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Message From the Chair

I love the University of Arkansas. I love dressing up in red and putting on all my Razorback jewelry for games. I love living in Fayetteville and having the opportunity to go to events on campus and mingle with the students. I love knowing that the University of Arkansas is a part of my heritage and has given so much to me and my family... not just a great education, but friends and fabulous memories, as well as my husband whom I met at the U of A!   When driving north on I-540 there's a hill you go over around Greenland, and there it is: Old Main. I may live in downtown Fayetteville and be able to see Old Main from my deck, but I still get chills when I first glimpse it driving north.

For all that the U of A has given to me, and because I know that there are so many in our state that could benefit from the educational opportunities afforded through the University of Arkansas, I want to give back to my university in a way that really makes a difference. And I want to do it in a way that doesn't just glorify me by putting a name on a building or a plaque in some hall, but that honors the ideas and voices of other women with whom I can work to achieve more than I might be able to on my own. That is why I'm a member of the Women's Giving Circle. And that's why it's worth giving my time to serve as the President this year. We really do make a difference when we work together.   A difference not only to the University of Arkansas and its programs and students, but also to others in the state touched by the programs funded by the Women's Giving Circle.

If you're reading this note because you are a member of the Women's Giving Circle and you're checking out our Web site I want to give you a pat on the back! We're pretty wonderful!   You can use the website to update yourself on the projects we've funded through our grants and how much good we've been able to do through pooling our resources and focusing on ways in which the University of Arkansas can serve the state.  

If you are not a member of the Women's Giving Circle I hope you'll "click" through this Web site to see how you can become a member. There are also phone numbers to call listed. The women (and men) in the University's Development Office are wonderful and can answer questions you might have.

You can even call me!   (479.443.9401 at home or 479.466.1061 is my cell) I'll brag all day about how much fun it's been to work with women of all ages, from across the state, (including my two daughters, and we wish my Mom would drive up from Little Rock), to award grants, to hear amazing women - such as Linda Bloodworth Thomason - tell their stories, and to celebrate the University of Arkansas through ways that are distinctively relational and female.   Go Hogs!!!

Leslie Frances Smith Belden