The ebullient late administrator created treasured traditions and embodied ACU’s mission and spirit for a lifetime
If you spent much time at all with Dr. Robert D. “Bob” Hunter, chances are he documented it photographically, often with a disposable camera in the era before smartphones.
So it’s fitting that in this issue of ACU Today, you’ll find images of the man known as “Smiling Bob,” representing just a handful of the many places, people and events he inspired and influenced in his 94 years (pages 2-7). Throughout our history, God has sent extraordinary people like Bob to shape and mold ACU.
Over a similarly impactful life, longtime ACU trustee Dr. Ray McGlothlin Jr. (’49) served as a leader, benefactor and friend to many before his death in June at age 95 (page 63). Ray, like many who came before him, devoted his time and energy to making ACU the place it is today. When people like Bob and Ray pass away, we find an opportunity to reflect on and celebrate where we’ve been, where we’re going, and the people who journey alongside us. Our history and their personal legacies are intertwined.
In this issue, as ACU Today editor Ron Hadfield (’79) reflects on 40 years of involvement with this flagship university publication, stories of even more people who have been instruments of God’s work are highlighted. This issue will be Ron’s last as editor as he transitions to a role of editor emeritus, senior writer and university historian, and we’d be remiss to neglect honoring his legacy of excellence in telling the stories of students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends. His generosity of time, dedication to ACU’s mission and immense talent have been and continue to be instrumental in the advancement of this university. His behind-the-scenes retrospective on pages 18-29 highlights significant stories he’s told over the years.
Other informative content in this issue about ACU people and news:
• Dr. Tony Roach Sr. (’79 M.S.), longtime Abilene preacher, author and evangelist, received the Dale and Rita Brown Outlive Your Life Award for his many years of church leadership and service in racial reconciliation (pages 16-17).
• We can’t wait to have a campus full of alumni returning home in October, rekindling relationships and rediscovering new adventures to be experienced at ACU! With food, fellowship, worship, NCAA Division I football, the parade, the musical and kids’ activities, there’s something for everyone during Homecoming, Oct. 12-15 (pages 30-31).
• An innovative educational partnership between ACU and the Texas Rangers Baseball Club recently made several of its customized online courses available to the general public (page 43).
With such generous philanthropy, faithful leaders who have guided us with wisdom, the many members of our community who quietly offer love and service in the name of Jesus, and our continued rise as a Christ-centered national research university, Abilene Christian has much to be thankful for and much to look forward to. It’s an exciting time in our history!
ACU Today is published twice a year by the Division of Marketing and Strategic Communications at Abilene Christian University, Abilene, Texas.
STAFF
Editor: Ron Hadfield (’79)
Assistant Editors: Wendy (Waller ’01) Kilmer, Robin (Ward ’82) Saylor
Production Manager: Amber (Gilbert ’99) Bunton
Contributing Writers This Issue: Dr. Cheryl Mann Bacon (’76), Craig Fisher (’92), Katie Noah Gibson (’06), Lance Fleming (’92), Dr. Landon Saunders (L.H.D. ’23), Jonathan Smith (’06)
Contributing Photographers This Issue: Suzanne Allmon (’79), Steve Butman, Scott Delony (’06), Gerald Ewing, Jeremy Enlow, Riley Fisher (’22), Rendi (Young ’83) Hahn, Kamryn Kelley, Kim Leeson, Lionsgate, Susanna (Drehsel ’05) Lubanga, Tammy (Gililland ’14) Marcelain, Zack Massey, Matt Maxwell (’07), Tim Nelson, Clark Potts (’53), Gary Rhodes (’07), Samuel Sharpe, Dave Swearingen, Tennessee Titans, Gordon Trice, Cade White (’88), Paul White (’68)
Contributing Graphic Designers/Illustrators
This Issue: Rosemary Gutierrez (’07), Holly Harrell, Todd Mullins
Editorial Assistants: Vicki (Warner ’83) Britten, Sharon (McDaniel ’79) Fox
Administration: Suzanne Allmon (’79), Will Beasley (’11), Kevin Campbell (’00), Dr. Robert Rhodes, Anthony Williams
Advancement: Samantha (Bickett ’01) Adkins, Rendi (Young ’83) Hahn, Dan Macaluso, Jim Orr, J.D. (’86)
Alumni Relations: Taylor Fender (’19), Craig Fisher (’92), April Young (’16)
Marketing and Strategic Communications: Blair Schroeder
Student Life: Tamara (Boyer ’03) Long
Ex-officio: Dr. Phil Schubert (’91)
ACU Today: hadfieldr@acu.edu
ACU Alumni Association: alumni@acu.edu
Record Changes: ACU Box 29132, Abilene, Texas 79699-9132, 325-674-2620
Abilene Christian University: acu.edu
Address changes and EXperiences: acu.edu/alumni
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DR. PHIL SCHUBERT (’91), President The mission of ACU is to educate students for Christian service and leadership throughout the world. SUZANNE ALLMON Brooke and Dr. Phil Schubert with Dr. Ray McGlothlin Jr. (center)2
8
16
The ebullient late administrator created treasured traditions and embodied ACU’s mission and spirit for a lifetime
BY RON HADFIELD
Robert D. “Bob” Hunter (’52)
had
in 1993, at the sold-out “Indeed!” dinner in Abilene to raise money for an endowed scholarship fund honoring him and his wife, Shirley.
“The tribute was so overwhelming that Hunter suggested everyone just drive on out to Elmwood Memorial Park and put him in the ground,” wrote Abilene Reporter-New s columnist Greg Jaklewicz in the next day’s edition. “What more, he reasoned, could be said on his behalf when that day comes.”
The truth is, amazement for and accolades about the irrepressible ACU icon continued another three decades, until April 29, 2023, when family and friends gathered in the Welcome Center bearing his and Shirley’s names, to memorialize the dynamo who loved his alma mater without reservation.
Hunter died Feb. 11 in Abilene at age 94. (See page 61.)
“Bob Hunter stands alone as the greatest friend-maker and ambassador in the history of Abilene Christian,” said president Dr. Phil Schubert (’91). “His spirit of hospitality and love for his alma mater are known by generations of Wildcats who have him to thank for many of the best attributes that define ACU for visitors and alumni alike.”
Whether you knew him as Bouncin’ Bob, Smilin’ Bob, State Rep. Bob or Dr. Hunter, chances are he could recall something about you and your life from your first encounter. “He remembered the names of more people and their families than anyone I’ve ever seen,” Schubert said. “Before Google, there was Bob Hunter.”
His 20 years as a Texas state representative were noteworthy for the ways he built bridges of cooperation among colleagues in Austin and consensus with constituents back home in Abilene. His legislative leadership in Austin has resulted in $2.6 billion in grants and life-changing educational opportunities for more than a million students of private and public colleges and universities in Texas.
Hunter had no peer as an idea generator, and counted 25 ACU traditions credited to him, some now lapsed but several still signature annual events such as Sing Song and the Homecoming Musical.
One of Hunter’s early responsibilities was to coordinate publicity surrounding ACU junior sprinter Bobby Morrow (’58), who won three gold medals in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne and would soon be named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, and appear on the cover of Life and Look magazines.
Morrow’s athletic exploits put Abilene Christian on the world map, and Hunter facilitated each speaking engagement, public appearance and award presentation that flooded the small college and its instant international celebrity for two years. From the pulpits of small Texas churches to the Texas Capitol, the White House and TV’s “Ed Sullivan Show,” Morrow’s public appearances were a PR professional’s dream and a challenge to coordinate on behalf of a young married college student trying to finish his degree and win more races as the “world’s fastest man.”
Hunter was up to the task, and the experience helped shape his work as one of the most respected PR and fundraising professionals in higher education. Later, he was a key figure in planning the 20-year Design for Development campaign that built Moody Coliseum, Brown Library, McGlothlin Campus Center and the Don H. Morris Center, changing the campus and face of ACU.
But he also knew better than most anyone his university’s heart and what made it tick.
“The same basic qualities that made our school good when it was small have multiplied,” he told The Optimist in a 1993 interview.
And he would have known, because he used his winsome personality, tireless energy, dogged organizational skills and non-stop creativity to help guide and foster much of the growth.
“ACU has been my life. It has been, along with church, my reason for serving,” Hunter said. “It has given me endless opportunities to know students as we recruited them and watched them grow. I can’t think of another way I would have been able to serve so many people.”
Hunter used his ever-present camera to document what he saw and experienced on behalf of the university he relentlessly promoted as its unofficial chief goodwill officer.
“He is one of the friendliest people you will ever meet, but you would be surprised that he is also one of the toughest people,” Dr. John C. Stevens (’38), ACU’s eighth president, once said. “He is known for his smile, but people know where he stands.”
In the legacy and lore of his alma mater, on the Hill he loved, is a vantage point from where Bob Hunter viewed the world. He was never the tallest person in the crowd. But from here he could stand and only see miles of promise on the horizon, and stars shining brightly overhead.
r.
thought everyone finally
their say about himDR. ROBERT D. “BOB” HUNTER 1928 - 2023 PAUL WHITE
Among the 25 traditions started at ACU by Hunter, these enduring ones stand out:
• Started Sing Song in 1957 to promote ACU’s “singing college” reputation.
• Founded and coordinated the Homecoming Musical in 1959 at ACU; served as its coordinator the first six years (1959-64) with the music and theatre departments.
• Established the Parade of Flags at ACU’s Opening Assembly.
• As a state representative, coordinated the adoption of the historic Texas Tuition Equalization Grant program in the Texas Legislature to enable Texas residents to attend the 42 private colleges and universities in Texas with state financial grants.
• Started the annual alumni awards program, notably the Outstanding Alumnus of the Year (1958) and Distinguished Alumni Citation (1969).
• Created the G.C. Morlan Medal award (1972) to honor distinguished alumni from the ACU teacher education program.
• Began class reunions program, bringing graduating classes of alumni back to campus every five years.
• Started The President’s Circle program (1969) to recognize ACU’s top donors.
1952 – Student recruiter
1956
Director of special events
1957 – Director of alumni relations
1962 – Assistant to the president, Dr. Don H. Morris
1969
1974
Vice president for public relations and development
Vice president of the university
1985 – Senior vice president
1993
Senior vice president emeritus
2005 – Special assistant to the president
1) The inaugural Bob Hunter Sing Song Award was given to its namesake in February 2016.
2) Hunter graduated in 1952 with a bachelor’s degree in business.
3) Hunter was ACU’s first alumni director and later led the transformative Design for Development Campaign.
4) Bob and Shirley posed in the Hunter Welcome Center lobby shortly after it opened in 2009.
5) FROM LEFT: The Hunters were joined by their children at the February 2009 dedication of the Welcome Center: Les Hunter (’86), Carole (Hunter ’81) Phillips and Kent Hunter (’78)
6) Ever the historian, Hunter used his camera to capture snapshots at countless events he attended through the years.
7) FROM LEFT: Among those present in 2022 for a surprise announcement of the Bob Hunter Sing Song stage were longtime friends and former Sing Song directors Herb Butrum (’71), Tom Craig (’89) and Jeff Nelson (’79)
8) Hunter and the late Jeannette Scruggs Lipford (’50) were former classmates and longtime friends.
“Bob was Mr. ACU if anyone was. He was the epitome of tradition and authored many of the ones we love today at the university. He stood for everything this Christian university stood for. I admired him because he used every phase of his life in a productive way. Look at what he spanned, especially politics and multiple generations. Students, alumni, donors from every age respected him and what he stood for and dedicated his life to.”
– DR. ROYCE MONEY (’64), chancellor emeritus, ACU
“About three of them will be outstanding, one will be indispensable and the rest you could probably throw out the window. He always has fresh ideas about how to do things. He is an original thinker. He plowed new ground for Abilene Christian.”
– DR. JOHN C. STEVENS (’38), ACU’s eighth president, on the “dozen new ideas a day” Hunter was known for having, in a 1993 interview with ACU Today for a feature story, “The Mind That Roared”
“He had a heavenly way of making us all feel like we were his special friend and loved one.”
– DR. BRAD CHEVES (’84), vice president for development and external affairs, Southern Methodist University
“Bob Hunter was Abilene’s community organizer. You see, not only on this campus but in Abilene board rooms, at coffee shops, in bridge clubs, at Kiwanis meetings and most definitely at Rotary club meetings – you know he had absolute perfect attendance – Bob Hunter was known as the guy who would get it done, and he cared nothing about getting the credit.”
– SHERRI (TODD ’81) STATLER, president, Christian Homes & Family Services, and former Bob Hunter campaign manager
“No one in the House understands the dual system of higher education in our state and nation better than Bob Hunter.”
– GIB LEWIS, speaker of the Texas House of Representatives (1983-93), who appointed Hunter to the powerful House Committee on Appropriations, where he would chair the state’s budget for higher education
“The citizens of our state, especially those living in Abilene, can define public servant in two words: Bob Hunter.”
– JOHN CORNYN, Texas attorney general (1999-2002), at a 1999 appreciation luncheon in Abilene saluting Hunter for his seventh post-legislative session
“Not one to seek the limelight or to veer to partisan extremes, Hunter has been more concerned about doing things right than with garnering attention and acclaim. The accomplishments of which he is more proud – helping to bring Cisco Junior College, Texas State Technical College and Techshare campuses to Abilene, working to improve higher education for both state and private institutions – might not be the kind of achievements that grab spectacular headlines, but such projects are the very ones that enhance the daily lives and future possibilities of ordinary Texans.”
– ABILENE REPORTER-NEWS editorial in 2004, encouraging voters to send Hunter back to Austin after 18 years as the region’s state representative
“Bob Hunter would win re-election in Abilene if he was running against Moses.”
– JEFF WOLF, Abilene Reporter-News columnist, in 1994
“They think you know something they don’t know – and it worries them – or that you’re aware of what’s going on and that’s just as big a problem.”
– DR. ROBERT D. “BOB” HUNTER (’52), on fellow legislators in Austin taking his always-smiling persona one of two ways
“Bob had a way of organizing people and inspiring people to do things that meant when they went into session, they were ready, and in that 1971 session, the House of Representatives passed the Tuition Equalization Grant. It was not without controversy. There were people who had very profound doubts that the state had any business helping students attend school in the private sector because most of the schools were church-related. But Bob managed to persuade a great many people that you were giving the money to the students to do what was best for them. … He had no enemies. He was always positive in outlook. He was always helpful. He always gave good advice. … I can’t say forcefully enough that ICUT would not be what it has become if it hadn’t been for the leadership of Bob Hunter.”
– CAROL McDONALD, president of Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas (1982-2014)
1) Hunter and Texas Gov. Ann Richards
2) Hunter and Texas Gov. Rick Perry
3) Hunter served 10 consecutive terms in Austin as a Texas state representative.
4) Hunter and Texas Gov. Bill Clements
5) Hunter was always a proud participant in the annual Veterans Day Ceremony in ACU’s Moody Coliseum, standing here for recognition in 2010. He served in the Navy during the Korean Conflict.
6) Hunter received honorary doctorates from six universities, including ACU.
7) In 2006, Hunter was saluted by friends at a gala event in Dallas, Texas, to raise money for the Bob and Shirley Hunter Welcome Center at ACU. The dinner featured a musical performance by recording star Amy Grant , a longtime friend.
(See pages 61-62 for Hunter’s obituary information.)
uan Nunez (’09) wanted to set a bold goal for the men’s tennis program during ACU Gives, the university’s annual giving event.
Someone recommended he set his fundraising goal at $15,000. But the head coach believed in the generosity of his program’s supporters, and he was willing to put in the work to raise more than twice that amount.
“I kept telling people I’m good at breaking records and making a fool of myself, so I’m going to do one of those two things here,” Nunez said. “Maybe both.”
No one is laughing at his results now. Supporters stepped up in a big way for the men’s tennis program, raising $37,377, more than any other sport. Out of 42 participating funds from across campus during ACU Gives, the 124 gifts to the tennis program represented the second-highest number of donations.
Nunez’s efforts were part of a record-breaking event for the university. During ACU Gives on
April 25-26, the ACU community gave 1,714 gifts for an overall total of $670,118 – surpassing 2021’s then-record totals of 1,351 gifts and $670,118.
This year’s event marked a shakeup of a traditional Day of Giving, which had previously been held during a single 24-hour timeframe annually since 2017. This year, it was extended to 1,906 minutes –just under 32 hours – in honor of the year Abilene Christian was founded. The new timeframe required a new name, and ACU Gives was born.
Previous giving events included three to nine funds that donors could give toward.
ACU Gives offered 42 options from across every college and Athletics.
“ACU is blessed to have so many generous supporters,” said Samantha (Bickett ’01) Adkins, director of donor relations and annual giving.
“Expanding the options made it easier for everyone to give to the programs they are most passionate about.”
The results bear that out. In addition to the record-breaking overall totals, 20% of donors
were making their first gift to the university.
ACU Gives also invites giving at any level, and Nunez wanted to highlight that in his efforts.
“I wanted anybody who wanted to support the tennis program to be able to be a part of this, so we wanted to have levels accessible to anyone,” he said.
To achieve his goal, Nunez created a chart containing 300 squares – each representing a different dollar amount from $1 to $300 – and he asked supporters to fill the chart by claiming one or more of them.
Nunez remembers seeing his creation printed for the first time on a 2-foot-by-3-foot roll of paper with no squares claimed yet.
“I remember thinking, ‘Oh boy, I might’ve bitten off a little more than I can chew this time,’” he said.
But his players jumped on board right away to claim the first squares and get the ball rolling. That made it easier to start reaching out to others for support.
In the weeks leading up to ACU Gives, it was not uncommon to see Nunez crisscrossing campus to visit faculty and staff to secure pledges with his rolled-up chart underneath one arm. The chart – which earned nicknames like “the scroll,” “the Declaration of Independence” and “the periodic table” – usually elicited a laugh from those he would visit. More often than not, it would also produce a pledge.
“It worked on me!” said Dan Macaluso, vice president for advancement, about a persuasive visit from Nunez. “Juan’s enthusiasm and creativity are just what we want to see from the groups participating in ACU Gives. Who better to share the story of all the good work the donations can do than the people putting those funds to use?”
Nunez is grateful for the support. The funds raised during ACU Gives have allowed him to purchase necessary training and recovery equipment and nutritional supplements to keep his players healthy and performing their best. This type of funding does so much to build on the success that men’s tennis has already achieved, having won the university’s first Western Athletic Conference championship in 2022.
Adkins said next year’s ACU Gives will likely follow a similar format. Nunez is ready, too. Though not quite every square was claimed this year, he’s already thinking of ways to tweak his method to make it another winning year.
“This program will continue long after I’m gone, and I want to leave it even better than I found it,” he said. “I’m so grateful to our donors for making that possible.”
The signs of momentum are everywhere.
From the record-setting generosity of donors to the evidence of growth across campus, the Higher Ground campaign only seems to be picking up steam, even as the university approaches its $250 million goal.
“We’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity of our donors, and we look forward to building on the momentum we’ve established over the last year,” said Dan Macaluso, vice president for advancement.
Beginning with the reopening of Moody Coliseum following its $50 million renovation in August 2022, the past year was marked by major building projects made possible through Higher Ground:
• Boone Family Theatre reopened last fall and will host the first on-campus Homecoming Musical in more than 50 years this October.
• The College of Business Administration (COBA) recently completed the fourth and final major phase of its Mabee Business Building renovation (read more on pages 12-13).
• Wessel Hall welcomed its first residents this semester as the next phase of the Freshman Village project.
• And on-campus research took a major step forward with the Gayle and Max Dillard Science and Engineering Research Center.
Although ACU isn’t through with building projects and renovations, the next phase of the campaign will be marked by a significant focus on academics.
This phase was kickstarted in December with a $29 million gift from the estate of Bill and Janie Dukes, the largest single academic gift in university history. The gift will establish the Dukes School of Finance within COBA and support scholarships and endowed faculty positions.
Macaluso said this summer’s academic reorganization, which increased the number of colleges from four to five, will also create new opportunities for growth and investment in the classroom and beyond through experiential learning.
With Higher Ground slated to run into 2024, Macaluso said the university would continue to pursue the campaign priorities, even with $263.2 million raised through late July.
“We plan to keep pushing ahead to see where God leads us next,” he said.
In July, near the printing deadline for this issue of ACU Today, the university announced a $25 million gift from Kay Onstead, the fifth-largest single gift in university history.
To honor the Onstead family’s history of advancing excellence in Christian higher education, Abilene Christian will name one of its newest colleges in their honor – the Robert and Kay Onstead College of Science and Engineering, the first named college in ACU’s history.
Look for in-depth coverage of this historic gift in our next issue.
If the Friends of ACU Library dinner was any indication, there is no shortage of Landon Saunders stories among those in the ACU community.
Whether it was through a sermon, an encounter at a workshop or a radio message from his Heartbeat Inc. nonprofit, Saunders has touched the lives of countless people at ACU, in Abilene, throughout Churches of Christ and across the nation.
The Abilene Christian campus proved to be the perfect place for a tribute to Saunders.
First, it is now the physical home of more than 50 years of personal correspondence, financial records, audio and video recordings, photos and curricular materials, which Saunders and Heartbeat donated to the Brown Library last year.
And second, it will soon be the home of the Landon Saunders Center for Joy and Human Flourishing. At the April event, which honored Saunders as the library’s Friend
of the Year, ACU announced the kickoff of a $4.5 million fundraising initiative, as part of the university’s Higher Ground campaign, to establish the center on campus to help spread Saunders’ message of faith and joy.
“We’re confident that Landon’s approach will lead us to touch new generations of ACU students while also elevating an academic conversation about ways in which individuals can find joy, meaning and belonging in their day-to-day lives and flourish more richly in our society,” said James Wiser, dean of library services and educational technology.
Part of the fundraising goal will go toward renovating the Mabee Auditorium wing of the Brown Library to serve as the center’s home. The rest will go toward creating an endowment to help fund the work of the center, which will be staffed by a director and a senior Fellow.
At Saunders’ request, the center will have a strong focus on students, working to instill themes of joy, belonging and flourishing while also building their spiritual, emotional and mental health. Other objectives include hosting and curating conversations through curricular planning, conferences, multimedia content and lecture series for religious and academic groups, and cultivating strategic partnerships between religious and non-religious institutions that promote joy and human flourishing.
“We need to learn how to talk about God,” said Dr. Richard Beck (’89), professor and chair of psychology, during the announcement. “Landon has pioneered how to do that throughout his entire life. We’re excited to take that vision and pass it on to a new generation.”
Wiser said ACU’s library, as
the largest archive associated with the Churches of Christ, was an ideal place to preserve Saunders’ and Heartbeat’s collection.
“This collection is a treasure trove of content for researchers of nonprofit management, religious communication and religious history,” Wiser said. “Landon has been one of the most influential ministers in Churches of Christ for the past 60 years, and this collection will allow future researchers to study his life’s work and approach. Moreover, our digitization of his lectures and sermons will give them new life in a digital age, as already we are realizing that his work has been listened to hundreds of times around the world in the short time they’ve been accessible from the library’s Digital Commons site.”
Heartbeat’s connection to Abilene makes this donation a homecoming of sorts for many of these materials.
Saunders founded Heartbeat in 1971 as part of Herald of Truth Ministries and based its work in Abilene during its early days. Later, he relocated Heartbeat to Houston and then to New York City, where he hosted the Heartbeat radio program, which was broadcast on NBC, CBS and Armed Forces radio networks.
A native of West Virginia, Saunders served as a minister in Churches of Christ in Arkansas and Tennessee before moving to Abilene, where he was the minister at Minter Lane Church of Christ for several years. Today, he is a resident of Norwich, Vermont, and in addition to being a frequent lecturer at churches and universities, he also serves on the board of the Yale University Center for Faith and Culture and as a Fellow of the Caris Life Sciences Foundation.
April’s event featured a variety of tributes, including one from bestselling author Max Lucado (’77),
teaching minister at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio. He recalled working as a college student for Heartbeat, where his job was to read incoming letters and assess which parts of the country seemed most receptive to the Heartbeat message. He still recalls the conversations with Saunders.
“This aspiring preacher found in you a safe place,” Lucado said.
In addition to being named the library’s Friend of the Year, the university awarded Saunders an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.
“Landon, your gifts of time, talent and energy to the church and the Gospel have been extraordinary,” said ACU president Dr. Phil Schubert (’91). “Moreover, your commitment to following Jesus and helping others find light where there is darkness, joy where there is despair and answers where there is wondering leave such an incredible example for the rest of us to live up to.”
Though he worried that he was “overpraised and overhonored,” a deeply moved Saunders nevertheless accepted the honors on behalf of all those present, the staff of Heartbeat and anyone who ever participated in its work. (See page 64.)
“What an inexpressible gift that you’ve given to me,” he said.
As he closed his remarks, Saunders relayed one last story to the captivated audience of friends and admirers. He told of how Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky believed that yellow – the color of every sunrise – represented joy.
And with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes, he reached behind the lectern and donned a yellow fedora to symbolize “all the sunrises that are yet to come.”
A familiar and lasting message of hope and joy that again reminded his listeners to firmly fix their eyes on the horizon.
r. Bill Petty (’64) used to tell his students that anything of significance is never built alone.
And that’s still true for him, whether he’s talking about ACU’s College of Business Administration, of which he served as the first dean, or the Mabee Business Building, the college’s grand home that was funded, designed and built during his tenure.
He’s quick to credit successes to people such as Jozell Brister (’61), associate professor emerita of management sciences and former associate dean of COBA, and other dedicated faculty members.
He points to the instrumental work of alumni such as J. McDonald “Don” Williams (’63), former president and CEO of Trammell Crow Co., in bringing
the business building to campus. Williams was also an influential ACU trustee from 1981-2004.
