HSU Insider

Grad student Virginia Aguilar is one of more than 200 Hardin-Simmons University students to take advantage of what's come to be known as Grad Finale.

Virginia will graduate in May with a Masters in Business Administration. Among the things she can do at Grad Finale is have her photo taken, sign a banner to be displayed at her five-year reunion, pick up a cap and gown, and easily finalize all business matters with the University.

Students enter the open-concept room near the Registrar's table and advance through each of the 13 stations to speak with staff members there to help with the event. Filled with balloon bouquets, snack tables, and opportunities to win prizes, Virginia says the event is a really easy way to take care business, as well as being fun.

Jim Jones, HSU Director of Financial Aid and Scholarships, who is there to help with questions about student loans, says this is a good way to wrap up all of the students' final business. He says before Grad Finale was created, students had to go to a number of different buildings and find the right people to talk to on their own. "Now, it's all in one place, a one-stop shop," he says.

Grad Finale is a two day event lasting several hours each of the two days.

Virginia says one of her favorite memories at the University has been helping the undergrad students in the superb Athletic Training program the University offers through the Irvin School of Education.

Photo: Virginia Aguilar poses with senior ring showing. The ring is a gift from the University

Disabled children in a Mexico orphanage have been seeing a group of Hardin-Simmons University students come to their town to doctor aches, and tend to pains every year since 2003.

But this year, the students studying for their Doctor of Physical Therapy degree at Hardin-Simmons will have to stay in Abilene to conduct the annual healing mission project.

"Unrest in Mexico has changed our plans," says Dr. Janelle O'Connell, Director of the Grad Studies Program in Physical Therapy. "Americans are being targeted for abduction and murder." Says O'Connell, "The U.S. State Department warnings are so strong this year against travel to Mexico, we couldn't take that chance with our students."

Instead, the PT students will stay in Abilene to conduct similar mission work in HSU's own neighborhood.

Just north of the HSU campus, between Ambler Avenue and Interstate 20, is a neighborhood known as Northpark. Ben Milam Elementary School was central to the area for decades until it was razed in the early 1980's.

Efforts to prop up the deteriorating neighborhood began several years ago by HSU's Dean of Student's, Linda Carleton. Along with her crusade, and some HSU funding, a neighborhood gathering spot was created. The "Friendship House" started to bring neighbors closer together and a quick look around the neighborhood today indicates efforts are paying off as more and more lawns are tended and houses are painted.

In fact, that's exactly what the HSU students will be doing on the first day of their Physical Therapy Community Outreach project - painting houses, planting flower beds and doing yard work for some of the residents in the Northpark neighborhood.

But the central purpose of their mission, says O'Connell, is "to provide Christ-centered physical therapy screenings for the Northpark neighbors and other people who may be under-served, uninsured, or unemployed."

Dr. O'Connell says,"A variety of free health screenings and educational programs will be provided, all designed to increase awareness of risks and enhance functional abilities."

According to a flyer distributed across some North Abilene neighborhoods, the PT students will check vital signs like heart rate, blood pressure, balance, and grip strength. They can screen for joint flexibility, sensory perception, and do developmental assessments of children.

Peripheral vascular assessment for individuals with diabetes will include checking blood flow and inspection of feet and nails. Exercise instruction for helping with diabetes will also be provided.

Students will also conduct chair-exercise classes for senior residents and a well-baby class that discusses developmental milestones for new parents.

Money for the mission outreach program this year comes from a grant by the Baptist General Convention of Texas, which the PT department applied for two years ago. O'Connell says she asked for special permission for the grant monies to be used in Abilene this year because of the crisis situation in Mexico.

As for the physical labor the students will endure in the Northpark neighborhood, O'Connell says the students are no strangers to that. While in Mexico, they have helped to erect a dormitory at the orphanage and physically torn down dilapidated buildings brick by brick. In past years, the Hardin-Simmons students have also helped to construct a clinic and a school.

When in Mexico, O'Connell says they help the children learn basic skills like how to set up and roll over. They also teach sitting strategies to get children to sit outside of their wheelchairs. She says they once they even had to rescue a child who had been abandoned and tied to a tree in the village.

