Central Methodist University will soon celebrate the admirable careers and achievements of four CMU alumni during its 73rd annual Alumni Awards Banquet, which is scheduled for Saturday, May 4.
The event’s reception will begin at 5 p.m., followed by a dinner at 6 p.m. in the Jacobs Conference Center of the Inman Student and Community Center at CMU’s main campus in Fayette. Tickets are $25 and reservations are requested by April 26. To reserve, visit alumni.centralmethodist.edu, email advance@centralmethodist.edu, or call 660-248-6234.
Three individuals will be presented Distinguished Alumni Awards. They are Mark Calvert (Class of 1988), Yolanda Frederick-Thompson (Class of 1988), and C. Wayne Schoolfield (Class of 1965).
Christina (Thompson) Shutt (Class of 2008) will be presented with the Young Alumni Award.
Mark Calvert
Graduating with a bachelor’s degree in English from then-Central Methodist College in ’88, Mark Calvert served as Fellow for the English Department during his senior year. He was a member of Alpha Phi Gamma, and also played on the CMC Tennis team.
Calvert went on to graduate from the University of Missouri’s School of Law in ’91. He worked as a general practice trial attorney for 24 years before being elected to the position of associate circuit judge, Division 2, for the 25th Judicial Circuit of Missouri, Phelps County in 2014. He was reelected to the same position in 2018, also serving as administrative family court judge for the 25th Judicial Circuit.
Calvert was guardian ad litem for abused and neglected children in juvenile court for seven years, and indigent parent attorney in juvenile court for five years. He was involved in helping start Knights Soccer Club and a local CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), Special Masters, and Mediation programs.
For 17 years, Calvert was a family court mediator, and for eight years, a special master for family court. He is a member of the Rolla Optimist Club (was president from 2016-17 and chairman of the Youth Soccer Program), member of Rolla Lions Club, president of Knights Soccer Club, and a board member of the Rolla Area Youth Soccer League and Community Partnership.
Yolonda Frederick-Thompson
Yolonda Frederick-Thompson graduated from Central in ’88, earning a bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies and Theatre. Afterward, she studied at L’Universite Catholique De Louvain in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
She went on to become a 2019 Hollywood Beauty Award-winning celebrity makeup artist. In 2016, she was named the Professional Makeup Artist Conference (PMAC) Legendary Award winner, and in 2009, the Fashion Makeup Artist winner. She’s also the inventor of the internationally patented iPhone makeup palette case, Glam Or Ring®.
Frederick-Thompson refined her craft while working as a senior master make-up artist and show team member with the well-known Van Michael Salons for over seven years. She set the tone for her freelance career by breaking into the scene as key makeup artist to the Grammy Award-winning trio, TLC. From there, she blazed the industry with well-known celebrities like Usher, Ciara, Jennifer Hudson, Harrison Ford, Ludacris, Melissa Etheridge, and many more.
Committed to her art and community, Frederick-Thompson has supported the “Give Back A Smile” Foundation of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry for survivors of domestic violence through pro-bono makeup training and consulting for foundation clients. She also has used her platform to uplift women by providing service and opportunity to others throughout her career, and continues to do so today.
C. Wayne Schoolfield
After graduating from Central in ’65 with a bachelor’s degree in business, C. Wayne Schoolfield went on to become an esteemed real estate developer, philanthropist, and world traveler who founded Schoolfield Properties, Inc. – a leading owner and developer of commercial real estate in Central Florida. Shortly after graduation, he relocated there to teach business for two years before finding his calling in real estate development.
He has built 32 subdivisions and a successful billboard company, and developed numerous shopping centers, office buildings, warehouse facilities, strip centers, and medical office parks for his own ownership. His first investment deal in 1967 involved the purchase of a single mobile home lot for $600 and over the years he has expanded his ownership holdings to an excess of 1 million square feet of commercial real estate, numerous acres of vacant land tracts, and many ground-leased properties.
Schoolfield has cemented himself as a leader within the Central Florida market. He and his company have been the recipients of numerous awards including being named as one of the Orlando Business Journal’s Top 100 Privately Held Companies, one of the area’s Largest Family Owned Businesses, and one of the Largest Commercial Real Estate Firms in Central Florida.
An extensive international traveler, Schoolfield has visited over 125 countries, but he’s also extremely devoted to his local community. He has served as a board member and Executive Committee Member of SunTrust Bank, N.A.-Orlando, as a board member of the Community Foundation of Central Florida, Inc., the Economic Development Commission of Central Florida, the Orlando District Board of Mission & Church Extension Methodist Church, and the Orlando Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the board of Kissimmee-Osceola County Chamber of Commerce, and chairman of the board of trustees at the First United Methodist Church of Kissimmee.
For the last 25 years, he has been elected by Walt Disney World Company to serve on the five-member board of directors for the Reedy Creek Improvement District – an entity with the same authority and responsibility as a county government including the power to issue debt, levy taxes, create land use and building codes, exercise eminent domain, and develop and maintain its own infrastructure. Reedy Creek is a progressive form of government created in 1967 by a special Act of the Florida Legislature and is commonly known as the development arm of Walt Disney World Company. The district encompasses $11.8 billion of assessed properties, 39 square miles including all of Walt Disney parks and resorts, and operates an annual budget of $332 million.
Christina (Thompson) Shutt
Recipient of the CMU Selecman Achievement Award – the highest graduating student award – Christina Shutt graduated from Central in ‘08 with a bachelor’s degree in history. She went on to earn master’s degrees in both Archival Management and History, with an emphasis on collective memory and public representations.
Shutt is the executive director at Mosaic Templars Cultural Center – an African American museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage in Little Rock, Ark. In this role, she is responsible for oversight of all museum activities.
Her former experience is another example of her expertise, as she was an Associate Librarian for Special Collections and Instruction at Hendrix College in Conway, Ark. She served as an archivist for notable collections ranging from the history of medicine to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers.
In 2017, she returned to Central to deliver the university’s annual Merrill E. Gaddis Lecture, which she titled “History will be kind to me: thoughts of museums, silences, and the power of representation.”
Shutt’s dream is to build a museum where programming is inclusive, tolerance is embraced, and ensuring the rich and vibrant stories of African Americans in Arkansas is widespread.