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(UPDATE: Arrangements Changed) Longtime Murray State Supporter & Administrator Jim Carter Dies

MSU Public Relations

UPDATE: Jim Carter's funeral has officially been postponed one day due to weather, per the Carter family. Visitation is TUESDAY from 4-8 pm at Heritage Funeral Home. The funeral is now WEDNESDAY at 2 pm at Lovett Auditorium. Please help share this change.

Long-time Murray State Administrator Jim Carter passed away over the weekend after a battle with cancer. Carter most recently served as the Vice President for Institutional Advancement which included oversight of WKMS.

The 57-year-old Daviess County native was an MSU alumnus and spent 27 years working for the university. In a statement, MSU president Bob Davies described  Carter as a raving advocate for the university who made a lasting impact on the its community.

Carter also served on numerous boards for  many nonprofit and professional organizations including Kentucky Educational Television and the International Entertainment Buyers Association.

Carter is survived by his wife, two children and one grandchild. A visitation is now from 4-8 Tuesday at Heritage Funeral Home in Murray (previously Monday, but changed due to weather). Carter's funeral is now on Wednesday at 2 p.m. in MSU's Lovett Auditorium (previously Tuesday but changed due to weather). 

The following is a news release courtesy of Murray State University Public Relations.

MURRAY, Ky. — James (Jim) Carter, vice president for institutional advancement at Murray State University, passed away on Friday night, Feb. 13, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Carter, who just announced plans for an early retirement because of health reasons, was being treated for cancer. He worked at Murray State for 27 years.

Dr. Bob Davies, MSU president, released a statement today saying, “I was saddened to learn of Jim’s passing this morning. He was an accomplished professional, but more importantly, he was a friend to all he met and a raving advocate for Murray State — our students, faculty and staff. On behalf of the Murray State community, I want to convey our heartfelt sympathy to Jim’s family, his many colleagues and friends.

“While we mourn his passing, his legacy will be forever celebrated in the countless lives he touched, mainly because of the students he paved the way for at Murray State,” Davies continued. “He has made a lasting impact on our university community.”

Carter received his B.S. in journalism in 1979 and an M.S. in communications in 1986 from Murray State University. He began his professional career in Memphis, Tenn., as a chapter consultant for Pi Kappa Alpha national fraternity. He then returned to Murray State to serve as director of student activities from 1981-86, and director of the MSU Curris Center from 1986-89. While working in the student affairs area, Carter was active in the National Association of Campus Activities and served twice as the host coordinator for the Contemporary Concert Management and Production Workshop in Nashville.

Carter accepted employment outside the university for a few years, but later returned to Murray State as director of university relations from 1996-2000, and served as the executive director of the Murray State University Alumni Association board of governors since 1996. He has held his current position of vice president for institutional advancement at Murray State since the fall of 2000. As vice president, his primary responsibility encompassed the areas of development, communications, WKMS, alumni and university event venues.

A member of the Murray Convention and Visitors Bureau since 1996, Carter served as chairman of the bureau, and on the board of both the Murray-Calloway County Economic Development Corporation and the Murray Industrial Authority.

He was a member of the Country Music Association, and served as a board member and scholarship chair for the International Entertainment Buyers Association. Carter was appointed to the iModules Strategic Advisory Board in 2014 and the CASE-Kentucky board of directors in 2013.

He hosted the university’s weekly video news magazine program, Roundabout U, and was a supporter of the university’s music business program, creating strong ties to the Nashville Association of Talent Directors. Carter created the Lovett Live Concert Series at Murray State and also promoted Murray State’s exchange connection with Qingdao Agricultural University in China. In 2012, he received the Michael L. Basile Extraordinary Contribution to Internationalization Award at the Murray State International Honors Day celebration.

Carter is survived by his wife, Debbie; son, Austin Carter; daughter, Amanda Carter Story and her husband, D.J. Story; and grandson Carter Story. The Heritage Chapel of Imes Funeral Home in Murray is in charge of arrangements.

An endowment from the gifts of coworkers, family and friends of Jim Carter is being established to create the Carter’s Kids on Campus Fund to honor his 27 years of dedicated service to Murray State University. The fund will assist potential first-generation college students from Murray State’s 18-county service region and Daviess County in making visits to the MSU campus. The fund will support expenses such as transportation, meals, and campus event tickets. Visits will be coordinated through current and future MSU student recruitment initiatives, such as Racer Roundup, and the high schools.

Carter himself discovered Murray State when he gave a friend from Daviess County a ride to MSU in 1975. “I can’t take credit for having hope,” Jim said, “I just stumbled on it.” He knew that if regional students “get on the bus” and come to campus, they too will realize that there is hope and that they can do anything they want if they take a chance and make Murray State University their choice, like he did years ago.

Anyone interested in honoring Jim with a contribution to the Carter’s Kids on Campus Fund may write a personal check, payable to the MSU Foundation and denoting Carter’s Kids on Campus Fund in the memo section, and bring it by or mail it to the Office of Development, 200 Heritage Hall, Murray, Ky. 42071. A secure gift can also be made online at http://www.murraystate.edu/givenow (at the end of the form, designate the gift to the Carter’s Kids on Campus Fund). For any questions or to make a gift of securities, contact Tina Bernot in the MSU office of development at 270.809.3250 or by email at cbernot@murraystate.edu.

Chad Lampe, a Poplar Bluff, Missouri native, was raised on radio. He credits his father, a broadcast engineer, for his technical knowledge, and his mother for the gift of gab. At ten years old he broke all bonds of the FCC and built his own one watt pirate radio station. His childhood afternoons were spent playing music and interviewing classmates for all his friends to hear. At fourteen he began working for the local radio stations, until he graduated high school. He earned an undergraduate degree in Psychology at Murray State, and a Masters Degree in Mass Communication. In November, 2011, Chad was named Station Manager in 2016.