Arkansas Tech University will host a come-and-go retirement reception for Jerry Charles Young I, campus ambassador, on Thursday, Sept. 29.
The reception will take place from 4-6 p.m. in the Hull Building Student Union, 1306 N. El Paso Ave. in Russellville. The public is invited.
Jerry I restored an Arkansas Tech tradition that had been lost for 76 years when he was introduced as campus ambassador on Oct. 26, 2013. For the past nine years, he has represented the university at a variety of campus events and alumni gatherings as well as Wonder Boys and Golden Suns athletic competitions.
“Now, after hundreds of appearances and thousands of photos, Jerry (I) is about to earn the spoils of retirement,” said Dr. Robin E. Bowen, ATU president, during a ceremony introducing Jerry Charles Young II on Saturday, Sept. 10. “He will live out his golden years on his favorite spot on the couch at home, no doubt napping and dreaming of the good times we all enjoyed together. Jerry…thank you. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for loving Arkansas Tech. It took a very good boy to bring back something that had been lost for so long. You are and will always be that very good boy.”
Jerry Charles Young II will take office as campus ambassador and Jerry Charles Young I will retire as of Saturday, Oct. 1.
Jerry II will receive his spiked collar symbolic of becoming campus ambassador at halftime of the ATU home football game that afternoon. Kickoff for the game between ATU and Southern Nazarene University is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field in Russellville.