O'Connell says the students are looking forward this year to continuing revitalization efforts in the neighborhood north of the campus. Efforts get underway Sunday, April 26th with the Community Physical Therapy Screenings and Treatments program continuing through Wednesday April 29th.

Pictured: Dr. Janelle O'Connell

Link to Performance this Weekend

There is no lack of tradition on the Hardin-Simmons University campus. From Dam-It the dog (he has been dead for 89 years and there's still speculation on how he got that name), to the lively performances of the World Famous Cowboy Band, to the showy crowd-pleasing of the Six White Horses (and riders).

If you've ever wondered about any of these, then here's a link to a video on You Tube that's fun to watch!

The Six White have performed since about 1930, and have been featured in inaugural parades of six presidents -- all the way back to Herbert Hoover. The horses and their riders have marched down such famous streets as NYC's Broadway, San Francisco's Market Street, Canal Street in New Orleans, and Chicago's Michigan Avenue.

Riders carry the historic flags of Texas.

Performing at the Young County Rodeo in Graham, Texas this past weekend, the Six White Horses...

Hint: Go about 3 min. into the video and start there for the best action shots (segment is a home video).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtWfbusf4Es

Riders throughout the three-day event:

Whitney Hicks, American Flag, from Hamby, TX
Jamie Cooley, Texas Flag, Clyde TX
Rachel Newman, Mexico Flag, Roxton, TX
Kristen Ringler, Conf. Flag, Alvarado, TX
Becky Daniel, French Flag
Kristin Akins, Spanish Flag, Hawley, TX
Lara Clapp, Iowa Park

"The ring you will receive tonight is much more than a piece of jewelry. This ring is a symbol for all that we love and treasure about our alma mater."

That is how the story of the ring begins during the bi-annual Ring Rally.

Some 260 students are eligible to receive the graduation gift from Hardin Simmons University this spring. The Ring Rally is a two night event on the campus, with about half of the eligible students receiving their calss rings each of the nights.

The story of the ring is told by Clint Buck, President-Elect of the Board of Young Associates and Emily Clancy, Vice president of the Alumni Association during the spring ceremony.

• EMILY: The ring is crowned with the university's official seal. The open book represents the Bible and pursuit of knowledge, the cross reminds us of Jesus Christ, and the flame represents the Holy Spirit and the quest for excellence.

• CLINT: Etched on the Legacy side of the ring is a bucking horse and rider, representing our school's ranching legacy. This is surrounded by the words "Famous are thy halls," taken from the HSU Anthem written in 1917. The six flags have been engraved to represent the various flags of Texas, carried by the Six White Horses and displayed here on the stage tonight.

• EMILY: Near the top, the degree letters are engraved to celebrate the accomplishments of the wearer, and pecan leaves grace the letters, reminding us of the shade-providing trees on campus.

• CLINT: Below, is a field of bricks, reminiscent of the classical red brick architecture of the campus, which is an appropriate background for the historic campus bell, now displayed near the Reflection pond.

• EMILY: On the Heritage side, the Legett Memorial Bridge is symbolized to reflect the unity experienced on the HSU campus.

• CLINT: The ring pictures the beautiful stained glass window of Logsdon Chapel, completed in 1989. Encircling the chapel window is the school motto, "An Education Enlightened by Faith," which was coined in the mid-1990s and puts into words a goal held by the university since its founding in 1891.

• EMILY: Below this, the purple and gold HSU beanie is etched into the ring as a reminder of the tradition of having freshmen wear their beanies, and cleverly tucked into the letters "HSU" is a fire hydrant, a tribute to one of the school's most loved icons, a white bulldog named Dam-It.

• CLINT: Finally the class year is engraved on each ring to recognize each student's unique HSU experience.

• EMILY: Your Official Ring is a symbol of your ties to Hardin-Simmons University, and we know you'll cherish it always.

Britt Jones, director of alumni services says, "The HSU Official Ring is a distinctive emblem symbolizing tradition, honor, pride and academic success. It encompasses who we are. It tells a story of our past and our present. It's a visible reminder of life-long friendships built while attending HSU. It demonstrates our ties to Hardin-Simmons University and is a tradition that will continue through the years."

University Provost Dr. Bill Ellis personally presents each graduate's ring during the Ring Celebration and Presentation Ceremony in Logsdon Chapel.

