updates!

The Alumni and Friends Web site is now located at http://www.memphis.edu/alumni.

To date, the National Alumni Board of Directors has approved a revised mission statement and Alumni Association structure, which will be presented to Alumni Association members for approval. The By-law Revision Committee has been authorized by the Board to move forward with by-law revisions to reflect the mission statement and structure. The by-laws will be reviewed by the Board on June 23.

On July 1, the proposed mission statement, structure and by-laws will be placed on the alumni Web site for review, and an open meeting will be held on July 19 to discuss suggestions or concerns about the new plan. All Alumni Association members will have the opportunity to vote on the proposal before July 30.

If you have any questions about the strategic plan or the planning process, please contact Tammy Hedges at thedges@memphis.edu.

The alumni office has been busy this month planning future events. Here's a sampling of things to come this fall (we'll include more details as the dates approach):

Atlanta, Birmingham, Nashville, Tampa, Houston, Charlotte, Dallas-Ft. Worth and Washington D.C. will all host Tiger football watch parties.

Alumni awards programs are on tap for Fogelman College of Business and Economics, College of Arts and Sciences and Journalism.

Also in the works are a Law School reunion, Homecoming (mark your calendars - Oct. 2) and much more!

We're looking for alumni in New York, Denver, New Orleans, Little Rock and Jackson, Tenn., who are interested in meeting other alumni and hosting events that support athletic and academic programs. If you're interested, please contact us at alumnievents@memphis.edu or 901/678-5314.

We hope you'll take advantage of the convenience these secure online services provide!