The UTM Wildlife Society hosted the second annual Phillip Trey Lindsey Scholarship Endowment Dinner featuring “Will the Thrill” Clark, Sept. 15, in the Duncan Ballroom in the UC.
The dinner was a fundraiser for the Phillip Trey Lindsey Endowment Fund, which sponsors the Student Wildlife Society and conservation efforts. The goal for this year’s endowment fund is $250,000.
“I don’t want you here not knowing who you’re supporting,” Trey’s father, John Lindsey, said after a tribute video of Trey was played during the dinner.
“He was special. We don’t want him to be forgotten; that’s why we do this.”
Dr. Eric Pelren, UTM Wildlife Biology professor, and John Lindsey presented two $1,000 scholarships to senior Wildlife Biology majors who are members of the Wildlife Society. Both students were personally affected by Trey during his time at UTM and by his service to the society.
“Through the great works and huge hearts of the Lindsey family, the first dinner last year has already resulted in two scholarships in Trey’s memory,” Pelren said.
“Sometimes talented students just need financial support to liberate some of their time for their academic and professional pursuits.”
“By chance, the recipients of these first two scholarships were elected president and vice president of the Wildlife Society this year: Kenley Schwartz and Brandon Weber. That indicates to me that the scholarship is working – students are being identified who have already demonstrated academic and professional potential.”
Weber and Schwartz were both given time to address what the Wildlife Society means to them personally and how it has shaped their futures in conservation.
“The UTM chapter of the Wildlife Society is very good about pulling together students who are passionate about wildlife. Together we work to gather experiences so we may become professionals in our field,” Weber said.
Weber explained how the Wildlife Society works in the community to help conserve wildlife habitats through putting out wood duck boxes, planting trees and shrubs, hosting the spring fishing rodeo, Boy Scout merit badge workshops and stream cleanups.
Schwartz gave her testimony of how the Wildlife Society has brought her closer to not only her goals, but those serving in the society with her.
“We do great things for wildlife habitats all of the time but it’s really more like a family,” Schwartz said.
“People like Trey and Quanah Allen, who was Trey’s girlfriend, have all made me feel right at home and made me feel so much closer. So while we do great things for wildlife, we do great things for each other and the community.”
After the scholarships were announced, John Lindsey welcomed his longtime friend and baseball legend Will Clark to address the audience.
“I am so grateful to have Will come in. It’s not a lot of times that you can get somebody to come in who has had such a fascinating career as Will.”
Clark earned a .303 lifetime batting average over 15 MLB seasons, and ended his career with 2,176 hits, 284 home runs and 1,205 RBI’s. He is also a six-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger, Gold Glove Award recipient, 1989 National League Championship Series MVP and, John Lindsey said, “earned the coolest nickname any athlete could: ‘Will the Thrill.’”
Clark spent his 15 year MLB career as the first-basemen for the San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles and the St. Louis Cardinals.
“I am an avid outdoorsman, besides from being a ballplayer, my second hobby was being in the outdoors,” Clark said.
“I studied Petroleum Engineering [at Mississippi State] because I didn’t want to sit behind a desk; I wanted to be in the field, out in the water, in the marsh, wherever it may be. And so for Doc [Pelren] to come up here and award those two scholarships, that was absolutely fabulous.”
Clark even offered to host a testing group from the Wildlife Society at his hunting ranch in Mississippi.
He spent time telling his best stories from his career, but also what he expects from baseball in the years to come.
A silent auction and a live auction were hosted at the dinner to help raise money for the scholarships, including a copy of Clark’s high school yearbook, which also featured Harry Connick Jr. The funds raised from the dinner will support next year’s scholarship winners.
Trey began his career at UTM in 2010 and graduated in May 2016 with a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Biology. He had just begun a two-month internship as a research technician at the Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit when he died July 12, 2016, from cardiac arrest caused by a blood clot in his leg.
The Phillip Trey Lindsey Scholarship Endowment was established to support Wildlife Biology majors at UTM and, in October 2017, a classroom in Brehm Hall was dedicated in honor of Trey.
Pelren remembers the day Trey walked into his office for the very first time with a confidence not possessed by many freshmen.
“Trey left many impressions, and they were all positive. As much as any, I suppose, was that he was always a model of enthusiasm and good will, not only for wildlife majors, but for everyone he met,” Pelren said.
“He was kind-hearted to everyone, fun-loving and excited about learning and new experiences. He reached out readily to others, and showed us all what such a motivated, positive attitude could do for education, for the profession, and for life.”
Weber finished his speech talking about Trey’s influence on him during his time in the Wildlife Society.
“We strive to reflect our mission statement: ‘To inspire, empower, and to enable wildlife professionals to sustain wildlife populations and habitats through science based management and conservation.’ This has now become my mission and, for a while, I believe it was Trey’s mission too. This is what Trey Lindsey dedicated his life to.”
Baseball legend Will Clark addresses the audience at the Phillip Trey Lindsey Scholarship Endowment Dinner in the Duncan Ballroom. |Pacer Photo / Sarah Knapp
