Lion Legacies
UAFS came into existence as Fort Smith Junior College in 1928. As we approach our
100th year, your Alumni Association has partnered with Publishing Concepts Inc. (PCI)
on an ambitious project called Lion Legacies to collect the stories of our alumni
in their own words. Your stories celebrating the impact your college experience had
on your life and the lives of your family and friends will be preserved in both a
hardbound publication and digital format. Every year we don't capture and preserve
these stories is an opportunity lost, so we're excited to get started!
Has Your Contact Information Changed?
As part of Lion Legacies, we are taking the opportunity to make it easier for you
to stay connected to UAFS and your classmates. PCI will help us collect updated contact
information if you've moved or changed your phone numbers or email address.
Your Story
What Lion Legacy story will you tell?
- Was your life impacted by a faculty or staff member?
- Did you find your sweetheart on campus?
- Can you trace your successful career path to a defining moment with a professor or friend on campus?
- Have connections you made on campus turned into lifelong friendships?
- Were you on campus during a defining historical moment?
- Are you a legacy Lion? Who are the other Lions in your family?
PCI Partnership
With our limited staff and resources, it would take us years to contact and record
stories from our 48,000-plus alumni. By partnering with PCI, we're able to access
their trained staff of real people to help us capture and preserve your stories. Please
note, we have only shared your address and email address with PCI for this project,
and they will destroy the information upon completion. We have NOT sold your information or otherwise used it for outside marketing.
Do I Have to Buy Anything?
No! This project is being conducted at NO COST to UAFS or your Alumni Association. It is being funded by alumni who CHOOSE to purchase the Lion Legacies hardbound book and digital copy that will be distributed
at the end of the project. The book and digital copy will be offered at $150. PCI
will also offer you the option to purchase other UAFS-branded merchandise, such as
a hat, T-shirt, sweatshirt, or travel bag. You are welcome to purchase these branded
items, but you are not required to buy them to participate in the project or order
the Lion Legacies book.
What's Next?
Soon you will receive an email and a postcard from PCI with instructions on how you can choose to participate. We invite you to share one of your stories about your campus experience and take part in this one-of-a-kind project to honor your voices and memories! We look forward to hearing from each of you on what "Once a Lion, Always a Lion" means to you!
FAQs
It is indeed legit! Your Alumni Association has partnered with Publishing Concepts
Inc. (PCI) to produce an oral history publication for UAFS. PCI is a family-owned
business based in Dallas that has published directories and oral history publications
for educational institutions across the nation for almost 100 years. This project
allows the Alumni Association and our alumni who participate to hear about your personal
experiences and explain how UAFS, Westark, or Fort Smith Junior College helped shape
your life.
Yes, in several different ways:
- Collecting updated contact information allows us to communicate with you effectively.
- Lion Legacies stories preserve the history of our school.
- Revenue generated from book sales and donations will go to the Alumni Legacy Scholarship Endowment to support the educational goals of future Legacy Lions.
- Wearing apparel purchased with the Lion Legacies publication will display your pride and support of UAFS.
PCI is committed to protecting your information. It will be held confidential during
the project except to the extent it is used for the oral history project and except
as required by court order or by law. Upon project completion PCI will redact personally
identifiable information from any electronic files we have supplied or that were produced
by PCI in connection with the production of the project. Participating alumni will
be asked for their consent for UAFS to use their stories for recruiting purposes and
to promote the university.
When you call to update your information, you can tell the PCI representative if you prefer any of your information be excluded. You can also communicate your preferences to PCI's customer service helpdesk at 1-800-982-1590.
You can call PCI at any time to share your story. A phone number will be supplied
when PCI begins this project, so check back here for the number.
You will receive an email with a link to upload up to two photos (black and white
or color) plus captions. If you purchased a book but do not have an email address
on file, you will be sent a photo mailer to send photos to be scanned and printed. Photos will only be returned if you include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
You will receive an email with a link before publication to review your transcribed
story and make edits.
No. The Lion Legacies oral history publication is only available to UAFS, Westark,
and Fort Smith Junior College alumni.
The Lion Legacies project will take about 12 months to complete. Since we began the
project in August 2021, the books should be distributed in August 2022. If you ordered
UAFS branded items, you can expect those to arrive about 30 days after purchase.
Contact PCI's customer service helpdesk at 1-800-982-1590 or email customerservice@publishingconcepts.com and they will take care of this for you.