But at the center of it all was Petty, who joined ACU’s faculty in 1979 and was dean from 1981-89, providing a vision for the new college. In honor of his leadership and service to the university, COBA is naming the newly renovated atrium of the Mabee Business Building after Petty and his wife, Donna (Guinn ’64)
“I have the greatest admiration and highest respect for Bill Petty – as a person, for what he’s accomplished in his career and what he has done for ACU,” said Dr. Brad Crisp (’93), dean of COBA. “He is the visionary who founded the College of Business Administration. Now, he would be quick to give credit to the people who came before him. But Bill cast a vision for what the college could be, and he rallied support for that vision.”
This summer’s atrium renovation marks the last major phase of a fourphase overhaul of the Mabee Business Building that began in 2020. The Bill and Donna Petty Atrium will feature upgraded technology and appearance to better welcome students, faculty, staff, alumni and business leaders into the building and facilitate networking between these groups.
The project was made possible, thanks to a generous lead gift from an anonymous donor, along with substantial commitments from family and friends. It also received significant support during the ACU Gives event this April 25-26, when dozens of donors – many of whom the Pettys mentored – contributed an additional $100,000 toward the $1.4 million renovation.
“It was such a tremendous blessing to know this was being
made possible by former students,” Petty said.
Crisp said it’s fitting for the Pettys to be honored at the heart of the building that Bill helped bring to campus.
Petty arrived at ACU from Texas Tech in 1979 and became dean of the newly formed College of Business Administration in 1981. The new college initially held its classes in the Hardin Administration Building, but with several programs sharing that building, space was at a premium.
“We didn’t have room to grow, and it was limiting the number of students we could support,” Petty said.
Plans and fundraising began soon after for a building to house COBA. Coming off the heels of an economic recession in the early ’80s, this might not have been an easy sell, but Petty points to the generosity of several alumni and friends of the university – led by a cornerstone gift from the building’s namesake, the Mabee Foundation – for making the project possible.
Petty remembers his excitement when they broke ground on the new building in Fall 1984. He was even more energized when he saw the
finished product when it opened in 1986.
The Mabee Business Building and the neighboring Onstead-Packer Biblical Studies Building (which opened in 1989) formed a magnificent new face of the campus along Judge Ely Boulevard and set a new standard for how buildings on campus could look. Petty believes the grand design helped convey the important work occurring inside.
“It sent a message that this was a significant business program,” he said, “and I think it still does today.”
Petty left Abilene and taught at Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business from 1990-2018, but ACU never left his heart – he served as a university trustee from 2006-21.
Although he loves the building constructed during his tenure on campus, he’s impressed by what he’s seen of the recent renovations.
The whole project began out of the need to replace the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system in 2020, but it grew to involve most major spaces inside the building – including classrooms, labs, offices and, now, the atrium, which reopened this semester after a summer of construction. A dedication ceremony is planned for later this fall to honor the Pettys and those who made this project possible.
“We’re so blessed by the generosity of our donors throughout every phase of this project,” Crisp said. “I’m constantly amazed by their level of commitment and their desire to bless future students as well as honor those who built the foundations from which we grow today.”
After all, anything of significance is never built alone.
COBA names renovated atrium after founding dean in facility he helped bring to campusPetty was COBA’s founding dean.
The joyful philanthropy of longtime accountant Jerry Riggs and his wife, Gwen, has endured for more than five decades
BY LANCE FLEMING
n his memoir, Accounting For a Life Well Lived, Abilene Christian University graduate and longtime donor Jerry Don Riggs (’64) was asked what he wanted to pass on to his children. His answer defined his life, which began on July 21, 1942, in the dusty farming town of Roscoe, Texas, and ended Aug. 14, 2022, in Abilene.
“I want to pass on to my children the realization that the important thing in life is not what you own, but what you give to others: spiritually, mentally and physically,” he said in the book released just after he died at age 80.
Giving to others. Leaving a legacy. Serving people.
Riggs lived his life to those standards and modeled them for each of his three children: Stephanie (Riggs ’87) Ellis, Jon Riggs (’90) and Susan (Riggs ’93) Piersall
“Dad contributed to so many things, and anything he considered a talent or good quality, he gave back to the community,” Piersall said. “He was involved in so many things and organizations; he was always serving others.”
One of the ways he served and contributed was in the way he and his wife of 59 years, Gwenda (Covey ’64) Riggs, loved their alma mater and supported it throughout their marriage. They have contributed to the university financially for 51 consecutive years. They returned each year for Homecoming and Sing Song, and when it came time for their three children to choose a college, there was no question each would attend ACU.
Jerry and Gwen stepped up their giving in 1986 when they were visited by a former classmate who happened to be the dean of the College of Business Administration, who was in the midst of a fundraising campaign to build what would become the Mabee Business Building.
“Dr. Bill Petty (’64) called the house one day and wanted to come by and visit, and so he did. I was supposed to be getting a new house, but that house flew right out the window, and Bill Petty got the money for my new house,” she laughed. “But we were happy to give the money
because ACU meant so much to us and our family.”
In his memoir, Jerry recalls meeting the woman he would call in the book’s dedication “the best role model a person could ever wish for, especially when it comes to the example you demonstrate through your strength, character and integrity.” Gwen had spent her first two years of college at Lubbock Christian University and then West Texas A&M University before transferring to ACU for her final two years.
“My roommate from Lubbock Christian had transferred to ACU the summer before I got here in the fall,” Gwen recalled. “She met Jerry and wrote me a letter saying, ‘I have met someone that you’re going to meet and fall in love with; I just know it.’ Well, I got to Abilene, and I met Jerry the second week of school. I was pinned in October, he asked me to marry him in November, I got a ring in January, and we were married in May. So … she was right.”
After graduation, the couple moved to Midland, Texas, where Jerry was a staff accountant for Shell Oil Company. He later worked in Houston and in Fort Worth for Arthur Anderson. In 1972 he began a CPA practice in Sweetwater, Texas, that became known in 1977 as Riggs & Wootan PC. He served as a board member or president of the Sweetwater Industrial Foundation, the Sweetwater Chamber of Commerce and the Sweetwater Rotary Club; board chair of the Sweetwater Rolling Plains Memorial Hospital; president of the Mustang Booster Club and Nolan County Foundation; and as a trustee of the West Texas Girl Scout Council and the National WASP WWII Museum. Sweetwater’s Chamber of Commerce named him Man of the Year in 2007. All the while, Jerry and Gwen
supported ACU and the projects the growing university was undertaking.
Jerry and Gwen’s philanthropy to ACU included establishing the D.S. and Pauline Riggs Endowed Scholarship in honor of his parents, the Jerry and Gwen Riggs Faculty Development Endowment, and the Jerry D. Riggs CPA Endowment for Accounting Excellence. The most recent endowment was established by Gwen in December 2022 to honor her husband’s life, with a goal of helping advance excellent outcomes for accounting students, including successful completion of the Certified Public Accounting exam administered in Texas and other states.
“Jerry loved accounting, and he loved ACU,” Gwen said. “I wanted to establish that endowment for him because of his love for both. When we were in school – and I’m sure it’s the same now – the professors gave him a good foundation in accounting and business, and it was the basis for the life we lived. That life allowed us to always give back to the institution, and that’s what he wanted.”
One of the final questions Jerry was asked in his memoir was what characteristics make a close friend. He said, “… someone who is reliable, steadfast, loyal, truthful, and will always be there for you.” He could have been talking about himself. And that’s how Gwen wants her husband – who loved Jesus, his wife, his children, his friends and ACU – to be remembered.
“How do you say in a word or two how one institution can mean so much to two people who unite, stay together, and continue their beliefs in a way that they want others to follow?” she asked. “I think you do that by providing endowments so others can experience the same thing and have the same opportunities.”
That’s precisely how you say it.
BY KATIE NOAH GIBSON
eacher. Evangelist. Doctor. Minister. Husband, father and grandfather. Dr. Tony E. Roach Sr. (’79 M.S.) has many titles, all of which are important to his character. But the most important title is threefold, and one he shares with every other human being: body, soul and spirit.
“We are threefold spiritual beings,” Roach explains, discussing his popular teaching model (and the subject of several of his books), God’s Love Bank. “When you understand that you are a spirit and a soul, housed in a body, you can transcend race, age and ethnicity.”
Roach, founding minister and retired lead evangelist of Abilene’s Minda Street Church of Christ, and 2023 recipient of the Dale and Rita Brown Outlive Your Life Award, developed the God’s Love Bank curriculum to help people of all backgrounds connect with God’s love so they can live healthy, fulfilling lives.
Raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Roach struggled with literacy as a teenager, dropping out of school in the 10th grade because he couldn’t read. Eventually, he returned to graduate, earning his high school diploma and then a bachelor’s degree from Hiram College.
“I began my career in banking,” he recalls. “I went through management training and even had my own bank branch to manage.” But Roach soon felt a powerful call to full-time ministry, eventually moving to Abilene to pursue a master’s degree at ACU.
During his time as a graduate student, Roach heard about a defunct congregation in Abilene that wanted to sell its building. He and his wife, Candyce, planted the Minda Street church on that property in 1979, and it quickly became known as the most multicultural congregation in Abilene.
“We started baptizing a lot of people fast,” Roach recalls. “This was when ‘multicultural’ wasn’t popular, but we were attracting and training people from all races and nations. Minda Street became known as the ‘rainbow church.’”
Roach served as lead evangelist of Minda Street for nearly 40 years, stepping into the role of minister emeritus in 2016. During that time, Minda Street baptized thousands of people and trained eight elders, four deacons and 22 preachers, most of whom are still doing ministry work today. Roach believes the message of God’s love transcends race and nationality: “We were able to reach people from all ethnic groups, and that [message] transforms people.”
During Roach’s early years in Abilene, he met Dr. Royce Money (’64), who encouraged him to apply to ACU’s D.Min. program. Roach became part of the third class of students in the program, and the first Black student to earn a D.Min. degree.
Later, during Money’s years as president, the two men had many conversations about increasing diversity at Abilene Christian: How to attract more Black students to the university and create a welcoming experience for them. Their conversations led to a seminal meeting of Black and white preachers from various Churches of Christ, who gathered in Abilene in Fall 1998 to discuss racial and theological divisions in their fellowship.
After hours of prayer and dscussion, Money recalls, he asked the group, “Where do we go from here?” There was silence in the room, until Roach spoke up and suggested, “You could start with an apology.”
Money took Roach at his word. The following year, he offered a public apology for ACU’s past discriminatory practices at Southwestern Christian College in Terrell, Texas, during its 50th anniversary celebration. “I wasn’t
sure what the reaction was going to be,” Money recalls. “But I’d barely gotten two sentences in when I began to hear applause, and some amens and hallelujahs. It was a day I’ll never forget.”
The ACU president reprised his apology at Bible Lectureship in February 2000, and he and Roach went on national TV to discuss the apologies and the beginnings of reconciliation among Churches of Christ. “It seemed like the right thing to do,” Money says, “and I’ll always be thankful for Tony and his willingness to ask the hard questions.”
The two men have continued their conversations about race, theology and inclusion in churches, and have facilitated other multiracial meetings of ministers and leaders.
“Tony has never lost his love and his passion for people who weren’t exactly on the same page theologically as he was,” Money says. “He’s well respected in a variety of situations, working with people along the broad spectrum of Churches of Christ. He has a deep perspective on where everybody’s coming from.”
Roach continues to teach workshops on the God’s Love Bank curriculum, traveling around the country from his home in Irving, Texas, as well as remaining involved at Minda Street. His latest book, The Gift Journey, explores the ways the Holy Spirit guides Christians to develop their gifts for God’s glory.
“We are living in interesting times,” Roach says of the last several turbulent years, including the COVID-19 pandemic. “That’s one reason it’s so important to know who you are and where you come from.”
He believes Christians can accomplish great things if they dedicate themselves – body, soul and spirit – to discerning the work of God in their lives. That’s a legacy worth leaving, and one Roach has made it his mission to keep on building.
Looking back at stories that advanced the university and resonated most with the magazine’s founding editor across nearly four decades
BY RON HADFIELD
Icame about my love for magazines honestly, beginning with long summer days in the Caroline Kennedy Library across the street from my boyhood home in Dearborn Heights, Michigan.
We didn’t have central refrigerated air in our small house until I was a teen, so the cool temps of the library created an inviting place to spend afternoons when it was too rainy or hot to play baseball or ride bikes with friends across the western suburbs of Detroit.
Winters were long, spare time was short and homework beckoned after school each fall and spring, but summers in Michigan in the 1960s and ’70s were the stuff of dreams in so many ways. Caroline’s library became something of a second home.
Growing up, I read everything I could get my hands on, from the cereal boxes at breakfast to the sports stats and scores printed in each day’s Detroit News and Free Press newspapers. We received a morning and afternoon edition at the house, and I rarely skipped a page.
But my hometown library, built and dedicated following the assassinations of the Kennedy brothers – and to honor the late 35th president’s young daughter – opened an ever larger world of adventure and history via stories and images in current and hard-bound collections of countless books and especially, magazines. All I had to do was walk a few hundred feet across the City Hall parking lot to explore it.
The library’s musty and new smells of paper and ink, and the aroma of new polish on its terrazzotiled floor, are ingrained in my mind.
When I joined the Communication Services staff in August 1983, ACU Today was a quarterly one-color tabloid-size “bulletin” to share news with alumni and donors, and EXperiences a section within it to communicate class notes several times a year. With Dr. William J. Teague (’52) as president through the late 1980s, we experimented with several versions of each, including a short-lived Alumnus publication, before Dr. Royce Money (’64) expressed a desire and provided a budget for ACU Today to become a magazine when he was named the university’s 10th president in 1990.
ACU’s only extended previous experience with a magazine came from 1963-71 with Horizons. Originally a four-page newsletter for 129 issues over 14 years, it became a magazine for good in Summer 1963.
Horizons was a 24-page oneand two-color “thought piece” that carried fundraising and alumni news. It also served as a major tool to help Abilene Christian communicate to audiences about its significant planned institutional growth through the Design for Development campaign that lasted more than two decades while transforming the campus with Moody Coliseum, McGlothlin Campus Center, Brown Library, the Don H. Morris Center and other projects.
With Harold Straughn (1963-64) and Dr. Charlie Marler (1964-71) as editor, Horizons won numerous awards in higher education circles as one of the nation’s top small-college magazines. My early Communication Services teammates Clark Potts (’55) and Garner Roberts (’72) were part of one or more talented Horizons staffs.
This issue of ACU Today will be the last served as editor by Ron Hadfield (’79), who is transitioning in his 40th year on the Hill to a role of editor emeritus, senior writer and university historian. Co-assistant editor Wendy (Waller ’01) Kilmer will become editor in addition to her responsibilities as director of strategic communications.
Abilene Christian’s longtime assistant vice president for university communication, Hadfield began in 1983 at ACU, where he has been a writer, editor, designer, art director, film producer and administrator in the Division of Marketing and Strategic Communications. He oversaw ACU brand, signage and communications work for nearly four decades, leading a Creative Services team to more than 300 awards from the American Advertising Federation and 150 regional awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). An Emmy-nominated producer in 2006 for “The Making of Jacob’s Dream,” his films received 14 international Telly Awards.
Projects he directed won five awards in CASE international Circle of Excellence competition, including silver medals for ACU’s Centennial Campaign film and a student recruiting film, and a gold medal for the university’s Centennial book, The ACU Century. He also has served as a judging coordinator for CASE regional and international competitions, and a presenter at its conferences and workshops.
During the university’s Centennial in 2005-06, he received a Gutenberg award from the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication for distinguished professional achievement, as well as the John and Ruth Stevens Historical Preservation Award for pioneering preservation of ACU history. Hadfield is the only university employee to twice be named Staff Member of the Year.
As students, Straughn (’61) and Marler (’55) were strong writers and former editors of The Optimist newspaper. Marler’s 58-year career, mostly in ACU’s Department of Journalism and Mass Communication – the fourth-longest role in university history – included 48 years of full-time service (1955-2003) and part-time senior faculty teaching (2003-13), followed by nearly daily volunteer work as an unofficial historian until the day of his death in May 2022.
Charlie was my Texas father –a mentor and confidant whose work at our alma mater informed my career. I couldn’t find footsteps of a better editor to follow, but they were huge. The juxtaposition of copyediting my beloved former journalism professor and Optimist advisor through the years kept me grounded and humble.
I was fortunate to befriend the late Brian Doyle, an author and editor of the University of Portland’s magazine for 25 years who died of complications from a brain tumor in 2017. His heartfelt and quirky Portland won numerous awards from the Council for Advancement and
Support of Education. He was a spiritual man deeply respected at his Catholic-affiliated university. He was a gifted writer and the only speaker I ever heard at a national (and secular) editors’ conference get away with leading one of his sessions in the a cappella singing of every verse of “Amazing Grace.”
A well-written, designed and produced magazine, Doyle said, is “the premier continuing case statement for investment of time, money and kids in the university.”
I could not agree more, and trust that ACU Today has served that role through the years for you. If so, it was no accident but the result of purposeful planning and a commitment to the storytelling craft that defines all worthwhile university magazines.
Brian also gave wings to my appreciation for the art of narrative essay writing and its power with readers. I think some of our best storytelling has taken that form.
Feature story writers such as Marler, Roberts, Dr. Cheryl Mann Bacon (’76), David Ramsey (’81), Katie Noah Gibson (’06), Wendy (Waller ’01) Kilmer, Robin (Ward ’82) Saylor, Lance Fleming (’92), Sarah Carlson (’06), Deana (Hamby ’93) Nall, Tamara (Kull ’77) Thompson,
Scott Kirk (’78) and Grant Boone (’91) – among others – are ACU alumni and/or JMC majors who formed a stable of dependable and excellent journalists for us through the years.
Guest writers have been inspiring as well, such as esteemed Texas author and historian Dr. Ron Tyler (’64) and best-selling author Max Lucado (’77). As a teen in the 1970s, I sat in the second row at church one Sunday morning, hanging on every word of a sermon by guest evangelist Dr. Landon Saunders (’23 L.H.D.) In this issue, some 50 years later, Saunders penned his first Second Glance essay for us. (See page 64.)
Only graphic designers have won more awards than our writers through the years, and ACU has been recognized for magazine design more frequently in the past three decades than any other university in the Southwest. In Greg Golden, Todd Mullins, Holly Harrell, Amy Willis (’19 MBA), Sarah (Brewington ’90) Bales, Jami (Roberts ’94) West, Paul Bryan (’05), Ben Hernandez (’06), Ken Stewart and Rosemary Gutierrez (’07) I found not only terrific friends and colleagues but talented designers to make ACU Today stand out in a crowd.
Photography makes words come to life in a magazine, often verbalizing what words could never do. ACU Today issues have carried images through the years from three photojournalists who were nominees, finalists or winners of the Pulitzer Prize: David Leeson (’78), Robert Hallinen and Christopher Anderson (’92). A fourth winner, Robin Hood, was an advisor on images that appeared in The ACU Century book and on the pages of the magazine during the Centennial Celebration. We also have been blessed to work on countless assignments with talented staff as well as local and regional freelance photographers Jeremy Enlow, Steve Butman, Kim Leeson,
Paul White (’68), Gary Rhodes (’07), Scott Delony (’06), Jason Jones, Gordon Trice, Mary (Banks ’89) Jackson, Cade White (’90), Tom Dekle and Gerald Ewing
Each story in ACU Today has a purpose. Our audience ranges from high school seniors who have applied for enrollment to those long past celebrating their Golden Anniversary Reunion with classmates from 50 years ago.
The mail list includes future students, parents, donors, alumni, colleagues across higher education and government officials. Some stories over the years resonated longer with me and, I believe, advanced the university for entirely different reasons. Each had a backstory as well, especially these.
The magazine’s first feature story involving a long-distance trip to observe students on summer work assignments required joining five on a sociological internship with the Crow Nation in south central Montana. I was accompanied in June 2004 by former ACU classmate and longtime friend David Leeson of The Dallas Morning News, just weeks after he won the Pulitzer for Breaking News Photography while covering war in Iraq.
I was intrigued by what I had heard from Dr. David Gotcher (’74) about this program, which eventually spanned 2001-10 under the direction of Lorinne Burke-White (’97 M.M.F.T.), a licensed therapist, parenting coordinator and reunification specialist in Billings, Montana.
Like the students, Leeson and I lived with a host Crow family for the week. It was my privilege to stay in the home of Vernon and Gayle
White Man. Vernon’s greatgrandfather, White Man Runs Him, was one of the Crow warrior scouts whose advice Gen. George Custer ignored on June 25, 1876, a fatal mistake for the Seventh U.S. Cavalry officer and his regiment. Their bloody defeat by Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors – including Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse – became known as the Battle of the Little Bighorn. White Man Runs Him and three of his fellow scouts appear in a famous framed photo in Vernon and Gayle’s house, posing while visiting graves on the battlefield.
I seldom saw Leeson that week, but knew he was hard at work exploring the reservation with students, shooting casual and work-related experiences of
Ben Grant, J.D. (’05); Hillary (Mudroch ’05) Culp; Brandon Johnson (’05); Michael Walker (’04); and David Young (’06)
The images were astounding, and Leeson proudly displayed one later in a hallway at the Morning News where its photographers shared their best work with each other.
Life around the Crow reservation’s Montana communities of Lodge Grass, Wyola and Crow Agency was an eclectic mix of often hardscrabble rural and small-town scenes, yet never far away from a backdrop that looked like the movie set for “Dances With Wolves.” It was a life-changing experience to witness and document for our readers, yet just one example of valuable internships students serve each summer as part of their degree programs.
Today, Burke-White believes the Crow internship program’s biggest impact was on the ACU students from varying majors. We featured the program in my Fall 2004 cover story, “Learning the Way of the Warrior.”
“We had students who had never experienced poverty, racism or seen the effects of addiction up close. They left the reservation with a more nuanced understanding and compassion for groups that are different and people who have been pushed into margins,” she recalled.
“Many of our students didn’t realize that Native cultures are alive and well, vastly different from one another, and nothing like the old John Wayne movies. We took curious college students and gave them the opportunity to live in a community,” Burke-White said. “Those summers produced students who went on to become therapists, social workers, lawyers, doctors, teachers and overall better citizens. There are students who are still in touch with the families they lived with.”
Lawrence (’02) and Annie (Rediger ’00) Gardiner own Centered Counseling Services LLC in Milford, Nebraska, where they are licensed independent mental health practitioners. The couple were newlyweds in 2001 when Lawrence was among the first interns from ACU with the Crow.
“The internship improved my relationship-building skills,
understanding that any lasting positive impact in the community would come on the backs of strong partnership,” said Lawrence, who also starred on ACU men’s basketball teams. “It was a transformative experience that has deeply enriched my growth as a community advocate and my professional development as a therapist.”
“I cannot be me without what I learned there,” said Annie, a former Wildcat volleyball standout. “The internship experience helped to ‘widen my lens’ and further the paradigm shift in my thinking that had begun when I arrived in 1996 at ACU.”
Long live internships and the ways they enrich the ACU academic experience for students.
This magazine has been a proactive thought leader, especially in Christian higher education, in examining the university’s history and ongoing work to improve race relations and build community.
Following two public apologies –in November 1999 and February 2000 – by 10th president Dr. Royce Money for ACU’s past discrimination in admissions policies, our Spring 2000
theme issue, “The Right Thing to Do,” devoted 23 pages to a broad look at the topic.
We included “An Angry Peace: Race and Religion,” a major thought piece authored for ACU Today by respected American Restoration Movement scholar Dr. Douglas A. Foster that traced the history of racial issues in Churches of Christ and at Abilene Christian; multiple profiles of successful and influential Black alumni; and an essay by trustee Dr. Terry Childers (’74), the first Black student from Abilene to enroll as a freshman (in Summer 1971).
In the Fall 2012 issue, “Trailblazers” marked the 50th anniversary of ACU’s first Black students enrolling in Fall 1962.
Dr. Billy Curl (’64), a longtime minister and trustee, and business leader Larry Bonner (’64) were racial integration pioneers on the Hill, and were celebrated at Opening Assembly on Aug. 27, 2012.
Our 14-page package included a cover story by Paul Anthony (’04), tracing the two former students’ experiences and looking at current multicultural initiatives on campus. In a sidebar story, Dr. Charlie Marler looked back at how The Optimist student newspaper gave voice to
pro-integration advocates for 17 years before admissions policies changed. “Through letters to the editor, columns and editorials, the ACU student body argued, cajoled and pleaded for their college to admit African-American students,” as early as 1946. Curl and Bonner were preschoolers at the time, Marler noted.
ACU’s rising baseball program, which has made news in recent years for wins over nationally ranked opponents from the Big 12 and other major conferences – and came within a game of winning the Western Athletic Conference and advancing toward the College World Series in 2022 – owes its bright future in large part to Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr.
Growing up, I knew Ryan as a Major League Baseball pitcher whose fastball dominated hitters like none other. I watched him throw several of his record seven no-hitters on TV, and was in a sellout crowd the night rookie sensation and Tigers pitcher Mark Fidrych outdueled him in a 1976 game with the California Angels in Detroit. Each Ryan game was a potential landmark; he also tossed 12 one-hitters and 18 two-hitters in a record 27 seasons.
When former lettermen Bill Gilbreth (’69), Al Scott (’61) and Dr. Gary McCaleb (’64) dreamed in the late 1980s of bringing Wildcat baseball back to campus after a hiatus of more than a decade, it was Ryan, a former Angels teammate of Gilbreth, who loaned his famous name to make it possible. Large fundraising dinners in Arlington and Abilene on Ryan’s behalf raised money to make Crutcher Scott Field a reality, create scholarship endowments and in general, bring baseball back for an encore, where it has thrived for more than 30 years.
