The View from Poly Heights Vol. 1 / Issue 1 Fall 2013
Costa Rica Summer Trip Ryan Ellison
This past summer, Dr. Amy Bell, Associate professor of Spanish, took a group to explore the country of Costa Rica. The trip gave students an opportunity to study abroad for two weeks at The Universidad Latina de Costa Rica (ULatina) and interactively learn the language, traditions, and culture of the natives. Rosy Perez, mass communications major, participated in the study abroad and had a great time. “Costa Rica was beautiful and I want to return”, Perez said. “I enjoyed myself so much that I didn’t want be distracted!” ULatina, located in Heredia, Costa Rica, was founded in 1986 with a focus on Business Administration and is a private university fully accredited by the Costa Rican government. Today the university has a full range of degrees for students from across Central America and other parts of the world. Courtesy of Rosy Perez Spanish courses taught at the uni- Costa Rican forest where the students got to explore while studying abroad. versity follow curriculum guidelines established by the Common European Framework. The ULatina is known for its first-rate academics and beautiful lo- with fellow learners in a beginner’s faster pace. cale, making it ideal to study abroad. Spanish class, or—for more advanced For more information on the study Students who participate in the study students—join a class with about 15-30 abroad program, please visit www.txwes. abroad have the opportunity to learn locals and immerse in the language at a edu.
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Arts & Letters
School of Arts & Letters
Mustang Million
features Professor Kit Hall Courtesy of The Rambler
On Sept. 21 someone became $200,000 richer and has a new Dodge truck after competing at the Mustang Million. The Mustang Million competition started Sept. 16 and continued until the Sept. 21 in Fort Worth. Various riders who adopted wild horses in May showed what the horses have learned during the four-month period under their trainers and with art and donation assistance from Texas Wesleyan Professor Kit Hall. “It’s been a great life experience to have the horse,” said Kathryn (Kit) Hall, a professor of Art, “and it just kind of grounds you.” Hall has been teaching Art at Wesleyan since 1994. For the past three years she has participated in the Mustang Million by selling her artwork. This year she wanted to donate her painting “Heritage” for the prestigious Will Rogers Heritage Gallery permanent collection, but it was up for auction to raise money for the Million. “This is a huge deal for an artist to be able to do this,” she said, “and so after that they are going to make prints of it and have a limited edition signed prints that will also be for sale. That’s been just an unexpected benefit from being here.” An author who wants her to make a book cover for him also approached her. People never know whom they will meet at these events or what future actions may come from participation in the Mustang Million. When looking at Kit Hall’s, many will notice the current drawings she is craft-
Courtesy of The Rambler Kit Hall’s painting “Heritage” was sold at Mustang Million to raise money.
ing. If you bring a picture of a horse, she will draw it for you and have it done before you leave. Some of the other vendors at Will Rodgers included Kay Reese. “I was at a rodeo in Waco about 15 years ago and discovered this product [leather conditioner] and started selling it,” said Reese who was impressed with Hall’s artwork. Michael Phillips, a worker at Will Rogers Coliseum where the competition was held, said:” I like talking to people from the foreign countries. You know get a chance to talk to them about some of their cultures. I really enjoy that.” During her time at Will Rogers, Hall came into contact with a man who had been incarcerated and who began to clean out the horses’ stalls after his release.
Hall said the man once woke up in the morgue (after having his arm cut) and gave his testimony about God. He also told her that the horses had saved him because no one would hire him because of his background. “Horses don’t judge you,” he said. “They take you as you are.” While being around horses Hall explained: “The slower I walk out to the barn, the better day I’m going to have, and so I take that to where ever I am going.” She also had the privilege of knowing her original painting sold at auction for $3,300 last week to assist with Mustang Million charitable projects. Please access The Rambler.org and Texas Wesleyan Rambler Facebook for more information about Kit Hall and the Mustang Million.
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Professor Peter Colley Courtesy of Meisa Keivani Left: Professor Colley working on one of the pieces. Bottom: Professor Colley teaching students to think outside the box in terms of creating art and creating an outward expression of an inward emotion.
