You can always count on the fall semester to ramp up the excitement on campus. The Class of 2028 may have arrived in the sweltering heat, but their energy never faltered as annual activities like Eagle Insomnia and the Mean Green Fling kicked into high gear. Then it was on to the first day of class, and their future had arrived. This photo of students in the University Union was taken through the green-and-white word sculpture that hangs from the ceiling there.
— Photography by Pete Comparoni
FEATURES
The How-To Guide
What is the best way to help others? How do you know whether something you read online is fact or fiction? Are there tips for successfully spotting a red-shouldered hawk in the wild? Is it possible to maintain a sharp memory as you age? UNT faculty and community members share their expert advice for effectively tackling these and other tasks in our handy how-to guide.
UNT’s 17th President Harrison Keller, a sixthgeneration Texan who grew up in the classrooms of schoolteacher parents, is committed to helping UNT students achieve their goals.
DEPARTMENTS
FROM OUR PRESIDENT P.4 University for the Future
DIALOGUE P.5
Next-Gen Eagle / All That Jazz Tell Us About / Instagram
BRILLIANTLY GREEN
UP FIRST P.9
Shaping Futures / Alumni Awards ON THE COVER Rob Parton, chair of jazz studies in the College of Music, gives advice on listening to the genre.
Stories Through a Lens / Student Voice / Open to Connection / Preparing for Emergencies
GIVING IMPACT P.16
Friends Forever
College friendships are often durable ones, lasting for decades despite long distances and life changes. Meet several alumni who formed connections years ago — and whose bonds remain strong today.
Billy Harper Practice made perfect for saxophone great Billy Harper (’65), who was the first Black performer in the renowned One O’Clock Lab Band’s history before embarking on a legendary music career.
EAGLES’ NEST
ONLINE
FROM COURT TO MOVIE SET Lisa Normand (’02) pivoted her career as an attorney to produce award-winning movies and TV shows.
EXPANDING ART SCENE David Baker (’22) assists emerging artists and musicians to showcase their talents with the North Texas Makers organization.
FRIENDS WE’LL MISS Find obituaries online.
northtexan.unt.edu/online
Give to UNT. Support student success with a donation. You choose where to give.
INNOVATION P.18
Next-Gen Semiconductors / Research Building / Hypersonic Materials / Hearing Aid Adoption / Music and the Environment / NSF Career Awards
MUSE P.22
Art Meets Fashion / Books / Swift Moves / Rise of the Blerds
MEAN GREEN P.26
Milestone Man / Building Community
CONNECTING WITH FRIENDS P .44
Bright Heart / Wild Women Alumni in Paris / Funny Business
RETROSPECTIVE P.51 Blasts From the Past
PERSPECTIVE P.52
The North Texan celebrates 75 years.
FROM OUR PRESIDENT
UNIVERSITY FOR THE FUTURE
A focus on student success and innovation will move UNT forward for Texas and the nation
I’m enjoying my freshman year as your UNT president, and the warm welcome I have received from our Mean Green Family is deeply appreciated. I believe we have a responsibility to use our talents to work on the world and try to do as well as we can, and it is an incredible privilege for me to serve as UNT’s 17th president.
A common question since my arrival is about my vision for UNT. To be clear, I’m still accelerating my own learning and getting to know students, faculty, and staff across our amazing university. I’ve expanded my leadership team to include deans, faculty and staff leaders, and students, and we are focusing our attention on developing action plans around three critical areas of work – student success, research and innovation, and strategic budgeting. I’ve also established a President’s Student Advisory Council that will begin meeting later this month.
As alumni, it is important that you understand my commitment to student success is not only about ensuring that students can graduate in a timely manner, but also about making sure they have the knowledge, skills, and experiences they need to launch them into good jobs and rewarding careers. Ultimately, this work will increase the value of your own degrees. Our core purpose at UNT is to transform lives and to serve as the platform for students, faculty, and staff to launch their talent as far as they want to go.
To help realize this vision, I am committed to strengthening our partnerships across the North Texas region with employers, school districts, community colleges, and other like-minded universities. In particular, I look forward to working with alumni and employers across the region and beyond to expand internship opportunities for our students and mentorship opportunities for graduates who are already pursuing their careers.
Thank you again for your generous welcome to UNT! To serve this great institution and its rich legacy, I’m learning as much as I can, as fast I can. Your stories and love for UNT are inspiring, and I’m looking forward to working together to make our great university even better.
Go Mean Green!
Harrison Keller, Ph.D. President
Read more about President Keller and his vision for UNT on page 28.
UNIVERSITY BRAND STRATEGY AND COMMUNICATIONS
LEADERSHIP
SR. ASSOCIATE
VICE PRESIDENT
KELLEY REESE (’95)
MAGAZINE STAFF
EXECUTIVE EDITOR JULIE ELLIOTT PAYNE (’97)
MANAGING EDITOR JESSICA DELEÓN
EDITORS SCOTT BROWN (’10)
HEYL MICHAEL KING (’24) KATIE NEUMANN CELESTINE PILERI ANTHONY SIMONE
TUCKER
North Texan North Texan magazine (ISSN 0468-6659) is published two times a year by the University of North Texas, 1155 Union Circle #311070, Denton, Texas 76203-5017, for distribution to alumni and friends of the university. Periodicals postage paid at Denton, Texas, and at additional mailing offices. The diverse views on matters of public interest presented in the North Texan do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the university. Publications staff can be reached at northtexan@ unt.edu or 940-565-2108.
Postmaster: Please send requests for changes of address, accompanied if possible by old address labels, to the University of North Texas, University Brand Strategy and Communications, 1155 Union Circle #311070, Denton, Texas 76203-5017.
The UNT System and the University of North Texas are the owners of all of their trademarks, service marks, trade names, slogans, graphic images and photography and they may not be used without permission.
The University of North Texas (UNT) prohibits discrimination and harassment because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal or state law in its application and admission processes; educational programs and activities; employment policies, procedures, and processes; and university facilities. The university takes active measures to prevent such conduct and investigates and takes remedial action when appropriate. Direct questions or concerns to the equal opportunity office, 940-565-2759, or the dean of students, 940-565-2648. TTY access is available at 940-369-8652.
Created by the Division of University Brand Strategy and Communications
I am a proud second-generation Eagle. After graduation, life took me away from Texas, and I haven’t had the opportunity to return until recently. I was in the area visiting extended family and made time to share UNT’s original Denton campus with my husband and son. It was fun to take a trip down memory lane after 19 years away — a few things have definitely changed, but much has stayed the same! I wanted to share this photo of my 4-year-old son, Thomas, on his UNT campus tour. Will he be a third-generation Eagle? It’s too soon to know, but I taught him how to make the Eagle Claw with his hand while yelling, “Go Eagles,” so that’s at least a good start!
Emily Wagner Feimster (’05) Charlotte, North Carolina
ALL THAT JAZZ
I’m from Maine. I knew little about Texas when I arrived on campus. I had been accepted to the School of
Library and Information Sciences and got off the shuttle bus from DFW to Denton. West Hall was the overflow dorm, where I lived for my first two semesters, starting in the fall of 1992. I checked in and decided to talk to the desk clerk right away.
“Where’s the party?” I asked.
“You’re off to a quick start. Just follow this street, walk down the hill and there’s your party.”
When I got down the bottom of the hill, I heard jazz music playing. I have been a jazz lover since I was a child.
I have taken jazz vocal classes for several years.
I followed the jazz to Jim’s Diner. I walked through the door, and four young people were blowing the place away. I later learned they were called The Juniors — students of the One O’Clock Lab Band. I miss campus sometimes, but it’s The Juniors I miss the most.
Sean McNair (’93) Farmington, Maine
SCENTS AND SOUNDS
I had the pleasure of spending time in what was then the old Union Building in its last days when I started in 1974, and much enjoyed the remodeled building until graduation. My favorite memory of the UB was the scent of flame-broiled burgers sizzling from the second-floor grill restaurant. The other is hearing the Lab Band playing downstairs near the water rock garden. Great memories!
