Beebe to Sign UALR Banner for 39th Regiment

At 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5, Gov. Mike Beebe will add his signature to a giant banner UALR students, faculty, and staff are preparing to present to members of the Arkansas National Guard’s 39th Infantry  Brigade Combat Team scheduled to deploy to Iraq. Beebe and UALR Chancellor Joel E. Anderson will add their names to the signatures that members of UALR’s Veteran’s Fraternity Phi Chi Sigma are collecting this week. UALR was the first campus in the nation to establish a chapter of the veterans fraternity. Members of the fraternity will make the governor an honorary member of Phi Chi Sigma and present him with a membership certificate and one of the organization’s doubloon, identifying the governor as a veteran. The signing will take place in the atrium area on the second floor of the Donaghey Student Center. In addition to the banner, students, faculty, and staff have been encouraged to bring donations of unsigned “Thinking of You” cards for the troops’ families to send to their loved ones throughout the deployment. On Oct. 1, members of the 39th reported to their armories for preparation for the brigade’s second tour of duty in Iraq. Since then, they have been training at Fort Chaffee, Camp Robinson, and their home armories. UALR has about 1,200 veterans enrolled as students, and a number of its students have been deployed with the 39th. The banner will be available for signing until 4 p.m. Wednesday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6, and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7.