To prepare for the Arlington Convention Center dinner in 1990,
photographer Gordon Trice and I made a trip to Alvin, Texas, where Ryan and his family lived at the time. Our plan was to photograph some of his memorabilia to help illustrate a commemorative booklet and other materials promoting the event.
The famous pitcher was away on business and his wife, Ruth Ryan, was across town when our vehicle rolled up the live oak-shaded driveway of their sprawling but not pretentious ranchstyle home. A simple brown wood-
rail fence and a Little League-size baseball field in the front yard were landmarks of the Ryan homestead.
Nolan’s beloved yellow Labrador retriever rose from the blacktop road and ambled over to greet me, offering a friendly paw to shake before I could say a word.
Ruth had errands to run most of the afternoon, and left us to sort through her husband’s trophy case and cardboard boxes of uniforms, gloves and other gear from his years
with the Mets, Astros and Rangers. We unrolled a white paper backdrop onto a nearby pool table and set up portable studio lights.
To a baseball fan, his memorabilia included a dizzying collection of awards and trophies; autographed bats, balls and photos from dignitaries inside the sport and around the world; magazines; and newspapers celebrating yet another Ryan milestone. It was more than enough to outfit a new wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, where he was eventually enshrined in 1999 after retiring.
We put all his treasures back where we found them. But at one point, I gingerly held all of his then-five no-hitter baseballs in my hands and wondered what I did to gain this fascinating close glimpse into such a storied career. He was, at the time, arguably the most well-known Texan on the planet. A record seventh no-hitter in 1991 at age 44 only fortified his legend.
Other current and former MLB stars followed Ryan to ACU to support Wildcat baseball: New York Yankee outfielder-turnedbroadcaster Bobby Murcer, pitcher Dave Dravecky and a host of current and former players who came to campus or gathered each winter for Justin Celebrity Quail Hunts in Sweetwater, Texas.
Ryan never threw a ceremonial first pitch from the ACU mound, but his collaboration with Gilbreth and McCaleb helped pave the way, years later, for the university’s move to NCAA Division I athletics.
Lettering on the outfield fence at Crutcher Scott Field simply says “Thank You Nolan Ryan.” A man of few words despite mighty deeds, Ryan could appreciate ACU cutting to the chase, even in its deep gratitude.
I was designated as the ACU staff member to coordinate communications in Fall 2014 with Kent Brantly, M.D. (’03), a family physician for Samaritan’s Purse running a hospital clinic in Liberia who was felled by the deadly Ebola virus disease. The three-year outbreak in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea infected more than 28,000 and killed 11,000. He narrowly escaped being one of the latter.
Kent’s life while deathly ill was saved by his decision to be the first human to take an experimental drug, Zmapp, only given previously to monkeys. The rare dose – transported on dry ice to Liberia by plane and dugout canoe – was divided between Kent and Nancy Writebol, a missionary who worked with him.
Days later on Aug. 2, 2014, the world watched on live TV as the medical missionary from ACU wore a full biocontainment suit while walking gingerly from an ambulance and into Atlanta’s Emory University Hospital, becoming the first Ebola patient to be treated in the U.S.
“I had gone from being physician to patient to lab rat,” he told CBS News afterward.
Just a few weeks later, Kent wanted his first fully public speaking opportunity to be on campus in Abilene, the Friday of Homecoming. The drama in his words cut through the air in Moody Coliseum as more than 4,000 people gathered for Chapel and to hear him.
“We are thrilled to be here,” he said. “I am particularly thrilled to be alive, to return to Abilene, to my ACU community, to my family.”
The largest on-campus gathering of media in ACU history was present in the arena as Kent spoke. His message was broadcast live on MSNBC and TV stations in Abilene and Dallas, and tweeted in real time to millions of people through network and cable news outlets. Later, he and his wife, Amber (Carroll ’06), spoke to students in smaller venues and again that afternoon to another 3,500 people in an interview in Moody.
The couple could not have been more gracious and accommodating, especially considering that Kent was still weak from his ordeal.
Two months later, vice president emeritus Dr. Robert D. “Bob” Hunter (’52) visited my office with a copy of the newest issue of Time magazine, which featured Kent on the front cover as one of “The Ebola Fighters” –its Persons of the Year.
“You know, I never thought anything one of our alumni did would ever approach the visibility that Bobby Morrow (’58) experienced in 1956 by setting world records and winning Olympic gold medals,” said Hunter. He would know, as he coordinated international coverage of and speaking engagements for Morrow, the Wildcat track and field star who was still an undergraduate college student.
“Now, I’m not so sure Kent won’t eventually surpass all that by what he has done,” Hunter continued. “What a story he is and what an example of an ACU graduate he is to the world.”
Our cover story, “The Education of a Medical Missionary” in the Spring-Summer 2015 issue, documented the experience.
Kent and Amber and their children returned to Africa in 2021 as medical missionaries in Zambia,
where they live and serve today. There, they watched from afar as COVID-19 sickened friends and family and others back home in the U.S. In an ACU Today online interview, he reflected on what they observed at the time:
“My advice for people wrestling with this pandemic in America is the same as the message I preached in 2014: We must choose compassion over fear – fear of the virus, fear of loss, fear of missing out. We must choose to love our neighbors, and that may look quite different in a pandemic than it was in other times. But we must remain committed to following the way of Jesus and thinking critically about what that looks like in our ever-changing world. We may not like the ‘new normal,’ but we have to come to terms with the fact that things will never be
exactly as they were before. We also must cultivate an enduring sense of gratitude.”
On his trip to Abilene to speak at Homecoming in 2014, Kent privately made stops in Dallas and Kansas City, Missouri, to donate life-saving plasma to a young nurse, an NBC freelance photojournalist and a close friend – also a physician – who were struggling with Ebola.
Kent’s atypical undergraduate academic career included majoring in biblical text with a minor in philosophy before staying an extra year to take science courses to prepare for the MCAT exam and medical school. His wife earned a degree in nursing. They met while serving a WorldWide Witness internship at ACU.
A quiet, thoughtful and selfless physician, Kent did not ask for Ebola any more than his sudden fame. But he and Amber walked
the talk, sharing their deep faith with the world despite the focus of unprecedented media and public attention, and few stories in ACU Today were ever more timely and powerful than theirs.
The longest distance I ever traveled to work on an ACU Today story took three flights totalling 27 hours to cover a little more than 10,000 miles. Given a fear of heights and at the time, a notable level of discomfort flying, much less being cooped up in a plane for that long for the first time … well, that was a demanding assignment.
It didn’t help that the navigation screen at my seat tracked the entire slow-motion progress of the third leg of our journey, an overnight flight over what appeared to be mostly ocean water, jungles and the vast Sahara desert. My imagination was not a friend that evening and fortunately, “Flight of the Phoenix” was not playing on the movie menu.
I was a member of the 23-person ACU delegation to the capital city of Antananarivo, Madagascar, July 5-14, 2008, and responsible for storytelling, publications, photography and media relations as the university conducted Commencement for 24 new graduates from the world’s fourth largest island nation.
They were the Madagascar Presidential Scholars, hand-picked to receive an ACU higher education via a nation-building grant from the World Bank and other benefactors. The arrangement included this trip to their homeland so family and friends could witness their historic graduation in person.
The journey did not start out well. I accidentally left my Mac laptop on the living room couch, a major
faux pas discovered when checking in for the flight at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. I felt lower than a lemur’s belly knowing my coverage in authoring the first ACU Today blog on this trip was threatened if not doomed.
I improvised for the next nine days, borrowing PC laptops from others in the travel party so I could transcribe notepad pages full of handwritten text and post via WordPress and poor Internet connections in the middle of each night. Air France also did us no favors by losing the luggage (including printed Commencement programs and media kits) of nearly everyone in the travel party; one couple did not retrieve their bags until arriving at the airport to fly home on July 14.
For four days, the increasingly frumpy-looking ACU Americans shopped mostly in vain for shoes and clothes to fit them, as the Malagasy are much shorter and smaller people. A tailor related to one of the students was on standby to make suits for those participating in the ceremony.
Until then, I had never shopped for packaged dress shirts and ties with president Money and senior vice president and chief investment officer Jack Rich (’76) in a Malagasy supermarket named Jumbo, one aisle over from the frozen food. We laughed long and hard out loud at the clothes that would never fit, and ties that might hit Money and Rich – both tall fellows – just above the navel. Fortunately, luggage arrived three days before the event, saving ACU a sartorial tragedy no graduation regalia could fully cover.
My time in Madagascar was also complicated for several days by intestinal drama, despite my efforts to only consume professionally bottled water. I lost 10 pounds and slept little but managed to keep the campus informed with blog posts and photos about our experiences,
including Lemur of the Day.
One excursion was to Betakara, a Church of Christ-affiliated orphanage off the beaten path and many miles from Antananarivo. We were greeted in the gymnasium by 43 children who sang hymns in their native language with tunes we recognized. They wore oversized purple ACU Homecoming T-shirts our staff designed several years earlier.
“Step Right Up and Change the World” was the circus-theme motto. The sight and sounds were profoundly moving for many of us.
Rich, the administrator to whom I reported at the time, leaned over and asked, “We never know where our influence ends, do we?”
Nearby, I was astounded to find three of my Abilene neighbors dispensing medicine to barefoot Malagasy patients through a walk-up window. “What are you doing in Madagascar?” I asked.
“We volunteer here,” they said. Wow.
On July 12, more than 625 people filled the ballroom of the Hotel Carlton for the Commencement ceremony, most of which was
conducted in English and Malagasy and took nearly four hours. It was broadcast live across the nation and to all of Africa, and live streamed back to Abilene.
If you ever doubted the worldwide scope of ACU’s mission and the influence its graduates have around the world, that trip would answer all questions. My cover story, “Back to the Future,” documented the experience in our Fall 2008 issue.
The Madagascar Presidential Scholars Program was shaken to its core that semester when a militarybacked, politically motivated coup drove president Dr. Marc Ravalomanana from the island, altering the future of the 24 graduates and his plans to involve them in various leadership opportunities. An outspoken Christian and successful entrepreneur in his developing nation who was president from 2002-09, Ravalomanana had received an honorary Doctor of Laws from ACU earlier that year.
A number of the new graduates focused instead on advancing their education in the U.S.; most earned
master’s degrees and several have earned doctorates. One, Dr. Joelly Rojo Rasamoelina (’08), died in 2021 at age 34, an e-learning and digital transformation specialist and popular new faculty member at the University of Fianarantsoa in her native country.
In 2020, Dr. Solofoarisina Arisoa Randrianasolo (’08) became the first of the Madagascar Presidential Scholars to join ACU’s full-time faculty. “Arsue,” an assistant professor of computer science in the School of Information Technology and Computing, earned his Ph.D. in 2012 and speaks four languages.
The story of Madagascar – still one of the poorest nations in the world – and these talented alumni, now approaching age 40, may take generations to be told and fully realized.
But God is still clearly at work.
The cover story of our Winter 2000 issue was titled “Body & Soul,” a series of profiles of alumni physicians from Abilene, Dallas, Houston, Duke University Medical School, and the Appalachian highlands of Tennessee.
A trip to the latter took me for a memorable stay with physicians Bruce (’85) and Dale (Witt ’84) Woodall, husband-and-wife M.D.s with young twin daughters. Bruce and Dale served as “physicians by trade and missionaries by heart” from 1992-2005 in Jellico, a few miles south of the Kentucky state line and the Daniel Boone National Forest.
Dale’s parents are Scotty (’52) and June (Hobbs ’56) Witt, who founded New Mexico’s Camp Blue Haven. She and Bruce love fitness and the outdoors, interests that have served them well in their globe-trotting careers. When they have time, they each compete successfully in
Spartan obstacle course races.
In Jellico, they spent many hours treating and befriending patients –especially at-risk children and teens – teaching health education classes at a local high school, and delivering babies in a three-clinic community health center staffed by Christian physicians. Most patients were among the poorest of the Appalachian poor.
Less than a decade later, that cover story title provided impetus for a way to brand ACU’s pre-health professions program, Body & Soul, which coordinated shadowing and medical missions opportunities, among other advantages, for students preparing for careers in medicine, research or other related science fields.
The Woodalls’ sense of adventure and commitment to serving others seems to know few bounds. In 2001 they took a three-year break from Appalachia to work with Global Medical Staffing Ltd., in Australia and
New Zealand, and in the three atolls – low islands, below sea level – of the Tokelau territory near American Samoa. Bruce worked in a small hospital in one of the most remote parts of the southern Pacific Ocean.
Then it was back to Jellico for six months, before seven years on staff with a 15-bed critical care hospital in St. Maries, Idaho. In 2012, they moved near Malakoff, Texas, to serve with Lakeland Medical Associates and the East Texas Medical Center in Athens.
In 2007 they learned about Free Burma Rangers, an organization describing its work as “relief, advocacy, leadership development and unity missions” in the small republic of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma, between India and Thailand). FBR began in 1997 in response to a military dictatorship-led destruction of villages that caused the deaths of many residents. More than 100,000 fled their homes and one million are still displaced in the civil war zone.
With their daughters now adults, The Woodalls serve rotations together in Myanmar for up to six months at a time, living in an encampment and teaching the 25 students enrolled annually in FBR’s Jungle School of Medicine, where they are responsible for patient care, supervision and medical classroom lectures. They enjoy their close relationship with residents of the Kayin/Karen state.
It can also be dangerous work. The couple escaped serious injury and perhaps death during a bombing by the Burma Air Force in January 2023.
Not all ACU alumni in health professions work under such harsh conditions, of course. But since their undergraduate days on the Hill, medical school together at The University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio and the same family practice residency in South Carolina, the Woodalls have shared a dream of being medical missionaries together in remote places.
Their mission has changed since the years in Appalachia, where they simply considered themselves country doctors who were Christians with a deep interest in the poor.
“In Myanmar, many of our FBR students begin as a Buddhist or animist,” Bruce said. “Our daily medical lectures begin with Bible study and prayer, and conversions are frequent. When the Jungle School of Medicine kicked off in 2011, there was no church but now there is a very vibrant local one in the village.”
There are many reasons why ACU students, for years, have been accepted into medical and dental schools at rates far beyond the national average, and become leaders in their fields, communities and churches. The Woodalls, who have chosen to live and serve in out-of-the way places around the world, could explain – and show you – exactly why.
If time and real estate allowed, I could share plenty more backstories like these:
Presidential privilege – It has been an honor to work for or with four of ACU’s 11 presidents in my career. Drs. John C. Stevens (’38), William J. Teague (’52), Royce Money and Phil Schubert (’91) have steered our alma mater through remarkable challenges and growth. Stories beckon about their historic individual contributions to Abilene Christian.
Show me the money and hand me another brick – ACU Today has helped the university communicate needs and raise money for every major fundraising campaign since Design for Development. That means hundreds of millions of dollars for scholarships and endowments, and new or renovated facilities that changed the face of campus, notably four major science/research buildings, the Mabee Business Building and Onstead-Packer Biblical Studies Building, Williams Performing Arts Center, Hunter Welcome Center, Teague Center, four stadiums, three residence halls and one apartment complex, Boone Family Theatre, Moody Coliseum and a retail shopping center.
Nuclear-powered academics –Another opportunity to work on a film with Martin Perry (’83) of Dallas-based Phillips Productions Inc. took the two of us in 2009 to Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory near Chicago and Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, New York. What we saw and learned there created important video assets for recruiting young future physicists to ACU, and helped our team understand and better tell the story of an academic program with few peers. Many pages of ACU
Today have since explained the work of the university’s Atom Smashers, a self-named and internationally respected physics group. Today, the expanded Department of Engineering and Physics continues to be a world leader in involving undergraduate students in groundbreaking research, which does not necessarily have to be done away from campus. The new Dillard Science and Engineering Research Center at ACU, which opens this fall, will further allow them and colleagues/students from other departments such as chemistry and biochemistry to partner on worldchanging projects via the NEXT Lab and the first molten salt test reactor built in the U.S. in decades.
The Centennial – My adage still holds true. It takes three years to do a Centennial: a year to plan, a year to celebrate and a year to recover. Truth is, the first and last stages require far more time and effort. But you only go around once in life, so when a Centennial shows up at your university and you work in marketing and communications, you take advantage of the opportunity to make your mark. Readers of ACU Today continue to be the beneficiaries of our countless hours of research, image and film discovery and recovery work, and enough facts and stories to help fill another century of time and pages. Our excellent team was responsible for helping bring to life a successful major fundraising campaign, coffee table history book, perpetual calendar, art show, major art sculpture documentary ( Jacob’s Dream), pops concert, musical, speaker series, commemorative products and more than 200 special events during the 2005-06 school year. There will never be another campus-wide effort here like it.
Willing and Abel – In March 2016, Abel Alvarez (’82) called to ask me for a desperate favor:
an ACU Today -led effort to help find the influential trustee and longtime South Texas student recruiting dynamo a donor with his same rare O negative blood type to replace his only – and failing – kidney. In a short time, seven generous readers stepped forward to offer, including ACU parent Greg Hendrix of Frisco, Texas. “We have various ways of measuring the reach and effect of our news channels at the university,”
I wrote in “Called and Committed,” a feature story in our Winter-Spring 2017 issue about the successful Hendrix-to-Alvarez transplant.
“While we don’t expect ACU Today blog posts to save lives or knock National Kidney Foundation donor statistics on their ear, the power of social media and of storytelling are undeniable. So, too, is ACU’s worldwide network of alumni, students and other friends who rally around people and causes
in amazing ways.” Today, Alvarez is ACU’s indefatigable director of Hispanic-Serving Institution initiatives.
Three scoops of March Madness
The final score alone from the Bubble in Indianapolis – ACU 53, Texas 52 – is still enough to send chills up the spines of Wildcat basketball fans everywhere. I was fortunate to write that game story in 2021, albeit from my kitchen table with the game on the living room TV, the local broadcast on the radio, LiveStats on my laptop and nonstop texts from Lance Fleming, ACU’s former longtime associate director of athletics for media relations. Such was the plight of most journalists, thanks to the pandemic. Head coach Joe Golding (’99) and his men’s squad shocked the No. 3-seeded Longhorns with that win, thanks to dynamic team defense and two free throws and a stolen inbounds pass by
Joe Pleasant (’28 M.S.) that launched Wildcat nation into hoops orbit and ACU into a second-round game with UCLA. My heart, however, is with the 2019 men’s team and its inaugural game in the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Regional in Jacksonville, Florida, against the much taller and No. 2-seeded Kentucky Wildcats. I was blessed to work courtside from a seat on press row for that one.
“Despite 3,500 of its fans cheering loudly from a Watch Party back home in Moody Coliseum, ACU started the game colder than a blue norther from the Texas Panhandle, shooting just 5 of 26 from the field in the first half,” I wrote in the game story. That same week, the women’s team drew eventual national champion Baylor in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament. The overall effort of each program’s first experience in March Madness was valiant. The 2018-19 NCAA postseason appearances for each concluded without a win, but together with the men’s upset victory in 2021, brought unprecedented worldwide media coverage and name recognition. What a ride it all was, and ACU Today brought you along.
My career and life these past 40 years have been inextricably linked to editorship of this magazine and advancement of ACU through writing, editing and designing.
My wife, Pam (’96 B.A.S.) and son, Tanner (’11), have been extraordinarily loving, patient, understanding and supportive fellow travelers on the journey. Retirement is somewhere on or beyond the horizon, but there are, God willing, more stories to tell around the next curve in the road.
Perhaps another book will be needed to finish the job; we shall see. Thanks for following along, and letting me be your friend.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12
Morlan Award Reception
(Department of Teacher Education) TBD, 5:30 p.m.
Fall Summit: Anchor Point Dinner and Plenary Session (Summit is Oct. 11-13. See acu.edu/summit for details.)
201 Mesquite Event Center, 6 p.m.
Gutenberg Celebration
(Department of Journalism and Mass Communication)
Hunter Welcome Center, 6:30 p.m.
Musical: Matilda
Boone Family Theatre, 8 p.m.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13
Chapel
Moody Coliseum, 11 a.m.
Lunch in the Bean
World Famous Bean, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.;
$8.50 for adults, $5.50 children ages 6-12, Free for children 5 and under
Make and Take
ACU Maker Lab, Brown Library, 2-4 p.m.
Scavenger Hunt
Various locations, 2-4 p.m.
Carnival
Hardin Administration Building lawn, 5-7:30 p.m.
ACU Sports Hall of Fame Celebration
Hunter Welcome Center, 6 p.m.
Candlelight Devo
Hardin Administration Building steps, 7:45-8:15 p.m.
Musical: Matilda
Boone Family Theatre, 8 p.m.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14
Sorority and Fraternity Breakfasts
Various locations, 6-9 a.m.; see schedule of events at acu.edu/homecoming
Parade
Beginning on East North 16th Street, 10 a.m.
Chapel
Moody Coliseum, 11 a.m.
Annular Solar Eclipse Viewing Party
(Department of Engineering and Physics)
GATA Fountain, 11:45 a.m.
Class Reunion Lunches
Campus Mall and The Quad, noon
Gameday Tailgating Begins
Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium, 1 p.m.
Wildcat Football: ACU vs. North Alabama
Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium, 3 p.m.
Saturday Night Activity
TBD
Musical: Matilda
Boone Family Theatre, 8 p.m.
Sub T-16 Centennial Celebration
Various events Oct. 13-14; see schedule at acu.edu/subt16celebration
Class of 1983 Church Service
Chapel on the Hill, 9 a.m.
Musical: Matilda
Boone Family Theatre, 2 p.m.
To see the full schedule of events, visit acu.edu/homecoming
Reunion class lunches are on Saturday in the Campus Mall and The Quad after Homecoming Chapel. If your preferred class year is 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003, 2008, 2013 or 2018, enjoy a barbecue lunch catered by The Shed Market and hang out with friends and classmates before heading over to tailgating and the football game at Wildcat Stadium. Learn more and register for your class reunion today at acu.edu/homecoming.
ISBN 978-1595349453 • 208 pages tupress.org
Veteran Houston Chronicle columnist Holley gives readers a tour of Texas’ towns, cities and quirky personalities in 35 columns drawn from his archives. Holley traverses the state to provide entertaining new twists on Texas legends and the unique experiences only the Lone Star State can offer.
By Dr. James W. Thompson (’64)
ISBN 978-1666739466 • 238 pages wipfandstock.com
Christians living in a post-Christian world can learn much from believers who lived in the pluralistic world of the New Testament. Thompson, professor emeritus of New Testament, explores the challenges Christians face in responding to cultural changes and engaging in dialogue with the broader culture.
By Karen (Gaskin ’93) Witemeyer
ISBN 978-0764241802 • 352 pages bethanyhouse.com
Beauty has been nothing but a curse to Penelope Snow, and this time it nearly kills her. Rescued by a Texas Ranger and seven retired drovers, she is given a chance at a fresh start. Too bad the honorable Ranger she fancies suspects her of being a jewel thief.
SWEET WESTERN ROMANCE
(PINK PISTOL SISTERHOOD SERIES BOOK 1)
By Karen (Gaskin ’93) Witemeyer
ISBN 979-8377099482 • 122 pages bakerpublishinggroup.com
Tessa James secretly loves Jackson Spivey, but trying to gain his favor only pushes him away. To find common ground, Tessa takes up shooting and seeks lessons from famed markswoman Annie Oakley. With Jackson’s heart in her sights, Tessa doesn’t intend to miss.
AN INTRODUCTION TO EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN RENEWAL MOVEMENTS
By Dr. R. Allen Diles (’94 M.Div.)
ISBN 978-1684262410 • 240 pages acupressbooks.com
Minister and Harding University professor Diles surveys a dozen renewal movements in European Christianity. He explores their strengths and limitations, examining how they each reacted against perceived church corruption and sought to live by scriptural truth in their respective historical moments.
UNLIKELY STORIES OF CONVERSIONS TO CHRISTIANITY IN THE CONTEMPORARY WEST
By Jana S. (Burleson ’82) Harmon
ISBN 978-1793641328 • 240 pages rowman.com
In a culture of increasing skepticism towards conservative Christianity, what motivates intellectually driven atheists to believe in the reality of God and become passionate followers of Christ? Through survey, interview and stories of 50 former atheists, this book takes a broadened look at their religious conversions to answer that question.
FOLLOWING JESUS THROUGH THE HOLY LAND
By
Max Lucado(’77)
ISBN 978-1400335169 • 208 pages thomasnelson.com
Prolific, bestselling author Lucado invites readers to walk in Christ’s footsteps through the Holy Land, combining photos with questions for reflections, insights from his own travels and teachings that focus on Jesus’ arrival on earth, his years of ministry and his journey to the cross.
CORRESPONDENCE FROM A JUNIOR DEMON
By
Dr. Elton D. Higgs(’61)
ISBN 978-1735936321 • 104 pages amazon.com
Higgs, English professor emeritus from the University of Michigan-Dearborn whose interests span medieval English literature, Shakespeare, literature and religion, and poetry, has authored a new book in the style of C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters, in which Ichabod writes missives to his uncle, Apollyon.
By
Dr. Jennifer Butcher and Wilbert C. BakerISBN 978-1799885320 • 284 pages
igi-global.com
Butcher, professor in the School of Organizational Leadership and director of diversity, equity and inclusion for ACU Online, wrote this book to raise awareness of the obstacles African Americans face in institutions in crisis. Other ACU contributors include recent graduates of the Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership program (Ed.D.): Dr. Shenita Alsbrooks, Dr. Asma Anwar and Dr. Angela Steward as well as Dr. Bryan Q. Patterson, adjunct professor in the Ed.D. program.