Beth Brown Rosler (’77) Spring
STILL STRUMMING
In the fall of 1964, some 60 years ago, I was a member of the freshman class at North Texas State University, as it was then known. I was pretty clueless as to what I wanted to do in life, and I wound up settling on industrial arts for my degree goal.
During my sophomore year, I was rooming with Emmett Anglin (’68, ’72 M.M.) in West Hall. He was a music major (trumpet), but during the spring semester, he borrowed some money from me to buy a classical guitar. Practicing trumpet in the dorm room would have been out of the question, but the soft sound of the guitar, especially played fingerstyle, was OK and was mesmerizing to me. When he was in class and I was back at the dorm, I would pull out the guitar to see if I could decipher the information in the method book Emmett was using to try myself.
In 1969, I joined the Air Force and was accepted into the Officer Training School at Lackland AFB in San Antonio. By August, I was a second lieutenant and was sent to Texas A&M to study meteorology, and I spent
Thomas Feimster checks out the campus.
three years being a weather forecaster for flight crews at Altus AFB in Oklahoma. However, my main goal was to further teach myself the intricacies of playing classical guitar. In 1973, I left the USAF, and in the fall, I enrolled at University of Texas at El Paso as a classical guitar major and, in 1977, I graduated from UTEP with a degree in guitar and went on to get a master’s degree at what was then East Texas State University. While at ETSU, I met the love of my life, Mary Evelyn Reed, a beautiful soprano singer, flute player and part-time guitar player, and we got married in 1978, had two daughters and two granddaughters.
I was a college classical guitar instructor for 40 years and played a number of public recitals. In 2014, I also began self-publishing arrangements of solo classical guitar and ensemble music with guitar. I have sold these publications to many folks all over the world!
John Pinno (’68)
Temple
You can’t read the North Texan while you drive or do the dishes, but you can listen to Happy Friday, North Texas! Catch up now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio and more. unt.edu/podcast
TELL US ABOUT
We asked our UNT community to share their favorite memories. Here’s what some said.
Peggy Jones Klasen I had a secret hiding place for my 10 speed Schwinn at Maple Hall in 1969-70! I loved exploring the city of Denton on my bike!
Cindy Strait Music Building was my home. Loved walking to Language Building on Hickory when magnolias were in bloom. Practice rooms in the quads and in Bruce Hall basement. Auditions were held there as it was just across from Music Building. I went back a few years ago and it was still there like a long-lost friend.
Beth Ackley Bentley Lived in Maple Hall freshman year — 11 p.m. curfew (locked the doors), phone booths in the lobby, boys were not allowed in our rooms, only in the living room area.
@ConnorSmith_UNT Doesn’t get any better than this! A picture is worth a thousand words!
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UNT Division of University Brand Strategy and Communications 1155 Union Circle #311070 Denton, Texas 76203-5017
1. @lecrae
Always good to be in Texas and see the family and visit my old stomping grounds. God really changed my life here in North Texas.
2. @bellaschmukal
Dedicating this one to you @carlisle_appa_schmukal. T-4 days till graduation!!!
3. @maggiestith81
My baby boy at football camp. #meangreen
4. @loclark7
It’s been a long time coming.
ARTS & DESIGN
BUSINESS & INDUSTRY
COMMUNICATIONS & MEDIA
DATA ANALYTICS & INFORMATION
EDUCATION
HEALTH & WELLNESS
HUMANITIES & SOCIAL SCIENCES
MUSIC & PERFORMING ARTS
PUBLIC SERVICE
STEM
From humble beginnings on the square in Denton, UNT now serves students at locations across the Dallas-Fort Worth area as well as through online only programs. As the third-largest university in Texas, we fuel the intellectual and economic vitality of one of the most dynamic, fastest-growing regions in the nation.
We empower students to shape their lives and communities for the better and are united in creating tomorrow’s leaders — students who excel as teachers, artists, engineers and everything in between.
BG
BRILLIANTLY GREEN
Students found time for a few laughs amid all the heavy lifting they did while helping residents settle in at Joe Greene Hall in early August. Residence halls bustled with activity as boxes and furniture quickly claimed floorspace. A much anticipated event, Mean Green Move-In marks the unofficial start of the college experience for many of UNT’s newest Eagles.
Top Scholars
UNT students and recent alums have earned some of the most prestigious awards for rising scholars.
Sydney Fields and Ernest “Will” Cubit II (’22) in the College of Engineering as well as Kristina Fite and Marie Muñiz (’23) in the College of Science received the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship — one of the most competitive research awards in the nation for graduate students. Their research will help in discovering metal alloys and studying 3D-printed alloys for aerospace applications, as well as investigating the potential harmful effects of the chemical 6PPD and looking at what effect pesticides and rising global
ROUNDUP
temperatures can have on bumblebee behavior.“I am proud to celebrate these UNT alumni and students as they work to further research within their fields and help shape the future STEM workforce,” says Pamela Padilla, UNT’s vice president for research and innovation.
Electrical engineering alum James Jenkins (’24) earned a scholarship-for-service award from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) program, which is focused on building future U.S. leaders in STEM fields and offers recipients full tuition, annual stipends, internships and guaranteed employment with the Department of Defense after graduation.
Students Sarang Goel and Ramya Motati (pictured) from the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science at UNT were named 2024 Goldwater Scholars for their
Faculty and students in the College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism launched the Zero Waste Textile initiative, placing eight pink recycling bins at Chilton Hall and other locations where the UNT community is encouraged to deposit unwanted textiles so they can be redirected for repurpose and reuse. Assistant professor Iva Jestratijevic, whose research focuses on sustainability and new methodologies in retail and fashion, says, “The average U.S. consumer throws away around 100 pounds of textiles annually — one of the highest rates in the world. This program could be breaking new
work in the fields of artificial intelligence and solvation chemistry. Honors College student Chloe Moubarak studied Arabic this summer as one of only 500 students to participate in the U.S. Department of State’s Critical Language Scholarship Program.
ground as the first of its kind at a university in the United States.” ... Opal Lee (’63 M.Ed.) was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in May. It is considered the highest honor U.S. civilians can receive. ... UNT boasts an all-female team playing Valorant, a popular competitive video game, representing the Mean Green at national esports competitions. Team member Brenda Cervantes (’24) says the team’s camaraderie enhances their performance. “We have a lot of chemistry between us,” Cervantes says. “We can talk about problems we have, we’re very close-knit.” ... A group of students, with the help of a grant through the We Mean Green Fund, are placing bee boxes on campus to help nurture the ever-important bee population and improve the ecosystem. UNT is a Bee Campus USA Institution.
K-9 WATSON, A YELLOW LABRADOR RETRIEVER, IS THE NEWEST EXPLOSIVES DETECTION DOG FOR UNT POLICE, WHILE A BLACK LABRADOR PUPPY NAMED CLOVER WILL APPEAR AT PUBLIC EVENTS AND HELP COMFORT VICTIMS.
Stories Through a Lens
When Eric Gay (’90) takes a photo, he isn’t thinking about contests.
“I don’t like having that in my head when I’m shooting,” he says.“I want to do it to help tell the story.”
Now he is the recipient of the greatest honor in journalism. Gay was part of the Associated Press team that won the Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. Their work depicted migrants crossing the U.S. border, making the trek from Colombia to the U.S. One of Gay’s photos shows a mother pushing her young child under a razor-wire fence — an example of how he believes photojournalism can be a powerful way to tell someone’s story.
“We need fact-based journalism.We need to be able to show photos are true and actual and not manipulated in any way.”
Gay says he looks at the situation as both a photographer and a human.
“I’m just trying to show that crossroads of desperation and human resiliency. It’s an amazing trip that they make. And it’s so dangerous.Then they get to what they think is their final destination and they’re met with concertina wire — and law enforcement people trying to turn them back. It’s a hard story to watch and cover.”
Gay, who is based in San Antonio, has witnessed many changes in his more than three-decade career, beginning when he was a photographer for the North Texas Daily, then local papers, before landing at the AP. He always enjoyed developing pictures in the darkroom, even though he had to work
in bathrooms and broom closets. Now the images come up instantaneously.
