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Concordia University Texas Gala at the Four Seasons Hotel
A pattern develops, almost inexorably, while socializing in Austin. It begins with cursory introductions, perhaps as part of a group at a party or a club. Eventually, an individual conversation catches fire. Later, a whole afternoon or evening is devoted to familiarizing oneself with another Austinite, or handful of them.
Claudia Teinert and Jim McConnell
This pattern was borne out through Concordia University Texas. On a busy social night a couple of years ago, I attended the cocktail portion of school’s first Excellence in Leadership dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel. I did so out of respect for Elizabeth Christian and Associates, the veteran Austin public relations firm which informed me of the budding event.
At the next year’s gala, I paused in the lobby for chats with some of Concordia’s backers and leaders. I was impressed. Still, I barely knew their names. Then, a few weeks ago, Concordia president Tom Cedel and his wife, Penny, took me on a tour of the still-new West Austin campus. The proverbial scales fell from my eyes as this cheerful power pair revealed, not only the university’s physical promise, but its rare sense of clear purpose.
Matt and Heather Powell
So Friday night, I brushed away other invitations to spend the entire evening with the Concordia crew at the Four Seasons gala, which has grown every year. In the packed lobby, I chatted with former Austin mayor Bruce Todd and his wife Elizabeth Christian, also with her business teammate, the heavily pregnant but radiant Kristin Marcum.
I was pleased to join the Cedels at their table, discreetly to the side of the main dining room, near the dais. Joining the discussion around the meal were board members and their spouses, such as Ed and Carolyn Moerbe, and Alan and Alice Werchan, as well as Penny’s mother, Helen Garrard, a newly minted Texan with a fresh driver’s license. To my left was Lance Thompson, a senior and baseball player at Concordia who would later speak eloquently from the stage about his educational journey and the business he founded (already!).
Abigail Pfiester Rue and Blake Rue
Communications professor Abigail Pfiester Rue kept the ceremonies paced and punctuated; newspaperman and the dinner’s honoree, John Garrett, spoke of the religious inspiration that helped him expand a Community Impact business. (He leaned rather heavily on the David vs. Goliath analogy, which drew eyes in my direction, presumably as representative of the giant.)
By the time it was all over, it felt like I had joined a club. That’s what a gala should do. And, for those who dismiss them, that’s why I attend, if gingerly at first.
UPDATE
An earlier version of this post did not mention Garrett’s newspaper chain: Community Impact. Also, his last name was misspelled.
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