Ryan Ellison
Eclectic work, abstract pieces, and geometrically based art was the point of focus at an exhibit held at Tarrant County College-Trinity River Campus during the spring 2013 semester. The art showcased was that of Texas Wesleyan’s own Mr. Peter Colley, professor of humanities and art. Organized by Professor Angel Fernandez, a former student of Colley’s, the exhibition features work from years of production. The level of success for Colley has been refreshing. “I didn’t come to art until I was about 39 or 40.” Colley said. “I came to art after I got tired of business and the rest is history!” Growing up in California, Colley always had a creative mind. He spent his childhood building forts in the sand, and in time, he learned to appreciate what he considers small luxuries, such as watching cars go by while he drank tea on the side of the road. It was only until after Colley received two business degrees that he realized his passion for art—precisely ceramics. Colley’s work explores a philosophical blending of his cultural experiences as well as his time spent in Thailand while
participating in a Texas Wesleyan faculty trip. According to his auto biography located on his personal website, Colley’s work “reflects his interests in how the disparate parts of life keep recombining in unexpected and sometimes serendipitous ways.” “Meanings in the work continue to reflect an abstracted appreciation of how
complicated and nuanced modern life can be.” Colley wrote. At the exhibit, expect to see a mix of philosophic, figurative, organic, and geometric works. For more information on Professor Colley, or to view his arsenal of work, please visit his website at www.http:// faculty.txwes.edu/pcolley.
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School of Arts & Letters
Faye Goostree Symposium Sara Popovic
Faye Goostree Symposium was established in 1981. Every year it takes place to celebrate the success of critically acclaimed woman. The focus of the symposium is to provide stimulating discussions. On March 19th the focus was all turned to an award-winning novelist Reyna Grande. She focused the conversation on her own hardships of Mexican immigration. She has written three novels on this particular topic. At the event Reyna opened up about all the hard times and pain writing these books inflicted on her. Some parts are still hard for her to talk about due to the emotions in brings out. The symposium is an event that some call inspiring and informational. It is held annually at Texas Wesleyan University and it is a place of pure knowledge that the students as well as the community can take advantage off. Grande wanted to inform young people on the importance of working hard and not giving up. “My memoir portrays the Courtesy of Marketing and Communications good and the bad that comes from imReyna Grande talking to Texas Wesleyan students about the hardships being an Mexican immigrating to the U.S. and I wanted to migrant. inspire young people who might be facing difficulties in their lives. I wanted to show them how important it is to continue to work hard and fight for their dreams. The beauty of this country is that there is a possibility of hope. And yes, the American Dream still exists for anyone willing to work hard!� said Grande.
Courtesy of Marketing and Communications Right: Grande sharing her story with the Texas Wesleyan students.
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Teachapaloozal! 2013 Conference
Courtesy of Kay Colley Dr. Kay Colley, Dr. Carol Johnson- Gerendas and Professor Terri Cummings (left to right) enjoying the 2013 Teachapalooza
Belma Humic
Teachapalooza is a three day event billed as an opportunity to catch up, power up, and reignite your passion for teaching. Dr. Kay Colley associate professor of mass communications, Dr. Carol Johnson- Gerendas, assistant professor of communication and Terri Cummings, associate professor of arts are all using social media to expand their classroom and engage their students. Dr. Johnson- Gerendas used twitter to build community and enable students to do research. Dr. Colley worked
on LinkedIn so it can help them network and help with job search for her upper-level mass communication classes. Cummings used Flickr for her photography students so her students can think critically with the Flickr community and engage with others. Johnson-Gerandas and Cummings were interviewed by Poynter and featured in a video produced by the institute, and were able to share that clip and their learning from Teachapalooza with other faculty members at the CETL kickoff prior to the start of the semester.
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Arts & Letters
School of Arts & Letters
National Intercollegiate Band
Adam Pratt presents Junior Recital at Texas Wesleyan University.
Sara Popovic
Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma, honorary band fraternity and sorority sponsor national Intercollegiate Band. Two students from Texas Wesleyan University Max Mucino and Adam Pratt were the students who auditioned for the band last summer. Mucino played on trumpet while Pratt played the cello. Pratt also performed a solo written by John Mackey one of the composers National Intercollegiate offers. National Intercollegiate Band offers students all over the country a chance to audition and work with great composers in order to master their skills and advance to the next level.