“It’s been an interesting time for photojournalism because when I started it was film.A lot of it was black-and-white. And then you had color negatives and color slides and then transitioning from darkrooms to machines where you could transmit from negatives to digital photography — which almost set us back 30 years. But then the quality of digital cameras has caught back up to the quality of film. It’s been a big change.” He said he was humbled to receive the prize.
“When you think of the work you’ve done, it validates what you’ve been doing for so many years.”
Read more about his career at northtexan.unt.edu/eric-gay.
Student Voice
Senior advertising and brand strategy major Ethan Gillis is serving as the student regent on the UNT System Board of Regents for a one-year term through May 31, 2025.
Gillis will represent the interests of all students within the UNT System while attending and participating in UNT System Board of Regents business and meetings. A Golden Eagle Award winner, he was director of the Student Alumni Association and senator for the Student Government Association. Gillis, who grew up in Richardson, has Mean Green blood in his family — his mother, Karen Gillis (’93), is an alum. Gillis, who works as student recruitment and program coordinator for International Recruitment, aims to enhance student awareness of the UNT System.“I look to ensure that students across the UNT System feel seen, heard and valued,” Gillis says.“My goal is to do everything in my power to make sure that the voices of these students find their way to the Board of Regents.”
Open tO COnneCtiOn
Award-winning orientation leader makes sure trans students feel included.
When Chris Bills first participated in one of UNT’s orientation programs in the summer of 2021, he felt alone. A trans student from San Antonio, Bills noticed that there was a lack of representation of people like him.
“Representation is something that I think a lot of trans students really need,” Bills says.“They don’t think that trans people fit into specific spaces, so they feel uncomfortable.”
Bills decided to step up and usher in the change himself. He became an orientation leader with the Orientation and Transition Programs (OTP) office, guiding new students into the Mean Green family. Always carrying a positive attitude, Bills even inspired many other students to become orientation leaders as well.
Thanks to his efforts, Bills was recognized with the outstanding undergraduate student at a four-year institution award by NODA - Association for Orientation, Transition and Retention in Higher Education. The award was presented at the 2024 NODA Region IV Regional Conference held in March at the University of Missouri-Columbia campus.
“It felt really good to be recognized for the work I put in,” Bills says.“I know that I really care about students,
I care about our team and I care about making sure that programs in our office go well, but it was nice to see that other people see it as well.”
Bills decided to attend UNT for its campus community and small-town feel. He was a political science major before switching to social work.
“In high school, I was really interested in nonprofits and things related to social work,” Bills says.“At UNT, I took my intro to social work classes, and it was the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic that I really found a lot of joy in academics.”
Bills, who is scheduled to graduate this fall, is planning to continue his studies in preparation for a career in higher education by earning a master’s in social work or education. While he doesn’t know what role he will play, he’s certain that he wants to bring representation and visibility to future students just like himself.
“I think higher ed is such a social work field and I don’t think a huge amount of people see it that way,” Bills says.“Being able to connect students with resources and just being a support for them is really important to me.”
— Michael King
Star Student
1
EVENTS
The Texas Fashion Collection’s exhibition, featuring more than 30 ensembles culled from the collection, will be displayed through Feb. 1, 2025, at the CVAD Art Gallery in Room 160 of the UNT Art Building. Learn more at tfc.cvad.unt.edu/ exhibitions.
6
21-26
The UNT Dance and Theatre Department will present the classic play Bus Stop, directed by Sarah Rutan, at the Studio Theatre in the RTFP Building. For tickets, visit danceandtheatre.unt. edu/theatre.
Celebrate Mean Green spirit during Homecoming Week Oct. 21-26, with tailgating, football and more. Visit homecoming.unt.edu for the full schedule.
25-26
Storytelling takes center stage at the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference at Four Corners Brewing Company in Dallas. In years past, more than 40 Pulitzer Prize winners and finalists have spoken at the conference. Register at themayborn.com.
NOVEMBER
1-2, 8, 10 21-23
UNT Opera presents Cosí fan tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with the UNT Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Stephanie Rhodes Russell. For tickets, visit music.unt.edu/events
The New Choreographers Concert will showcase the work of talented Dance@UNT students. Additional information is available at northtexan. unt.edu/2024-dance
Find more events happening on campus.
Preparing for Emergencies
Samantha Taylor (’16,’20 M.P.A.) was visiting family when Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines in 2013.
“As the typhoon made landfall, we felt the forceful winds in our hotel rooms, lost power and witnessed flooded streets,” she says.
After the storm, her family helped distribute cases of water with the American Red Cross — and she found her purpose.
“Helping distribute basic necessities on someone’s worst day made me realize my mission in life is to continue helping others.”
Taylor was named director of emergency management for Denton County this summer and will oversee disaster response efforts. She learned from UNT professors in emergency management and disaster science, whose fieldwork has taken them across the U.S. to assist in the preparation and recovery of communities after natural disasters.
Professor Tristan Wu and his team were awarded a three-year grant by the U.S. National Science Foundation to study how people search for tornado risk information and make decisions to protect themselves and their families.
Associate Professor Ronald Schumann III is collaborating on a study that examines the efficacy of community-level wildfire risk reduction efforts.
SAMANTHA TAYLOR (’16, ’20 M.S.)
Director of Denton County Office of Emergency Management
“Plan for what your next steps would be, how you’ll communicate with loved ones and how you can stay self-sufficient until help can arrive.”
RONALD SCHUMANN III
Associate professor in UNT’s Department of Emergency Management and Disaster Science
“If you are able to afford it, have a kit put together of canned goods, bottled water, cash and prescriptions. Have a plan for where to go for safety and share your plan with family and friends so they know where you will be.”
View Ronald Schumann III discussing emotional attachments and disasters.
TRISTAN WU
Professor in UNT’s Department of Emergency Management and Disaster Science and associate editor of the International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters
“Educate yourself on where your local tornado shelters are and keep your phone charged when a storm is coming to check live weather updates.”
GIVING IMPACT
SHAPING
FUTURES WITH PARTNERSHIP
Krislyn Massey (’24) remembers the uncertainty she felt as she stepped onto the UNT campus as a first-generation college student with a foster care background. Without a family history of higher education to guide her, the path ahead seemed daunting. Yet, through the support of the Persevere UNTil Success Happens (PUSH) program, she found the resources, mentorship and confidence she needed.
“The PUSH program has been the support a first-generation foster kid like me needed,” Massey, an international studies graduate says. “They taught me how to study, manage my finances and advocate for myself, helping me graduate debt-free and enroll in a master’s program in human security. My future is bright because I made it that way, and PUSH showed me I had the ability to do so all along.
Massey ’s journey is just one of many being transformed by UNT’s commitment to empowering students with foster care backgrounds. A $1.1 million grant from the Moody Foundation’s M-Pact Fund is amplifying these efforts, opening new doors and expanding opportunities for students statewide. This initiative is set to redefine educational support systems, ensuring that students like Massey not only access higher education but thrive within it. Seven institutions that stretch across Texas are at the center of this grant.
One of the seven institution pilot sites is UNT’s PUSH program, a comprehensive support network covering academics, financial literacy, career readiness and social wellbeing for students who have experienced foster care. The new funding will allow PUSH and other institutional campus support programs to partner with Education Reach for Texans, a nonprofit focused on improving post-secondary outcomes for students with experience in foster care across the state by providing technical support and training.
Elizabeth With, UNT’s senior vice president for the Division of Student Affairs, sees this collaboration as pivotal. “This partnership is an opportunity to impact student
success in profound ways,” With says. “It enhances our efforts to cultivate success among students with foster care backgrounds. We’re thrilled to welcome Education Reach for Texans to our campus and look forward to the strides we’ll make together.”
The grant not only strengthens PUSH’s existing programs but also introduces an innovative statewide peer mentoring model. Managed by UNT, this program will hire and train students with lived experience in foster care to mentor their peers and encourage them to utilize the Texas Tuition and Fee Waiver to realize their academic dreams.
Ryan McLendon (’24), an English major who benefited from PUSH, reflects on the significance of the program in his own life. “PUSH showed me what it meant to have a purpose in life. I came to UNT because of the Summer Bridge program, and PUSH gave me a steady environment to acclimate in as I went from Magnolia, a town of roughly 3,000 people, to a campus of more than 46,000.”
