Wesleynotes Read about Dr. Jeffrey DeLotto’s first published novel A Caddo’s Way on page 6!
Photo by Elena Maldonado
A letter from the Dean Welcome to this edition of Wesleynotes, the School of Arts and Letters newsletter. We have had very busy summer, fall and spring semesters. All the departments have been working to meet the new 120 hour degree requirement. Theatre has completely streamlined and updated its program and plans to offer a new BFA degree in addition to its current BA beginning Fall 2019. The BFA options will allow students to choose from Design and Technology, Acting or Musical Theatre. Additionally, faculty from across campus have created an Innovation Task Force to recommend steps for achieving greater cross-campus integration in the undergraduate program, the goal being to strengthen the education our students receive and prepare them to enter successfully into graduate school or the workplace. Our faculty have been up to great things from leading study abroad trips, publishing articles, speaking at conferences, working on PBS documentaries and more. I am
very proud of the hard work they do both inside and outside the classroom to help our students achieve and make the School of Arts and Letters and the university thrive. They are a huge reason why everyone loves being part of the Texas Wesleyan RAMily. Gladys Childs, Interim Dean
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Charlotte Jones Anderson speaks to students Charlotte Jones Anderson, executive vice president and chief brand officer for the Dallas Cowboys, spoke in October as part of the Marjorie Herrera Lewis Endowed Speakers Series. Scott Murray, a television sports anchor and journalist, led the interview. Anderson was attending Stanford University and majoring in human biology when one day her father Jerry Jones called her and said: “What do you think about me buying a football team?” Anderson said she was shocked. “I was like, ‘Dad are you serious right now?’ He was thinking about buying America’s team for $130 million, and I was just appalled.” After college, Anderson moved to Dallas to start working for her father. She gained experience in how to market a brand and expand it. She then went on to establish the Salvation Army show during Thanksgiving Day. “That was a really hard feat. It happened all of a sudden, and I was so proud of myself,” Anderson said.
She said that she had to talk to the NBC director at the time, to fight for more air time on Thanksgiving Day. She wanted to get a slot on live TV so that the performance could go on longer. “Everybody [at the Dallas Cowboys] is so passionate about what we do, and whether they are in the digital media department or the technology department, or they are the linebacker, they are extremely passionate about what they do,” she said. “We get to be a part of something so amazing,” she said. “We recognize that there is an incredible responsibility that goes with that.” Anderson also gave the students a motivational speech at the end of her interview, encouraging them to find their purpose in life. “You are all here to make decisions about what you are going to do with your life, and what your first step is going to be,” Anderson said. “You want to ask yourself what your purpose is. ‘Why do you want to do what you do?’ not ‘What do you want to do?’” The Marjorie Herrera Lewis En-
Photo by Chuck Greeson Junior mass communication major Cesar Vidana with Charlotte Jones Anderson at the Marjorie Herrera Lewis Endowed Speakers Series.
dowed Speaker Series was established in 2015 by former Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter, Marjorie Herrera Lewis. With this endowment, her goal is to give students at Texas Wesleyan opportunities to enhance their education in mass communication.
Martin University Center to open soon The Martin University Center will change campus life for the better. The center, scheduled to open in Summer 2019, will give the campus more room to grow and a better environment for collaboration. The Martin University Center will add a variety of student-centered areas to campus such as more dining options, an expanded bookstore, a career center, study areas and game rooms. Director of Alumni Relations DeAwna Wood said that during the Wesleyan Wine Walk, which will took place on April 27, participants
will get a closer look at the Martin University Center. Executive Director of Facilities Development and Operations, Brian Franks coordinated tours of the facility during the event. Participants saw the completion of existing activities such as exterior brick, windows and doors. “New activities will include interior finishes. This includes wall tile, decorative finishes and flooring,” Franks said. “Also, the exterior will be taking shape as well with new paving, landscaping and seating areas.”
Photo by Chelsea Day The Martin University Center will be open for a first look April 27 as part of Wesleyan Wine Walk hosted by the Alumni Association.
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Bear Hunt collects over 150 animals
Photo by Wiley Lindsey The School of Arts & Letters Bear Hunt collected stuffed toys to donate to local police who use them to give to kids in crisis.
