Home Is Where Mule Spirit Is: UCM Power Couple Paints MuleNation Red

Rob Ruth, '75, is a strong advocate for the University of Central Missouri. He started working in student recruitment soon after graduation. Although his career took him to several different states, he's been bringing students to the university — and back — ever since.

Rob and Susie, '74, '77, met as undergraduate students in UCM's College of Education. Rob served as president of the Physical Education Majors Association and wanted to be a coach. Susie's dream was to teach home economics. They both ultimately fulfilled these goals, although not in the way they expected.

After a few years of recruiting students for UCM's Department of Continuing Education, Rob landed his first position at State Farm Insurance, the company where he would serve for the duration of his 36-year career. Susie left her job in the public school system to put her teaching and home economics skills to good use with the three children they would raise. Rob got to live his dream of being a coach for youth baseball, basketball and soccer.

While a student at UCM, Rob was a four-year starter for Mules Baseball. He played centerfield under Coach Bob Tompkins, after whom Robert N. Tompkins Field was named. He was an all-MIAA player for the 1974 Mules Baseball team, which is now enshrined in the UCM Athletic Hall of Fame for being the first team to reach the NCAA Division II National Championships. When the Mules returned to the World Series in June 2021, Rob and Susie were there. They traveled from their home in Colleyville, Texas, to Cary, North Carolina, to watch the team take second place in the nation.

Being super fans is just one way the Ruths show their support for UCM Athletics. Rob helped found an annual tradition for Mules Baseball: the First Pitch Banquet. He serves as a co-chair of the fundraiser, now in its sixth year.

Beyond that, the couple has established a living trust that leaves a percentage of their estate to UCM — half to Mules Baseball and half to the Central Annual Fund, supporting the university's most critical needs. As a current member of the UCM Alumni Foundation Board of Directors, Rob knows how crucial it is for the university to have a pool of unrestricted donor dollars that can be drawn upon as needed.

"Being on the board, I realized that there are a lot of times when the university needs unrestricted funds to go to whatever the need is at the moment, as opposed to tying it to something specific," he says. "States have dramatically reduced their funding since we were in school, and every university in America is leaning heavily on funds coming through their foundation. There's a need to give back to the university to help keep it affordable."

Rob and Susie both were involved in Greek Life at UCM and enjoy coming back for Sigma Phi Epsilon and Sigma Kappa reunions. In April 2021, Susie was on campus to award the Sigma Kappa—Delta Eta Chapter Alumni Scholarship to three students during the sorority's family weekend. On that same trip, the couple attended the groundbreaking for the James R. Crane Stadium expansion and visited with Crane, '76, one of Rob's Mules Baseball teammates.

The Ruths were back again in October for UCM's 150th anniversary Homecoming celebration, watching fellow alumni and friends set the world record for "Largest Ridden Parade of Mules."

"We don't want to miss a Homecoming; we see so many friends," says Susie. "We've only missed four, and that was when four of our 12 grandchildren were born on Homecoming weekend." At the 2017 Homecoming, Rob received the Distinguished Alumni Award for Service.

While Rob is officially retired from his career, he never quite left his first job: spreading the word about UCM. He was instrumental in founding the Dallas—Fort Worth chapter of MuleNation and recruiting other alumni, of which there are more than 1,200 in the DFW area. Rob and Susie help organize MuleNation events in their region, including an annual gathering at the Texas Rangers AA ballpark in Frisco.

When Rob took the job as a recruiter fresh out of college, he recognized the value of having current students conduct campus tours for prospective Mules and Jennies. After all, they were the ones who knew best what student life was like. The UCM Student Ambassador program he founded was a success and continues to this day. Furthermore, recruiting both students and alumni is a lifelong passion.

"What UCM has to offer, in my opinion, far exceeds any other school in the country," Rob says. "Not to mention a great environment and a great setting geographically in the center of the country. I don't understand why a high school senior would choose any place other than UCM."