Wilhoit emcees Pellissippi State’s public kickoff oflargest-ever fundraising campaign

Wilhoit emcees Pellissippi State’s public kickoff of largest-ever fundraising campaign

WBIR-TV anchor Robin Wilhoit is the emcee when Pellissippi State goes public April 17 with the largest major fundraising initiative in the College’s 33-year history.

Wilhoit came to WBIR in September 1992 as a news reporter. She quickly added anchoring the weekend morning news to her job, later became a co-anchor of the 5:30 a.m. and noon newscasts, and is now co-anchor of Action 10 News at 6 and 11 p.m. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she lives in Knoxville with her husband and two children.

The major gifts campaign, spearheaded by the Pellissippi State Foundation, kicks off officially at 11 a.m. in the Performing Arts Center. Allen Edwards, Pellissippi State president, will announce the goal and campaign progress during a brief program that will also include remarks by key volunteer campaign leaders.

“Connecting Communities, Changing Lives, the theme of the campaign, reflects a broad effort to attract new private funding that will benefit students and the communities where they live and work,” said Edwards.

Pellissippi State’s four campuses in Knox and Blount counties attracted a record 8,188 students last fall, and spring semester enrollment increased by more than 7 percent over last spring’s numbers.

Edwards says he is pleased that the community has come to rely on the College to meet the technical and academic needs of the region but that the rapidly growing enrollment is also a major factor in the need for additional financial support.

“The growth in student enrollment represents great things for our community,” he said, “but it also presents certain challenges for us. If we are to continue to meet the expectations of our students and the local businesses and industries we serve, it is increasingly clear that we will have to reach out to individuals, corporations and foundations for private support to help us meet our long-range goals.”

Co-chairing the Knox County campaign are Cathy Ackermann, president of Ackermann PR; John Fisher, a wealth management financial advisor with the Fisher Group at Smith Barney; and Joseph Johnson, owner of A&W Office Supply.

The Blount County campaign co-chairs are Maryville community leader Peggy McCord and Steve West of West Chevrolet.

Speakers at the kickoff will include Cathy Ackermann; David Wooley, 2007-2008 chair of the Pellissippi State Foundation Board of Trustees and chairman/COO of BarberMcMurry architects; and Heather Overton, alumni campaign co-chair and marketing executive with Denark Construction Company.

President Edwards will announce five major funding priorities of the campaign:

Expanding the Nursing program at the Magnolia Avenue Campus
Strengthening the College’s overall endowment
Equipping and furnishing the new Blount County campus building
Providing technology for the new Bagwell Center for Media and Art
Increasing funds for academic and student enrichment

More than half of the campaign goal, which Edwards also will announce at the public launch, has been raised.

"Inside Pellissippi" is a bi-monthly electronic publication produced by the Marketing and Communications Office for the faculty and staff of Pellissippi State Technical Community College, 10915 Hardin Valley Road, P.O. Box 22990, Knoxville, Tennessee 37933-0990. All suggestions and comments should be sent to Julia Wood (jwood@pstcc.edu).

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