{"id":11575,"date":"2025-11-11T09:43:05","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T15:43:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/?p=11575"},"modified":"2025-11-11T09:43:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T15:43:05","slug":"ozzie-smith-inspires-at-saus-20th-annual-farmers-bank-trust-distinguished-speaker-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/2025\/ozzie-smith-inspires-at-saus-20th-annual-farmers-bank-trust-distinguished-speaker-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Ozzie Smith inspires at SAU\u2019s 20th Annual Farmers Bank & Trust Distinguished Speaker Series"},"content":{"rendered":"

With humor, humility, and a touch of the extraordinary, Ozzie Smith, baseball\u2019s legendary \u201cWizard of Oz,\u201d captivated the crowd at Southern Arkansas University during the 20th Annual Farmers Bank & Trust Distinguished Speaker Series on Thursday evening at the W.T. Watson Athletic Center.
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\nThe milestone event, presented by Farmers Bank & Trust and the SAU Foundation, brought together alumni, students, and community leaders in celebration of excellence, service, and opportunity. Over the past twenty years, the Distinguished Speaker Series has raised over $1 million to support scholarships through Farmers Bank & Trust\/Dr. Bob L. Burns Distinguished Speaker Scholarship Endowments, ensuring that future Muleriders continue to benefit from this enduring partnership.<\/p>\n

SAU President Dr. Bruno Hicks welcomed guests with gratitude and reflection on two decades of the Distinguished Speaker Series. \u201cFor twenty years, Farmers Bank & Trust has helped us bring stories of perseverance and purpose to our students,\u201d Hicks said. \u201cOur friends at Farmers Bank & Trust have literally touched every facet of our campus through their gifts and service to SAU. Their contributions to SAU will impact higher education for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Elizabeth Burns Anderson, a Magnolia native who serves as the senior vice president of Farmers Bank & Trust and executive director of the Farmers Bank & Trust Foundation, spoke with deep emotion about the event\u2019s origins and her late father\u2019s vision for uniting the community through education. \u201cWhen my father first had the vision to bring distinguished speakers to Magnolia, he had no idea of the lasting impact\u00a0it would have on our small town,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cTwenty years later, we have raised over $1 million dollars for scholarships and created something truly special for Southern Arkansas University and this community.\u201d She continued, \u201cMy father planted a seed, but each of you sitting here today helped it grow. We do not just celebrate the past; we celebrate what is yet to come, and we keep believing in the power of education to change lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a conversation moderated by Yolonda Lankford, Smith traced his journey from Southern California sandlots to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He explained how the nickname \u201cWizard\u201d grew organically from his style of play and shared the creed that guided him through setbacks. \u201cIt is not the turbulence in life that defines you. It is your ability to walk through the window of opportunity when it presents itself,\u201d he told the audience. He recalled not being drafted out of high school, working construction in Clarinda, Iowa, and betting on himself until the right chance came. \u201cDo not let anyone deter you from your dream. Work hard, be the very best that you can be, and it will eventually work itself out.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Smith described how consistency and preparation became his greatest strengths. \u201cThe goal was never the Hall of Fame,\u201d he said. \u201cThe goal was to be as good and as consistent a big league ballplayer as I could be.\u201d When the Hall call finally came, he remembered the flood of emotion. \u201cAll of the work, the frustration, and the sweat and tears came out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As the audience rose in a final ovation, Smith left them with a simple measure of success that matched the night\u2019s spirit of purpose and possibility. \u201cBe ready when opportunity comes and keep working until it does,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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The program also honored David Gordon, a junior majoring in Instrumental Music Education from Fairview, Oklahoma, and Jayla Carter, a junior Mechanical Engineering major from Camden, Arkansas, recipients of this year\u2019s Farmers Bank & Trust scholarships. Both students expressed gratitude for the life-changingsupport provided by the SAU Foundation and the bank\u2019s continued investment in student success.<\/p>\n

Over the past twenty years, the Farmers Bank & Trust Distinguished Speaker Series has featured an impressive list of notable guests, including Tim Tebow, Archie Manning, Terry Bradshaw, and Emmitt Smith, each leaving an indelible impact on the SAU community. This year\u2019s milestone event not only celebrated two decades of inspiration and partnership but also reaffirmed the enduring commitment of Farmers Bank & Trust to Southern Arkansas University and the region it serves. Through vision, generosity, and faith in the power of education, Farmers Bank & Trust continues to help SAU students pursue their dreams and build a brighter future for generations to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With humor, humility, and a touch of the extraordinary, Ozzie Smith, baseball\u2019s legendary \u201cWizard of Oz,\u201d captivated the crowd at Southern Arkansas University during the 20th Annual Farmers Bank & Trust Distinguished Speaker Series on Thursday evening at the W.T. Watson Athletic Center. The milestone event, presented by Farmers Bank & Trust and the SAU… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1482,"featured_media":11576,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[97,272,276,16360,200,7753,288],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11575","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-alumni","8":"category-archives","9":"category-community-corner","10":"category-development","11":"category-foundation","12":"category-homepage","13":"category-regional-news","14":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1482"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11575"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11593,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11575\/revisions\/11593"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}