College to Honor Country Legend Eddy Arnold and L. Clifford Schroeder at Fall Convocation

Chestertown, MD, August 10, 2001 — Washington College will honor country singer/songwriter Eddy Arnold and L. Clifford Schroeder, 1998-2001 Chairman of the College's Board of Visitors and Governors, at its Fall Convocation on Thursday, September 6, 2001, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Tawes Theatre of the Gibson Performing Arts Center. Arnold will be recognized with an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts for his contributions to country music, and Schroeder will be recognized for his service to the College and other public organizations with an Honorary Doctor of Public Service. The Convocation is free and open to the public.

Eddy Arnold holds the distinction of being the only singer to achieve Billboard chart hits in seven separate decades. Long before today's country pop revolution, Arnold became the original country crossover, bringing the country sound into the mainstream of popular American music. Managed by Col. Tom Parker, who later went on to direct the career of Elvis Presley, Arnold began to dominate country music in the late 1940s. In 1955 Arnold broke with the country music establishment by recording with the Hugo Winterhalter Orchestra, expanding his appeal and making country music a mainstay of popular American music.

In 1964, Arnold embarked on a "second career" that surpassed the success of the first one and carried his music to a more diverse audience. "Make the World Go Away" was just another song until it received the Arnold touch and became an international hit. Arnold's 60-year-plus career has earned him induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

L. Clifford Schroeder, Sr., father of Washington College alumni Louis Clifford Schroeder '91 and Christopher Lyon Schroeder '94, currently serves a president of Chronos Limited and Dixie Container Capital Corporation located in Richmond, VA. Mr. Schroeder joined the Washington College Board in 1990 and was elected Chairman in 1998.

Mr. Schroeder holds a B.A. in economics from Harvard College and an M.A. from the Harvard Business School, and has had an active career in public service as well as in business.

In addition to his decade of service to Washington College, Mr. Schroeder served for 16 years as chair of the Virginia Outdoors Association, a board member of the St. Christopher's School and Taft School, vice chair of the Virginia Oyster Reef Heritage Foundation, chair of the Virginia Chesapeake Bay Board, and a member of the Board of Visitors and Governors of the College of William and Mary. He and his wife, Lois, reside in Richmond.