Grambling University Foundation Red River Classic Gala – Beacon Awards 2016

The Grambling University Foundation is honoring Grambling State University President Rick Gallot and recognizing a past Grambling State University president, the band director of the GSU World Famed Tiger Marching Band and an AT&T executive as a part of this weekend’s Red River State Fair Classic in Shreveport.

Gallot and the others will be feted at the Friday night Red River Classic Gala Friday (Nov. 11) at 7 p.m. at Sam’s Town Casino & Hotel’s Grand Ballroom, 315 Clyde Fant Parkway, in Shreveport.

“We have an amazing group of Beacon Award honorees, and we want the entire northern Louisiana community to join us to help recognize them for all they’ve done and all they continue to do,” said Helen Godfrey-Smith, the foundation chair and president and CEO of the Shreveport Federal Credit Union. “Most people know these wonderful citizens because they’ve been intimately involved with business, community, education and university work.”

David Aubrey, Louisiana director of external affairs for AT&T, is being honored as an outstanding alumnus based on his years of service to GSU in several roles. At AT&T he manages the external affairs team, planning and implementing company efforts with legislative, regulatory and community objectives. The 1995 graduate served as the GSU student government president during his student tenure, and he went on to a career including a stint as mayor of Homer, Louisiana, his hometown, at 24 years old. He has served as a board member of the United Way of Northwest Louisiana, the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce and the Shreveport-Bossier African American Chamber of Commerce. Throughout those years, he has continued to serve and support his alma mater. Just recently, he chaired the university’s search for an advancement vice president and he is chairing the institution’s search for a permanent athletics director.

Neari Warner, the first female president of Grambling State, served as acting president from 2001-2004, is being honored with a Beacon Award for education. A native of New Orleans, she earned a GSU degree and went on to earn a master’s from Clark Atlanta University and a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University. Prior to starting as president, she served GSU as provost and vice president for academic affairs, vice president for development and university relations and interim vice president for student affairs, among other duties. She serves as a clinical professor in the executive Ph.D. in urban higher education at Jackson State University, and she recently released a book about her career experiences, “Honoring the Call: Odyssey of an Acting University President.”

Shreveport native Larry Pannell is receiving an arts and culture award, recognizing his years of service at GSU as music department chair and director of bands. As a composer, Pannell has written original compositions for EA Sports video games and arranged songs for movies, including “Drumline” and “The Great Debaters,” which features the GSU World Famed Tiger Marching Band. A Grambling graduate, he has a number of published works with Calama Publishing Company-ASCAP, and he recently led a tribute performance to the late Riley B. “B. B. Blues Boy” King at the B. B. King Museum in Indianola, Mississippi, with the GSU Jazz Ensemble. He has been honored with the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) Achievement Award, Kappa Kappa Psi’s Outstanding Leadership Award and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity’s Trailblazer Award.

Businessman Roy Griggs is being honored with a business and industry award, recognizing his
economic success with 14 restaurants in Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas. As CEO of Griggs Enterprise, Incorporated/McDonald’s, Briggs, a native of Meridian, Mississippi, started his McDonald’s career in 1971 and quickly moved through the restaurant’s ranks from crew member to restaurant manager and then owner. His first McDonald’s was in Thomasville, Alabama, which he ran until he relocated to the Shreveport-Bossier area. The Shreveport resident has more than 800 employees, annual revenue of $32 million and a payroll of $7.4 million. Griggs has hired several GSU alumni, and he has contributed to the university.

Caddo Parish’s district attorney is being honored with a public service award. Elected in November 2015 as the first African American to hold that office, James Stewart, a 1973 graduate of C.E. Byrd High School, earned a political science degree at the University of New Orleans then earned his law degree from the Loyola School of Law. Elected in 1994, he served on the Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal and he was re-elected to that position in 2004. He served as a judge in the First Judicial District Court in Caddo Parish.

Being recognized with a public service award, District Attorney John F. Kennedy Belton is a career prosecutor who has dedicated 23 years to serving his community as a courtroom advocate. In November 2014, Belton was elected district attorney for the Third Judicial District, which includes Lincoln and Union parishes. In addition to earning a JD from Southern University Law Center, Belton earned a bachelor’s from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana. He and his wife, Alana, own The Belton Companies, which includes real estate, restaurant and legal services holdings. He is active in Lincoln and Union parishes, and he and the company have been big GSU supporters.

Education honoree Johnette Magner is being recognized for her work as executive director of the Shreveport-Bossier Business Alliance for Higher Education (SBBA), a group of regional business organization leaders. During her four-year tenure with SBBA, the alliance has been instrumental in establishing doctoral degrees and helping to secure stable funding for area universities. Previously publisher of SB Magazine and interim vice chancellor of development at Louisiana State University-Shreveport in northern Louisiana, Magner was a vice president of public affairs with Ketchum. She started her career as a consumer reporter and anchor in Texarkana, Texas, and Shreveport.

The gala will feature a cash bar and a silent auction during the semi-formal event. Gala tickets are $125 per person or $1,000 per table of eight people. Tickets are available at Shreveport Federal Credit Union offices in Shreveport, Grambling and Bastrop, or by contacting the foundation at 318-596-1020 or gramblinguniversityfoundation@gmail.com. Complimentary valet parking is included.

Click here for the Event Calendar:
http://www.gram.edu/calendar/?ai1ec_event=red-river-classic-gala&instance_id=3529

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