From Pikachu to puppies, the School of Arts & Letters collected more than 150 stuffed animals for the annual TxWes Bear Hunt last Fall. The toys are collected and later donated to local police officers to comfort children in difficult situations. This Bear Hunt was different from past years because the school of Arts & Letters teamed up with the Wesleyan chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators. Departmental Secretary Wiley Lindsey said partnering with IABC helped the drive, which brought in a good turnout. One of his favorite parts is seeing the officers come pick up the bears at the end of the drive. “It feels good every year knowing they are being blessed,” Lindsey said. “It makes me feel good that people have donated because they don’t know who they are blessing, and that is the beauty of it.” IABC President Karan Muns, a senior mass communication major,
started the social media campaign for the Bear Hunt, which brought traction on Facebook and Instagram. “I wanted to collect as many bears as we possibly could and increase awareness,” Muns said. “We had a lot of students who weren’t sure what the Bear Hunt was and didn’t know the purpose of it.” Muns said she enjoyed getting to partner up with the School of Arts & Letters because it was such a good cause. “It made me feel like I was making a difference for the police and the children in the area,” she said. IABC Vice President Hannah Lathen, also a senior mass communication major, said it was exciting to combine the knowledge and skills of advertising and social media she learned in class for a worthy cause. “We used a variety of social media posts and flyers to attract students, and I think it worked,” Lathen said. “We had a really great response.”
The drive does not only collect teddy bears, despite its name, Lathen said, which was her favorite part of the drive. “We had the son of alum Tristeza Ordex-Ramirez bring in his collection of stuffed Pokemon,” Lathen said. “That definitely gave the donation box a lot of color and character.” Muns said her favorite moment during the whole drive was seeing the police officers fight over which bears they wanted for their cars. “It was awesome to see them all walk out with a sack of bears in hand,” she said. Administrative assistant to the Dean, Elizabeth Hennessey said she always enjoys seeing the police officers go, “Oh! I want that one!” “For me, that is the best part of them when they take them home to the station,” Hennessey said. “They are like little kids. These big rough guys in their tactical gear going, ‘Ooh! Ooh! That one is mine.’”
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Kit Hall finishes career with several Art Gallery shows Kit Hall is looking forward to retirement at the end of the Spring 2019 semester, but that has not slowed her down in running the Bernice Coulter Templeton Art Studio as a team of one. Hall, who has been teaching at Texas Wesleyan for over 20 years, said she hopes the work she is putting in now at the Art Gallery will last long after she is gone. “It takes a while for people to come over here,” Hall said, “but when they do, they always go, ‘Really? We have an Art Gallery? That is so cool!’” The first exhibition in the Art Gallery was in 2017 by Texas Wesleyan Alumnus George Grammer. At this time, Hall began teaching all of her classes upstairs, above the gallery, leaving the showroom floor open for students and faculty to come to admire the art, even while new masterpieces were made above them. Most art exhibits are also accompanied by an artist talk where the artist comes to campus to speak about their work. “Last year we had four exhibi-
tions,” Hall said. “This year we have six exhibitions, one for each month. We hope to get more and more people to come over here to look at the art and enjoy the speaker series.” Hall said there is an exhibition featured from April 8 – May 2 including hundreds of 5x7 cards with the word ‘Hope’ written on them covering the room. She hopes to get students from many different organizations and majors to help her install these cards since it will be a time-consuming project. “I want to get people to see that the word ‘Hope’ is meaningful to them and the mission of their organization,” Hall said. “Just the process of putting this exhibition together will bring together a group of people that aren’t normally hanging out with each other.” Another exhibit featured in the spring was “Love Removal Machine” by Lee Hill, featured opposing mediums in an attempt to create visual conflict for the viewer. Additionally, there was an exhibit from February 25-March 28 called
‘Silent Covenants’ featuring sculptures by artist Rebecca Boatman. Most of all, Hall hopes that the studio can continue to grow without her there to nurture it. She hopes other departments and professors around Wesleyan will begin using the space for their classes. “I want classes to come over here and use this space as a teaching tool,” Hall said. “It’s here for the students more than anything else. You can use art for so many things; how do psychology and art go together? What about religion and art? Even business and art go together really well. Professors think they can’t get out of the classroom, and that is so wrong and unfortunate because the students would gain so much from being over here.” The Bernice Coulter Templeton Art Studio is open Monday – Thursday from 10 a.m. -3 p.m., with a new exhibit every month. The space has room for students to hang out and even a small coffee bar for those who want a hot drink while they examine the art. Photo Courtesy of txwes.edu (Left) Photo from Love Removal Machine by Lee Hill, on display January 14 – February 7. (Right) Photo from Silent Covenants by Rebecca Boatman, on display February 25 – March 28
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Study Abroad trips: London Spring and Greece Summer 2018
Arts and Letters students and faculty explored Greece and London. Dr. Kendra Weddle led a group of students in study abroad in London over Spring Break 2018. Dr. Gladys Childs and Dr. Chad Pevateaux’s students explored Greece during Summer 2018. Stu-
dents studying abroad in Greece visited the Temple of Poseidon, St. Paul Monastery, and the Great Theatre of Epidaurus. The students that studied in London visited the Old Rectory where John and Charles Wesley were born and Stonehenge.
