Emporia State University and the Department of Music will honor an Emporia woman who, with her husband, changed the look of the campus and the lives of hundreds of students.
The Augusta Shepherd Memorial Concert will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 14, in Heath Recital Hall in Beach Music Hall. The public is invited to the free concert.
Augusta Shepherd was an alumnae of Emporia State University. She graduated from Kansas State Teachers College in 1944 with a bachelor of science degree in business and taught business classes for three years at Admire High School. She served on the ESU Foundation Board of Trustees and its executive committee. Augusta Shepherd died July 25, 2021, at the age of 98.
Her husband, Hershel, died on March 27, 2001. Beginning in the 1990s, the couple supported Emporia State University by sharing their largesse. The couple’s first gift of $150,000 established the Shepherd Scholars program. Both the couple and their family continued to add to the program, which now names 12 scholars each year.
Shepherd Scholars must be at least a junior, have at least two semesters of coursework left for their degree and maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0. ESU’s Roe R. Cross professors evaluate the applications and select each year’s group of Shepherd Scholars.
The couple’s second major gift to ESU was part of the Going the Distance Campaign for improvements to Welch Stadium. The Shepherds supported construction of the Hutchinson Pavilion on the west side of the stadium, a three-tiered facility with enclosed theatre seating on the first floor, the President’s Box and four skyboxes on the second floor and a media center on the third floor.
In 1997, the Shepherds were lead donors for renovations to and expansion of Beach Music Hall. The building addition on the north side of Beach is home to the Shepherd Music Center, which was dedicated in April 2000.
Hershel and Augusta Shepherd received the ESU Presidential Award of Excellence in 1996 and the Service Citation Award in 2000.
Immediately preceding the Augusta Shepherd Memorial Concert on April 14, the 2022 class of Shepherd Scholars will be honored privately. A highlight of this ceremony every year is the presence of the Shepherd family who inspire these scholars in their future endeavors.