Dr. Ellis says of the ceremony:

" This is a very special occasion as we continue the newest tradition at HSU. While this new tradition will encompass all who wear the HSU ring, we hope that it will be special and personal to each of you. Since the 16th century B.C., rings have been a universal symbol, frequently representing status, accomplishment, and commitment. The ring you will receive tonight is a symbol of academic achievement and success, as well a sign of loyalty and school pride."

"It is also represents your dedication, perseverance, and accomplishment. It's a visible reminder of life-long friendships. In other words, it's not just about a degree... it's about relationships. It's about the relationships you have built while attending HSU. It's about relationships with your professors and coaches, your classmates and roommates, staff and administration--it's about being part of the HSU family."

By Linda Fawcett, HSU Professor of Art

The Hardin-Simmons Art department will be co-hosting a state conference on campus this week, with events on the HSU campus Friday night and Saturday, March 27 & 28.

The Texas Association of Schools of Art is the conference organization and represents over 50 art departments of higher education throughout Texas. Artist-educators from member schools will be converging on Abilene to see what we have!

The conference theme this year is appropriately: Art and Soul, and various presentations, workshops and a Keynote Speaker will address the mixing of art and spiritual matters in a variety of ways.

The conference begins with a special reception at the Old Jail Art Center in Albany on Thursday evening, then spends Friday morning at McMurry, Friday afternoon at ACU and comes to HSU for the Keynote Speaker presentation Friday night (see below). The conference returns to HSU's FCVA Saturday morning for workshops and concludes with art receptions at various Abilene venues Saturday afternoon and an Awards Banquet at the Perini Ranch in Buffalo Gap Saturday night. FOR MORE DETAILS on the TASA Conference Schedule, contact Linda Fawcett or go to http://www.tasart.org/tasa_conferences.htm and click on the Conference banner.

TASA Conference Keynote Speaker: artist Mary McCleary
Thanks to the generosity of the HSU Academic Foundation, the Conference Keynote Speaker will be the nationally known artist Mary McCleary. Her slide lecture begins at 8pm in the Johnson Building, Multipurpose Room, Friday evening, March 27. Every one is invited and students can also gain chapel credit for their attendance.

The diversity of McCleary's work, her use of materials, the reasons why she makes art, the influences on her art, its evolvement over time and other such matters can easily connect with a variety of faculty, staff and students. By perusing her work at http://www.marymccleary.com, one can see how her talk could interest those in art, Theatre & Communication, Music (Music History & Literature courses), Honors, Philosophy, Bible & Theology, Sociology, Social Work & Psychology, English, Education (Early Childhood and Adolescent Development, Children's Literature), Botany/ Biology (McCleary's broad use of the natural phenomena as metaphor) and Leadership students (Christian Ethics for Leadership).

Mary McCleary has a highly respected reputation among artists and those who write about and curate art exhibitions. Her well-over 200 solo and group exhibitions represent museums and major art galleries in Texas, and nationwide from California to New York City with at least two international venues. Until recently, she was a respected Professor of Painting at Stephan F. Austin State University, but has since retired to pursue her artwork fulltime.

Her work has been reviewed in many notable publications such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, ArtNews, Artscene, Art in America and American Arts Quarterly. A published catalog of one of her exhibitions, After Paradise, with essays by art critics Clint Willour and Harold Fickett, is available through Amazon, and essays on her work figure prominently in two other widely available book compilations: Objects of Grace: Conversations on Creativity and Faith, and It Was Good. (Her full biography can be accessed by a link from her website: http://www.marymccleary.com).

McCleary's career represents an excellent example of how a contemporary artist of strong personal religious (Christian) belief can find ways to cross potential boundaries of difference, to transcend in order to engage and connect larger audiences. Also distinctive are her labor-intensive, rather unique combinations of materials, used not just as means but often just as symbolic as the images they make explicit. The results are exquisitely crafted, collaged paintings and prints that are visually compelling on multiple levels (visual and narrative), both intellectually and emotionally challenging, described by one critic as a "serious student of the Bible and of Philosophical thought all the while listening to show tunes, cabaret and big-band music of the forties and fifties and watching film noir..."