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Dr. Jeffrey DeLotto publishes first novel Dr. Jeffrey DeLotto, professor of English, published his first novel “A Caddo’s Way” October 2018. The book surrounds the life of an old Caddo Indian detective and his crime-solving mysteries. DeLotto has been teaching at Texas Wesleyan University since 1983. He finished his bachelor’s degree with Departmental Honors at the University of Florida and got his master’s and Ph.D. at Florida State University. “I was fortunate enough to have wonderful professors, who helped direct me and helped me graduate with the departmental honors in English,” DeLotto said. DeLotto said he was a “bad student” and played around a lot. Eventually, he got serious and finished school. One of his professors looked at his portfolio and said, “he should consider graduate school. “I didn’t know what I was going to do, and it was just that one very short sentence, that’s why I’m here,” Delotto said. “It reminds me that what professors say to students, you often don’t know how much of an impact it might have.” The story of Delotto’s novel takes place in Western Louisiana and Eastern Central Texas in 1825. Two Hawks, the main character, is in his early 60s and a private detective who often solves murders. “This specific time frame is very interesting for me,” he said. “I’ve always been fascinated by the Caddo Indians.” DeLotto said he has always wanted to write a detective story, and he chose this specific time because he
Photo by Hannah Lathen Dr. Jeffrey DeLotto has been a professor at Texas Wesleyan since 1983.
was lazy. “I knew that if I were going to write a detective story set now, I would have to learn all of the police procedures, laws and modern forensic sciences,” he said. “I knew that if it was in 1825, there wasn’t any of that, and he’d just have to make it up as he went along, and it would be much easier for me.” DeLotto published a total of three books of poetry before A Caddo’s Way. He has also written multiple short stories with Two Hawks as the main character, and this is where his novel started. “I read those stories at a conference, and a colleague came to me and said, ‘I’d love to hear more stories about Two Hawks,’” he said. “And then I knew that I needed to write a novel.” The book took one year to finish. DeLotto believes that Two Hawks
truly lives and has his own mind which helped DeLotto finish the novel fast. “Sometimes when I was writing the novel, Two Hawks basically took over and decided where he was going to go and what he was going to do and what he was going to see,” he said. “I sort of got started and sometimes had to write very quickly to catch up with him, and that was a wonderful thing.” Also, there was considerable research. DeLotto drove to the areas he mentioned in the book to observe the surroundings and details that he could include to make the novel more realistic. “I think it’s a good story and a true story,” he said. “Even though it’s a novel, it’s a true story if the characters are real and true, even if they never existed before.”
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Theatre Wesleyan’s sucessful season Students spent countless hours working on costumes, set designs, learning lines, and making sure they were ready to showcase their work with pride and confidence. The first show of the season was Molière’s, “Tartuffe.” Senior theatre major, Rebecca Nagle, played the role of Elmire. She participated in all the Theatre Wesleyan shows this season. Nagle said the memory that stands out to her the most about “Tartuffe” was opening night. “We were getting ready and playing music out loud,” Nagle said. “I was nervous. Five minutes before the show starts, the theme to “The Greatest American Hero” starts playing. My dad would always watch that show, and every time I heard the theme I knew everything would be okay. ”
Flower Avila, senior theatre major, was the stage manager for the next production, “The Hostage.” Avila thought being a stage manager was a learning experience. “I learned what it was like being the ‘Go-To’ person in a large production, and how to call a show,” she said. Alexandra Flurry, a senior theatre major, portrayed the character of Violet in Noah Haidle’s play “Smokefall.” Flurry most enjoyed the feeling of professionalism she and her classmates brought to the production. “We were a working team, and we worked hard to bring out the attributes of our characters,” she said. The puppet featuring musical “Avenue Q” ran for one weekend in April. Darin Martin, a sophomore theatre major, will be interpreting
Photo by Elena Maldonado Theatre students performing in Tartuffe.
the character of Rod who is “a sort of uptight, no-nonsense, investment banker with a huge secret.” “I’m excited to take on a role of a puppet. There’s a lot of unlearning I have to do for this role, but this challenge isn’t one I’d decline.”