During his time with PUSH, McLendon was given a chance to grow as a scholar, but it was the personal touch that left the deepest impact. “When I signed up for Summer Bridge, they asked me for details like my favorite snack and song. I
Ryan McLendon (’24) benefited from the Persevere UNTil Success Happens (PUSH) program.
didn’t think much of it until I arrived on campus, shaken from a four-hour drive on my own. I walked into my dorm trembling and saw a bag of dried chili mangos sitting on my desk. Someone on staff had taken the effort to do this just to greet me. I felt more loved and seen by that one act of kindness than I’d felt in years.”
With each student’s journey comes unique challenges, notes Sheila Bustillos, director of assessment in UNT’s Division of Student Affairs and co-founder of Education Reach for Texans. “Only 16% of students with experience in foster care graduate with a degree in Texas,” Bustillos says. “Research shows, however, that students who use the Texas Tuition and Fee Waiver are 3.5 times more likely to graduate with a postsecondary education credential.”
The Moody Foundation’s M-Pact Fund, part of a historic $1 billion commitment to Texas education over the next two decades, creates a statewide network of solutions, fostering collaboration and sharing best practices. The first cohort of grantees, including the UNT and Education Reach for Texans partnership, will convene annually starting in 2025 to exchange insights and strategies, building a robust support system for future generations.
“We’re not working in isolation,” Bustillos says. “By connecting with other institutions and support programs, we’re creating a unified effort to support students with experience in foster care.”
One of those students was Massey.
“My experience at UNT has shown me that with the right support, we can achieve anything,” Massey says. “PUSH gave me that support and the belief that my past doesn’t define my future.”
— Amanda Yanowski
UNT Alumni Awards
A new group of outstanding alumni will be honored at the Alumni Awards at 6 p.m. Oct. 23 in the UNT Union as part of Homecoming Week festivities. Learn more at untalumni.com.
Distinguished Alumni Award
The most prestigious award given by the UNT Alumni Association, honoring alumni for professional achievement and noteworthy contributions to society and the university.
Tito Guerrero III (’71)
Rex Glendenning (’79)
Diann Huber (’01)
Rising Star Award
Recognizes recent graduates for distinguished achievement that has merited the honor and praise of peers and colleagues.
Jackie Davis (’15)
Outstanding Alumni Service Award
Presented to individuals who have provided exceptional volunteer service to UNT or their community.
Drew Springer Jr. (’88)
Ulys Knight Spirit Award
Given to an individual or group that has made noteworthy efforts to show exceptional UNT spirit.
Todd Samuels (’90)
Next-Gen Semiconductors
New research center will focus on advancing the building blocks of electronics
Learn more about UNT’s Tier One research. research.unt.edu
UNT launched the Center for Microelectronics in Extreme Environments (CMEE), which will advance the development of next-generation semiconductors, supporting regional and state efforts to grow the industry and train the future semiconductor workforce. The center brings together expertise from more than a dozen faculty members in materials science, physics, chemistry, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. The center’s main research emphasis will be on creating semiconductors that are needed for high-power electronic devices for commercial use, but also for more specialized applications needed by government agencies.“In use, they need to function in pretty much every environment you could think of,” CMEE director Nigel Shepherd says.“The knowledge from our research will lead to devices that can better withstand extreme operating conditions.”
CAN AI HELP US MAKE BETTER EATING CHOICES? CHECK OUT UNT’S YOUTUBE SERIES, THE LAB, TO GET THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION AND OTHERS UNT RESEARCHERS ARE STUDYING.
“I’ve had scholars tell me, ‘I use the Portal every day’ or ‘The Portal has completely changed the way I do research on Texas history.’ That’s when you know you’ve made a real impact in the field.”
—
Cathy Nelson Hartman
UNT Associate Dean of Libraries Emeritus on how the Portal to Texas History she created 20 years ago has transformed digital scholarship.
Read more about the Portal to Texas History’s founding and how it became one of the world’s most used online historical archives on Texas history. northtexan.unt.edu/portal-texas-history
RESEARCH BUILDING
This summer, UNT celebrated the groundbreaking (above) for a 111,000-square-foot multidisciplinary research building on its Denton campus that will support its historic growth as a Carnegie-ranked Tier One public research university. The project is possible thanks to $103.4 million in tuition revenue bonds authorized by the 87th Texas Legislature in 2021. In addition to more collaborative spaces for interdisciplinary research, the new Science and Technology Building will create experiential learning opportunities for students.“To solve really challenging questions that society faces or to develop new technologies, it takes people from different areas and different fields coming together,” says Pamela Padilla, UNT vice president for research and innovation.
HYPERSONIC MATERIALS
College of Engineering research will contribute to future hypersonic aerospace vehicles and systems, which will need to be produced with materials that are capable of withstanding higher Mach speeds, ultrahigh surface temperatures and extreme environments.
With a $2.6 million U.S. Army Research Office grant and support from analytical instrument manufacturer Rigaku, UNT is developing a oneof-a-kind X-ray diffraction system, which can simulate extreme temperatures and test whether materials would be suitable for hypersonic applications. Through UNT’s Center for Agile and Adaptive Additive Manufacturing (CAAAM), researchers also are uniquely positioned to develop agile and adaptive additive manufacturing for hypersonic systems with their expertise in advanced materials and 3D printing.
Hearing Aid Adoption
Audiology and speech-language pathology faculty Sharon Miller, Erin Schafer and Boji Lam are leading a multi-year study funded by the Hearing Aid Industry Research Consortium examining what cognitive and emotional performance changes occur during hearing aid adoption.
Through a series of study sessions (below) and hearing aid-use monitoring, preliminary results show that hearing aid users have more ease with communication, increased fluid cognition and improved overall emotional health.
“We have a very low adoption rate for hearing aids in the U.S.,” Miller says.“Typically, only 30% of adults who would benefit from hearing aids actually get them, so we’re hopeful the results of our research will promote better adoption and success with hearing aids.”
Music and the Environment
Conversations about environmentalism within the field of music and sound studies are generally not robust, but UNT music theory professor Andrew Chung is working to change that. This summer, Chung studied at the American Antiquarian Society (AAS) library in Worcester, Massachusetts, for a project to examine the musical connection to Earth’s current climatological condition. The research was supported by a fellowship from AAS with funds derived from a grant to the society by the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities. “There’s a tendency to romanticize music as being the purest expression of the inner heart and the spirit. But music really is affected by worldly goals and concerns and activities,” Chung says.
NSF CAREER Awards
UNT assistant professors Yuan Li (physics), Xiao Li (materials science and engineering) and Yuanxi Wang (physics) (above) have earned more than $1.8 million in total grants through the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Program. The awards will support their research ranging from unlocking new possibilities with liquid crystals for template nucleation and growth of inorganic species, to furthering the understanding of supermassive black holes and investigating molecular defects in solid materials for quantum devices.
The NSF CAREER award is the most prestigious recognition for early career research faculty. Including its most recent honorees, UNT has 25 faculty members who have earned NSF CAREER awards over the years.
Fulbright Winners
Nine faculty and six students recently earned awards and recognition from the prestigious Fulbright Program. Faculty Kathryne Beebe, George James, Vladimir Shulaev and Elyse Zavar were named Fulbright U.S. Scholars; James Thurman is a recipient of the Fulbright Specialist Program Award; Kimi King, Xiaohui Li and Sarah Moore earned Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad to Colombia; and Cindy Denmark and Sarah Moore received Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Extension Awards to Norway. Students Stephanie Chavez, Ricardo Estrada, Javier Garcia Vazquez, Michael Lewis, Charlotte MacDonald and Matthew Nguyen earned awards for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.
COLLABORATIVE INNOVATION
As one of the nation’s Tier One public research universities, we are discovering tomorrow’s knowledge through collaboration and innovation. Together with supportive mentors, students learn in creative environments that combine academic excellence, hands-on experience and thought-provoking research to spark their imaginations. Our dedicated faculty provide an educational experience that challenges and enriches students, ensuring they have the power to compete with anyone, anywhere.
Art Meets Fashion
Abstract paintings by a CMHT alumna adorn the apparel items she designs.