Huston beats a serious knee injury one year ago

One year ago, Ashley Huston could not even walk. At a conference basketball tournament one wrong step tore an ACL and the cartilage in her knee joint. Today, the Hardin-Simmons University senior has managed to come back from the injury and add "All-American" to her name.

Hardin-Simmons Head Track Coach, Rodney Smith, says Ashley is just that kind of person. "She has classes from 8 to 5, never misses a practice, and still manages to keep her grade point average way high," he says.

Ashley gave it her best shot this past week at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field National Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana and walked away the winner of the pentathlon.

In fact, on this occasion, Ashley had some of her personal best marks in four of the pentathlon events. The HSU Senior from Jim Ned cleared 5 feet, 6 ½ inches in the high jump; 18 feet, 1 inch in the long jump; 8.45 seconds in the hurdles; 32 feet, 9 ¼ inches in the shot put; and 2:24.77 in the 800 meter.

Huston scored 3,725 points to become this year's champion. Her closest competitor, of Haverford College in Pennsylvania, came in second with a total score of 3,497 points.

"I wanted to be at this national meet and I wanted to be at the top," says Huston.

Smith says Huston possesses the qualities needed to win national championships. In an interview with the Abilene Reporter news, Smith said, "She's very competitive and doesn't give up. It makes it easy to coach someone like that."

Huston says it wasn't an easy climb from her injury. "Last spring break, I was sitting at my parents' house, laid up with an injury that required surgery. This spring break, it was a different story. It's made me realize what can come out of hard work and determination, even when you have setbacks."

Smith says, "Rehabilitation is often the hardest part for an athlete, they just don't think they can get through it. "Ashley has a lot of determination and she had the support of an excellent group of athletic trainers and student AT's here."

HSU is competing in track and field this year for the first time since 1968. However, this is the first women's track program ever on the campus. Smith says it's a real credit to Hardin-Simmons to make the investment in a fledgling program on faith that it would be successful.

Athletic Director, John Neese, says of Smith, "Rodney has made a significant impact on our campus in a short amount of time. We anticipate that our track and cross-country programs will continue to grow under his leadership. We are fortunate to have him with our university and we look forward to our student-athletes accomplishing great things in the future."

He adds, "Anytime you have a program that has success in the post-season, it can help with recruiting. " "We think that Ashley's performance at the Track Championships will certainly gain attention from potential student-athletes."

Coach Smith agrees, saying Ashley's win in the pentathlon is a title that will help bring many more quality athletes to Hardin-Simmons. "Other students may consider joining our program because of Ashley's success and the kind of person she is."

Huston won the high jump, finished second in the 55-meter hurdles, second in long jump, and was third in shot put and the 800 meter run. That makes her the first NCAA All-American athlete at HSU.

Neese says, "Despite having many obstacles in front of her, she persevered and has achieved a great honor for herself and Hardin-Simmons."

According to Coach Smith, Ashley has already lined up a job after she graduates. "While at Jim Ned, she used to play against Cisco High School and they remembered her." In the fall, Ashley will start as Cisco's track coach.

It was 1929 when Ellen Turner graduated from Hardin-Simmons University at the age of 17. "She was so young she couldn't find a teaching job that year," says Hardin-Simmons registrar and long-time friend, Dorothy Kiser. Kiser is the person behind an anniversary reception this Friday honoring Turner's graduation 80 years ago.

Turner did eventually get that teaching job...and teach she did...some 52 years worth, to be exact.

In fact, Turner taught students of all ages during her half-century career. When she finally landed that first job, it was in a new school district just north of Quanah, Texas, teaching elementary students. In 1953, Turner took a job in the English Department at Abilene High School and served as chairman of the department her last six years there. She closed her teaching career in 1982 in the Language Arts department at Hardin-Simmons University, sharing her love of teaching with college-aged students.

One of her former HSU students is now an Adjunct Instructor at Hardin-Simmons. Brad Layton teaches Spanish and English in the Department of Literature and Languages. He remembers Ellen Turner as his English Composition instructor when he was a freshman in 1971. Layton says Turner was a very meaningful person to both him and his wife. Dr. Carol Ann Layton, an HSU Professor of Educational Studies, remembers Turner by saying, "She was the epitome of a Christ-like teacher."

