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“Surprise, joy, gratitude – the reaction in El Dorado has been heartwarming.”
The day after The Promise was announced, the Associated Press described The El Dorado Promise as “one of the most generous programs of its kind any- where in the country.” EHS guidance counselor in 2007, Vince Dawson, told AP that he was “just floored” after the announcement and expected to see many more students in his office inquiring about colleges.
cities because of their Promise and that students will return to their communities after college to work and raise families of their own,” Joshua Zelesnick wrote in “Converge Magazine.” (Now, the El Dorado Promise is for stu- dents who attend El Dorado Schools and graduate from EHS).
Claiborne Deming, presi- dent and chief executive offi- cer of Murphy Oil (when The Promise was announced in 2007) said that the company’s scholarship program for El Dorado High School students began to pay off shortly after it was announced, according to a story in arkansasbusi- ness.com on May 29, 2007.
A headline in the Arkansas Times published on March 8, 2007, read, “Claiborne Deming’s love of smart peo- ple just may save the town of El Dorado.” Deming has had a “long-standing involve- ment in public education,” co-founded the El Dorado Education Foundation with Alice Mahony and has influenced local educa- tion through the Murphy Education Program that awards students monetarily for test scores and for being named National Merit semi- finalists.
News-TImes File Photo
Presidential Visit: Former President, George W. Bush, speaks to the El Dorado High School’s graduating class of 2010 during their academic signing day assembly held at the school’s gym in El Dorado.
“Out of 260 graduates of the El Dorado High School class of 2007, 210 students have been accepted to college. Last year, only 60 percent of the students went to college,” Deming said while speaking to members of the Rotary Club of Little Rock after receiving the Rotary’s 2007 Business and Professional of the Year award, it was report- ed in arkansasbusiness.com.
Deming also told members of the Little Rock Rotary that homesalesinElDoradowere up 7 percent and the values of homes were up 6 percent after the announcement of The Promise. “We really can impact a region for two gen- erations,” he said.
“Time Magazine” reported on Feb. 6, 2007, in a story titled, “How to pay for col- lege with oil money,” about The El Dorado Promise and what it meant to students who before the announce- ment, couldn’t even dream of going to college. Deming told “Time Magazine,” that
4 – El DoraDo NEws-TimEs – JaNuary 29, 2017
On Jan. 31, 2007, the Washington Post’s head- line read, “College scholar- ships for all no myth in El Dorado,” and reported that El Dorado had become a “destination city,” because of The Promise. Deming was quoted in the Post’s story as saying the decision to fund The El Dorado Promise, “was the easiest decision the board (of Murphy Oil Corp.) made that day. This program is to award everyone. If you want to go to college, by goodness, we’re going to give you the opportunity.”
Congra0tulations to the El Dorado Promise on your
th
Anniversary
Friends of the El Dorado Education Foundation
Knox & Judie White Jim & Lila Phillips Jordan Phillips
Roger & Shelley Landes Eli Landes
Emme Landes
Alice Mahony
Joshua Mahony
Brandon & Holly Meadows Sherrel & Ben Johnson
Don & Brenda Wales Walter Compton Carol Felton
“The Bulletin,” a publica-
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PromisE 10Th aNNivErsary