Selections of books published by Abilene Christian University or those written, edited, compiled or contributed by ACU alumni, faculty, staff and students.
FINDING FREEDOM AT THE CROSS
By Jessica Herberger (’28 M.Div.)
ISBN 978-1685264919 • 128 pages acupressbooks.com
In this combination of memoir and biblical accounts of Good Friday, Herberger explores the freedom found in surrender. Following Jesus from the garden to the grave, Herberger draws on history, Scripture and her own experiences to seek the peace believers can find when they give up control.
COMMENTARY SERIES
By Dr. Mark Hamilton (’90 M.Div.), General EditorAssociate Editors:
Dr. Kenneth L. Cukrowski (’84)
Dr. Nancy W. Shankle Jordan
Dr. James Thompson (’64)
Dr. John T. Willis (’55) acupressbooks.com
Volume 1
The Pentateuch: From Genesis to Deuteronomy
272 pages 978-1684262311
Volume 2
Stories and Songs: From Joshua to Song of Songs
528 pages 978-1684260423
Volume 3
The Prophets: From Isaiah to Malachi
336 pages 978-1684260522
Volume 4
Jesus and the Church: Reading the Gospels and Acts
320 pages 978-1684260621
Volume 5
Letters to Early Churches: From Romans to Revelation
352 pages 978-1684260720
Hamilton, Onstead Chair and professor in ACU’s College of Biblical Studies, offers insight into the first-century church through the Bible’s letters to early congregations. He explores how authors wrote in response to their audiences’ particular needs, drawing on various genres to create letters still relevant to Christians today. Associate editors Cukrowski, Jordan, Thompson and Willis are current or former ACU professors in theology, language and literature.
LEVERAGING UNITY TO BLESS OUR WORLD
By Dr. Avery Stafford (’92)ISBN 978-1666710663 • 202 pages wipfandstock.com
Minister and songwriter Stafford offers an invitation for local churches to work in practical partnership to strengthen their communities and the world. He presents a biblical model for pastors, lay leaders and churchgoers to expand their vision of Christian community beyond their own church doors.
A COLLECTION OF “TWILIGHT MUSINGS”
By Dr. Elton D. Higgs (’61)ISBN 978-1954943551 • 280 pages higgsbooks.weebly.com
In 56 brief essays, retired English professor Dr. Elton Higgs offers wisdom, humor and theological reflections on a variety of subjects. He examines and applies Scripture to his own life experiences and muses on doctrinal principles and their relevance to daily life, inviting his readers to do the same.
Translation and Introduction by Dr. Kelli (Bryant ’04) Gipson, text edited by Dr. Roger Akhrass and Imad Syryan
ISBN 978-1463244699 • 245 pages gorgiaspress.com
This volume of bilingual Syriac-English editions of narrative poems by Saint Jacob of Sarug (part of a series) includes his homilies on King Abgar and the Apostle Addai, annotated with a commentary and biblical references. Gipson is an assistant professor of historical theology in ACU’s Graduate School of Theology.
By Max (’77) and Denalyn (Preston ’79) Lucado
ISBN 978-1400242559 • 20 pages thomasnelson.com
In this board book, the Lucados offer prayers drawn from Scripture and original prayers designed for young children (ages 0-4) to build the habit of prayer and connecting with God. Simple text and colorful illustrations address topics such as gratitude, worship, sharing worries and asking God for help.
We love our followers on social media. Here are just a few of the posts by and about Wildcats.
February 23
Tonight I was honored by the ACU women’s basketball team for being a cancer WARRIOR! Yesterday we were given the opportunity to meet the players and we “swapped jerseys.” So sweet number #23, Claire Graham, wore a pink shirt with CAMPBELL on the back tonight in honor of me. What a honor and blessing tonight was. Another reminder that the fight was worth it! I am thankful for another day, for these amazing women and for a faithful God who walks with us! They played hard tonight and came out with a W! Way to go, Cats! #acuwomensbasketball #acuwildcats
Regina Burns
February 12
I am a first-year, second-semester Ph.D. history candidate at the University of North Texas. I am studying to specialize in African American history in Texas and plan to become a history professor. The late Charlie Marler was my mentor and former media law professor at Abilene Christian University. In December 2020, he “ordered” me to go back to school to become a historian.
May 6
WE LOVE YOU JALEN AND ARE SO PROUD OF YOU! #ACU #signingday #family
April 19
It’s rare but sometimes God shows up and blows your mind. My longtime ACU friend Don Kotulan, stationed currently in Hawaii w/the Air Force, was in town tonight. We reconnected on a faith journey we share involving multi layers of miracle, heartbreak and impossible God sightings. Thanks Donny!
January 30
Where could you go that would give you a strong sense of nostalgia? A drive through your hometown or past a house where you once lived? Maybe a visit to an old school or grandparent’s house. Today I’m walking around the campus of my college alma mater. Memories everywhere. I live far enough away that I’ve only been back a handful of times. My son is growing dangerously close to making the big where-to-go-to-college decision. I think I would feel fuzzy inside even if I weren’t here with him. I loved this place. Still do. But, to be here with my firstborn on a college visit is giving this mama all the feels. It seems only yesterday when this university sent me a onesie when he was born. Oh, how time flies. #acuwildcats
February 14
I’ve had the privilege in my lifetime of standing in two of my mentor’s shoes. The first was being the youth minister at my home church for seven years where I got to build on the legacy of my youth minister, Terry Kitson. The second happened this past week, as I wrapped up a three-class stint as a guest lecturer at ACU for Robert Oglesby’s second-semester Youth Ministry class. What a privilege! These are the incredible students that I got to spend time with over the last week. They are incredible, creative and eager to show the love of Christ to students. The future of youth ministry, and the church, is very bright! #acuwildcats #youthministry #legacy #blessed
April 20
Two heroes of mine. Doug Kostowski (left) pastored the first church I served in Miami. Landon Saunders (center) founded Heartbeat and allowed me to be an intern during my college years. Landon was honored last evening at #ACU. Both men modeled and taught grace. Forever in their debt.
Carrie and Morgan Stephens
ISBN 978-1-68426-264-9 | 224 pp | $17.99
Carrie and Morgan Stephens offer an invigorating retelling of Ruth to help us love people unlike us. Weaving in stories from their multiethnic, multigenerational, and socioeconomically diverse church, they highlight the power of unique friendships in God’s greater missional story. Find inspiration to love and be loved more courageously as we all forge a path into a more redemptive future.
Greg Ross Taylor
ISBN 978-1-68426-309-7 | 192 pp | $15.99
Prodigals digs deeply into each line from Jesus’s famous parable about the prodigal son, inviting all readers to identify as prodigals: anyone who accepts they have a sinful human nature and turns toward the love of home, the place where we fi nd a deeper relationship with God. The lifechanging power of the book comes when we begin to identify with the characters in the story and join in the prayers and calls for transformation.
The experience proved to be a mix of emotions – joy, sadness, despair and hope, said Andrews. “These children have experienced significant loss and disruption. Their mothers are weary and worn,” she said. “We hear news stories about refugees, and it is easy to compartmentalize them and think of them as numbers.”
A group of ACU students took their athletic skills and a desire to love their neighbors to Poland this summer to conduct a soccer camp for Ukrainian refugee children who have resettled there.
The 12 students, all Lynay scholars at ACU, traveled June 4-15 to Warsaw, where they partnered with Abilene-based Play4More Soccer and Bob Goff’s Love Does organization to conduct the camp.
Dr. Jason Morris (’96), director of the Lynay program and founder of Play4More Soccer, led the trip along with Leah (Carrington ’90) Andrews, Lynay program director.
Witnessing the living conditions and hearing heartbreaking stories altered their perceptions. “We met, played and prayed with them, and our perspectives radically changed,” she said. “These beautiful people are no longer numbers, they are God’s loved children.”
Lynay, which stands for Love Your Neighbor As Yourself, is a select and ethnically diverse group of students from all majors that meets weekly to develop insights and sharpen skills as community servant-leaders.
Annie Escobar Andrade, junior biology major from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, said she took part in the trip hoping to extend joy and healing to the Ukrainian refugees.
“Growing up in Honduras, I experienced safety concerns and political unrest,” she said. “Through these difficult circumstances, soccer emerged as an escape and a beacon of hope for many in my country. This beautiful sport has the unique ability of providing a source of enjoyment while also fostering trust and connections.”
97,255 25
Number of home runs in 2023 by outfielder Grayson Tatrow, a Wildcat single-season record. The ACU junior surpassed the 21 by Mike Elkerson (’08) in 2008 en route to a terrific year at the plate, including a .375 batting average, 68 RBI and 14 doubles. Forty-two of his 78 hits were for extra bases. He also became the first Wildcat with 50 career homers (52).
Square footage of new Wessel Hall, the largest residence hall on campus. Four stories tall, it houses 306 first-year students and 13 resident assistants, including an Honors living/learning community and a three-bedroom apartment for a faculty-in-residence.
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Before the trip, she joined team members for a 1-credit course on working with displaced persons co-taught by Morris’ wife, Dr. Heidi (White ’98) Morris, associate professor of marriage and family studies, and Susanna (Drehsel ’05) Lubanga, deputy regional director of the International Refugee Committee.
The idea for an international camp emerged from an effort by the Morrises to engage local refugee children. For several summers, they have led a camp in Abilene with the help of ACU soccer players and other volunteers. Inspired by its success, Jason began looking for other ways to use the sport to positively impact lives. The result was a global initiative known as Play4More that provides free soccer balls – designed by refugee children in ACU’s Maker Lab – to underprivileged kids worldwide.
The camp left an indelible mark.
“I witnessed our students be the hands and feet of Jesus in a traumatic time,” he said. “I think this experience opened the eyes of our students regarding the plight of people impacted by war and forced to flee their homes. In turn, it was impactful to see the children we served respond to human kindness and see how the game of soccer connected us to one another.
– ROBIN SAYLOR991
Academic Progress Rank (APR) by Wildcat student-athletes in 2022-23, the best mark in the Western Athletic Conference. ACU had seven teams (also the most in the WAC) with perfect scores: men’s cross country, men’s golf, men’s tennis, women’s basketball, women’s soccer, women’s tennis and women’s volleyball. APR is a calculation based on retaining academically eligible athletes who receive athletically related financial aid.
Sub T-16, chartered in 1923, was ACU’s first men’s fraternity, and plans are underway for a centennial celebration during Homecoming weekend, including a golf tournament, breakfast and a dinner.
“The thing that’s different and neat about Sub T is the connections,” said Josh Snead (’99), a member of the centennial planning committee. “We’re a really tight group and always have been, and not just in school; it’s a network of friends for life. My wife and I are raising our kids alongside guys from Sub T. My dad graduated in 1963 and still gets together every year with guys he pledged with.”
Texas Rep. Stan Lambert (’75) is also a member of the planning committee, and Cecil Eager (’71) and Drs. Bill Petty (’64) and Jack Griggs (’64) are honorary committee members. The golf tournament is Friday, Oct. 13, at Diamondback National Golf Club, and a steak fry, catered by The Shed, will take place Saturday, Oct. 14. For more information on Homecoming events, visit acu.edu/homecoming
$670,118
Dollars contributed April 26-27, 2023, by 1,714 gifts to ACU Gives, eclipsing all previous Day of Giving fundraising drives at the university. (See page 8.)
When Abilene Mayor Dr. Gary McCaleb (’64) was asked to read Santa Calls to a group of schoolchildren in December 1993, he had no idea that moment would spark a friendship with author/illustrator William Joyce and a vision to create an Abilene museum celebrating children’s book illustrators in a way never done before.
McCaleb was intrigued by the author’s choice of Abilene, Texas, as the setting for his book, so he contacted Joyce and invited him to speak at an Abilene Cultural Affairs Council luncheon. Joyce had never been to Abilene.
When the two met, an immediate friendship formed along with an idea to form the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature (NCCIL).
McCaleb’s role in establishing the NCCIL is featured prominently in a documentary about the museum, celebrating its 25th anniversary. The film, produced by Rob Westman (’87), premiered April 15 at Abilene’s historic Paramount Theatre.
It was only by chance he set his book in Abilene, Joyce later said. “The main character’s name was Art Atchinson Aimesworth, and I wanted him to wear a cowboy hat. So obviously he couldn’t be from New Jersey or Boca Raton. Abilene, Texas, fit like a four-beaver Stetson.”
In March 1997, the NCCIL became
a reality and remains a centerpiece of Abilene’s more recent recognition as The Storybook Capital of America. Santa Calls was the first children’s book put on display.
In 1999, a statue depicting the children from Santa Calls, “Childhood’s Great Adventure” by Rick Jackson, was erected downtown. On Sept. 14, 2000, the renovated Rhodes Building, constructed in the 1920s, was opened to the public as the permanent location of the NCCIL.
Each year since, the museum has displayed original illustrations from awardwinning children’s books with guest talks and book signings by the artists. After its debut at the NCCIL gallery, each exhibition travels to museums, public libraries and galleries nationwide.
The NCCIL was fortunate to have footage by Westman of almost all the artists featured over the years, said executive director Molly Bellah, so the framework for a documentary was in place. The film also includes recent interviews with McCaleb, who served as mayor from 1990-99 and is vice president emeritus of ACU, along with others integral to the museum’s history.
“We were really wanting something to celebrate us and our artists that have been exhibited here, and the cultural growth of the community because of Gary McCaleb’s vision,” Bellah said.
“Relationships are everything, and without Gary’s willingness to invest in our mission we would not be here.”
– ROBIN SAYLOR5,721
Steals in a career by guard Damien Daniels, an ACU men’s basketball record. The previous mark was 220 Jaylen Franklin (’19) from 2015-19. Daniels helped the Wildcats to three games in the NCAA Tournament (one in 2019
Record enrollment for Spring 2023, a 6% increase from Spring 2022 with a retention rate of 91.5%. The total includes 1,962 undergraduate students, with 3,304 enrolled on the Abilene campus, and 2,417 through ACU Dallas Online.
NCCIL documentary features McCalebMcCaleb STEVE BUTMAN
Sometimes, we can think of Jesus as this far off, almost ancient figure. But stepping into Jesus’ shoes in the 21st century, finding places to live in love and community. Finding times in which conflict is not a bad thing, but a thing to grow from and bring a community together. That’s a really powerful message that I’ve been holding onto.”
We have a strong Father, capable of creating a billion stars and a million galaxies.
Do you not think he is capable of helping you navigate what’s next?”
When they say ‘You are the product of your environment,’ you are. … I can tell you that if it wasn’t for the friends and relationships I made here, I’d have been dead or in jail by now.”
– Morgan Whitley, junior musical theatre major, reflecting on his role as Jesus in ACU Theatre’s production of Godspell, performed April 21-23, 2023, in Boone Family Theatre.
“It’s given me a lot of confidence knowing that everyone here wants me here and everybody here believes in me. … I just love being able to play in front of people who care about me, and I think that’s what helped sway my decision the most … knowing I was coming to be loved, and also do what I love.”– ACU women’s basketball forward Madi Miller, who returned to play a fifth and final season in 2022-23
Focus on the Family; Elise (Smith ’83) Mitchell, ACU trustee, author and founder, Mitchell Communications Group; Aaron Ramsey, CEO and employee-owner at Envision Radiology; Dana Rasic, CEO, Bethesda Associates; Tony Roach Jr. (’01), senior vice president of marketing and customer experience, Southwest Airlines; Mike Willoughby (’86), CEO, PFSweb Inc.; and Christopher Yuan, author and professor-at-large, Moody Bible Institute.
March 1; and Kendall Castillo (’19), senior manager of events at the DEC Network, March 23.
Alumni soloists performing in concert
2023 Black History Month speakers in Chapel included Cle Montgomery (’78), former ACU football standout, trustee and Super Bowl champion, Feb. 6; and Bobby Griffin (’90), chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer for Rockwell Automation, Feb. 27.
Speakers at the College of Business Administration’s 2023 Leadership Summit in Glen Eyrie, Colorado, included: Mo Aiken, The New York Times bestselling author and speaker; Rick Atchley (’78), senior minister, The Hills Church; Helena Cho, inspirational speaker and founder, Good Works Make a Difference; Jim Daly, president and CEO, Focus on the Family; Greg Feasel (’81), president and COO, Colorado Rockies Baseball Club; Heather (Robertson ’97) Fortner, CEO, partner and board chair, SignatureFD; Tim Goeglein, vice president for external and government relations,
Max Lucado (’77) delivered the Charge to the Class at both undergraduate Commencement ceremonies May 6, 2023, in Moody Coliseum (see facing page). Dr. Nannette Glenn, dean of ACU’s College of Graduate and Professional Studies, was the featured speaker May 5 at the graduate ceremony.
Young Alumni Forum guests in Spring 2023 included Joey Hopkins (’10), executive director at Midland (Texas) Habitat for Humanity,
April 23, 2023, with the A Cappella Chorus and Grand Chorus of Alumni and University Chorale included soprano Kristen Marie Gillis (’19), mezzo-soprano Jennifer Magill (’16), tenor soloist Jarrett Ward (’15) and bass-baritone Isaac Bray (’09) in “The Promise of Singing,” an event celebrating the 90th anniversary of the A Cappella Chorus at ACU.
Grammy Award-winning violists Mark and Maggie O’Connor performed a concert in the ACU Recital Hall on June 4, 2023, to open Abi Youth Fiddle Fest, sponsored by the Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra and Abilene Youth Orchestra. Mark has been named Musician of the Year seven times by the Country Music Association.
Drum Corps International conducted competition July 18, 2023, in ACU’s Wildcat Stadium for marching band ensembles from Texas, Arizona, Tennessee, Washington, California and Illinois.
Dr. Shaun Casey (’78) discussed his new book, Chasing the Devil at Foggy Bottom: The Future of Religion in American Democracy in a lecture Feb. 22, 2023. Casey is founding director of the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Religion and Global Affairs.
Presenters in Chapel in Spring 2023 included “Pantsuit Politics” authors and podcast hosts Beth Silvers and Sarah Stewart Holland, March 22; Tobie Hatfield (’87), senior director of athlete innovation for Nike Inc., March 29; author Jessica Herberger (’28 M.Div.), April 3; author Nika Maples (’96), April 10 (including Lynay students); and April 17, Paul Talley (’97). Hatfield, a former pole vaulter for the Wildcats, also presented at a Maker Lab event on campus.
PAUL WHITE
ACU awarded two honorary doctorates this spring – to longtime Church of Christ evangelist and groundbreaking broadcaster Dr. Landon Saunders and to Caris Life Sciences founder and chair Dr. David D. Halbert (’78) Saunders was honored at the annual Friends of ACU Library dinner April 19, 2023. (See pages 8-9, 56 and 64). He and his nonprofit organization, Heartbeat Inc., recently donated more than 50 years’ worth of personal correspondence, financial records, audio and video recordings, photos and curricular materials to the ACU Brown Library.
Upon presentation of the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, Saunders was hooded by bestselling author Max Lucado (’77), who once served as his intern. And on May 13 at the afternoon Commencement ceremony, Halbert was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree. He is the chair, founder and CEO of Caris Life Sciences, a pioneering precision medicine company that helps patients receive better quality care through access to individualized medicine. Halbert is a grandson of the late Dean Walling (’30), a visionary founding director of ACU’s National Development Council during the Design for Development campaign.
Halbert and his wife, Kathy (Gay ’78), have provided for several endowed scholarships and funds to help build the Hunter Welcome Center. In addition, as part of ACU’s Vision in Action initiative in 2014, the Halberts contributed $15 million through the Caris Foundation, making possible the Halbert-Walling Research Center, as well as $3 million toward Chuck Sitton Tower at Wildcat Stadium.
Two recent ACU graduates received grants to live and work abroad through the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program.
Skye Gill, who received a degree in English with a public service minor in May 2023, will be an English Teaching Assistant in Taiwan, and she also plans to volunteer in underserved communities within Taipei.
Conner Crawford completed a triple major in English, chemistry and biochemistry in May 2023 and will be an English Teaching Assistant in Kyrgyzstan. He’ll also have the opportunity to apply his science background, as several cultural centers in the capital city of Bishkek
regularly organize events for local students interested in STEM careers, and he hopes to help mentor students there.
Two new deans will join ACU’s academic leadership this fall as a new college structure takes effect. Dr. Dirk Nelson is the founding dean of the College of Health and Behavioral Sciences and Dr. Charla
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(McCaleb ’88) Miertschin is the founding dean of the College of Science and Engineering.
In January, ACU announced three new colleges and new homes for some departments. The new organizational structure introduces a College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; College of Health and Behavioral Sciences; and College of Science and Engineering. Dr. Greg Straughn (’94), formerly dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, is now the founding dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
Nelson comes from West Texas A&M University, where he has served as dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences for more than a decade. He taught and worked in administrative roles at the University of Central Missouri, LeTourneau University and Missouri Southern State University. His undergraduate degree is in physical education from Montana State University, and he holds a master’s and a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas.
Miertschin joins ACU from Winona State University in Minnesota where she has been a faculty member since 1993 and dean of its College of Science and Engineering since 2012. In addition to her bachelor’s degree from ACU in chemistry, she also earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from Texas A&M University, with a postdoctoral fellowship at Trinity University. Miertschin has stayed connected with her alma mater through the years as a member of the Visiting Committee and as a consultant.
Learn more
CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS
• Business Analytics
• Church Leadership: Foundations
• Church Leadership: Praxis
• Conflict Management
• Conflict Management for Church Leaders *
• Conflict Management for Educators *
• Cybersecurity
• Healthcare Collaboration and Conflict Management *
• Precision Medicine Administration
• Precision Medicine
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREES
• Applied Communication
Dr. Pricilla Wyatt (’00), instructor of nursing since 2016, was named 2023 Teacher of the Year at May Commencement. She earned her M.S.N. degree from The University of Texas at Arlington and her D.N.P. degree through ACU Online.
Dr. Rusty Towell (’90), director of ACU’s NEXT Lab and longtime professor of physics, was interviewed on Episode 381 of “Titans of Nuclear,” a long-form podcast (titansofnuclear.com) hosted by founder and technology entrepreneur Bret Kugelmass The series of more than 400 podcasts is “an audio encyclopedia of interviews with the greatest minds in nuclear energy” that helps educate listeners on “the nuances of the world’s most vital clean energy source.”
Starting with the 2023-24 academic year, provost Dr. Robert Rhodes will transition to senior vice president for academic affairs for the ACU System and Dr. Susan (Lester ’92) Lewis will be provost and vice president for academic affairs for the Abilene campus. Rhodes will lead the exploration and implementation of new academic ventures, supervise academics on both campuses, and oversee system-wide academic services including accreditation, assessment and research. Lewis, who has been vice provost
for 11 years and a full-time faculty member for 15 years, will serve as chief academic officer for the Abilene campus and as academic liaison to the ACU System. Susan is a proven academic leader and is committed to ACU’s mission. In 2021, she was awarded the prestigious American Council on Education Fellowship, which placed her in the Office of the President at both Southern Methodist University and Western Governors University.
Dr. Richard Wright (’86 M.A.), professor of New Testament and a Fellow in ACU’s Center for the Study of Ancient Religious Texts, delivered the presidential address March 5, 2023, at the Southwest Society of Biblical Studies gathering in Dallas, Texas.
For the eighth consecutive year, ACU has earned a top spot on The Princeton Review’s list of best game design programs in the U.S. ACU is ranked No. 28 for “Top 50 Undergraduate Schools for Game Design for 2023” list.
• Child and Family Services
• Christian Service and Formation
• Communication Sciences and Disorders
• Criminal Justice
• Health and Human Performance
• Healthcare Administration
• Information Technology Administration
• Integrated Studies
• Management
• Marketing
• Organizational Leadership
• Pre-Nursing Track
• Psychology
• RN to B.S.N.
GRADUATE DEGREES
• B.S.N. to D.N.P. Track
• Master of Arts in Christian Ministry
• Master of Arts in Conflict Management and Reconciliation *
• Master of Arts in Global Service
• Master of Arts in Theological Studies
• Master of Business Administration
• Master of Divinity
• Master of Education in Higher Education
• Master of Education in Instruction and Learning (Cohort only)
• Master of Healthcare Administration
• Master of Marriage and Family Therapy
• Master of Science in Information Technology
• Master of Science in Management
• Master of Science in Nutrition
• Master of Science in Nutrition/Dietetic Internship
• Master of Science in Organizational Development
• Master of Science in Precision Medicine
• Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership
• Doctor of Nursing Practice
• Education Specialist in Organizational Leadership
* Online with residency
Two new facilities emerging just steps away from each other on the south side of ACU’s campus reached completion in July 2023.
The Nuclear Energy eXperimental Testing Laboratory finds a new home with the opening of the Gayle and Max Dillard Science and Engineering Research Center, and more than 300 first-year students are settling into college life at Wessel Hall this fall.
The 25,000-square-foot Dillard SERC includes a research bay with a 25-foot-deep by 80-foot-long shielded trench. The above-ground portion of the research bay aligns with the four-story skyline of neighboring Wessel Hall.
NEXT Lab is in the process of building a molten salt research reactor, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has docketed the application – the first for a new
research reactor in more than 30 years. Additional space in the facility will accommodate future sponsored research projects in the disciplines of chemistry, physics and engineering.
Wessel Hall, ACU’s newest and largest home for students, opened two years after the introduction of Bullock Hall, and both are intentionally designed to support the faculty-in-residence program, allowing faculty to live alongside students in unique community. Wessel Hall will be home to a living and learning community from the
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Honors College, led by Drs. Ron (’81) and Janine (Paden ’77) Morgan. The 98,000-square-foot hall includes a multipurpose classroom for use by the Honors college group and for other community-building activities.
