Grand Marshal announced for Park Cities' Parade
The Grand Marshal selection committee for the Rotary Club of Park Cities 4th of July Parade is pleased to announce that Dr. R. Gerald Turner, the President of Southern Methodist University, was selected as the 2011 Grand Marshal for the Rotary Club of Park Cities Fourth of July Parade.
The Grand Marshal selection committee for the Rotary Club of Park Cities 4th of July Parade is pleased to announce that Dr. R. Gerald Turner, the President of Southern Methodist University, was selected and has agreed to be our 2011 Grand Marshal for the Rotary Club of Park Cities Fourth of July Parade.
The President of Southern Methodist University since 1995, Turner is leading the University as it celebrates the centennial of its founding in 2011 and of its opening in 2015. Under his leadership, SMU’s progress in recent years includes a near tripling of applications; a rise in student quality as measured by a 100-point increase in SAT scores; an increase in minority enrollment, totaling 22.6 percent; a more than doubling of the University endowment in the past 15 years, reaching $1.07 billion in 2010; and creation of 382 new scholarships and 33 new endowed academic positions. SMU has risen to number 56 among 260 “best national universities” in U.S. News &World Report, a 12-point increase over 2009. On the gridiron, the University is enjoying a turnaround of its program following the selection of June Jones as head football coach.
Accompanying President Turner will be Peruna, SMU’s live miniature horse mascot, and several of the SMU cheerleaders. Peruna will be in Goar Park after the parade for pictures with children. . .
The parade starts at 9:00 a.m., Monday, July 4, at the Highland Park Town Hall on Euclid Avenue and ends at Goar Park.
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