WEST PLAINS, Mo. – Missouri State University-West Plains will continue its year-long 50th anniversary celebration by hosting a 1963-themed gala beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12, in the Magnolia Room of the West Plains Civic Center, 110 St. Louis St.

Organizers promise guests a fun evening filled with good food and entertainment, including interactive, period-based theatrical parodies to commemorate accomplishments throughout the last 50 years.  Guests also will enjoy a performance by the Beartones, Missouri State University’s male a capella group.

Everyone is invited to attend.  Tickets are $50 per person, or a table of eight can be reserved for $500, which guarantees preferred seating.  Sponsorships also are available for $1,000.  All proceeds will benefit a scholarship endowment, organizers said.

To purchase tickets, reserve a table or sponsor the event, call the Missouri State-West Plains development office at 417-255-7240, or go online at missouristate.edu/50thGala.

Missouri State-West Plains opened its doors as the West Plains Residence Center on Sept. 16, 1963, at West Plains High School.  A total of 111 students enrolled for that first semester.

Since then, the university has grown into a multi-building campus in the heart of West Plains with an average enrollment of 2,200 students.  It currently offers 15 associate degrees, seven certificate programs and a variety of other credit and non-credit courses as needed by the communities it serves in south-central Missouri and north-central Arkansas.  It also serves as a delivery site for a variety of undergraduate and graduate programs offered by Missouri State University-Springfield’s Outreach Program.