Wessel Hall is part of Phase Two for ACU’s Freshman Village plan, which will group all freshman residence halls along East North 16th Street by 2030.
San Diego, where she has worked for 13 years, most recently as associate vice president for marketing.
Siburt Institute news
Summit is moving from twice-yearly to once per year, and it will extend by an extra day. The event will remain paired with ACU’s Homecoming so participants can stay on campus and enjoy those festivities.
Lori Herrick was named chief financial officer as of March 2023. Prior to becoming CFO, Herrick was the associate vice president of finance for five years and the director of student financial services for one year.
In February, Dr. Stephen Johnson (’90), was named chief executive officer of ACU Dallas. Johnson has served the university for 22 years, most recently as vice president and chief administrative officer at the Dallas campus, where he led the expansion of the university by opening the branch campus
and expanding ACU’s online degree and certification programs for adult learners.
Randy Brewer (’93, began work at ACU in May as chief storyteller. Brewer is the founder of Revolution Pictures in Nashville, which created award-winning work with high-profile clients such as Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Verizon and Sony Pictures, among others.
Sharon Ayala was named vice president for marketing. She joined ACU in June from Point Loma Nazarene University in
Dates for this fall’s event are Oct. 11-13 with the theme of “Holy Discomfort: Our Journey Toward God.” Learn more at acu.edu/summit
Ministers’ Salary Survey results for 2023 are available at siburtinstitute.org. This annual nationwide survey measures minister compensation packages as well as years of experience, educational background and other characteristics.
Luke James (’04) and Jose Moore (’98) joined ACU’s Board of Trustees in January 2023.
MooreAn innovative educational partnership between ACU and the Texas Rangers Baseball Club recently made several of its customized online courses available to baseball fans and the general public, with talks underway to establish similar collaborations with other professional sports organizations.
of the history, culture and social norms surrounding the sport, from its earliest recorded rules to the modern era. This course offers an overview of the major historical developments of baseball and its impact on American society, highlighting the sport’s ability to create community during turbulent times.
James is president of VitalCaring Group, a home health organization based in Dallas. After graduating from ACU with a degree in financial management, he filled various roles at Encompass Health from 2004-21.
He has also been a board member for Medalogix LLC, on the advisory board for Homecare 100, and a technical expert panel member for multiple Medicare and Medicaid initiatives.
James has served on ACU’s College of Business Administration Dean’s Advisory Council and as a campus advisory board member for ACU Dallas, and currently serves on the COBA Strategy Development Team. He and his wife, Lindsay (Hines ’04), have three children.
Moore lives in Georgetown, Texas, and is the CEO of Moore Clean LLC, a facilities maintenance and erosion control business serving the Austin and San Antonio areas. Moore received a degree in sociology from ACU in 1998.
He is also CEO and coach for Austin United, a nonprofit youth basketball program.
Moore and his wife, Laura, have three children. The couple established the Abel Alvarez Scholarship Endowment at ACU in 2017. Alvarez (’82) is ACU’s director of Hispanic-Serving Institution initiatives.
ACU’s Board of Trustees is the governing body for the university, and trustees are elected at its February meeting each year. They are eligible to serve up to five three-year terms.
RangersU was developed to allow players and coaches to earn academic credit by taking classes taught by ACU faculty and supported by Texas Rangers management and staff. ACU’s expertise in online learning has enabled the delivery of these courses to be flexible and accessible for players and staff, regardless of their location.
“This unique partnership is focused on the development of holistic leadership skills that empower players on the field of play and in life,” said Dr. Daryl Jones, ACU’s executive director of sports education.
“Developing these courses is a remarkable milestone,” he said.
“By collaborating on this historic effort, ACU is eager to showcase its intentional and rigorous efforts to bring a quality education to anyone interested in enhancing their professional success.”
Tekoah Roby, a 21-year-old pitching prospect and RangersU student, said one of the reasons he enrolled in the Player Pathway program was a desire to expand his skills beyond those of an athlete.
“I kind of just wanted to challenge myself outside of baseball,” he said. “In the leadership course we did a lot of personality development, getting to know yourself. I did some deep diving into who I am as a leader and as a person outside of baseball. You can’t really lead others until you’re convicted in who you are.”
RangersU student and infielder
Jonathan Ornelas found the leadership development aspects of the course appealing. “It will help better us on –and even off – the field,” he said, “and it will help us be able to influence people in the right way.”
In Summer 2023, select courses became available to adults interested in elevating their leadership skills and sports knowledge.
The Baseball History and Culture course provides a fascinating exploration
Participants take a virtual trip across the U.S. with stops at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, and Rangers Spring Training in Surprise, Arizona. Along the way, they have the opportunity to reflect on their personal connection to baseball, from player to fan, and gain a deeper understanding of how the sport intertwines with U.S. culture and reflects America’s core values and national identity.
The Leadership Development course provides an introduction to how motivation and resiliency guide leadership development. Students learn how personal attributes influence individual leadership styles and reflect on how their personal vocation and calling can shape self-leadership skills.
Participants enroll for $95 per course for non-credit continuing education or elect to receive 3 hours of academic credit by submitting a learning portfolio and a $300 assessment fee.
Jones is now in discussions with several other professional sports teams with plans to expand the program.
“Our leadership is excited to continue building our partnership with the Texas Rangers and simultaneously evolve our sports education initiative to include even more premium online offerings,” he said.
The program extends beyond just numbers and classes. “RangersU is deeply connected to the university’s sense of purpose,” said Dr. Stephen Johnson (’90), chief executive officer for ACU Online.
“What we’ve built together is more than just courses for players to take,” he said. “We’re building a relationship on shared values and mission. We believe the most important work that can be done is how we participate together in pouring into each other so that we flourish in who we are as individuals and as organizations.”
– ROBIN SAYLORACU entered the 2022 football season with a first-time collegiate head coach and a quarterback who hadn’t played in a game since his senior year of high school in 2019.
At the end of the season, the Wildcats were 7-4, Keith Patterson was the Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, and Maverick McIvor had started nine games and grabbed the starting spot.
Now entering the 2023 season, expectations are rising for the program, for Patterson and for McIvor, who threw for 2,212 yards and 16 touchdowns last year. For the first time since his junior year at San Angelo Central High School, McIvor was healthy for an entire season, and he’s completed an entire off-season program with the Wildcats.
“This year has been a true leap forward,” said McIvor, now a junior. “Last year, I had two months in the summer and fall camp before we started the season. We’ve installed a new offense this season (under new offensive coordinator Ryan Pugh),
so the time together has been huge for me, our offense and our team.”
At times last year, McIvor looked like a quarterback who hadn’t played in four seasons. At others, he looked as good as any signal-caller in the league. Patterson, however, knew what to expect and was patient while McIvor worked off the rust.
“He got hurt his senior season in high school, got hurt as a freshman at Texas Tech, and then COVID hit,” said Patterson, who led ACU to within one win of a 2022 WAC title and the most wins of its NCAA Division I era. “He’s so much more confident in what we’re doing and has such a better grasp going through his progressions and knowing what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Head coach and quarterback have also been thrilled with the progress of an offensive line that returns all five starters (Reese Moore, Alan Hatten, Tay Yanta, Rafiti Ghirmai and Jacob Thielen) and a running back corps featuring first team All-WAC honoree Jermiah Dobbins, Rovaughn Banks plus Javion Hunt (Arkansas transfer) and Jay’Veon Sunday (Washington).
The receiver corps returns 6-4 Tristan Golightly and 6-4 Blayne Taylor, and has added Jacoby Boykins (Alabama) and Marcayll Jones (Memphis).
Defensively, ACU returns the core of a solid secondary with second-team All-WAC selections Patrick Jolly and Elijah Moffett both returning.
ACU opens the 2023 season on Thursday, Aug. 31, at home against Northern Colorado. Other home games include Incarnate Word (Sept. 16), North Alabama (Oct. 14 for Homecoming), Utah Tech (Nov. 4) and Tarleton State (Nov. 11).
Big non-conference road games include North Texas in Denton (Sept. 30) and Texas A&M in College Station (Nov. 18).
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Senior wide receiver Kobe Clark and junior track and field standout Ella Anttila were recognized as ACU’s top male and female student-athletes, winning the Paul Goad Award for 2022-23 at the Wildcat Choice Awards in early May.
The award – which has been given since the 1978-79 school year – is named for the late Paul Goad (’56), who played for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers after completing his ACU eligibility.
A native of Sweetwater, Texas, Clark finished his career last fall with 64 catches for 768 yards and eight touchdowns, enough to make him ACU’s all-time leader in receptions (269), third in yards (2,975), and sixth in touchdown receptions (23).
Anttilla set the school record in the triple jump (43 feet, 7 inches) and won the Western Athletic Conference title for the same distance at the WAC indoor championship meet in late February. That mark was enough to make her ACU’s first NCAA Division I qualifier for the indoor championship in the women’s triple jump. She also won the WAC outdoor triple jump title and reached the NCAA West Region championship meet, where she finished 19th with a jump of 42 feet, 4 3/4 inches.
A native of Helsinki, Finland, she also won the Horizon Award, presented to a student-athlete whose single-season efforts result in noteworthy career achievements.
Ijeoma “IJ” (Moronu ’12) Alstrup, one of the greatest volleyball players in Abilene Christian history, was named the Wildcats’ head coach on July 5, 2023. She was a 2022 inductee to the ACU Sports Hall of Fame.
Alstrup has been playing and coaching professionally in Europe since 2011 – including teams in Denmark, Cyprus, Austria, Iceland and Sweden – except for 2012-15, when she was an assistant coach at ACU.
She was named head coach in 2019 for Farum Holte Volley in Copenhagen, Denmark, before becoming the co-head coach at Gentofte (Denmark) Volley. Teams she coached won two bronze medals in league play and a Danish U21 Championship in 2022.
The head coaching position at her alma mater opened June 9 when Alisa Blair resigned after one season to take an assistant coaching position at Texas Tech University.
“This is truly a dream come true for me,” said Alstrup. “ACU made such a big impact on my life, and to be able to give back to the university and program that gave so much to me is a privilege. I wouldn’t be who I am without those relationships. I’m excited to bring some consistency to the program and rebuild something excellent.”
She is still second in career assists at ACU (4,813 from 2007-10) and 10th in blocks (300) after serving as a standout setter on teams that were 97-35 in her four seasons and advanced in 2010 to the NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournament.
Alstrup was twice named first-team All-Lone Star Conference and LSC MVP in 2010.
• Senior guards Damien Daniels and Tobias Cameron, who each played five seasons because of the pandemic, finished their careers in 2022-23 as the winningest players in school history. They were part of teams that were 109-51 since 2018-19, with Daniels setting a program record for most games played (160). He became ACU’s career steals leader with 227.
• Daniels and Cameron were also key contributors to teams that won Southland Conference and WAC tournament titles and earned berths to March Madness. They were also on the floor when ACU beat Texas, 53-52, in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament to earn a spot in the second round with UCLA.
• ACU will open its 2023-24 season Nov. 17-20 in the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam tournament with Norfolk State, Fordham, San Jose State, Hampton, Kent State, Missouri State and Florida Gulf Coast. All games will be streamed on ESPN+.
• Senior forward Maleeah Langstaff – who transferred to ACU from Northeastern State (Oklahoma) for her final season of eligibility –made her only Wildcat season memorable. She averaged a team-high 13.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game and was voted first-team All-WAC and to the WAC All-Newcomer Team.
• Sophomore guard Aspen Thornton – who transferred to ACU after leading NCAA Division II in scoring at Ouachita Baptist in 2021-22 – averaged 12.1 points per game and was voted to the WAC AllNewcomer Team.
• Senior guard Madi Miller completed her career with a program-record 147 games played since 2018-19. She also scored 1,148 points, one of the best totals in ACU’s NCAA Division I history.
• After ACU finished 4-10-4 overall and 0-8-3 in the WAC, vice president for athletics Zack Lassiter announced that veteran head coach Casey Wilson (’99) would not return for a 17th year. The founding head coach of ACU women’s soccer in 2007, he had a career record of 167-117-29. Wilson led the Wildcats to three NCAA Championship appearances, one league title (2011 in the Lone Star Conference), and two conference tournament titles (2010 in the Lone Star and 2018 in the Southland). In 2018, Wilson became the first coach in Wildcat history to take a team to an NCAA Division I national tournament.
• On Dec. 20, 2022, Lassiter announced that Stephen Salas had been hired to replace Wilson as the head coach. Salas was the Wildcats’ assistant coach from 2013-18, when they won the Southland title and earned a berth in the NCAA Division I national tournament. He coached
Juan Nunez (’09) was named 2023 Men’s Tennis Coach of the Year by the Western Athletic Conference. A season after his team won ACU’s first WAC title, Nunez had his Wildcats back in the league’s championship match this spring against Texas-Arlington. ACU finished 12-5 overall and second in the WAC with a 4-1 record.
This fall, Abilene Christian joins the United Athletic Conference, a new football-only alignment with eight other members from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and Atlantic
Sun Conference (ASUN): ACU, Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, North Alabama, Southern Utah, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton and Utah Tech.
The conference will officially add the Texas Rio Grande Valley in Fall 2025 when it begins sponsorship of football.
Each team will play six conference games in 2023 and eight league contests in 2024. ACU’s six league games in 2023 are with Central Arkansas, North Alabama, Stephen F. Austin, Southern Utah, Utah Tech and Tarleton.
The WAC-ASUN merger became necessary when each league lost one team to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) when Sam Houston of the WAC and Jacksonville State of the ASUN joined Conference USA for the 2023 football season.
The WAC moved its offices in July 2023, to Arlington, Texas. It was headquartered in the Denver area since the conference’s inception in 1962 until 2022, with a two-year stay in Phoenix from 1964-66.
Alstrup PAUL WHITEthe past four seasons at both the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Hardin-Simmons University.
• The Wildcats wrapped up their only season under head coach Alisa Blair at 7-19 overall and 4-10 in the WAC, but hopes are high for the future because of the play of several talented players returning for the 2023 season.
• Sophomore outside hitter Bryley Steinhilber and freshman outside hitter Ashli Edmiston led the team in kills with 263 and 255, respectively, while Edmiston had a team-best 255 digs. Sophomore setter Madeline Guffey led the team with 511 assists and was second in digs with 240. Junior middle blocker Braden Bossier recorded 85 total blocks. Edmiston – a 5-8 outside hitter from Wilsonville, Oregon – was voted to the WAC All-Freshman Team.
• Irene Rono completed the cross country portion of her distinguished career with a 110th-place showing at the NCAA Championships, finishing the Oklahoma State 6K course in 20:41.9. She qualified for her third consecutive NCAA appearance after placing fifth at South Central Regionals (20:30.0) and leading Wildcats to a sixth-place finish at the WAC Championships, running a 6K time of 20:20.2.
• Levi Chambers was the Wildcat men’s cross country leader much of the season, and set personal records in the 8K (24:01.2) and 10K (31:38.3) at the WAC Championships and NCAA Regionals.
• The Wildcats posted their third straight 30-win season in 2023 and once again made a deep run in the WAC Postseason Tournament in late May in Mesa, Arizona, falling to Sam Houston in the consolation semifinals.
• Senior outfielder Grayson Tatrow was voted the WAC Player of the Year after hitting a school record 25 home runs in 2023 and driving in 68 RBI. Named third-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball, Tatrow finished his career with an ACU record 52 home runs.
• Junior outfielder Logan Britt – who transferred to ACU from Texas A&M – was voted to the WAC All-Defensive Team and hit .354 with 12 home runs and 46 RBI, while stealing 34 bases to set an ACU single-season record.
• In July, three current Wildcats were selected in the 2023 MLB Draft: junior pitcher Riley Bauman (13th round by Los Angeles Angels), junior pitcher Tyler Morgan (14th round by San Diego Padres) and Britt (17th round by Los Angeles Angels). After the draft, senior pitcher Breck Eichelberger signed a free-agent contract with San Diego.
• The Wildcats were 5-5 in 10 games against Power 5 opponents, including 2-0 against Baylor and a 5-4 walk-off win against defending national runner-up Oklahoma on Feb. 22 at Globe Life Field in Arlington. The Wildcats also played two teams that went to the College World Series, beating Oral Roberts, 10-8, in Abilene and dropping two games to TCU.
• The Wildcats capped their Spring 2023 season at the WAC Championships at Boulder Creek Golf Course in Boulder City, Nevada, with an eighth-place finish. The Wildcats shot rounds of 289-282-285 for a total of eight-under-par 856. Grand Canyon captured the team championship at 34-under-par 830.
• Junior Zane Heusel was the Wildcats’ top finisher at the WAC Championships as he fired rounds of 72-66-73 for a five-under-par 211. His second-round 66 was the third-best round of the tournament.
• Head coach Tom Shaw – who begins his 10th season in 2023-24 – was nominated in June 2023 for The Leadership Playbook Coach of the Year. The award honors coaches who maximize success, value growth, and make a positive impact on those they’re entrusted to lead.
• The Wildcats – who won the league championship in 2022 – returned to the WAC championship match in 2023 but fell to Texas-Arlington in the title match.
• Dario Kmet , a junior from Sydney, Australia, was named WAC Player of the Year after earning WAC Player of the Week honors each week of the conference season. Kmet and sophomore Cesar Barranquero were each voted first-team All-WAC in singles.
• Freshman Maria Cascos from Gijon, Spain, was voted second-team All-WAC after a season in which she went 13-6 in singles play, including 8-1 in conference matches. She and junior Maryjoe Crisologo were 7-1 against the WAC in doubles play.
• Head coach Bryan Rainwater returns a wealth of experienced and talented players to the roster for his third season as head coach in 2023-24.
• The men’s team finished sixth at the indoor and fifth at the outdoor WAC Championships, while the women’s team finished sixth at both meets.
• Women’s triple jumper Ella Anttila won her event at both the indoor and outdoor WAC Championships, setting a school record indoors with a jump 44 feet, 0.75 inches.
• The women had three outdoor WAC champions with Anttila in the triple jump, senior Payton Kirk in the pole vault, and sophomore Zoe Burleson in the discus throw. Anttila and Burleson each narrowly missed trips to the NCAA Division I outdoor championship meet.
• Senior centerfielder Mercedes Eichelberger was voted first-team All-WAC and to the league’s All-Defensive Team. She hit a team-best .336 and had a .991 fielding percentage with just one error.
• Junior catcher/utility Avery Miloch totaled 13 home runs and 34 RBI and returns to lead her team.
SEPT. 30 – Football at North Texas • Denton
NOV. 18 – Football at Texas A&M • College Station
NOV. 6 – Men’s Basketball at Oklahoma State Stillwater, Oklahoma
NOV. 17 – Men’s Basketball at Baylor • Waco
NOV. 29 – Men’s and Women’s Basketball at Texas-Arlington • Arlington
SEPT. 15-16, 2023
OCT. 11-13, 2023
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Beth Clevenger Summers is retired from teaching and counseling to paint and write about her travels. Her paintings show globally. She lives in Porter Ranch, California.
1959
Charles and Annette (Brownsey ’60) Bryant celebrated 65 years of marriage Aug. 1, 2023. They live in Lincoln, California.
1961
Dr. Elton D. Higgs and Dr. Laquita M. (Alexander ’60) Higgs are retired and celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary Dec. 21, 2022. Laquita and Elton, professor of English emeritus at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, co-authored a book, Shattered Dreams – But Hope: Encouragement for Caregivers of Huntington’s Disease and Other Progressive Illnesses, in early 2020.
Two of their most recent books are spotlighted on “The Bookcase” pages of this issue (pages 32-33). Laquita has a doctorate in history. They live in Jackson, Michigan.
1966
Mason Martin is retired but continues to serve as a visiting judge in the 2nd Administrative Judicial Region, which encompasses 22 counties in Southeast Texas. He lives in Conroe, Texas.
1969
Allen Neece, D.D.S., and Linda (Judkins Foster ’70) Neece are retired and living in Westminster, Colorado. He was an oral surgeon who practiced 38 years in Abilene, Texas. She was an office manager and accountant. Together they have six children and 11 grandchildren.
Calvin and Linda (Allen) Henry have been missionaries in Costa Rica, Honduras and Colombia since 1977. Calvin is director of Latin team care at Great Cities Missions. They live in Pottsboro, Texas.
Kevin McLeod, M.D., recently published The Nelson Eight (westbowpress.com), a memoir of a college prank by football players in 1973. He lives in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.
David Dillard retired after 37 years as an IT specialist for Voice of America in Washington, D.C. He has also served the past 23 years as an elder and preacher for the University Park Church of Christ in Hyattsville, Maryland. He and his wife, Ann, live in Hyattsville.
Ron and Pam Hadfield (’96 B.A.S.) have a new address in San Antonio, Texas
Jana (Burleson) Harmon hosts a podcast ( sidebstories.com) produced by the C.S. Lewis Institute featuring former atheists and skeptics who tell their stories of moving from disbelief to belief in God and Christianity. Harmon is a Teaching Fellow for the institute and a former adjunct professor in cultural apologetics at Biola University. She has an M.A. in Christian apologetics from Biola and a doctorate in religion and theology from the University of Birmingham in England. She and her husband, Stephen, live in Roswell, Georgia.
Paul Colby launched Borderline Fables, a fiction Substack. Subscriptions are free at borderlinefables.substack.com. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Sharon (Smith) Miller and Thomas M. Wheeler, Oct. 1, 2022. Sharon is indigent defense director for Taylor County and Thomas is judge for the 350th District Court. They live in Abilene, Texas.
Dave Fuller, M.D., was recently promoted to tenured professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and inducted into the Kenneth I. Shine, M.D., Academy of Health Science Education, the UT system’s scholarly medical education honor society. He and his wife, Dr. Amy (Berry ’95) Fuller, live in Houston, Texas.
Dr. Christopher Phillips has been named chief psychologist for Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR) in Germany. He provides technical expertise, guidance and clinical services in the area of operational psychology (operational support, human performance enhancement), SERE psychology (survival and recovery from hostage/POW experiences), and clinical treatment to special operations forces and SOCEUR headquarters personnel.
To Brian and Erica (Jarvis) Roe, a girl, Audrey Claire, July 6, 2021. They live in Anna, Texas.
To Aaron and Kimberly Leong, a boy, Naga-Tadhg Leong Feng, Dec. 26, 2022. Aaron is an editor and content creator for his YouTube tech channel, GearUP With Aaron, while freelance writing for online tech magazines Digital Trends and HotHardware They live in Hampden, Maine.
To Cale and Blythe (Thompson) Smith, a girl, Millie Merry, Jan. 9, 2020, and a boy, Clark Arthur, July 22, 2021. They live in Victoria, Texas.
To Darien and Brooke (Johnson) Clark, a girl, Sadie Shay, Sept. 12, 2022. They live in Plano, Texas.
To Jennifer King-McNab, J.D., and J. Breton McNab, a girl, Vivienne, March 22, 2022. Jennifer began work in Fall 2022 as assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, prosecuting child exploitation cases. They live in Cleveland, Ohio.
BORN
To Adam and Jamie (Meyer) Michel, a girl, Zoey Michel, Aug. 18, 2022. They live in Shoreview, Minnesota.
MARRIED
Tanner Hadfield and Katherine Strandberg, June 17, 2023. They live in San Antonio, Texas.
BORN
To Travis and Kristen (McBride) Ball, a boy, Jackson David, Feb. 3, 2022. They live in Fort Worth, Texas.
To Chris and Mary (Swantek) Duran, a boy, Niko, Aug. 9, 2022. They also have a daughter and live in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
To Matt and Melanie (Kirkland) Truxal, a girl, Madeline Jean, April 1, 2023. They live in Denison, Texas.
2013 BORN
To Luke and Nicole (Flores ’14) Sorrel, a girl, Eleanor Grace, April 14, 2022. They live in Lewisville, Texas.
To Gordon and Allye Burgett , a girl, Abigail Jane Burgett, Oct. 4, 2022. They live in Richardson, Texas.
To Garett and Paige Jones, a boy, Raylon Davis, Dec. 13, 2022. They live in Wills Point, Texas.
Matt and Kendyl (Cooper) Antwine live in Mineral Wells, Texas.
2015
Garrett Holland is director of annual giving at Texas Woman’s University. He lives in Haltom City, Texas. BORN
To John Clark and Whitney Pittard, a girl, Hayden Noelle, June 17, 2021. They live in West Jordan, Utah.
2016 BORN
To William and Brandi (Framel) Chitwood, a girl, Lola, Aug. 26, 2021. They live in Franklin, Tennessee.
2017 BORN
To Ty and Madi (O’Dell) Clearman, a boy, Rosson West, Feb. 7, 2023. They live in Abilene, Texas.
2020 MARRIED
Evan Ost and Hannah Elizabeth Bowling, May 30, 2022. Hannah has started a Ph.D. program in English at Texas A&M University. They live in College Station, Texas. [This is a correction of a previous listing.]
Each alumnus from Abilene Christian has their own story and journey with their alma mater. I am thankful to get to spend time and learn from our alumni about their unique stories, their impact on the ACU community and what is important to them.
One particular alumna stands out right now. I am beyond thankful for the time I spent with Eloise Ruth Carruthers over the years. Born in 1917, Eloise graduated from ACU in 1937 and was the university’s oldest living alumna at 106 years old when she passed away July 13. She was an incredible asset to the ACU, Abilene and Highland Church of Christ communities.
Although she probably did not know it, Eloise taught me so much. Her positive, kind spirit leaves a big impression on me. She was always smiling and wanting to bless those around her with an encouraging word.
