{"id":9814,"date":"2023-10-23T18:13:09","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T23:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/?p=9814"},"modified":"2023-10-24T12:28:43","modified_gmt":"2023-10-24T17:28:43","slug":"tim-tebow-motivates-sold-out-crowd-as-farmers-bank-trust-distinguished-speaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/2023\/tim-tebow-motivates-sold-out-crowd-as-farmers-bank-trust-distinguished-speaker\/","title":{"rendered":"Tim Tebow motivates sold-out crowd as Farmers Bank & Trust Distinguished Speaker"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Two-time national champion, first-round NFL draft pick and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow addressed a sold-out audience at Southern Arkansas University on October 10 as the 2023 Farmers Bank & Trust Distinguished Speaker in the W.T. Watson Athletic Center. This year\u2019s event raised more than $92,000 to benefit scholarships for future generations of SAU students.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Trey Berry, president of SAU, welcomed the community to what was the largest indoor banquet in the history of Magnolia, Arkansas. \u201cJust by being here tonight, you are changing the lives of our students,\u201d he said, thanking Farmers Bank & Trust in particular for their contributions of gifts, facilities, leadership, and service. Since the beginning of the Distinguished Speaker Lecture Series, over $850,000 in scholarships has been raised.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Berry also recognized the latest recipients of the Farmers Bank & Trust\/Dr. Bob Burns Distinguished Speaker Scholarship Endowment: Karli Rabb, a junior from Emerson, AR, majoring in agriculture: pre-veterinary science and Heath Heikes, a senior from Russellville, AR, majoring in accounting.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fifth generation banker and Magnolia native Elizabeth Burns Anderson, senior vice president of Farmers Bank & Trust, shared her experience as executive director of the FB&T Foundation, noting the importance of community service as well as the long-standing relationship between FB&T and SAU.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to Tebow taking the stage, Dr. Berry surprised the NFL titan and\u00a0<\/span>New York Times\u00a0<\/em>bestselling author by naming him an honorary Mulerider. \u201cYou can\u2019t come to Magnolia, Arkansas, without becoming a Mulerider,\u201d Dr. Berry said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Tebow shared inspirational stories of professional athletes, war heroes, and resilient families, reminding attendees of the impact that hope, belief, and faith have on those who are struggling. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot that\u2019s being thrown at young people today,\u201d he said. \u201cBut you get the chance to throw hope right back at them.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tim Tebow was born in Makati, the Philippines, to missionary parents. A former professional football player and baseball player, five-time\u00a0<\/span>New York Times<\/em> bestselling author, international speaker, and ESPN broadcaster, Tebow also founded the Tim Tebow Foundation in 2010. With a mission to fight for the world\u2019s most vulnerable, Tebow\u2019s foundation focuses on anti-human trafficking and child exploitation, orphan care and prevention, profound medical needs, and special needs ministry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tebow encouraged the audience to continue helping those in need beyond the evening\u2019s dinner. Quoting a story of Mother Theresa, he said, \u201cTrue love takes true sacrifice and many times true love actually does hurt.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two-time national champion, first-round NFL draft pick and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow addressed a sold-out audience at Southern Arkansas University on October 10 as the 2023 Farmers Bank & Trust Distinguished Speaker in the W.T. Watson Athletic Center. This year\u2019s event raised more than $92,000 to benefit scholarships for future generations of SAU students.\u00a0\u00a0… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":9817,"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":[97,272,276,265,7753,288,310],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9814","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-events","11":"category-homepage","12":"category-regional-news","13":"category-scholarship-news","14":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9814","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\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9814"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9825,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9814\/revisions\/9825"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}