Courtesy of Adam Pratt
The auditions are held over the summer that way students are out of school and can focus on putting their best work to the test. “This experience allowed me to take my love for music to the next level,� said Mucino. National Intercollegiate Band is a program that began over half of a century ago. This organization continues offering a great deal of contribution to the advancement of collegiate band. This program is open to all qualified musicians, whether or not they are members. The National Intercollegiate Band brings members face to face with some of the most stimulating composers and respected conductors in the United States.
School of Arts & Letters
Arts & Letters
Texas Wesleyan’s
Quality Enhancement Plan Texas Wesleyan students produced and implemented the marketing plan for Wesleyan’s Quality Enhancement Plan, which aided in Wesleyan’s reaccreditation approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. SACSCOC visited Wesleyan’s in Spring 2013 after Texas Wesleyan students implemented the marketing plan for Wesleyan’s QEP, “ Think On! Think Critically.” The QEP is designed to improve critical thinking by developing student’s ability to investigate, analyze, synthesize, and communicate information. Students designed the integrated marketing plan in MCO 4346 Public Relations Campaigns class in Spring 2012 as part of a class project. Students worked with top administration to create and implement the plan. Ram Integrated Media Group implemented the campaign in Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 in preparation for the SACSCOC visit to campus April 15-17. The SACSCOC team also visited with students who created the campaign during their April visit. Courtesy of Kay Colley Right: Wesleyan focused on the Think On campaign to gain reaccreditation approval. Bottom: The QEP team held a ‘SACS’ lunch to gain student body awareness.
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School of Arts & Letters
Dean’s Honor Reception First Name Last Name
First Name
Last Name
First Name
Last Name
Alvarado Amaya Anderson Anthony Babb Beck Beltran Benavides Benham Birkes Blankenship Blasingame Bowers Branch Bravo Brech Briley Brimer Brower IV Brown Browning Buentello Burleson Burton Butts Byerly Calico Capaldo Causey Cavitt Chavez Coffey Curry Darr II De Leon Dean Dean Dominguez Eaker Garcia Garcia Garner Gee Gonzalez Graves Grounds Hanzelka Hayes Hemingway
Hensley Herrington Hicks Hilliard Hinson Hogue Hollis Howard Huie Humphrey Hutchison Iba Ikens Ingram Jackson-Mathews Jacobs Jimenez Johnson Justice Kniffen Larry Lasater Lavilla Lindsey Liptak Lozipone Lynch Mann Maples-Davis Mikulencak Moore Mosavian Mucino Mullins O’Donnell Ojeda Olmedo Olson Ornelas Orso Ortega Patten Pearson Perez Perez Pounds Ramirez Ratcliff Robinett
Shaun Samantha Michael Ashley Nikki Austin Namon Patricia Mandy John Jaime Henry Dalyn Chaka Jetti Tameeka Amistad Candace Paula Searcy Takoia Krystalyn Jessica Mary Jessica Marie Rhyan Sherry Emily Justin Heather Megan Macedonio Lisa Heather Faviola Stormie Steven Corina Russell John Travis Christopher Rosy Guadalupe Jessica Dulce Julie Wesley
Saffle Sample Sanchez Sanchez Sanders Sandifar Scheurmann Scruggs Shackelford Shoenfeld Slaten Smith Smith Snyder Stewart Swan Thompson Tiliano Toothman Valadez Vargas Vaughn Vaughn Vaughn Ward Wayne West Williams Williams Wright Wrinkle
Kaila Amanda Hector Jacob Rodney Katherine Heidi Jennifer Vanessa Amanda Victoria Caseye Deanna Kelli Selena Felicia Ingred Mariana Julie Jesica Josette Avary Jayme David Daphne Jason Rolandra Casey Janjura Chelsea Kylie
Christian Stephanie Brenda Alexandra Caylie Jeremy Cassandra Aaron Rachel Carol Boe Katie Tamara Barron Jonathan Seth Courtney Bonnie John Felicia Victoria Tabitha Whitney Kelly Margaret Cameron Jacyl Carleen Morgan Alyssa Daniela Laura Jennifer Archie Raquel Grady Mary Stephanie Hayley Amy Alejandra Jennifer Heather Juan Lori Robert Vicki Toni Laura