Eloise taught me to love to celebrate – she enjoyed being a special guest at Opening Assembly, riding in the Homecoming Parade, gathering with friends and family and having birthday parties. She taught me to think of others – she was always ready to help her friends when they needed something.
And she was an incredible example of loving her alma mater. ACU played a big role in the life of her family, and she lived fully into expressing her appreciation.
I am thankful for what she taught me and so many others in our community. Alumni like Eloise Carruthers make ACU such a special place.
– CRAIG FISHER (’92) Associate Vice President for Advancement and AlumniThe Alumni Association will send a FREE Wildcat BabyWear T-shirt (12-month size) to the alumni parents of each newborn or adopted infant in your family!
Complete the info online at acu.edu/experiences.
In-focus, high-resolution digital images (minimum file size of 500kb; use your camera’s highest quality setting) of alumni children wearing their Wildcat BabyWear should be emailed to babywear@acu.edu. Call 800-373-4220 for more information.
Vivian Vonnette Mansur Clark, 96, died Sept. 30, 2021. She was born Nov. 2, 1924, in Lawton, Oklahoma. She married ACU classmate Chris Clark Jr. (’48), and they resided for 53 years in Abilene, Texas, where she served as an officer in Women for Abilene Christian University and retired from the Abilene ISD after many years as an elementary school teacher. Among survivors are two nieces and seven nephews.
Elizabeth Ann “Betty” Cummins, 93, died Aug. 3, 2022, in Abilene, Texas. She was born on Oct. 25, 1928, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She earned a degree in business administration and worked for many years as an accountant for Wes-Tex Drilling. She loved her family’s history and was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Colonial Dames XVII Century, and the Magna Charta Dames. Among survivors are one nephew, one niece, and several great-nephews, great-nieces and great-great-nieces.
Jesse R. Fain, M.D., 96, died March 31, 2022. He earned a degree in chemistry and biology before his medical degree in 1954 from The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. Among survivors are Sharon Brawley Fain, his wife of 32 years; daughters Margaret Fain Bishop (’75) and Kelly Fain Jackson (’75); six grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, Herbert and Ruth Fain; his first wife, Tommie Fain (’49); a son, Sam Fain (’73); and siblings Ida Marie Hinton, Bill Fain (’48) and Patsy Fain.
Betty T. “Nanga” Martin, 95, died Feb. 12, 2022. She was born July 27, 1926, in Pontiac, Michigan. She devoted her career to being an educator and was named Teacher of the Year at Eugene Field in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and served as a substitute in Searcy (Arkansas) Public Schools. Among survivors are a son, Tom Martin; two granddaughters; and five greatgrandsons. She was preceded in death by her parents, C.B. “Preacher” and Lola “Roopie” Thomas; and a brother, Claude B. Thomas Jr. Betty Ray Coffee, 92, died April 13, 2022. She was born Feb. 19, 1930, in Big Spring, Texas.
She attended Howard College before enrolling at ACU. After working briefly with a law firm in Dallas, Texas, she returned to Big Spring as an accountant with the Veterans Administration Hospital. She was called back to work in 1990 when she took over managing the Big Spring Health Food Center owned by her mother. She loved adventure and travel, and was a licensed pilot. Among survivors are Max, her husband of 56 years; children Debra Jones, Brent Clifton (’76), Cary Coffee, Kim Phillips (’80) and Penni Clark; seven grandchildren; six greatgrandchildren; and sisters Sue Nell Truxal (’53) and Frances Flournoy (’57). She was preceded in death by her parents, Raymond Lewis “Poncho” Nall and Eva Nall; a sister, Lou Ann Baker (’55); and a grandson, Matthew Jones. Gerald Othel McCoy, 94, died Dec. 27, 2022. He was born Dec. 28, 1927, in Stith, Texas. He earned a bachelor’s from ACU and a master’s from Hardin-Simmons University, and married classmate Mary Nell Winter (’51). In 1957 he began a career of more than four decades as principal and teacher in the Haskell (Texas) ISD. He also was an adult probation officer, officiated football and basketball games, was the voice of the Haskell Indians football team. and did mission work in Africa, Mexico and Haiti. Among survivors are sons James McCoy (’78), Joseph McCoy (’83) and John McCoy (’88); seven grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; and a brother, Burl McCoy (’54). He was preceded in death by his parents, Hollis and Velma McCoy; Mary, his wife of 70 years; and a son, Mark McCoy (’74).
Mina Ruth (Hayes) Prince died July 31, 2021. She was born Aug. 26, 1930, in Houston, Texas. She studied music and education, and wed classmate Charles Prince (’51) in 1950. She taught in public and private schools for four decades. After her children were grown, she and Charles visited mission fields in North and Central America, and Africa, and relocated to San Antonio, Texas. Among survivors are a son, Charles Prince Jr.; daughters Julie (Prince ’76) Clem and Terri Prince; seven grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, Luther B. Hayes Sr. and Hester Leon (Chapman) Hayes; and a brother, Luther “Benny” Hayes Jr. (’53)
Want to represent your alma mater on your Texas vehicle? You can now support your Wildcats with a custom ACU Texas license plate! Learn more at your county tax office or order online at myplates.com.
Geraldine “Jerry” Elaine Hays Wright , 91, died July 16, 2022, in Abilene, Texas. She was born in Wichita Falls, Texas, on April 5, 1931, and married classmate Dr. William E. “Bill” Wright (’51) on Aug. 23, 1951. Among survivors are her sons, Alan Wright (’79) and Gary Wright (’88); 14 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; and her brother, Vaden Hays (’69). She was preceded in death by her parents, Delmont and Tinnie Maye Hays; her husband, Bill, ACU professor emeritus of accounting and finance; her daughter, Leslie Ann Frazier (’77); her son, Chad Wright (’06 M.Ed.); and her brother, Joaquin Hays.
Patsy Ruth (Farley) Strader died April 22, 2023. She was born Dec. 27, 1930, in Temple, Texas. She earned a degree in piano in just three years, and married classmate Robert Jerry Strader, D.D.S. (’52) in 1950. She mentored many women through years of service at Highland Church of Christ. Among survivors are Jerry, her husband of 72 years; a son, Dr. Robert “Bob” Jerry Strader Jr. (’76); daughters Sally Ruth (Strader ’77) Frazier, Becky Wynne Hamric and Patsy Farley (Strader ’51) Wenetschlaeger; seven grandchildren; and 18 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, Dr. F.W. Farley and Sara Cayce Farley.
Lois Jean Puckett , 90, died May 24, 2020. She was born Nov. 24, 1929 in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. She taught sixth grade in Moriarity, New Mexico, and was a longtime volunteer at Bethel Storehouse. Among survivors are sons Dr. Ray Puckett Jr. (’81) and Keith Puckett; a daughter, Rosemary Elliott; brothers Stanley Lobley (’52), Jerry Lobley (’59) and Larry Lobley (’64); eight grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, Edwin and Eva (Horton) Lobley; her husband, Charles Puckett (’52); a son, Donald Puckett; brothers Howard Lobley, Grady Lobley (’49) and Harold Lobley (’49); and sisters Viera and Lola.
Lena Charlene Dobbs, 88, died Nov. 16, 2022. She was born Dec. 27, 1933, in Midland Texas. She earned a bachelor’s degree, a M.Ed. degree in 1974 – both from ACU – and was an elementary school teacher in Lovington, New Mexico. She was preceded in death by Bencil Dobbs (’57), her husband of 55 years. Among survivors are daughters Becky (Dobbs ’78) Hise, Val (Dobbs ’83) Medley and Sherry (Dobbs ’84) Hurley; seven grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.
health care and life sciences by Fort Worth Inc. Meanwhile, The Tech Tribune profiled TimelyMD chief strategy officer and co-founder Chris Clark (’01). The business was named one of the 2023 Best Tech Startups in Fort Worth.
The Vista Ridge High School marching band of Cedar Park, Texas, led by director Bryan Christian (’89), was the only band from Texas appearing in the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, on Jan. 1, 2023.
for Redcrest 2024, the MLF Bass Pro Tour championship at Lay Lake, Alabama.
Jesus Revolution, a motion picture directed by ACU FilmFest judge Brent McCorkle and edited by graduate John Puckett (’18), pulled in $15 million in ticket sales on its opening weekend. Released by Lionsgate, the movie telling the story of the 1970s Jesus People movement has earned more than $51 million in box office receipts, making it the ninth highest-grossing faith-based film of all time, according to religionunplugged.com. It stars Kelsey Grammer as Southern California pastor Chuck Smith, who opens his shrinking church to a young generation of seekers.
JoAnn (Jordan ’68) Campbell was honored with an award for Outstanding Service to the Profession of School Psychology by the Texas Association of School Psychologists for her years of service as a school psychologist and 18 years on the Texas State Board of Examiners.
Darren LeGallo (’96) is writer and director of Sam & Kate, a new feature film starring Oscar winners Dustin Hoffman and Sissy Spacek LeGallo’s wife is multiple Golden Globe winner and six-time Academy Award nominee Amy Adams
Judy Bailey Siburt (’69) received Lubbock Christian University’s K.C. Moser Award “in recognition of excellence and outstanding service to the Kingdom of God.” Siburt earned a M.Ed. degree from ACU in 1971 and a certificate in theology and ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary. She retired in 2010 after a career as an educator, school counselor and licensed counselor. An advisor to ACU’s Siburt Institute for Church Ministry, she serves on its Summit Planning Committee and is board chair of the Institute of Theology and Christian Ministry Foundation in St. Petersburg, Russia. TimelyMD CEO and co-founder Luke Hejl (’01) was named 2022 Entrepreneur of Excellence in
Kevin Greene (’10) is vice president and administrator of Cook Children’s Medical Center in Prosper, Texas, the newest pediatric hospital in North Texas. Greene, who earned a bachelor’s degree in management, served two internships at Cook before earning a master’s in health care administration from Trinity University.
The girls’ basketball team coached by Amber (Tate ’99) Branson won its second Texas state championship in three seasons when Lipan High School (35-3) defeated Gruver in the Class 2A title game March 4, 2023, in San Antonio. Branson was once a standout player at Lipan. Now in her 16th season as LHS head coach, she eclipsed the 400-win mark in December 2022 and her team also won a 2016 Class 1A state title.
Hailey (Martin ’02)
Mullican has been named vice president for legal affairs at The University of Texas Health Center at San Antonio. She began work at the organization’s Office of Legal Affairs in 2009 and became its managing health care legal counsel in 2018. A San Antonio native, she majored in political science at Abilene Christian and earned a law degree from St. Mary’s University.
John Warner, M.D. (’87), was named CEO of Wexner Medical Center and executive vice president at Ohio State University. Warner was previously executive vice president and CEO at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, where he led the center’s clinical work, which included more than 100,000 inpatient and 4 million outpatient visits each year. Warner is a former cardiologist and president of the American Heart Association.
Pro bass fisherman Kelly Jordon (’94) weighed a catch totaling 57 pounds 3 ounces, including a tournament-best 22-09 on the last day (April 16, 2023), to win the Major League Fishing (MLF) Tackle Warehouse Invitational Epic Baits Stop 3 at Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma. His top prize of $83,500 also qualified him
Dr. Michelle (Murphy ’87) Morris, associate vice president for marketing and communications at South Texas College of Law Houston, received the 2023 President’s Award for Outstanding Service from the Houston (Texas) Bar Association for her role as a co-chair of the Law and the Media Committee. The committee created a series of topical talks to demonstrate civil discourse. Morris was ACU vice president for university relations in a tenure that included the university’s Centennial Celebration.
Three ACU alumni made Abilene’s 20 Under 40 list of young leaders from the Abilene Chamber of Commerce: Marcus Dunn (’19 MBA), Dr. Heather Ray (’21 D.N.P.) and Garrett Turner (’07)
Dr. W. Edward Craighead, ABPP (’65), received the Member of Distinction award from the Anxiety and Depression Association of America during its April 2023 annual meeting in Washington, D.C. He also recently received the Academy of Cognitive Therapy’s Lifetime Achievement award and a Presidential Citation for Lifetime Achievement Contributions from the Society of Clinical Psychology. Craighead is professor; J. Rex Fuqua Endowed Chair; and vice chair of child, adolescent and young adult programs in Emory University’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Department of Psychology.
For the second straight year, country recording artist Aaron Watson (’00) was named Texas Entertainer of the Year at the annual Texas Regional Radio Music Awards.
A linebacker for ACU from 2017-20, Jack Gibbens was one of 12 finalists in his senior season for the William V. Campbell Trophy, college football’s premier scholar-athlete award.
• Jack Gibbens (’20) is in his second year as a linebacker for the NFL’s Tennessee Titans.
• Veteran college football assistant Derron Montgomery (’11) was an offensive quality control assistant coach for 2022 with the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings. He earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from ACU and a master’s degree from Miami. He is the son of Wilbert Montgomery (’77), former NFL All-Pro and winner of three Super Bowl rings, and ACU’s first inductee to the College Football Hall of Fame.
• Tennis star Hans Hach Verdugo (’13) of Mexico continues to compete on the ATP Tour in men’s doubles. He was ranked 60th in the world in 2022, when he became the first Wildcat to play in Wimbledon and the French Open.
• Jaren Lewis (’19) was his team’s third leading scorer (11 points per game) and top rebounder (6 per game) in 2022-23 as a veteran forward with the Hakro Crailsheim Merlins, a pro basketball team in Germany’s highest league. He was recently named first team All-FIBA Euro Cup. Eric Kibi (’15) averaged 7.1 points per game as a forward for Colegio Los Leones in the Chile LNB, that nation’s top pro league. Jalone Friday (’19) was the starting center for Redstone Olomouck in the Czech Republic National Basketball League, averaging 11.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game in 2022-23.
Janice (Munn ’68) Massey, M.D., was honored with the American Academy of Neurology’s Leading in Excellence Through Mentorship Award. The recognition came during the AAN’s 75th annual meeting in Boston in April 2023. She was an ACU trustee from 1990-2011, and she and her husband, Wayne Massey, M.D. (66), a current ACU trustee, were the university’s 2021 Dale and Rita Brown Outlive Your Life Award recipients.
Hugh Sandifer (’77), Jerale Badon (’08) and Kim Gidley (’89) were inducted into the 2023 class of the Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame. Sandifer is retired athletics director and head football coach of Abilene Wylie High School, Badon is an ACU assistant football coach and Gidley retired in 2023 after 25 years as head coach of women’s tennis at the Air Force Academy.
Jared Mosley (’99), former ACU men’s basketball standout and director of athletics, was named Dec. 10, 2022, as the vice president and director of athletics at the University of North Texas. Mosley has been the associate vice president and chief
operating officer at UNT since September 2016. He was named interim director of athletics on Nov. 30, 2022. After an ACU Sports Hall of Fame basketball career, Mosley served the Wildcats as director of athletics from 2001-14, leading the university’s move from NCAA Division II to Division I affiliation.
Wildcat head baseball coach Rick McCarty was inducted to the 2022 class of the Campbellsville (Kentucky) High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
ACU women’s basketball head coach Julie Goodenough was named recipient of the 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award from Western Texas College, her alma mater’s top honor.
The Lubbock (Texas) Christian School football team, led by head coach and director of athletics Chris Softley (’10) and offensive coordinator Tyler Fleet (’11), won the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools’ Division IV state championship in December 2022, defeating four-time defending champs Shiner St. Paul Catholic School.
Retha Kennamer, 87, of Abilene, died Nov. 3, 2022. She was born Nov. 13, 1934, in Beaumont, Texas. She studied mathematics, wed classmate Ken Kennamer, M.D. (’54), and was a beloved Bible class teacher of young children. Among survivors are daughters Debra Chester, M.D. (’77), Sharon Bryant (’79) and Dr. Dana Kennamer (’81); six grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by Ken, her husband of 64 years; and her brother and sister, Dwan McCuistion and Nelda Blanton (’52).
Letha Marie Hix Newton, 88, of Haskell, Texas, died Jan. 7, 2023, in Abilene, Texas. She was born June 28, 1934, in Weinert, Texas. Her 42-year teaching career in Texas schools spanned O’Brien, Coahoma and Haskell. She married Leon Newton on Jan. 5, 1973, was a member of the Haskell (Texas) Church of Christ and enjoyed attending ACU basketball games. Among survivors are her daughter, Teresa L. McNea; a sister, Louise Thompson; four grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and three great-great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, Coyt Leroy Hix and Lottie Ozella Threet Hix; her husband, Leon; and a brother, Leroy Hix.
Garth Winston Black, 92, died Jan. 11, 2022. He was born Nov. 4, 1929, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He earned a science degree in 1951 from Oklahoma University, where he wed Doris Griggs on July 14, 1950. He served in the Army from 1951-53, earning the rank of captain. Although planning a career in medicine, he chose to earn a master’s degree in theology from ACU and ministered to churches in Texas, Oklahoma, New York, Maryland and California. After retiring in 1995, he continued to teach Bible classes and provide spiritual counsel for years at the Westside Church of Christ in Bakersfield, California. Among survivors are Doris, his wife of 71 years; daughters Candace Killip (’74) and Shari Minton; sons Bruce Black (’77) and Adam Black; nine grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, Judd and Crystal Black; a son, Brian Black; and a sister, Norma Jones. Jackie “Jack” Ray Chapman died April 15, 2023. He was born Sept. 11, 1934, in Wewoka, Oklahoma. He studied agriculture and chemistry at ACU and became a licensed pilot who planned to join the Navy, but was instead drafted into the Army, where he served as a medical lab technician. Later, he was a plant chemist/environmental supervisor for Arizona Public Service. After retiring, he was hired by Cal Energy Service in Omaha, Nebraska, as the director of safety and environment for several power plants in the Northeastern U.S. He married Dorothy Louise King in 1960 and Teddie June Whitley in 2007. Among survivors are June, his wife of 16 years; a daughter, Linda Magness; a son, Alan Chapman; three grandchildren; stepdaughters Connie Richardson, Pamela Hensley and
Do you want to learn about giving opportunities, host an event, volunteer or just learn more about how you can be involved with ACU where you live?
To help foster relationships with alumni and future students, Abilene Christian has assigned personnel from its Advancement and Alumni Relations offices to major markets in Texas as well as Nashville, Tennessee, and other parts of the nation. An advancement officer (AO) assists prospective donors, while an alumni relations officer (ARO) assists with alumni connections, efforts to gather ACU alumni and to work with volunteers within the community. Through this territory team approach, these dedicated professionals can provide exceptional service to those who so graciously and generously help advance the university and ensure it achieves its mission.
ABILENE AND THE BIG COUNTRY
Anthony Williams (AO) • 325-829-4328, williamsa@acu.edu
Taylor Fender (ARO) • 325-674-2804, taylor.fender@acu.edu
WEST TEXAS AREA
Anthony Williams (AO) • 325-829-4328, williamsa@acu.edu
Taylor Fender (ARO) • 325-674-2804, taylor.fender@acu.edu
AUSTIN AREA
Abby Easley (ARO) • 325-674-2627, abby.easley@acu.edu
FORT WORTH AREA
Cody Thompson (AO) • 817-706-3474, cody.thompson@acu.edu
Jim Orr (AO) • 214-733-3689, jim.orr@acu.edu
April Young (ARO) • 325-674-2244, april.young@acu.edu
DALLAS AREA
Brad Reeves (AO) • 214-728-4478, brad.reeves@acu.edu
Jim Orr (AO) • 214-733-3689, jim.orr@acu.edu
April Young (ARO) • 325-674-2244, april.young@acu.edu
HOUSTON AREA
Taylor Fender (ARO) • 325-674-2804, taylor.fender@acu.edu
SAN ANTONIO / SOUTH TEXAS AREA
Abby Easley (ARO) • 325-674-2627, abby.easley@acu.edu
NASHVILLE AREA / EASTERN U.S.
Jim Orr (AO) • 214-733-3689, jim.orr@acu.edu
For Cody Thompson (’98) and Brad Reeves, the call of the ACU mission was too strong to ignore.
The longtime Dallas-area businessmen weren’t previously looking to leap into careers supporting higher education. But when they learned ACU was looking to fill two advancement officer positions this year, the opportunity to connect their professions with the higher purpose of educating students for Christian leadership and service throughout the world proved too perfect to pass up.
Advancement officers play an important role for the university and its Office of Advancement. First and foremost, they build relationships and serve as an important point of contact for people within the ACU community and those interested in the university’s vision.
When individuals feel called to give, advancement officers help connect their passions with opportunities to help further the mission of ACU.
Advancement officers typically work in a specific geographic region, which allows for more personal connections with people in their communities.
Reeves of Dallas and Thompson of Allen are focusing on the Dallas-Fort Worth region. And though they come to ACU following successful careers in business, they took different paths to arrive here.
Reeves didn’t grow up familiar with ACU. He learned about the university through a business partner whose wife and kids all had attended there. He was always impressed with what he heard, and when it came time for his own daughter, Payton (Reeves ’19) Lauerman, to pick a college to pursue her interest in theatre, ACU rose to the top of the list, despite being accepted into schools such as NYU, Belmont and TCU.
“The ACU community is such a generous and tight-knit community,” Reeves said. “We saw that from the moment our daughter chose this school.”
• Steve and Gari Lugar Endowment for Nursing Simulation Equipment
• Rowsey Gilbreath Conner Endowment for Athletics
• Julie Pruett Endowed Vocal Scholarship
• Stripling Family Endowment for Accounting and Finance
To create your own endowed scholarship or contribute to an existing one, see acu.edu/give or call 800-674-2600.
New
Being an ACU parent first also led Reeves to become an ACU supporter, donating to the theatre program and other projects around campus.
Thompson grew up attending events on campus from a very early age. Both of his parents attended ACU, drawn to Abilene by the Christ-centered education they could receive there. Thompson remembers visiting campus throughout his youth for Homecoming, Sing Song, tennis camps and more.
When it came time for college, Thompson wanted a place where he could receive a Christian education, potentially find a Christian mate and make lifelong friends. ACU ultimately fulfilled all three – he and his wife, Robyn (Scarbrough ’99), have been married 24 years this summer. This fall, Thompson’s oldest child became a third-generation Wildcat.
Since graduating from ACU in 1998, Thompson has worked primarily in consumer financial services. And though he wasn’t looking for a new position when
the university reached out about its opening for an advancement officer, Thompson credits God’s timing for the opportunity. The more he considered the position, he realized it was the perfect time to consider a change.
Reeves has been a founding partner in two financial services companies that he’s helped run and eventually sold – the first from 1993-2008 and the second from 2013-20.
After selling his second business, Reeves wasn’t quite ready to retire, but the COVID-19 pandemic that year gave him an opportunity to slow down and take stock of what he wanted to do next.
“I kept asking for God to lead me to a place where I could feel a sense of purpose,” Reeves said.
When Reeves first heard about ACU’s opening for an advancement officer, he initially agreed to help find good candidates for the position because of his connections in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. But after looking over the job description, he had other ideas.
“I love the school. I love the mission,” Reeves said. “I was interested in supporting that mission not only with my own donations, but with my time and energy as well.”
Reeves and Thompson, who began this February and April, respectively, are still getting acclimated to their positions and spending a lot of time meeting ACU alumni and friends of the university.
“I’m excited about the conversations to be had with people who have the capacity and the heart for giving and helping to align that passion with needs and opportunities that are in front of us,” Thompson said.
For Thompson and Reeves, the ability to carry out those conversations and do their jobs while also serving a higher purpose makes them excited for the future.
“This Christ-centered community and the mission of sending out students into the world to make change and have an impact is vitally important more than ever before in today’s society,” Thompson said. “I get to wake up every day and go out and visit with people who have a similar passion and love for ACU. What better way to serve the Kingdom and serve my ACU community?”
– JONATHAN SMITHInterested in hosting or volunteering at an ACU event in your area, or in getting involved in other ways? Reach out to the Alumni and University Relations Office at alumni@acu.edu. You also can find events and updates at acu.edu/alumni.
Whether flashing the WC, handing out hugs or simply enjoying time together, Wildcats gather on campus and around the world to share their stories and celebrate their common love for each other and for ACU. Here are just a few images we’ve saved since our last issue. Share others with us at acutoday@acu.edu.
Join us for an exciting visit event or schedule your personalized visit at acu.edu/visit. The admissions office offers personalized tours most days of the week at 9:30 a.m. or 2:30 p.m. Families of high school students are also encouraged to attend a Wildcat Preview Day and get a glimpse of all the action taking place on campus!
Don’t wait to experience college – be challenged academically while discovering God’s calling in your life.
MONDAY, OCT.
FRIDAY, NOV.
MONDAY, NOV.
MONDAY, DEC. FALL ’23 SPRING ’24
FRIDAY, FEB.
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MONDAY, MARCH
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If you’re a high school freshman, sophomore or junior, join Abilene Christian University for a week of international travel to sites such as England, France and Germany or choose a residential program on ACU’s campus next summer. Students earn college credit, build community and expand their horizons with life changing memories. Learn more at acu.edu/risingscholars.
Do you know a student who would thrive at ACU? We want to get to know them!
Simply scan the code to Refer a Wildcat to the Office of Admissions.
To help foster relationships with prospective students, Abilene Christian has assigned dedicated professionals to various geographic markets and areas of academic focus. Scan the code or call 800-460-6228.
Sandy Staggs; four step-grandchildren; and six step-great-grandchildren.
Dana Copeland, 85, died Feb. 20, 2022. She was born Feb. 24, 1936, in Topeka, Kansas. She wed ACU classmate Milton Copeland, J.D. (’58), in 1958. They lived in Texas; Washington, D.C.; and California before settling in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 1971, when Milton joined the University of Arkansas law school faculty. Among survivors are Milton, her husband of 63 years; a daughter, Diane Aday; a son, Gary Copeland; seven grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and two great-greatgrandchildren.
