Union University is mourning the loss of one of its own. Dr. C. Steven Arendall passed away at his Memphis home on Sept. 13.
Dr. Arendall was born in Warrington, England, to Charles and Pamela Arendall and went on to receive his bachelor’s degree and MBA at the University of Memphis and his Ph.D. at the University of Tennessee. He was active in the Episcopal church and had recently married his longtime girlfriend, Belinda. He could always be seen sporting his signature bowtie.
Arendall, 62, had been in academics for 35 years, having served Union for the last 27 years. He was a professor of management and had previously served as the MBA director for Union’s Germantown campus. He had always worked between the Jackson and Germantown campuses, having been given the charge to start an MBA program in Germantown about 20 years ago, a program that led to the creation of the Germantown campus.
“He was very instrumental in starting the Germantown campus,” Luanne Powell, MBA director for the Jackson campus, said. “At that point, it was just a couple of individuals and he was one of them. If it wasn’t for him, we never would’ve had the program.”
Powell says that Arendall was very charismatic, which helped him recruit students. The Germantown campus has grown to be a vital branch of the Jackson campus, having grown from a few people up to 700 students, expanding from the school of business to other fields of study, such as nursing, social work and Christian ministry.
Arendall later returned to Jackson to teach several business classes while continuing to work with the Germantown campus. He stepped down as Germantown’s MBA director about five to six years ago because he wanted to return to the classroom.
Powell met Arendall while working as a director for West Tennessee Healthcare. While Powell was going through director’s training, a friend introduced her to Arendall, who would become her teacher during her training.
Much of Powell’s training involved quality control and statistics, which terrified her because she hadn’t had a statistics course in years and she was unsure how probability could apply to the workplace. However, Arendall’s practical approach brought her much clarity.
“He would use poker chips,” Powell laughed. “He had them in a bag and you would draw them. From a manager’s perspective, you were able to take the practical information of that and apply it directly to the job. It helped me, and everyone who took his class at the hospital was just amazed by it.”
Arendall was one of the first people that Powell ran into when she came back to complete her MBA at Union, and he went on to teach three of Powell’s MBA classes. Powell describes Arendall as “a friend, a teacher and a mentor.” They would eventually work alongside each other, Arendall as Germantown’s MBA director and Powell as Jackson’s MBA director.
“He showed such great respect for someone who had been his student,” Powell said. “He was always uplifting and always willing to help.”
Arendall always used his practical approach in the classroom, which helped keep his students’ attention during four-hour classes.
“They said he would lecture and never even look at his notes,” Powell said. “He might glance over, but he knew the material so well that he just could talk to them. It was more conversational and gave real-world examples.”
Dr. Jason Garrett, dean of the McAfee School of Business on the Jackson campus, had only known Arendall for a matter of months after arriving at Union last January, but he says that the most impressionable thing to him has been talking to alumni about Arendall.
“There’s hardly a one that I’ve talked to, particularly if they had taken classes on our Germantown campus, that wouldn’t just rave about Steve in the classroom,” Garrett said. “[He] clearly loved teaching.”
In addition to teaching, Arendall did consulting projects in the Memphis area and worked with countless nonprofits, including ARISE 2 Read in Memphis, a program that trains volunteers to tutor children. He also taught classes that integrated business policy with nonprofits and encouraged his students to not only use their skills in the business world, but also to meet societal needs.
“He made it a point to try to help the nonprofits, that they could survive and… try to get their feet on the ground,” Powell said. “He did that tirelessly and did that free of charge. It’s services that that organization could not afford, but he would go in and help them. That was his mission, to help nonprofits.”
Garrett remembers Arendall as “the life of the party.”
“Steve would always light up a room,” Garrett said. “He loved life. He still owed me a kayaking trip.”
Powell recalls his humor and quick wit, but also his warmth and care for others.
“I could mention my children [and] he would remember my child’s name,” Powell recalls. “Before I could even ask about his, he was always asking about mine. He remembered my daughter’s name. He loved his children fiercely. We talked about children more than anything else.”
Arendall was always outspoken about his opinions, an art that Powell says many have lost because of fears of offending people or saying the wrong thing.
“Steve, he just shot straight,” Powell said. “You never had to worry because you knew exactly what he was thinking. He said it in such a way that you didn’t mind him telling you. He would correct you if you were wrong, but in a nice way that it didn’t offend you.”
Powell remembers Arendall’s deliberate kindness and encouragement that he frequently offered to others.
“He wrote notes,” Powell said. “I mean, who writes notes these days? If your daughter got homecoming queen, he would send you a note and say congratulations, or he would congratulate me on something that my child had done or something that you had done at work.”
Powell recalls going through Arendall’s office after his passing to retrieve his teaching notes. When she opened his file cabinet, she was touched by what she found.
“He had a file and it was called ‘atta boys’,” Powell said. “Anything good that happened, he kept a record of it and affirmed people and told them. He made a point of doing that, and he would write a handwritten note and send it to them. How many people do that? They don’t take the time to do that, but he certainly did. He was very considerate.”
Arendall’s impact on his students is still being felt.
“Students loved him,” Powell said. “I have had emails, phone calls, Facebook messages… Every time I get on Facebook, I’ve got 5 or 6 [messages], and it’s from students in California, Michigan, former colleagues, that are reaching out because he impacted so many lives. You think of 20 years of teaching, the lives that he’s touched. They all tell the same stories. They’re like ‘he’s the man.’ He will be missed most definitely. He was just a joy to be around, so it’s going to be tough.”
