SAU Alumna and Employee Leaves a Legacy
Gaye Manning has been an employee of the Southern Arkansas University system since 1984 when she was hired as assistant personnel at SAU Tech. Thirty-nine years later, she is serving as both interim chancellor and vice chancellor for finance and administration. With retirement set for December of 2023, Manning intends to leave a portion of her estate to SAU.
“Whether we’re talking navy blue and gold or royal blue and gold, SAU is the center of my life,” Manning said.
Though Manning was raised only eight miles from the Magnolia campus, she wanted to experience an immersive college experience. With her father’s permission, she moved into Bussey Hall in 1981, pledged Alpha Sigma Alpha (though at the time, it was Tau Delta Theta), and graduated in 1984 with a BBA in management/accounting.
“Those were truly the best years of my life,” Manning said.
Today, influential professors like Dr. David Rankin, Dr. Al Stecker, Louis Blanchard, Dr. Terrye Stinson, and Dr. Linda Rushton Selman have continued to impact Manning.
“To this day, I remember things they said in the classroom,” Manning said. “That is a gift.”
Manning prioritized her education and returned to the classroom in 1998. She obtained an MBA from Henderson State University in 2000 and became SAU Tech’s vice chancellor for finance and administration in 2001.
A few years later, Manning’s life changed. After losing many of her immediate family members within a ten-year time period, including her only child Zachary Hooper and sister Julie Hartsfield, she grounded herself in the “things that matter.”
As a graduate and long-time employee of SAU, Manning knows first-hand how a college education impacts lives. Wanting to honor the memories of her loved ones while, at the same time, setting up structures that they and she can continue to help others, Manning has established multiple scholarships and endowments.
After graduating from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, Manning’s son Zachary began working as a student trainer for the Razorbacks football team. Since his passing in 2009, Manning has given twelve scholarships to athletic trainers through an endowment at the University of Arkansas. Through a separate endowment at SAU Tech, scholarships have been awarded in Zachary’s name to students who exhibit passion for volunteerism.
The Julie Hartsfield Endowment for Alumni Affairs was established in Manning’s sister’s honor and is now fully endowed. Intended to enhance the alumni department, Manning has faith in SAU Foundation to be good stewards of the funds.
“Julie loved the alumni department. She lived and breathed it,” Manning said. Hartsfield was the administrative specialist in SAU’s alumni office for 15 years, until her passing in 2013.
“God is helping me to heal because I have these great things to focus on—things that will be mechanisms to help people,” Manning said of her estate. “My husband and I want to make sure that the majority of the dollars that we have left after we’re gone is used in good, positive, constructive ways.”
Gaye and husband Gerald Manning, retired director of physical plant at SAU Tech, live in Camden, Arkansas.
For more information on how to include SAU in your estate plans, contact Josh Kee at 870-235-4321 or Cell 870-904-1375 or joshkee@saumag.edu or visit www.saudevelopment.com.