Carolyn (Kelley) Mickey, 87, died April 29, 2023. She was born April 11, 1936, in Lubbock, Texas, and wed classmate David Ross Mickey (’58) in 1957. In 1961, they were one of 13 couples to move to Sao Paulo, Brazil, for missions work, serving there from 1961-68 and returning numerous times through the years. She helped Christian Woman magazine begin and publish a Portuguese-language edition, Mulher Cristã. The Mickeys served Texas churches in Fort Worth, El Paso and Austin, and others in Tallahassee, Florida; Lovington, New Mexico; and Tempe, Arizona. In the 1970s, Carolyn was one of the first women employed as a children’s minister in Churches of Christ. A speech major in college, she taught drama and English in middle schools across 25 years, including Abilene’s Lincoln Middle School. Among survivors are David, her husband of 65 years; daughters Cathy (Mickey ’84) Ballew, Cindy (Mickey ’87) Schoonmaker and Michelle Mickey (’90); seven grandchildren; a sister, Kathleen Kelley Schubert (’59); and brothers Phil Kelley (’73) and Chris Kelley (’71) She was preceded in death by her parents, Oscar Lytle (’30) and Marie Oliver Kelley (’33); and a daughter, Camille (Mickey ’81) Rhoads
Bennie Joe Williams, 84, died July 19, 2021. He was born Oct. 1, 1936, in Lubbock, Texas, and wed his ACU classmate, Wylene Freeman (’59). He was an entrepreneur who owned dry cleaners, built furniture, raised cattle, and owned the Robertson’s Hams franchise in Salado, Texas. Williams also was a community volunteer and a benefactor of the Bell County Youth Livestock Show.
Dr. William Bryan “Bill” Adrian Jr. (’59), 83, died Oct. 9, 2021, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was born Nov. 23, 1937, in Altadena, California. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a master’s degree in educational administration (1961), both from ACU, and a Ph.D. from the University of Denver (1967). He wed ACU classmate Lorrie Jane Garrett (’59) on Sept. 2, 1960. He assisted many universities and government agencies in planning, development, teaching and research, including consulting for the Brazilian Ministry of Education (1970s); serving as deputy director of the Colorado Commission
on Higher Education (1970s); graduate faculty and dissertation advisor at Oklahoma State University (1978-83); and consulting for the Ministry of Education in Amman, Jordan (1982). Adrian received the Morlan Medal Award from ACU in 1983, the same year he became a dean at Pepperdine University. He received a major research grant from the Lilly Endowment which culminated in Models for Christian Higher Education: Strategies for Success in the Twenty-First Century, a book he co-edited with Dr. Richard Hughes (’67). He was named president of Southwest Christian School (1997) and helped create the North Texas Chapter of the Fulbright Association. In 2005, he received a Distinguished Alumni Citation from ACU. He received three Fulbright scholar assignments: university planning at the Federal University of Ceara in Fortaleza (1981); teaching at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland (1983); and teaching at Agricultural University of Slovakia in Nitra, Slovakia (2005). He retired from Pepperdine as provost emeritus. Among survivors are Jane, his wife of 61 years; children Steven Adrian (’84), Lorrie (Adrian ’87) Rockman and David Adrian; eight grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.
A.L. “Dusty” Rhodes, 90, died May 16, 2023, in Abilene, Texas. He was born June 6, 1932, in Southeastern Oklahoma and enlisted in the Navy in 1951, serving in the Korean conflict. He wed Nancy Fanson (’80) in 1957. He earned a juris doctor degree from The University of Texas School of Law in 1960 and practiced law in Abilene for 37 years, trying cases in 250 of the state’s 254 counties. He served on numerous boards and was especially devoted to the West Texas Rehabilitation Center and Hendrick Home for Children, leading a campaign to construct the A.L. “Dusty” Rhodes Family Care Complex. Following his retirement, he returned to his agri-roots near Henrietta, Texas, where his Lone Star Hereford Ranch won numerous national grand champion awards for cattle. Among survivors are his wife, Nancy; a son, Ed Rhodes (’80); daughters Christiana (Rhodes ’80) Horn, Annette (Rhodes ’83) Smith and Sherrie (Rhodes ’90) Beeson; 14 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.
Frances Annette (Bowers) McDonald, 84, of Abilene, Texas, formerly of Conroe, Texas, died Sept. 13, 2021. She was born Sept. 7, 1937, in Mount Pleasant, Texas, but grew up in Lubbock and Lamesa, Texas. She wed classmate Joe McDonald (’61) on Sept. 1, 1957. Among survivors are Joe, her husband of 64 years; a daughter, Pam (McDonald ’82) Mauldin; sons Tim McDonald (’85) and Jon McDonald (’89); seven grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and sisters Sarah (Bowers ’57) Hancock and Nancy (Bowers ’62) Peterson. She was preceded in death by her parents, Travis and Joyce Tyre Bowers.
Neil Debbs Carroll, 83, died Feb. 18, 2022. He was born Oct. 25, 1938, in Alice, Texas. He majored in chemistry and physics, and played on the tennis team at ACU. He wed classmate Martha Nell McClung (’62) on Aug. 25, 1961. He was a teacher and tennis coach at Alice High School for seven years before moving to Austin, Texas, to work for Phoenix Lamar. He started Cable Products Inc. in Liberty Hill, Texas, before becoming a teacher at Brentwood Christian School. Among survivors are Martha, his wife of 60 years; a daughter, Celeste Anne Carroll; sons Kevin Paul Carroll (’88), Kent Neil Carroll (’91) and Kerry Mark Carroll (’91); seven grandchildren; and a brother, Jerry Carroll (’63). He was preceded in death by his parents, Lester Edward Carroll and AnnaLee Whitley Carroll; and a brother, Larry Carroll (’57)
Roger Edward Decker, 83, of Abilene Texas, died March 28, 2022. He was born in Calexico Imperial, California, on Aug. 10, 1938. He married classmate Janice Harper (’62) and taught in the Abilene ISD for more than 30 years. Among survivors are daughters Emily René Harrison (’87) and Susan Jeanette Hoemke (’85), five grandchildren; and sisters Doris Laura Ann Rickards and Darlene D. Wheeler. He was preceded in death by Janice, his wife of 59 years; his parents, Roger Wesley Decker and L’arie Lillian Campbell; a sister, Lillian Shirley Waldon; a brother, John Wesley Decker; and a grandson Hayden Richard Edward Hoemke.
Margaret Ann (Jackson) Jordan, 81, of Brentwood, Tennessee, died Feb. 7, 2022. She earned a master’s degree from Middle Tennessee State University, and served as an accountant and taught mathematics at Aquinas College in Nashville. Among survivors are her husband, Dan Herbert Jordan (’62); sons Richard Jordan and David Jordan; and a brother, James A. Jackson. She was preceded in death by her parents, Ira S. Jackson and Hazel Hatley Jackson.
Dorothy Evelyn (Pankratz) Bullock, 90, of Keller, Texas, died May 15, 2022, after nine years of battling Alzheimer’s. She was born April 30, 1942, and married to her husband, Tip, for 56 years. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and her career included working for Texas Instruments as a computer programmer and for American Airlines, and as a volunteer at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center-Grapevine.
Janetta (Cothran) Randolph, 80, died July 28, 2022. She was born Feb. 12, 1942, in Terrell, Texas. She taught English at Wallingford (Connecticut) High School from 1964-67 and served in several roles including dean of students at Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Massachusetts, from 1967-81 before earning an M.Ed. degree from Harvard University in
1985. In 1986 she became the assistant to the president of Gordon College, and retired from Harvard’s Memorial Church staff in 2012. Throughout those years she was housemaster of Bexley Hall at Massachusetts Institute of Technology with her husband, Dr. Robert M. Randolph (’62), MIT’s chaplain to the institute. Among survivors are Bob, her husband of 58 years; and a daughter, Margaret Randolph. She was preceded in death by another daughter, Kathleen Randolph.
Jerry Don Riggs, 80, of Abilene, Texas, died Aug. 14, 2022. (See story on pages 14-15.) He was born on July 21, 1942, in Roscoe, Texas. He wed classmate Gwenda Carol Covey (’64) on May 31, 1963. Among survivors are Gwen, his wife of 59 years; daughters Stephanie (Riggs ’87) Ellis and Susan (Riggs ’93) Piersall; a son, Jon Riggs (’90); eight grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and a sister, Glenda (Riggs ’62) Fry. He was preceded in death by his parents, D.S. and Pauline Riggs, and his brother, Leroy Riggs.
Nancy Ellen Peeler Blanks, 80, died Nov. 25, 2022. She was born in Dallas on July 18, 1942, in Dallas, Texas, and wed Thomas Leron Blanks on June 15, 1962. Among survivors are a daughter, Lisa Sue (Blanks ’86) Pipken; a son, Jeff Blanks (’88); five grandchildren; one great-grandson; a brother, Samuel David Peeler Jr.; and a sister, Kathy Juliano (’79). She was preceded in death by her parents, Frances Ellen and Samuel David Peeler Sr.; and Leron, her husband of 58 years.
Dr. Gary Kyle Hood, 83, died Jan. 31, 2023. He was born Nov. 27, 1939, in Marlow, Oklahoma, and served in the Navy as a hospital corpsman. He attended College of the Sequoias before graduating ACU with a bachelor’s degree in education, and in 1967, with a master’s in counseling and guidance. He earned a doctorate in educational counseling in 1974 from the University of North Texas and helped Texas A&M International University develop its counselor educator program. He was a counselor educator at Sam Houston State University from 1980-2016. Among survivors are Deborah, his second wife of 22 years; children Kyle Hood, Caleb Hood (’01), Joshua Hood (’99), Erin Hood (’01), Serena Hood and Skyla Patterson; nine grandchildren; and a brother, Don W. Hood (’55). He was preceded in death by his parents, Omer Hardy and Maddie Belle Hood; Wanda (Bass ’66) Hood, his first wife of 30 years; and a brother, Charles Dean Hood (’57).
Stella Nola Haun Rideout , 96, died Oct. 10, 2022. She was born July 12, 1926, in Catawba, West Virginia, and wed Dr. Holbert Rideout (’46 M.S.) on Aug. 15, 1944. She earned her M.Ed. degree in 1970, and taught at Abilene Christian Schools and for many years in the Abilene ISD, where she also was a librarian. Among survivors are children Larry Rideout (’75), Janna Sue Owen (’75), Deryl Rideout (’76), Teryl Rideout (’75) and Nyla Jill (Rideout ’74) Davis. She was preceded in
death by Holbert, her husband of 62 years, and a son, Kent Rideout (’06).
Sherry Faye (Martin) Campbell, 79, died Sept. 30, 2022, after a 12-year battle with Parkinson’s disease. She was born Aug. 6, 1943, in Greenville, Texas. She attended Abilene Christian, then earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from Texas Christian University. She taught at Fort Worth ISD’s Handley Middle School and Trimble Tech High School before a 23-year career at Southwest Christian School, where she taught history and served as interim principal and guidance counselor. Among survivors are Donald Campbell (’61), her husband of 54 years; sons Christopher Campbell (’92), Jeffrey Campbell and Gregory Campbell; nine grandchildren; and a brother, Tony Martin. She was preceded in death by her parents, Billy Joe and Glenna Shelton Martin; a brother, Gerald “Rocky” Martin; and her adopted sister, Darlene (Cadenhead ’65) Ashby.
Dr. Norman LeRoy Murphy, 78, died Feb. 2, 2023. He was born Feb. 25, 1944, in Dodge City, Kansas. He married classmate Betty Wheeler (’65), and earned two master’s degrees and a doctorate. They lived in Austin, Texas; Greenwood, South Carolina; and Waco, Texas. He served as a preacher for Churches of Christ, a staff member at Crestview Church of Christ, an administrator and educator at McLennan Community College, and a nonprofit leader at Friends for Life. Among survivors are Betty, his wife of 56 years; children Matthew Murphy (’93), Micah Murphy (’99) and Emily (Murphy ’98) Hunt; nine grandchildren; and sisters Carol (Murphy ’69) Sikes, Marilyn (Murphy ’73) Keller and Jean (Murphy ’82) Crowder. He was preceded in death by his parents, LeRoy and Patricia Murphy.
Raymond “Ray” Johnson Jr., M.D., 77, died Feb. 15, 2022. He was born July 14, 1944, in Natchitoches, Louisiana, attended Texas A&M University and graduated from ACU with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. He was a CPA for Arthur Anderson in Houston for seven years, graduated from Baylor College of Medicine in 1976 and completed his family practice residency in 1979, when he moved to Conroe, Texas, to work with the Sadler Clinic. He was a family medicine physician for 37 years before retiring in 2015. An avid outdoorsman, he was an associate member of the American Custom Gunmakers Guild and crafted custom rifles. Survivors include Kim, his wife of 32 years; sons Craig Johnson (’92) and Matthew Johnson; a daughter, Mandy Hutchins; step-daughters Amber Whatley and Dawn Jones; 11 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and a sister, Dianne Dorris. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Anne Laurie (Winslow ’67), and his parents, Roma and Raymond Johnson Sr.
Linda Louise (Knight) Allen, 79, died Nov. 3, 2022, in Olathe, Kansas. She was born Jan. 27, 1943, in Denver, Colorado. She attended Lubbock Christian University before earning a
bachelor’s from ACU and marrying Lynn Allen in 1967. Among survivors are Lynn, her husband of 55 years; daughters Alicia (Allen ’95) Caldwell and Heather Scheidenhelm; a son, Justin Allen; and seven grandchildren.
Vannete J. Wirant died Nov. 29, 2020. She was born July 5, 1944. Her late husband was Bill Wirant.
Mary Walker Morrow, 87, died Aug. 16, 2021, in Nashville, Tennessee, after battling Lewy Body Dementia. She was born Nov. 8, 1933, in Fairview, Missouri. She was secretary to the Bible department chair while earning her bachelor’s degree in English. She wed classmate William Russell Morrow Jr. (’63) on Sept. 2, 1963. Russell and Mary taught in Texas schools before moving to Selma, Alabama, in 1971. She taught English at Dallas County (Alabama) High School for three years and then Eastside Middle School, where she served until retirement as librarian after earning a master’s degree from the University of Alabama. She also was a part-time librarian at Wallace Community College and after retiring, was research librarian for nearly 20 years at Selma-Dallas County Public Library. Survivors include Russell, her husband of 58 years; daughter Lydiabeth Morrow Haley and son William Russell Morrow III; three grandchildren; and sisters Ruth Kent and Juanita Cates. She was preceded in death by her parents, William Ethan Walker and Jewell (Davidson) Walker.
Carole Lynne (Hastings) Morrison, 75, died March 31, 2022. She was born Oct. 29, 1946, in Longmont, Colorado, and married Ivan Morrison in 1970. She earned a B.S.Ed. degree and her 30-year career included roles as a bookkeeper and secretary, a paraprofessional at Rose Hill (Kansas) High School (1991-2007), and vice president of Rose Hill Community Library (2005-09). Her family included parents Joseph and Calvena Hastings, and a sister, Anne Reid (’55). Among survivors are her husband, Ivan; sons Brett Morrison and Brian Morrison; and five grandchildren.
Ben Lee Jennings, D.C., 73, died Jan. 10, 2022. He was born March 22, 1949, grew up on a farm family in the San Joaquin Valley of California, and graduated from Riverdale (California) High School. He played football at ACU and earned his D.C. degree from Palmer Chiropractic College. Among survivors are his wife, Linda; children Shannon Jennings, Kathleen Jennings, Travis Jennings and Trent Jennings; several grandchildren; and a brother.
Dr. Sid T. Womack, 71, of Russellville, Arkansas, died Jan. 22, 2022. He was born May 9, 1950, in Abilene, Texas. He earned his M.Ed. degree from Sam Houston State University (1974) and a doctorate from Texas A&M (1979). He taught educational research and
teacher preparation at Arkansas Tech University from 1986 until retiring in 2015. He was also an elder, Sunday School teacher and director of education at the Dover (Arkansas) Church of Christ. Survivors include his wife, Karen King Womack; daughters Karah Altman and Ashlee Leavell; and two granddaughters. He was preceded in death by his parents, Donovan and Thelma Womack.
Danah Beth Abbett , 72, died Jan. 1, 2023, in Garland, Texas. She was born Feb. 13, 1950, in Del Rio, Texas. She earned a B.S.Ed. degree from ACU and a master’s degree from Texas Woman’s University (1978). For 37 years she taught in Texas public schools, beginning in Killeen, and retiring in 2009. Most of her career was devoted to the Irving ISD, where she was selected Teacher of the Year for Brandenburg Elementary and the entire district in 1997. Among survivors are a sister, Denece Powell (’63). She was preceded in death by her parents, Elmer Eldon and Elsie Leola (Foster) Abbett.
Randall Gilbert Sparks, 70, of Fort Worth, Texas, died July 30, 2021. He was born July 9, 1951, in Mineral Wells, Texas. He was a history teacher and football coach in Texas public schools (Johnson City ISD, Mertzon ISD and Azle ISD), and retired from McLean Middle School in Fort Worth, where he taught and coached for 30 years. Among survivors are his sisters, Paulette Storey (’75) and Annette Watters; and a brother, Ronald David Sparks. He was preceded in death by his parents, Gilbert and Juanita Moss Sparks.
Denise (Duncan) Miller, 68, of Greeley, Colorado, died Sept. 20, 2022. She was born Dec. 1, 1953, in Abilene, Texas, and married classmate Alan Miller (’75) in 1975. She was an accountant who also sang in her college, church and community choirs; played piano and flute; and taught piano. She battled rheumatoid arthritis for years and used her experience with it in teaching warm-water exercise classes to help others. Among survivors are her father, Floyd Lewis Duncan (’53); her husband, Alan; a daughter, Lauren (Miller ’02) Gonikishvili; a son, Eric Miller; two grandchildren; and siblings Ray Duncan (’78) and Lavon (Duncan ’80) Burton. She was preceded in death by a son, Kevin Todd Miller, and her mother, Jane Evelyn (Rowan ’52) Duncan
Jimmy Dale Harmon, 64, died Nov. 20, 2022. He was born Dec. 5, 1957, in Liberty, Texas. He played football (1977-79) as a defensive back, including on the Wildcats’ 1977 NAIA Division I national championship team and as a co-captain of the 1979 team. Following a tryout with the Dallas Cowboys, he enlisted in the Army, serving 20 years as a combat soldier and as a recruiter in the Houston, Texas,
area. His family includes parents Albertha and Gatta Harmon Sr., and siblings James, Cynthia, Brenda, Gatta Jr., Joe, Terry and Donna.
Kwi Lan “Kim” Chung, 67, died Nov. 15, 2022, in Dallas, Texas. She was born June 2, 1955, in Seoul, South Korea. She earned a degree in engineering from Hanyang University in Korea and a degree in mathematics and computer science from ACU. Among survivors are her husband, Kyu Bong “Kevin” Chung (’82); children Eugene and Elizabeth; and two grandchildren.
Karen Kay (Willson) Lancaster, 72, died April 15, 2022. She was born Sept. 16, 1949, in Aransas Pass, Texas. She earned a B.S.Ed. degree from Howard Payne University and a M.Ed. from ACU. She served more than 35 years of service to children as an educational diagnostician and special education teacher for children, most recently for The Taylor Clinic. Among survivors are Kenneth, her husband of 32 years; children Cory Howard, Casey Howard, Christy Stafford, Craig Lancaster and Ross Carter; three grandchildren; and a sister, Kathy Doss. She was preceded in death by her parents, Robert and Katherine (Parker) Willson.
Dr. Charles Randall Hart died Nov. 27, 2022, in Abilene, Texas. He was born Feb. 25, 1964, in Lubbock, Texas, and married Melanie Rose (’86) on April 19, 1986. His bachelor’s degree (agriculture business) and master’s (wildlife biology in 1989) were both from ACU, and he earned a doctorate in range science from New Mexico State University in 1992. His career included work as an extension agent at Colorado State University and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, and a range and pasture development specialist for Corteva Agriscience. His speciality was brush and weed control in the Southwestern U.S. but he also worked globally for Corteva in South Africa, China, Brazil and Argentina. He received many awards including Aggie of the Year from ACU (1998) and the Vice Chancellor’s Award in Excellence from Texas A&M (1999). He was also president of the Society for Range Management Texas Section (2004) and the Society for Range Management International (2020). Among survivors are his mother, Linda Hart (’55); Melanie, his wife of 36 years; daughters Morgan Parker (’18) and Lauren (Hart ’19) McLeroy; sisters Cindy Hickerson (’84) and Marilu Hall (’88); and a brother, Keith Hart. He was preceded in death by his father, Bill Hart (’52)
Brad Lee Allen, 59, of Canton, Texas, died July 11, 2021. He was born in Dallas, Texas, on Dec. 29, 1961, and married Beverly Doggett (’87) on Aug. 23, 1986. He joined the Dallas Fire Department in 1989 and retired in 2019. Among survivors are his wife, Beverly; daughters Jessika Allen (’14) and Madison Allen (’18);
his mother, Maudane Allen; and a brother, Craig Allen (’86). He was preceded in death by his father, Milton Allen, and a brother, Keith Allen.
Jeffrey Scott Davis, J.D., 53, died Aug. 29, 2021, in Cleburne, Texas. He was born March 28, 1968, in Abilene, Texas, and wed Wendy Cheryl Hall (’95) in 1991. He earned a B.B.A. degree from ACU and a juris doctor degree from Texas Tech University (1993). He was a founding member of the Johnson County Sports Association and directed its track and field program. Among survivors are his mother, Jana Showalter Davis (’64); Wendy, his wife of 30 years; sons Ethan Miles Hall Davis and Lucas Peyton Davis; adopted daughters Courtney Sue McAllister and Harley “Renae” Davis; three adopted grandchildren; a sister, Dr. Lisa Dudley (’94); and a brother, Jay Wayne Davis (’06) He was preceded in death by his father, longtime ACU chemistry professor Dr. Alvie Lee Davis (’55), and his granddaughter, Annabelle Rose Davis.
Marvin Christopher “Chris” Romine, 53, of Midland, Virginia, died Aug. 26, 2021. He was born Sept. 26, 1967, in Prince William County, Virginia. He served in the Air Force Reserves Maintenance Squad-Squadron 113, retiring in 2013 and then went into business with his brother as an aircraft fabricator. Among survivors are his parents, Marvin Lee and Sandra Holmes Romine; a daughter, Jenna Marie Romine; and a brother, Jeff Romine.
ACU junior Anthony “Tony” G. Moncivais, 22, died April 13, 2023. He was born Aug. 14, 2001, in Dallas, Texas. A junior studying in the School of Information Technology and Computing on the Abilene campus, he was a digital entertainment and technology major named to the Dean’s Honor Roll who participated in WorldWide Witness and was involved in student ministry groups with a local church. He also volunteered weekly in the Taylor County Jail with other local leaders. Among survivors are his father, Gregorio Moncivais, and siblings Guadalupe Moncivais, Denise Moncivais and Juan Monicivais.
ACU graduate student Ubong Gloria Assam Edohoukwa, 53, died Jan. 26, 2023, in Dallas, Texas. She was born June 20, 1969, in Lagos, Nigeria. Among survivors is her father, Frederick Assam. She was preceded in death by her mother, Florence Assam; her husband, Emmanuel; her daughters, Njoh, Idara and Anem; and siblings Idong, Itoro, Mandu, Emem, Mmayen and Odi.
ACU graduate student Stephanie Michelle (Johnson) Thompson, 40, died Jan. 13, 2023.
Evelyn “Evy” Elise (Byars ’79) Greenlee died Nov. 26, 2022, at age 65 after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s. She was born June 10, 1957, in San Antonio, Texas, and married Edward E. Greenlee (’79) on May 19, 1979. They lived in Kerrville, San Antonio, Ennis, Sulphur Springs and Vernon, Texas, and for the past 26 years in Abilene. Her career included work as an executive secretary, professional seamstress and a degree advisor for ACU’s College of Business Administration. Among survivors are her parents, James and Joanna Byars; her husband, Edward; daughters Lauren (Greenlee ’05) Morgan, Andrea Greenlee Cooper (’08) and Kristen (Greenlee ’09) Gil; and six grandchildren; a brother, Matt Byars (’86); and a sister, Laurie Stokes.
Former longtime psychology professor and chair Dr. Lonnie Ray Whiteside (’53), 92, died Dec. 24, 2022, in Abilene, Texas. He was born May 20, 1930, in Childress, Texas, and wed Betty Tomkins in the parlor of McKinzie Hall on March 10, 1951. Betty had moved to Abilene from London, England, to help a sister rear her children, and the couple met while volunteering in the bus ministry at North Park Church of Christ. He was a teacher in a one-room public school in Illinois from 1949-50 and a neuropsychiatric technician in the U.S. Army Medical Service from 1953-55. Whiteside served as ACU’s assistant registrar (1955-61) and became an instructor of education and psychology in 1957, the same year he earned an M.Ed. in secondary education from Abilene Christian. After earning his doctorate in developmental/social psychology from The University of Texas at Austin in 1964, he returned to Abilene as an assistant professor of education and psychology, and director of the Computer Center. In 1966 he became an associate professor of psychology and in 1970 a full professor who was also chair of the Department of Psychology, Sociology and Social Work, and director of psychological services. Whiteside remained in those roles until 1977, when he asked to return to full-time teaching and counseling. He retired in 1996. Ray served as an elder at Abilene’s University Church of Christ, and on campus, Betty was the only person to serve as executive assistant to four ACU presidents: Drs. Don H. Morris (’24), John C. Stevens (’38), William J. Teague (’52) and Royce Money (’64) Whiteside served on the Advisory Board of the Abilene Rape Crisis Center, the Professional Advisory Committee of Abilene’s Mental Health and Intellectual and Developmental Disability Authority, the Research Review Committee of Abilene State Supported Living Center, and on several committees of the Texas Psychological Association. Among survivors are daughters Denise (Whiteside ’89) Pevehouse and Melanie Whiteside Estes (’81); three grandchildren; and a sister, Ruby Simms. He was preceded in death by his parents, William Cager Whiteside and Eula (Austin) Whiteside; Betty, his wife of 66 years; brothers W.C. Whiteside (’49) and Don Whiteside; and a sister, Eunice Funderburk.