In 2000, Mrs. Turner was honored as HSU's Former Faculty Member of the Year by the Faculty-Staff Administration Fellowship. A biography written for that occasion notes, "Ellen's many honors include being runner-up for Texas Teacher of the Year, recognition among the Outstanding Educators of Texas, Who's Who of American Women, and 2000 Notable Americans."

Turner also coached a winning girls' volleyball team, was principal of an intermediate school, taught Spanish, played the piano, and wrote meditative verse. Turner often tells about the time a tornado once destroyed one of her schools causing classes to be held in empty houses.

But Turner's true tribute is how former students remember her, even decades later. "She was a mentor and dear friend to us as students," says Brad Layton. "Several years later, when we were serving in Ecuador as missionaries, she sent a little New Testament to us when our first baby was born, engraved with our daughter, Erica's, name." Layton adds, "We were so touched by her thoughtful gesture and Christian character, that we were influenced to name our second daughter Ellen, partly in honor of Mrs. Turner."

Turner, now 96, will be celebrated for her life-long service as a teacher on the 80th anniversary of her graduation from Hardin-Simmons.

The reception will be held in the Connally Missions Center Friday, March 20, from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Dorothy Kiser says this will be a great opportunity for her former students, both at Abilene High School and HSU, to come by and visit with Turner.

Dr. Lanny Hall, President of Howard Payne University was named President of Hardin-Simmons University today during a special called meeting of the Board of Trustees.

Hall will be the 15th president in HSU's 118-year history as he returns to the university where he started as a student over 40 years ago.

Chairman of the HSU Board of Trustees, Hilton Hemphill says, "Dr. Hall knows and loves the school and has an exciting vision for enhancing its academic excellence and facilities. He has extensive experience in fundraising and in the financial management of a university."

Hall began his administrative career in higher education in 1986 as the Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer at Howard Payne, leaving there to take over the reins as President of Wayland Baptist University in Plainview.

Hall served as President at Hardin Simmons for 10 years before being named chancellor in 2001. As Chancellor, he held the Haggerton Chair of Political Science and served as Executive Director of the HSU Institute for Leadership.

During his administration, HSU experienced growth in many areas, including enrollment, endowment, academic programs, and campus facilities.

Under his leadership, HSU added numerous new campus buildings, including the Skiles Social Sciences Building and the Connally Missions Center. Hall also managed to more than double the University's endowment.

"Carol and I love the work in which we have been engaged over the last twenty years," says Dr. Hall. "We welcome the opportunity to put all of our experience, ability, talent and energy to work again for Hardin-Simmons University."

Two committees, the Presidential Search Committee and the Search Advisory Committee, jointly evaluated numerous candidates who were identified and attracted from across the country. The search committees were made up of people from a wide variety of roles at the University -- trustees, faculty, staff, members from various HSU boards, and the HSU student body president. Committee Chairman Hemphill said, "Personal interviews were conducted with the top ten candidates with more in-depth visits with the four finalists."

Hall has a distinguished career in education and government. It includes service as a public school teacher, congressional aide, state agency executive, and university professor, vice-president, president, and chancellor.

He was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1979 to 1984 and served in key government leadership positions at the national level.
Hall earned his Ph.D. in Educational Administration from the University of Texas in Austin in 1985.

He and his wife, Carol, have two children - Lana McCutchen and Chad Hall - and three grandchildren.

Hall says, "With an understanding of HSU's history and heritage, and with abiding respect for the solid fiscal foundation that the University enjoys today, I look forward to the high privilege of leading HSU."

HSU began looking for a new president shortly after Dr. Craig Turner left last summer to be closer to his grandchildren. Turner took the presidency at Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina.

HSU was founded in 1891 and is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Jon McRae of Jon McRae and Associates, Inc. served as a consultant to the University for the search of the new president.

These are the students who take care of HSU athletes on a daily basis, always on the sidelines, ready to help with an injury. In Emily's words, "We keep our athletes healthy so they can be successful on the courts and in the playing fields."

Emily Jones is one of two students in Texas chosen to attend the National Athletic Trainers' Association Student Leadership Conference in Washington D.C. David Stuckey, the Director of HSU's Athletic Training Education Program says, "Emily's selection is a substantial honor for both her and HSU's accredited athletic training program."