A line of clothing featuring the vibrant artwork of Alana Kay (’04) is featured on HSN, formerly known as the Home Shopping Network. “People want joy and they want to feel happy, and color has the power to do that,” she says of her designs.
After graduating from UNT with a bachelor’s degree in merchandising from the College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism, she established Alana Kay Art, creating original, custom abstract paintings. Her designs also emblazon jewelry and home décor items.
“It’s not just another printed tchotchke — but instead a truly beautiful piece of art as a product.”
For the othrwīs by Alana Kay apparel line, she designs each piece of clothing including casual blouses, pants, jumpsuits and dresses, which are constructed of fabric printed with her original artwork.
This spring, Alana Kay traveled to HSN’s studio in St. Petersburg, Florida, where she appeared live on air as part of the clothing line’s launch.
The HSN show hosts “were so easy to talk to,” she says. “It was a fascinating experience.”
Read more about Alana Kay’s artwork. northtexan.unt.edu/art-meets-fashion
I WANTED TO BE ABLE TO SIT DOWN WITH PEOPLE, HEAR THEIR STORIES, LEARN MORE ABOUT THEM AND WHAT DRIVES THEM.”
— Kendall Myers (’14), host of the YouTube series Painting with People.
The alumni present advice on creating inclusive experiences for neurodiverse visitors within arts and cultural institutions.
Books
Ancestral Genomics
“Few African American families are without members or friends who have not suffered from diseases such as salt-sensitive hypertension and kidney failure,” history professor Constance B. Hilliard says. She came face to face with this fact when she was misdiagnosed with renal failure while living in Japan. After an American doctor established that she did not have kidney disease — because her race affected her bloodwork — she set out on a decade-long quest to address race as a measure of health in genomic medicine. “The knowledge that these disorders may be preventable in some cases could be a Black health game-changer.”
The Art of Mary Linwood
Heidi A. Strobel
The professor of art history highlights British textile artist and gallery owner
Mary Linwood’s gallery guides, unpublished letters, works and catalogues as a contribution to the scholarship on women in the 19th century.
Blue: A History of Postpartum Depression in America
Rachel Louise Moran
Using oral histories and archival research, the associate professor of history examines the history of postpartum mental illness and the rise of postpartum depression advocacy.
With Design in Mind
CVAD alum draws inspiration from many sources.
As the son of a U.S.Air Force fighter pilot, Thomas Rodgers (’12) called the former England Air Force Base in Louisiana home early in his life.
The colorful artwork featured on the patches and insignias of the squadrons stationed there served as early inspiration for Rodgers, who studied in the College of Visual Arts and Design and earned a bachelor’s degree in printmaking. He went on to a successful career as a graphic designer, illustrator and art director, having produced commercial artwork and designs for brands including Harley Davidson and Lone Star Beer.
A pair of his designs adorn patches, stickers, casual hats and T-shirts sold at the UNT CoLab, the downtown Denton art gallery, boutique and event venue that’s run through the College of Merchandising, Hospitiality and Tourism.
The art Rodgers produces is inspired from a variety of sources.“It’s anything that speaks to me. It can be fine art. It can be folk art,” he says — or even the collection of 5,000 vintage matchbooks he’s amassed.
His growing list of clients crosses the country. Most learn about him through word of mouth and via social media.
“Having it come full circle and creating designs for UNT is kind of surreal,” he says.
Learn more about Rodgers’ career.
ACTOR THOMAS HAYDEN CHURCH, WHO ATTENDED UNT DURING THE 1980S, IS AMONG THE CAST OF WAKE UP DEAD MAN: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY , SET TO PREMIERE IN 2025 ON NETFLIX.
‘Late Night’ Drumming
Educator strives to impact and uplift girls through jazz.
In the rhythmic world of jazz, Colleen Clark (’19 D.M.A.) is a pillar of inspiration and empowerment. The first woman and drummer to earn a doctorate in jazz performance at UNT, she continues to create meaningful impact within music and education.
In January, Clark spent four nights as a guest drummer on Late Night with Seth Meyers, which she calls “a foundational moment in my life.”
An assistant professor of jazz studies at the University of South Carolina, she created and founded its Jazz Girls Day program designed to get more women and girls involved in jazz. “It’s about uplifting girls and letting them know that it’s cool to play jazz,” she says.
As the first woman to hold a doctorate in jazz performance from UNT, she reflects on what the title means to her. “I am the first and only woman to do that and it’s been 75 years,” Clark says. “We should never be satisfied with what we’re doing because we can always get better.”
Read more about Clark’s Late Night appearance. northtexan.unt.edu/late-night-drumming
Swift Moves
Two alumni perform as part of a Taylor Swift tribute band.
During one of her modern dance classes at UNT, Ginny Wheeler (’18) needed a partner. She asked her classmate, Danielle Willis (’18). “I think she works hard like I do,” Wheeler thought at the time. “We were having to do stuff that involved a lot of trust, like having to bend over backward over Danielle’s back. And ever since then, I feel we became glued at the hip.”
Their friendship has evolved into a working partnership that centers on one of their favorite musicians. They perform as part of Red: A Taylor Swift Tribute, a band that tours at festivals and venues nationwide. They hit the road around the country while teaching classes at universities and studios around the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The duo notes that they are bringing an experience to fans who may not be able to see Swift in concert. Willis remembers their first show, which sold out.
“When you perform dance — live or musical theater — you feed off the energy from the audience, and it’s just a different feeling than if you were to dance by yourself in the studio,” Willis says. “But when we got on that stage, with all the screaming, cheering Swifties, that energy was so high. It was so visceral. It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced from an audience.”
Read more about life on the road. northtexan.unt.edu/swift-moves
Rise of the Blerds
Eboni Johnson-Kaba (’21 M.F.A.) never thought she would pursue a career in film, yet now she’s both a director and producer.
With the backing of the Producers Guild of America’s PGA Create lab, she shined a spotlight on an underrepresented community with Blerd Nation, a documentary series co-produced by fellow alumnus Barry Thornburg (’18 M.F.A.), which focuses on the Black nerd, or “Blerd,” community.
“This culture runs very deep in the Black community,” Johnson-Kaba says. “It’s really just an exploration of how Black nerds have and will continue to bring new popularity to nerd and fandom spaces.”
The PGA Create lab gave the co-producers the support they needed to work on Blerd Nation. “There’s not a lot of media that features Black nerd culture,” she says. “We haven’t had a lot of eyes pointing on us, but I think we’ve been here all along.”
Read about the documentary. northtexan.unt.edu/blerds
Making Noise
Vocalist and composer Shara Nova’s (’97) career is known for its versatility and innovation.
She leads the chamber band My Brightest Diamond, with its new album Fight The Real Terror, released this fall. She arranges music for symphonies and chorales from around the world. She collaborated on three works that were nominated for Grammys in 2024. Earlier this year, she played electric guitar and sang in the Broadway production of Illinoise and took part in the Tony Awards ceremony
She remembers advice from her vocal teacher, the late Laurel Miller, that would have a profound effect on her singing and her values.
“One thing she would say is, ‘If there’s only one person in the audience that understands what you’re doing, you should consider yourself very lucky,’” Nova says. “I never wanted to take for granted that feeling of reciprocity that happens with an audience. It is rare.”
Read more. northtexan.unt.edu/ making-noise
Stories Shared
UNT faculty explore trauma, social justice and music.
Storytelling in pursuit of connection, change and cultural preservation is at the heart of creative research projects being produced by three UNT professors as the 2024-25 Institute for the Advancement of the Arts Faculty Fellows.
Eugene Martin, professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences’ Department of Media Arts, will create a feature film titled American Street. It will tell stories of people navigating the financial struggles of the first of the month in the former manufacturing hub of Kensington, Philadelphia. Molly Fillmore, professor and chair in the College of Music’s Division of Vocal Studies, will pursue an interdisciplinary project culminating in a commercially released music album of songs performed in London during the Regency era, roughly 1795-1837.
Grammy-nominated jazz trumpeter Philip Dizack, assistant professor of jazz trumpet in the College of Music’s Division of Jazz Studies, will be both composer and a soloist on “Brass Regalia,” which will convey a personal narrative of resilience through childhood emotional trauma and sexual abuse, the long-term effects of those experiences and the healing process through eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy.