Dr. Paul Warren Ammons (’69), 74, former professor of social work, died Dec. 28, 2022, in Nashville, Tennessee. He was born July 8, 1948, in Longview, Washington, and married Frances Mourine Stewart (’69) on Dec. 22, 1968. He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from ACU, a Master of Social Work degree (clinical) from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and a Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University. He taught on the faculty of the University of Georgia School of Social Work for more than 29 years and led its M.S.S.W. program before joining Abilene Christian’s faculty in 2006. Before retiring in 2011, he served as chief administrator of ACU’s School of Social Work
and helped establish its M.S.S.W. program. Ammons was a recipient of numerous awards for teaching, received several grants and published in a variety of journals. Among survivors are Frances, his wife of 54 years; daughters Carol (Ammons) Lusk and Paula (Ammons) Threadgill; and five grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, Cleo C. and Madelyn Ruth Ammons, and a brother, Jack Ammons (’75)
Former U.S. Olympian and 400 hurdles standout Eric Ashley Thomas (’99), 49, died Dec. 30, 2022. He was born Dec. 1, 1973, in Garrison, Texas, and attended Blinn College, where he won the 1994 junior college national title. He transferred to ACU, where he starred for the Wildcats. Thomas was the third-ranked collegiate hurdler in 1995, finished fourth in the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials, second in the 1996 Pan American Games, and ninth in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. In 2003, he was the U.S. champion, won silver at the Pan American Games and finished 14th in the World Championships in Paris. He founded the Hurdling Over Obesity and Diabetes for Health program and the Eric Thomas Foundation, which provides support for underprivileged youth. Thomas directed Champion Trainers, a company in Houston, Texas, providing individual fitness and athletic programs.
Former longtime ACU trustee Jasper Smith Howard (’54), 90, died Jan. 25, 2023, in Texarkana, Texas. Howard was born Nov. 24, 1932, while his family was visiting in Monroe, Louisiana, and married ACU classmate Peggy Bobo (’55). Later, he served the U.S. Army in Germany after World War II, and attended the University of Heidelberg. He was a member of ACU’s Board of Trustees from 1969-2008, chairing its Finance Committee when it began in 1971. Howard also served on the President’s Advisory Board at Harding University, and was director of the Howard Foundation and the World Education Foundation. During his business career, he was president of Howard-Gibco, ranked at one point as one of Texas’ 100 largest corporations; and director/treasurer of Gibson Discount Centers and Howard’s Discount Centers, Consolidated Leasing Corporation (Fort Smith, Arkansas), MidSouth Development Company, and Central Printing Company and Stanley Insurance Agency (Monroe, Louisiana). He also served as president of Commercial National Bank (Texarkana, Texas). In 1987, Jasper and Peggy established an endowed scholarship at ACU to benefit ministerial students in honor of his parents, V.E. (’35) and Ruth Howard (’35). Jasper was an elder at Walnut Church of Christ for 32 years. Among survivors are a son, Jon Howard (’88); daughters Dr. Leslie (Howard ’78) Arnold, Anne Taliaferro (’81) and Sara Miers (’84); nine grandchildren; 12 greatgrandchildren; and a sister, Kay (Howard ’61) Young. He was preceded in death by his parents; Peggy, his wife of 58 years; a brother, Ed Howard (’59); and a grandson, James Arnold.
Dr. Robert D. “Bob” Hunter (’52) died Feb. 11, 2023, at age 94, concluding an energetic life spent in service to Abilene Christian, Texas higher education, the Abilene community and the state of Texas. He was born June 25, 1928, in Dodge City, Kansas. He enrolled at ACU in Fall 1948 and became a leader in all aspects of campus life, serving as president of the “A” Club, California Club, Frater Sodalis men’s fraternity and performing in the A Cappella Chorus and Men’s Quartet. He was vice president of the Student Government Association and a statewide officer in the Texas Intercollegiate Student Association. After completing his bachelor’s degree in business in 1952, he spent a semester at The University of Texas at Austin Law
School before beginning a tour of service in the Navy during the Korean Conflict that included work on the staffs of two admirals. While on his Far Eastern assignment, on May 27, 1954, he married Shirley Long and made their home in Japan until 1955, when they returned to Washington, D.C., for his assignment with the National Security Agency. During his year in Washington he served as president of the ACC Booster Club chapter there until his discharge from the Navy. Hunter’s first, brief employment by the university had been the summer after he graduated when he spent three months recruiting prospective students. He returned in September 1956 as director of special events, the first of many titles and many firsts. In 1957 he became ACU’s first director of alumni relations. While in that role he initiated the Outstanding Alumnus of the Year Award and persuaded the theatre department to begin the annual Homecoming musical with The Wizard of Oz, which sold out to more than 3,000 people its first year. A year earlier he had gained permission from the Student Life Committee to begin Sing Song. In 1962, Hunter became assistant to then president Dr. Don H. Morris (’24), a role from which he directed the multi-year Design for Development campaign that led to construction of Moody Coliseum, Foster Science Building, McGlothlin Campus Center, Brown Library and eventually the Don H. Morris Center and other projects. He served as vice president for public relations and development from 1969-74, and vice president of the university beginning in 1974. During those years he also served one term as a member of the Abilene City Council. Hunter earned an MBA from ACU in 1976. Active in civic affairs throughout his life in Abilene, Bob served on boards of directors or advisory boards for more than 16 organizations. In 1985 he became ACU’s senior vice president, a role that continued to include the university’s relations with government, remaining in that post until his official retirement in 1993. That year he was honored by a tribute luncheon raising $160,000 to establish the Bob and Shirley Hunter Endowed Scholarship fund. In February 2006, the ACU Board of Trustees named the Hunter Welcome Center in honor of Bob and Shirley, and a gala Deep in Our Hearts fundraising tribute dinner was held in Dallas to help fund the 57,000-square-foot building. An imagineer at heart, Hunter is credited with originating more than two dozen traditions at ACU to enrich the student and alumni experience, including Freshman Follies, the Parade of Flags at Opening Assembly, class reunions, and the annual alumni awards program. The Bob Hunter Sing Song stage in renovated Moody Coliseum was first used in April 2023. Hunter was best known in the Abilene community for the 20 years he spent as Abilene’s district representative to the Texas Legislature. That portion of his career began in August 1986 when he became the first Abilene Republican elected to the Texas House. In a special election to replace former Rep. Gary Thompson (’60), he defeated his opponent by 162 votes of nearly 10,000 cast. The subsequent 10 elections were less dramatic. Two he won easily against nominal opposition. Eight times he ran unopposed. In the House, Hunter earned a reputation of cheerfulness, unfailing integrity and doggedly working on behalf of higher education and his constituents in Abilene and Taylor County. He chaired the Committee on State, Federal and International Relations for 10 years, and later led the House Research Organization and was vice chair for the Committee on Regulated Industries. He served on the House Higher Education Committee where he chaired Budget and Oversight. He co-chaired the Special House Select Committee on NAFTA and GATT international trade agreements. A significant accomplishment of his legislative career typified his commitment to his district over personal interests. Hunter championed the bill that allowed Cisco College to build an Abilene campus during a contentious special session in the summer of 1990. Texas Gov. Bill Clements threatened to quash the bill because Hunter had voted to override the governor’s veto of the education spending bill. To get the Cisco bill passed, Hunter agreed to remove his name from it, thus relinquishing any credit for it on paper, though not in the eyes of his colleagues or constituents. The next year, Speaker Gib Lewis appointed Hunter to the powerful House Committee on Appropriations and Hunter chaired the state’s budget for higher education. Hunter’s understanding of Texas’ dual system of higher education began with his service to ACU and his leadership from 1970-80 as executive vice president of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas; in 1971 he successfully lobbied for creation of the Tuition Equalization Grant. At the time of its enactment, Texas was one of only six states to pass such a measure. Eventually all but one state offered some form of financial
assistance to students at independent colleges, many following the Texas model. Over the past 50-plus years, students at private institutions in Texas received more than 1 million individual TEG awards totalling more than $2.6 billion. His work for ICUT and in the legislature led to a variety of appointments and awards from state and national boards and commissions related to higher education. Over the course of his career, he received honorary doctorates from Texas Wesleyan University, University of St. Thomas, Austin College, Hardin-Simmons University, McMurry University and Pepperdine University. Among survivors are sons Kent Hunter (’79) and Les Hunter (’86); a daughter, ACU trustee Carole (Hunter ’81) Phillips; five grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, Grover Hunter and Grace Grubb Hunter; Shirley, his wife of 67 years; brothers Russell Hunter, Glenn Hunter and Dr. Wallace Hunter; and sisters Thelma Gieg, Velma Anderson, Phyllis Albers, Violet Denio, Dawn Trinta, Lila Long and Laurice Hunter.
Former longtime trustee Nola Sharron Owen Drury (’72), 72, died Feb. 27, 2023. She was born April 26, 1950, in Fort Worth, Texas, and wed Dewey Dearl Drury Jr. (’72) on Dec. 28, 1971. She taught elementary school in the Everman and Fort Worth ISDs for three years. In 1976 she became the volunteer elementary P.E. teacher and coach at Southwest Christian School, and served as PTO president and on the Ways and Means Committee. From 1985-2002 she led SCS in widely varying ways: as a sixth-grade teacher, dean of students, president, development officer, and head varsity coach for football, baseball and boys’ basketball teams. Later, she purchased Snelson Oilfield Lighting, and served as president of the Texas Christian School Association and on ACU’s Department of Teacher Education Visiting Committee. She also helped create the T3 children’s program at Alta Mesa Church of Christ. Drury, who received ACU’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1996, served on the university’s Board of Trustees from 2000-15, including as chair of the Purpose and Governance Committee and the Board Development Committee. She also was a member of the Compensation Committee and co-chaired the Presidential Transition Team in 2009-10 when Dr. Phil Schubert (’91) became president. Drury served on the University Council from 2015-23. Among survivors are a son, Derrek Drury (’98); daughters Daley (Drury ’00) Miller and Deneé (Drury ’02) Swindle; a brother, H. Dean Owen Jr. (’68); a sister, Kim Owen Williamson (’78); and 13 grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, Harrold and Betty Owen.
Longtime professor Dr. Marianna Yarbrough Rasco (’53), 93, died March 10, 2023, in Abilene, Texas. She was born Aug. 2, 1929, in Alexander, Texas, and earned an A.A. degree from Tarleton State University (1946); a B.S. degree in home economics (1953) and M.Ed. (1955), both from ACU; and a Ph.D. in home economics from Texas Tech University (1982). Before teaching in college, she was a radiologic technologist and lab technician for W.J. Cook Memorial Hospital and Beall Clinic (1948-52). She was also a first-grade teacher in the Abilene ISD (1953-56). She married Kenneth H. Rasco (’48) on Jan. 1, 1954. Marianna joined the ACU faculty in 1965 as a part-time instructor, and became assistant professor in 1979, associate professor in 1982 and professor in 1989. She was named chair of the Department of Home Economics and Family Studies in 1987, the same year she received charter status as a Certified Home Economist by the American Home Economics Association, and the highest public education award from the American Cancer Society. In 1996 she received a distinguished alumni award from the College of Human Sciences at Texas Tech University. A Certified Family Life Educator, she received the Outstanding Teacher Award from ACU’s College of Professional Studies in 1989. Rasco chaired Abilene Christian’s Faculty Senate (1986-87), was executive director of the Child Development Center; and academic advisor for undergraduate human development, family studies and child development majors, and the graduate program in marriage and family studies. She retired in 2003
as professor and chair emerita of family and consumer sciences, capping a teaching career at ACU that spanned 38 years. Later, she chaired the Women for Abilene Christian University museum board. An active volunteer in the community, Rasco chaired the Abilene ISD’s Advisory Council, and served on its task force for “at risk” students, its Textbook Selection Committee and various other organizations. She was a member of the Abilene Coordinating Council and received an Outstanding Achievement Award for Meritorious Service from the Taylor County Extension 4-H. At their retirement, Ken and Marianna’s combined service to their alma mater totaled 77 years. Among survivors are a daughter, Amy Rasco Coffey, M.D. (’79); a son, Kern Rasco (’80); five grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and a brother, Charles R. Yarbrough (’66). She was preceded in death by her parents, Riley E. and Izetta Tidwell Yarbrough; Ken, her husband of 60 years and the longest-tenured registrar in ACU history; and sisters Betty Lindsey and Sarah Beth Yarbrough (’62)
Longtime art and design professor Virginia “Ginna” Joyce (Gustafson ’70) Sadler, 74, died March 12, 2023, in Abilene, Texas. Sadler was born June 25, 1948, in Austin, Texas, attended ACU (1966-67) and earned a B.F.A. degree in art education from The University of Texas at Austin (1970) and an M.F.A. degree in jewelry design and silversmithing from Indiana University (1974). She taught elementary art in Monroe County Community Schools in Bloomington, Indiana (1974-76) and high school art in the Victoria (Texas) ISD (1971). She began teaching at ACU in 1980 and retired as professor emeritus of art and design in 2016, a career that nearly paralleled in length the years her late husband, Dr. Michael Sadler, taught on Abilene Christian’s physics faculty. She chaired the Faculty Senate in 2004-05 and received the College of Arts and Sciences’ Colleague Service Award in 2006. Her art was featured many times in exhibits, including at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C.; Minnesota Museum of Art in St. Paul; Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; Brookhaven National Laboratories in Upton, New York; Indiana University; Harding University; Union University; Lubbock Christian University; Texas Tech University; Abilene’s Center for Contemporary Arts; and ACU’s Shore Art Gallery. In 1985-86, her work was included in “Texas Visions: Sesquicentennial Celebration of Texas Artists,” a traveling exhibit for the Museum of Art of the American West. Among survivors are daughters Lela (Sadler ’98) Thorne and Laura (Sadler ’01) Tittsworth; six grandchildren; and a brother, Fred Gustafson. She was preceded in death by her parents, Winfred O. Gustafson and Marion Joyce (McIlroy) Gustafson; and Michael, her husband of 48 years.
Dr. Glenn Gray Davis, 86, professor emeritus of agriculture and environment with a heart for preparing students for vocational missions, died May 7, 2023. He was born Aug. 23, 1936, in Newport, Arkansas. Davis earned bachelor’s (1959 in agriculture education) and master’s (1966 in agronomy/ soils) degrees from Texas Tech University, and a doctorate (1973 in agronomy/crops) from the University of Tennessee. For years he developed reports from on-site evaluations in Burma, Morocco, Brazil, Indonesia, Egypt, Israel, Haiti and Liberia for the U.S. Agency for International Development and other international organizations. He came to ACU in 1985 after eight years as chair of the Department of Plant and Soil Science at Tennessee Tech University, three years in Brazil for the University of Wisconsin, and eight years (five as Department of Agriculture chair) at Lubbock Christian University. He was named dean of ACU’s College of Natural and Applied Sciences in 1987 and retired in 2003. Among survivors are a daughter, Lanette (Davis ’92) Young; and three grandchildren. Davis was preceded in death by his wife, Sue, on Jan. 28, 2023; and a daughter, Suzanne (Davis ’87) Bittenbinder.
Dr. Ray McGlothlin Jr. (’49), 95, the 11th Board of Trustees chair in Abilene Christian history, died June 28, 2023, in Abilene, Texas. He was born Sept. 1, 1927, in Grand Prairie, Texas, and came to ACU, where he met classmate Kay Dollar (’49). They sang together in the A Cappella Chorus and married Dec. 15, 1947.
McGlothlin graduated from ACU with a bachelor’s degree in Greek then earned a master’s degree in the same field in 1951 from The University of Texas at Austin. He served as director of the Church of Christ Bible Chair there from 1951-56.
While still directing the Bible Chair in Austin, McGlothlin entered the oil business, serving as vice president and later president and director of the McWood Corporation, from 1954-67 and as vice president and director of Texas Calgary Company from 1955-59.
The couple returned to Abilene and in 1971 he formed E-Z Serve Inc., which initially was a motor fuels wholesale operator but transformed into a gasoline retail business and by the mid-1980s had more than 900 gasoline retail outlets, primarily convenience stores, and was pioneering pay-at-the-pump technology. By 1984, E-Z Serve was listed among the top 10 biggest private companies in the state in Texas Business’ annual listing. The company was sold in 1986 to Harken Oil & Gas for $36.3 million.
The following year, McGlothlin founded and led SoftSearch Inc., a distributor for DXplain, a medical diagnostic tool developed by a Harvard Medical School professor. Under McGlothlin’s leadership, that company expanded to again engage the oil business with the purchase of Dwight’s EnergyData.
McGlothlin’s involvement with ACU was equally diverse and extended over seven decades. He served on the board from 1964-95 and as chair 1974-84, led two presidential search committees and oversaw Abilene Christian’s growth from college to university.
In 1968, together with his brothers Jack and Hal and their families, and Mr. and Mrs. J.A. Corbin, he honored his parents with the construction of the McGlothlin Campus Center. Ray and Kay were honored in 2015 by their own family and many friends with the dedication of The Quad, bordered by the Onstead Science Center, Hardin Administration Building, Phillips Education Building and the Halbert-Walling Research Center.
In the decades between, McGlothlin touched virtually every major project undertaken on the campus, whether through his board leadership, financial support or both. And his interests on campus were as diverse as his business experience. as diverse as his business experience. They helped build buildings and endow scholarships. They were consummate fans of Wildcat athletics, especially women’s basketball, so Ray honored Kay by funding the Kay and Ray McGlothlin Women’s Basketball Team suite when Moody Coliseum reopened after renovation in 2022. Ray also honored their longtime friend and ACU voice professor with whom they sang for decades with the Jeannette Lipford Stage in the Boone Family Theatre.
In 1984 the couple was honored as recipients of the university’s inaugural Christian Service Award, and he was named ACU’s Outstanding Alumnus of the Year in 1976. In 1996, he and former E-Z Serve founders G. Randy Nicholson (’59) and W.C. “Dub” Orr (’50) shared Distinguished Business Leader of the Year recognition by the university’s College of Business Administration.
Supporting students was central to everything McGlothlin engaged in – at the university, and in his church life. And the relationships he built with those students often began in the family’s living room where for decades college students from Hillcrest Church of Christ met for “Song and Supper,” a meal and hour or so of singing, led by Ray. At one point, the McGlothlins even renovated their home to expand the living area to better accommodate the monthly gatherings.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Evelyn and Ray McGlothlin Sr.; his wife, Kay; a brother, Hal McGlothlin (’58); and a grandson, Bryce Daniel Oliver. Among survivors are daughters Karyn (McGlothlin ’74) Henley, Nita (McGlothlin ’75) Rampey, Danna (McGlothlin ’80) Oliver and Caryl (McGlothlin ’82) Parker; a brother, Jack McGlothlin (’51); 10 grandchildren; and 27 great-grandchildren.
A journey of joy
One of Abilene Christian’s newest degree recipients is Dr. Landon Saunders, who received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from ACU on April 19, 2023, at the annual Friends of ACU Library dinner. Saunders and the Board of Directors of Heartbeat Inc. donated his personal papers and the longtime ministry’s corporate records to the university. For decades, Saunders has been one of the most influential evangelists in Churches of Christ, with an audience built on years of short, practical lessons broadcast on national and inernational radio.
Iam 86 years old, have stage 4 cancer, am near the end of my journey – yet, my joy is expanding!
More than 50 years ago I lived in Abilene during the initial launch of Heartbeat, which became my life’s work. My aim was to take a message of love, joy and hope to those who felt disconnected from organized religion.
During my time in Abilene, I taught a class on Wednesday nights that drew more than 1,500 students each evening – one of the great joys of my life. Their bold and questing spirits thrilled me. Conversations with them greatly influenced me and the work I was creating.
That’s why I’m so thrilled, all these years later, with the establishment of the Landon Saunders Center for Joy and Human Flourishing at Abilene Christian University. I still feel that connection with students! The center will welcome every student regardless of differences and will invite the creativity and participation of all.
The center will be situated in a busy and easily accessible main floor wing of Brown Library. One floor beneath the center, the Heartbeat archives is being assembled and will provide an invaluable resource for the center.
The archives contain a record of Heartbeat’s work from the beginning. It is a diary of my direct engagement in teaching and listening to thousands across this nation and many others. It is a glimpse into the experience of the hunger for love, belonging and hope, of the lonely tears, and the sometimes nearly silent cries of human hearts. And it provides a helpful resource for responding to those needs.
Joy is a theme that runs through it all. I have come to believe that joy is the surest sign of the presence of love, that it makes our love less fragile, less fragmented, in addition to making us a whole lot more fun to be with!
We all yearn for love. Love is the essence of
“human flourishing,” yet what we sometimes call love is so often fragile and fragmented. We see that fragility and fragmentation in marriages, in families, and in our neighborhoods and churches.
There is also an important connection between joy and human flourishing. Joy is love’s great ally! Joy holds no condemnation, judgment or fragility. Joy provides the atmosphere in which love grows, stays healthy and endures. Joy surrounds love, paves the way to love, evens out the bumps along the way of love. Joy steps in when love is strained; it keeps us balanced when anticipated love comes up short. In the presence of that joy, love is at its best.
I have made joy the default setting of my heart. No matter what happens, no matter my failure, no matter my loss, no matter my sadness, no matter the disease that now weakens my body, my heart returns to joy. Joy has room for all our disappointments, grief, tragedies, depression and fears.
From these direct experiences came the realization of the need to give joy a major emphasis, first in my own life, then in my messages to others – both to those outside the walls of religion and to those inside those walls. Jesus spoke of giving us a joy that the world could not take away.
Poet June Jordan wrote: “Maybe the purpose of being here, wherever we are, is to increase the durability and occasions of love among and between people.”
I believe achieving this purpose is the great challenge of every generation, a challenge especially true today.
I believe this purpose is a part of the dream and mission of ACU. And I believe this new center can contribute to that mission. And to that end I hope that this emphasis on joy and love will be deeply embedded in the heart of every student, that increasing the occasions of joy and love will be their mission as they make their ways into every part of this nation and world, that they will be the leavening power this world so deeply needs.
It brings me great joy – to think of the young, bold, questing spirits of new generations.
I picture them increasing the durability and occasions of love and joy all along the ever-changing and challenging new frontiers that lie ahead.
or Laurice “Lo” Hunter, there was nothing more important than family. The youngest of 12 children in a family that included her brother, the late Dr. Robert D. “Bob” Hunter (’52), Lo was devoted to her large family throughout her life.
After graduating from Wichita State University, she taught in Kansas and Texas, then moved to Colorado. She taught physical education and coached high school sports at Evergreen High School, eventually leading the volleyball team to nine state championships and 432 wins. Her success and dedication earned her a spot in the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, and Evergreen High School named its gymnasium after her in 2014.
In the early 2000s, Hunter began setting up Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs) to benefit her nieces and nephews through ACU’s Office of Gift Planning. CRTs allow donors to transfer assets tax-free to a trust that provides an income
stream to a named beneficiary for a fixed time period, after which the remainder of the trust’s assets are transferred to a named institution.
She established six CRTs, five of which were eventually funded, for the benefit of her nieces and nephews. After 20 years, the remaining income from the trusts will benefit women’s volleyball scholarships at ACU, as well as provide financial aid to other students in need.
CRTs are a “both-and” gifting instrument, says Jim Orr (’76), J.D., executive director of the Office of Gift Planning. “That’s the unique thing about CRTs,” Orr adds. “Setting up a CRT allows donors to take care of not only their loved ones, but also the institutions and the charities they love. This instrument allows donors to ‘give it twice,’ as we say.”
If you are interested in setting up a CRT or other planned gift, please contact the Office of Gift Planning.
If we can help you in any way, reach out to us at giftplanning@acu.edu or call 325-674-2508 or 800-979-1906 to talk to our helpful staff.
Dr. Robert D. “Bob” Hunter and his sister, Lo
Abilene Christian University
ACU Box 29132
Abilene, Texas 79699-9132
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Wildcat Visits ........................................... See acu.edu/visit for available dates or check out our virtual tour
Freshman Follies / Family Weekend
September 15-16
Football Pregame Party: ACU at North Texas (Denton) September 30
Homecoming
JMC Gutenberg Celebration
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Sports Hall of Fame Dinner and Lettermen’s Reunion
October 12-15
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October 12
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Homecoming Musical: Matilda in Boone Family Theatre ........
Football Pregame Party: ACU at Texas A&M (College Station)
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Class of 1974 Golden Anniversary Reunion
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April 5-6, 2024
April 7
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April 23-24
May Commencement in Moody Coliseum ...........................................
May 10-11
Audience members at the Friends of ACU Library dinner on April 19, 2023, sing “The Lord Bless You and Keep You” as a benediction over new honorary doctorate recipient Dr. Landon Saunders (’23 L.H.D.). In the foreground to the left are former trustee J. McDonald Williams (’64) and his niece, Vanessa Robinson (’11). The university announced plans at the event for the Landon Saunders Center for Joy and Human Flourishing. (See Higher Ground campaign coverage on pages 10-11 and Second Glance essay on page 64.)