One of the benefits of the trip is the opportunity to speak with congressmen and senators about the impact athletic trainers can have on the health of a community. Jones said she was part of a group who asked for their support of the "ATEAM" bill which will allow athletic trainers to provide services to people covered by Medicare and Medicaid. Emily points out, "This is a way AT's could assist a greater population of active people with injury prevention, healthcare, and physical medicine."

Jones came to HSU about two and a half years ago from Snyder High School. She says the head athletic trainer there "encouraged me and allowed me to become involved. Steve Krueger really led me in the direction of Athletic Training." Now a Junior at HSU, she says, "One of my favorite things about Hardin-Simmons is the openness and acceptance of the spiritual component of healing athletes." She says, "As a Christian, it is awesome to see the healing presence of God on a daily basis."

Emily and other AT students at HSU get lots of opportunities to volunteer, from basketball tournaments to running the first-aid station at the HSU Western Heritage day. In fact, this week, 25 students on the HSU track team travel to Tarleton and two AT students will go along with them. Jones says, "We love to help out anywhere and anyway we can."

Emily's honors however don't end with the Washington D.C. conference. David Stuckey says Jones is also one of two students selected to represent the Southwest Athletic Trainers Association at the 2009 Student Leadership Workshop in Ft. Lauderdale. That is sponsored by the Collegiate Sports Medicine Foundation and will be in May.

Jones says, "As for the future, I hope to work in a university setting as both an athletic trainer for a team and an educator. I want to play an active role in the lives of future athletic trainers, just as all of my mentors have done for me."

By the way, March is National Athletic Training Month. The significance of that, says Emily, "Is to increase the knowledge and appreciation that athletic trainers are unique health care professionals who specialize in the prevention, assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation of injuries and illnesses. It's a chance for us to increase awareness of the profession and the benefits we provide in the health care system."

Anyone chosen to interview for a job at Hardin-Simmons University is greeted first by a friendly face on the third floor of Sandefer Memorial. Peenie Walker holds an important job on the campus. She sits at the first desk you see when you walk in the door of Human Resources. She, most definitely, is the person any job-seeker wants to impress first!

Walker may have done some impressing of her own, however, because she is the Human Resources person Benefits Selling magazine selected to feature in its March issue.

Open to the Table of Contents and there's her photo. Each month, the magazine asks a Human Resources representative to share tips from their perspective to be posted in the last section of the magazine called "Exit Interview."

Walker says she was honored by the request to share the "Top 10 Challenges" she faces in the Human Resources department. While honored, she says, "I was also a little hesitant, perhaps, because I never had really thought about listing them."

She gives credit to her supervisor, Director of Human Resources, Earl Garrett, for assisting with identifying those priorities. Both Garrett and Walker recognized the scale and reach of the publication, so it was important to cobble out a very focused and concise list of ten challenges.

In fact, Walker may have been inspired by the name of the magazine itself, Benefits Selling, as she sought to assemble the best advice. One of Peenie's jobs is to advise prospective employees about the benefits they might enjoy as an employee of Hardin-Simmons.

She says, "We must convey the advantages of working at a private university -- like the great environment here, educational benefits, and a generous holiday schedule." "We are a private-sector university competing with the public sector for good employees."

Among the challenges, Walker lists as number one, "Developing confidentiality, trust, and goodwill." Also on the list, "Benefits packages must be tailored to fit the needs of the employees." When asked, Garrett says that's one of his favorites, "The University uses a Fringe Benefits Committee to identify special needs such as long term care insurance and identity theft protection."

But number ten on the list is probably the most telling of them all. It seems to encompass the attitude that is prevalent throughout the campus by staff and faculty members alike. She says, "I enjoy the challenge of serving others." "I enjoy influencing the lives of students and working in a Christian environment. It allows me, at the end of the day, to leave with a real sense of accomplishment."

By the way, here's a crazy note of interest. The magazine folks needed a photo of Walker, so they called an Abilene photographer. That photog just happens to be HSU's own Assistant Professor of Communications, Dr. Joe Bailey. The picture of Walker leaning on a wall was shot just outside Behrens Auditorium.