Read more about the fellows and their projects. northtexan.unt.edu/stories-shared
MEAN GREEN
Milestone Man
Women’s soccer head coach John Hedlund will celebrate two major milestones this fall.
Mean Green women’s soccer head coach John Hedlund is in the middle of his 30th season after founding the program in 1995. Pearls are the traditional gift for the 30th anniversary, but rather than opening a string of pearls, Hedlund’s team is working toward a string of wins to get their coach closer to another major milestone: his 400th career victory.
Already the university’s all-time winningest head coach, Hedlund’s win count sits at 396 at the time of this writing, but if the squad’s hot
Check out more sports. meangreensports.com
start is any indicator, 400 may be well in the rearview by the time this issue hits mailboxes. In his first 29 full seasons as head coach, Hedlund won 16 conference championships and never had a losing season.
“It’s been an absolute honor to be at such a great institution for the last 30 years, especially a program I started and built in 1995,” Hedlund says.
“The goal this year for us is to get the program’s 400th win, keep the streak of 30 consecutive winning seasons alive and obviously add to
our record 16 championships. Thirty years have gone fast but there have been so many great memories over the years and as a head coach, being at the University of North Texas, I couldn’t have done it at a better place.
I will always bleed green and hope to continue the winning tradition here in the future for our great women’s soccer program.”
20th Anniversary
This fall, UNT Athletics is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the football team’s 2004 Sun Belt Conference Championship. It was the last of four straight conference titles for the Mean Green from 2001 to 2004, during which the team compiled a cumulative conference record of 25-1.
“For me, the most satisfying thing of that 2004 team was seeing the guys win,” says former UNT head coach Darrell Dickey, who led the team from 1998 to 2006. “Winning our fourth-straight conference championship at the Division I level was tough to do.”
To celebrate, the Mean Green wore throwback helmets from that 2004 season for the Sept. 21 game against Wyoming. There was also a reunion for the 2004 team at that game.
In Their Own Words
UNT student-athletes get the opportunity to tell their own stories in meangreensports.com’s “Beyond the Green” series.
Golfer Emilie Ricaud (’24) shares the story of her journey from Australia to Denton. Football senior Damon Ward writes about overcoming injuries. Recent graduate Kalei Christensen (’24) expresses the joy of living out her dream of playing college softball.
Read these stories and more from our UNT student-athletes at btg. meangreensports.com
By the Numbers
The highest semester cumulative GPA ever earned by UNT student-athletes was achieved in Spring 2024. Four teams achieved their respective highest semester GPA ever: football, men’s track and field, soccer and softball.
Building Community
Eagle-eyed
Mean Green fans may have noticed an uptick in off-the-field athletics events recently
OCTOBER ATHLETICS HOME GAMES
OCT. 3 SOCCER vs. UTSA
OCT. 13 VOLLEYBALL vs. UTSA
OCT. 18 VOLLEYBALL vs. Tulsa
OCT. 20
VOLLEYBALL vs Memphis
SOCCER vs. South Florida
OCT. 25 VOLLEYBALL vs. South Florida
OCT. 26
SWIM & DIVE vs. UIW
FOOTBALL vs. Tulane
OCT. 27 SOCCER vs. Memphis
Schedule is subject to change. Check meangreensports.com for the most up-to-date information.
In July, the Mean Green football coaches’ wives hosted a women’s football clinic. September saw the Lovelace and McNatt Families Practice Facility host the inaugural Green Lights Gala. On Oct. 16, fans can join the men’s and women’s basketball teams on the Denton Square for a “Nightmare on Elm Street”-themed event to kick off their respective seasons.
It’s all part of a concerted effort being led by Jared Mosley, vice president and director of UNT Athletics, to increase opportunities for fan engagement and strengthen the connections between UNT and the wider Denton community
“One of our highest priorities is always going to be engaging with the Denton community and continuing to grow relationships here in our backyard,” says Mosley. “We are excited to be able to bring both of our basketball programs to the square in downtown Denton and partner with the city for this truly unique event this fall as we bring UNT basketball to even more potential fans.”
The upcoming basketball event will feature a basketball court set up on Elm Street between Hickory and Oak Street in the Denton Square and give fans the opportunity to meet this year’s teams.
UNT’S 17 TH PRESIDENT
COMMITTED TO INNOVATION, HARRISON KELLER AIMS TO PROPEL UNT FORWARD AS THE UNIVERSITY OF CHOICE.
PHOTOGRAPH BY
PETE COMPARONI
For Harrison Keller, education is a calling and he considers it a privilege to serve as UNT’s 17th president.
A sixth-generation Texan, Keller was born in Plainview, a small farming community in West Texas. His parents were both schoolteachers, so like a lot of teachers’ kids, he grew up in their classrooms and was considered a pretty good student. After high school, he headed to the University of Notre Dame.
“I had a bumpy transition into college, and it took me about three semesters to recalibrate. That’s something that I saw again with my own students when I taught freshmen at UT Austin. You see a huge difference between students who come from stronger high schools and students who come from weaker high schools. The students are equally talented, but the opportunities aren’t equally distributed,” says Keller, who earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at Notre Dame and then went on to earn his master’s and doctoral degrees at Georgetown University.
“This has shaped the way I think about the transformative power of education.”
Those experiences have stayed with him and now are driving his agenda at UNT, where he called for focused attention on student success, research and innovation, and strategic budgeting after just his first month on the job.
“Our aim will be to expand opportunities and strengthen outcomes for our students, increase the impact of our research, and improve our operational effectiveness and efficiency,” he says.
Specific to student success, Keller’s commitment goes far beyond improving graduation rates. He wants students to know UNT is committed to them – from the moment they first engage with UNT while deciding which college to attend through their time studying at UNT to well beyond graduation and into their careers.
“Higher education has never been more important,” he says. “A UNT education should prepare today’s students as tomorrow’s leaders who will make a positive difference. Their UNT educations should ensure students graduate with credentials of value and strong foundations for pursuing their careers and leading productive and purposeful lives.
“We have a responsibility to our region, our state and the nation to provide talent for our rapidly changing workforce.”
With more than 25 years of experience, Keller arrived at UNT already known as an innovative leader who has dedicated his career to education policy, higher education
productivity, high school to college transitions and higher education finance.
Keller’s résumé includes positions at the University of Texas at Austin, where he served as deputy to the president for strategy and policy and a professor of practice, as well as vice provost for higher education policy and research, and executive director of the Center for Teaching and Learning. While at UT, he and other faculty asked themselves a question that would lead to the birth of a transformational program.
“We asked ourselves, ‘Instead of waiting until students get to campus and then trying to help them fill in gaps, why don’t we give students the opportunity to recalibrate when the stakes are still low when they are in high school?’”
From there, the OnRamps program was born. OnRamps began with 166 students in one computer science course and now delivers college-level courses to tens of thousands of students across the state each year.
“By the time I left UT Austin, we were serving about 40,000 students a year across the state, and more than 45% of them were first-generation,” Keller says.
Most recently, Keller served as Commissioner of Higher Education for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, a position he served in from 2019 until he joined UNT Aug. 1. As commissioner, he grew to know many universities in Texas and across the nation, and he believes UNT is truly special.
“I often hear UNT called ‘the best kept secret’ in North Texas,” Keller says. “I want us to change that perception. We have the potential at UNT to lead and innovate in ways other universities don’t.”
To achieve this, Keller plans to build stronger partnerships with employers, school districts, community colleges, other universities, and communities across the Dallas-Fort Worth area. His vision also calls for transforming UNT into a platform for students, faculty and staff to take their talents as far as they can dream.
“We have to get behind our UNT innovators and give them a platform to discover new knowledge, create new insights and increase the contributions UNT makes for our community, our state, our nation and our world,” Keller says. “I love this work, and I’m excited to get to campus every day. I feel so privileged to have the opportunity to serve our students and our community.”
Learn more about the new president. northtexan.unt.edu/harrison-keller
Do you get baffled when you see odd information online? Do you want to take up birding? Are you intimidated by jazz music? No worries. UNT boasts many faculty and alumni experts, and they’re here to help you with a variety of topics. You’ll be smarter at the end of this article.