Tobin Griffin to attend University of Iowa Theatre student Tobin Griffin received a full ride to the University of Iowa and a graduate assistantship. Griffin is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in scenic design. He will be the youngest student in the program. The University of Iowa’s scenic design program only accepts two designers a year. Griffin was their first pick of 80 candidates. “Texas Wesleyan gave me the perfect set up to go to grad school,” Griffin said. “I’m familiar with many more aspects of theatre than a student at another university would be exposed to, and I have a large amount of practical knowledge. I
was also held to a very realistic standard of excellence which left me striving to be better.” Griffin decided to attend Texas Wesleyan after his high school director asked him to tour Texas Wesleyan. “I actually ended up at Texas Wesleyan serendipitously. I hadn’t even considered the school then one day my high school director told me to visit Wesleyan with them. After meeting the theatre faculty and viewing the space, I immediately just knew that that’s where I belonged.” Griffin believes that Theatre Wes-
leyan gave him the experience and support he needed to excel. “There is not another program in the country that I’m aware of that would allow me to have as much experience as I have gotten at Wesleyan,” Griffin said.
Photo courtesy of Tobin Griffin Griffin poses outside of the Law Sones Fine Arts Center.
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Arts & Letters
The Dean’s List Fall 2018 Edon Ademaj Azeez Akande Elizabeth Allen Taylor Allen Hope Allison Leopoldo Angel Flower Avila Lexi Barlow Alison Baron Thomas Bell Yisela Bolanos Tristen Brown Courtnay Bruner William Bull Myrna Camacho Gladneetra Campbell Syrion Carpenter Angela Castillo Connie Cervantez Arely Chavez Temuulen Chinzorig Britany Clark Kirsten Clarke Shanjala Davis-Allen Miranda Day Mendsaikhan Dorj Emily Feaster Alexandra Flurry Jamie Ford Douglas Fournier Reagan Fraze Rachel Frick Alexis Garcia Lauren Garza
Gary Girard Nicholas Goldsby Sophia Gordon Ronald Gray Ely Guy Nicholas Hains Thomas Ian Harris Kaitlin Hatton Doremi Hejny Juan Hernandez Enriqueta Hernandez Tyreeyana HerreraOtkins Bria Huckaby Benjamin Huebner Han Mai Huynh Madison Jarvis Zhe Jia Beatrice Key Katherine Knotts Mariah Kuhn Hannah Lathen Elizabeth Lloyd Olivia Lopez Dylan Luster Elena Maldonado Darin Martin Patricia Martinez Hugo Morales Saldana Karan Muns Rebecca Nagle Lindsey Nance Julissa Norment Carmen Ochoa
Christina Olivas Hannah Onder Bethanie Phillips Swanner Delaney Pricer Michaena Rahn Donetha Reinhardt Alonso Reynoso Amanda Roach Steven Roberts Jacqueline Rodriguez Jose Rojas Yajaira Rosales Javier Sanchez Mika Sasaki Michelle Shegedin Allison Shelby Daniel Sigala Ramirez Ryan Simon Samuel Smith Alicia Smith Trinity Stewart Ingrid Thomas Rachel Tomlinson Emma Tracy John Traxler Briana Trevino Raquel Velasco Marinelarena Sizhe Wang Alan Whetsel Setford Cordry Wiley Jacob Williams
Wesleynotes is the official newsletter for the School of Arts and Letters at Texas Wesleyan University. It was produced, designed and edited by MCO 3351, MCO 4346 and MCO 4350.
Editors: Karan Muns Hannah Lathen Contributors: Elena Maldonado Amanda Roach Ebeline Luna Tina Hyunh Chelsea Day
For more information contact the Dean of the School of Arts and Letters office at 817-531-4900 or stop by Polytechnic United Methodist Church Room 256.
Congratulations!