HOW TO HELP OTHERS
Chris Hubbard (’20 M.S.) is a natural servant leader. It’s a trait passed down from his grandmother, from whom he learned life skills and how to take care of others.
“You could call her any time and she’d help you out. She was that person for our family,” he says.
Hubbard earned his bachelor’s degree in general studies at West Texas A&M University and his master’s in interdisciplinary studies at UNT, where he teaches career and professional development classes as an adjunct professor. Hubbard also is an assistant minister at Christian Campus Community, a student organization.
Through his church, Singing Oaks Church of Christ in Denton, he had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Honduras in July 2023, where he worked alongside Predisan, a nonprofit that delivers health care to people in remote areas.
design by Kenny Failes photographs by Pete Comparoni
The trip was life-changing for Hubbard and made him reevaluate what is important to him. He went to Honduras again this year and plans to serve on additional mission trips in the future.
He has advice for those looking to help others.
Do some self-exploration. Ask yourself where you feel called to help. “What need are you seeing? How can you make yourself available to help?”
Start small. He says everyone can help, even in the smallest ways, such as cooking someone a meal.
Step out of your comfort zone. “Understand that serving is intentional and be OK with the experience not looking like you imagined.”
Do it for the right reasons. Hubbard encourages everyone to serve in any capacity — large or small. “Lean into what you’re passionate about and be OK that nobody but yourself and God sees what you’ve done.”
– Christiana Flores
HOW TO FACT-CHECK INFORMATION
Erin Jewell (’21 M.S.) is an award-winning librarian at Griffin Middle School in The Colony. But even after hours, her librarian brain is working in the background.
Recently, when her husband shared a meme about Steve from Blue’s Clues marrying Loonette from The Big Comfy Couch, she was suspicious.
Sure enough, the images in the meme were repurposed photos from a charity event. The two had no romantic history.
“I ‘library’ most of the time in my life, and it’s very hard to turn it off,” she says.
With search engines, fact-checking information from social media can be done in just a few moments.
Don’t believe everything. Just because a friend shares a cute or funny meme, it doesn’t mean you can believe it.
Triangulate. “I always teach my students to find it in multiple places,” Jewell says. Comparing sources can help you verify something you’ve seen online or help you get the full picture if something is taken out of context.
Evaluate your sources. “I always want to see where it’s from,” she says. “If it’s from a reputable, major source of information, I’m going to believe it more.” It’s also important to look at dates when articles are published. Did this just happen, or is it news from several years ago?
As much fun as it is to share memes, Jewell does her due diligence. “I don’t question everything I see online because I don’t have time for that. But I want to double-check it before I share it because I feel like that’s what’s responsible.”
– Walker Smart
HOW TO START BIRDING
Growing up in Chicago, College of Science clinical associate professor James Bednarz wasn’t exposed to nature every day, but that didn’t stop his curiosity about wildlife. Going on hunting and fishing trips with his dad and watching The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau were some of his earliest nature memories.
Now as an avian ecologist, Bednarz has observed birds on six continents and dedicated more than three decades to studying how avian species — such as the red-shouldered hawk, painted bunting and American kestrel — live and interact with their environments.
For recreation, he enjoys birdwatching, or “birding.” It’s an activity for all skill levels and encourages healthful habits such as getting outside and walking.
“When you see a bird up close with a pair of binoculars, it’s pretty spectacular,” Bednarz says. “Their beauty can’t even be captured properly in a photograph.”
Get up early and immerse yourself in nature. Birds are most active in the early morning and in parks and natural areas with plenty of greenspaces and water. Start with paved trails at parks and venture up to more extensive hikes at nature preserves.
Add bird-friendly elements to yards. Planting native plants and trees as well as installing a bird feeder stocked with a mix of black sunflower and millet seeds can attract birds.
Seek out birding resources. Apps like Merlin Bird ID can identify birds by their song. For connecting with other birders, the National Audubon Society has local chapters. Check community calendars for bird walks and other guided nature tours in local areas.
– Heather Noel
HOW TO FIGHT THE ‘SUNDAY SCARIES’
As a parent, wife, student and full-time employee, Alexis Miller (’11, ’22 M.Ed.) understands the challenge of balancing multiple roles and the fear of falling short. She’s a graduate research assistant working on her fourth degree — a doctorate in educational leadership.
But she knows how to combat the “Sunday Scaries,” intense anxieties felt before a new work or school week, especially when a long to-do list is looming. “Having a strong understanding of the different roles you play is crucial,” Miller says. “Preparing for each role involves both proactive measures and day-of
Find joy on Sundays. Engage in enjoyable activities, such as watching a favorite show or calling a friend.
HOW
TO CONNECT WITH KIDS THROUGH PLAY
Frustrated adults can express when they are feeling angry, but it’s not the same for children. “As adults, we have developed our vocabulary over decades and, so our source for communicating a feeling is pretty wide,” says Dalena Dillman-Taylor (’10 M.A., ’13 Ph.D.), associate professor in the College of Education. “Children don’t have that range of emotions to pull from, which creates a limited cognitive ability to express themselves in a way that can be healing.” As an expert in play therapy, she helps children with adverse experiences in a way that is developmentally appropriate for them.
Seek to understand. With children, every behavior is purposeful. In children with difficult early experiences especially, this can lead to disruptive behaviors, outbursts, anxiety or depression.
Provide one-on-one time with your child. Just eight minutes a day can fulfill a child’s need to feel supported. “A small portion of your day spent on the floor, playing with your child and allowing them to lead that play, can be so beneficial,” Dillman-Taylor says. “It not only strengthens your relationship with your child, but it also can really help mitigate any of those adverse events they may have experienced.”
The purpose of play therapy is beyond ‘fun.’ Children need consistent, repetitive and positive experiences with supportive adults in their life to offset whatever the adverse experiences were. “When you are sick, you go to the doctor to get medication. The same is true when a child is struggling with how to cope. They need support too,” Dillman-Taylor says. “Mental and emotional wellbeing is just as important as physical wellbeing.”
– Shelby Bahnick
Plan with a calendar. Use a color-coded calendar to organize tasks and assignments.
Prepare the night before. Throughout the week, set up items like bags and lunches and choose and prepare your clothes the night before for a smooth routine the next morning.
Start early. Begin each day earlier to mentally prepare and ease into the day.
Breathe deeply. Use deep breathing to manage stress and stay calm.
“You need to know both your roles and your values. For me, education drives me,” Miller says. “I find strength in my supportive family and the chance to contribute to my field.”
– Devynn Case
HOW TO LISTEN TO JAZZ MUSIC
Listening to jazz musicians, such as Miles Davis or John Coltrane, can take concentration, Rob Parton, chair of jazz studies in the College of Music.
“But once you get there, then you’re like, ‘Oh, man, it’s just amazing what he was doing.’”
Here’s how to listen to this genre of music:
Start by finding the song’s original melody. “The melody and chord changes keep going throughout the song,” he says.
“Make it a game to sing the melody to yourself while someone is soloing.
‘Oh, wow!
I start to see how that person on saxophone or trumpet or trombone is making up their
solo over the chord changes while improvising a new melody.’”
Follow the harmonies. “Once the melody is gone, the harmonies are still there and as you start recognizing those you go, ‘Oh, I know that song.’ And you’re not even hearing the melody, or you just recognize the chord changes.”
Keep an eye out for secret signals and teamwork. How do the musicians know when to come in?
The leader will often point to the forehead if they’re going to the “head” of the song — the melody. If the leader points to the nose, they’re going to the “bridge.”
Show the band some love. The crowd gets involved, following the African tradition of rain dances when the entire community participated. “We feed off of people after we play a solo and everybody claps,” Parton says. “It really fires up the band.”
– Jessica DeLeón
HOW TO MAKE GARMENTS LAST LONGER
Humans generate 92 million tons of textile waste a year, but keeping garments for years is not only helping the environment.
“It’s fun to wear your own vintage,” says Michele Alford (’95), a fashion design alumna who has designed clothes for the RussellNewman Manufacturing Company in Denton, managed the costume studio at Texas Christian University and worked for the national tour of Hamilton when it came to Dallas and Fort Worth this summer.
Here are her tips to extend the life of garments:
Start with what you buy. Fast fashion makes clothing affordable, but it only lasts for a few wears. Look for natural fibers, such as garments with 100% cotton instead of 100% polyester. “If we really focused on
purchasing the highest quality things, we are able to wear it years and decades into the future,” she says.
Take time with washing. Follow instructions on the code care label. Separate the items by color in case the dyes run. Make sure all buttons and zippers are fastened. If you can line dry clothes, it’s better. If you have to use a dryer, dryer balls will help it run faster.
If you get a stain, treat it as soon as possible. Search for home remedies online. And don’t toss it in the dryer until the stain is out.
Mend clothes and shoes as soon as you find a problem. A tailor and cobbler can help out.
“They are magicians,” she says. “They can just do all kinds of things.”
– Jessica DeLeón
HOW TO MAINTAIN YOUR COGNITIVE SKILLS AS YOU AGE
Do you ever find yourself forgetting words on some days? This can be a normal part of aging, says Stacy Nunnelee, principal lecturer and undergraduate director for the Department of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology in the College of Health and Public Service. “Our cognitive skills are important because they help us to get through our day with the ability to make decisions and choices, remember where we are and where we are going next, and to focus on our daily tasks,” Nunnelee says. “Without good cognitive health, our physical health could decline.” Follow her advice to maintain your attention, memory and problem solving as you age.
Play games and do other fun activities. Cognitive training programs use games to exercise the brain. Nunnelee also recommends having a healthy social life, planting a garden or reading to keep the brain in shape.
Learn something new. Acquiring a new hobby or skill exercises your brain while also creating neural pathways and building up cognitive reserve. Learning how to play an instrument, how to paint or even how to roller skate are some ways you can keep your brain and yourself happy. Start even when you think it’s too late. Everyone experiences declining response times and reflexes as they age, but you can slow down the aging process within your brain. “Believe it or not, if you stretched and trained enough, you could be just as flexible as you got older as you were when you were younger,” Nunnelee says. “You could do the splits! In a similar way, without the intrusion of disease or trauma, we can maintain our memory and thinking skills as long as we’re practicing and using them.”
– Tiarra Drisker
HOW TO MANAGE YOUR MONEY
Whether you are planning for vacation, retirement or buying a home, effective money management will help accomplish your goal.
David Frazier (’10), senior vice president for member services at DATCU, offers the following tips to make your financial goals a reality. Have a financial plan. “Your plan is your budget. Know what you want your money to do for you,” Frazier says. “For example, to save for a down payment for a home, you have to have a plan for saving toward your goal.”
Keep track of your expenses. “Spending expenses should be less than your income and the remainder put into a savings account,” he says. “Every dollar should have a name. Label your money in categories such as ‘food’ or ‘car payment.’”
Create a plan for retirement and an emergency fund. “You should save at least a few months’ worth of expenses should something unexpected arise,” Frazier says. “If your employer offers a 401K plan, then I highly recommend contributing. Oftentimes, they’ll
match a certain dollar amount or a percentage. Start contributing as soon as possible.”
Get advice from professionals. “If you ever want to ask questions or even take out a loan, then it’s good to be familiar with your bank, credit union or financial institution and their services,” Frazier says. “They would be happy to help.”
– Tiarra Drisker
• How to Navigate the Death of a Loved One
• How to Start a Side Hustle
• How to Have a Productive Conversation
• How to Plan a Great Trip
FRIENDS FOREVER
AT UNT, MANY GRADUATES GET MORE THAN A DEGREE. THEY FORM FRIENDSHIPS THAT LAST A LIFETIME.
Band of Brothers
Back in the 1970s, before the drinking laws were set at age 21, the newest members of the Mean Green football team were responsible for bringing the goods to parties.
That’s when Rick Shaw (’74) first met Bob Stout (’74), an offensive guard. When Shaw asked Stout if he had beer, Stout opened up the trunk of his Plymouth Road Runner that was packed with ice and beer. “I thought, ‘Man, I want to know this guy better,’” Shaw says.
And that was the beginning of their five-decade friendship that was forged on Fouts Field.
“You become a band of brothers,” says Shaw, a San Antonio native who played defensive back and quarterback. “Although we didn’t win very many football games, it’s still something I would never give up because of the friendships made on and off the field.”
Shaw and Stout also were both marketing majors and frequently saw each other in class and became roommates at Kerr Hall. They often worked summer jobs together and shared many friends. In the summers, Stout spent time with Shaw in San Antonio and took him to France, where his parents lived.
They kept in touch after college and Stout was a groomsman in Shaw’s wedding. While Shaw raised a family in San Antonio, Stout was a bachelor who ran wholesale businesses for over 30 years.
“A lot of people don’t have a friend they can count on,” Stout says. “If something happened to his family, I’d be there for him.”
They still attend Mean Green football games together.
“You know, when we see each other, it’s like everything is still the same,” Shaw says. “And then, when you see these pictures, you’re just like, ‘Who are these old guys?’”
– Jessica DeLeón
Clockwise from top: Bob Stout (’74) and Rick Shaw (’74) at Frisco Landing in 2023. Shaw’s father-in-law, Reeves L. Smith, donated the eagle that now sits in the building. Rick Shaw (’74) in 1973. The 1973 Mean Green football team. Erika Symonette Ferguson (’14 Ph.D.) and Kittiwan Junrith Brasuell (’11 Ph.D.) in 2023 in Thailand. Bethany Baumgart (’05) and Brooke Rodriguez (’06, ’08 M.A.) showed their school spirit at the New Orleans Bowl in New Orleans December 2003. Friends
Jennifer Scott Weske, Stacy Fisher Britton (’90), Malin Scott LaPlace (’89), Wayne LaPlace, Greg Steihler and Steve LaPlace gather for Malin’s wedding in 1994.
Having a Blast
After a challenging first year at another university, Malin Scott LaPlace (’89) pursued a degree in fashion merchandising at North Texas – and found her people. She befriended coworkers at the local Mervyn’s department store, and the group roomed together at the College Inn, the only residence hall with its own swimming pool.
“Everyone was so accepting. That community we had was just so fun,” LaPlace says.
Shelby Benton (’89), one of LaPlace’s sisters in the now-defunct Delta Zeta, adds, “Those friendships were something I wouldn’t have found any other way.”
Through the years, the group of friends experienced all kinds of adventures: late-night trips to Whataburger, seeing live music at venues around Denton and going on excursions. Even during a slightly disastrous camping trip on the Guadalupe River — where no one remembered to bring a tent, firewood or can opener — the group still had a blast.
“We got to graduation day and no one wanted to leave,” LaPlace says. “In a weird way, it was kind of a sad day.”
But she and her friends stayed connected. She still meets up with Benton to see live music. She’s also in touch with Kevin Wright (’89), one of the organizers of the infamous river trip whose son Aiden is a freshman at UNT. And Stacy Fisher Britton (’90), a coworker from the Mervyn’s days, is now godmother to her daughter, Kalin LaPlace (’19, ’22 M.A.).
Two of Benton’s children, Kathryn “Katie” Workman (’22) and Liam Workman (’24), are part of the Mean Green family as well.
“I feel a sense of pride that they were there,” Benton says.
– Bess Whitby
Parallel Lanes
While scrolling social media in 2020, Bethany Pipes Baumgart (’05) noticed former swim teammate Brooke Louisell Rodriguez (’06, ’08 M.A.) was hitting the pool close to her home.
Baumgart joined her practices. One day, Baumgart revealed she was going to be a surrogate mother. Rodriguez then delivered her own news. “I had just completed an application with a surrogacy agency the week before,” she says.
A friendship that had flourished at UNT took another path as Baumgart and Rodriguez carried pregnancies for other families.
In college, they frequently spent time together –walking from Mozart Hall to swim practice at 5:30 a.m., attending classes and going to football games. Since graduation, they’ve kept in touch with each other while Baumgart, who was a speech pathology major, works as an audiologist in Frisco, and Rodriguez, who was a psychology and counseling major, serves as a counselor in McKinney.
Their surrogacies became another bond, especially since their timing was only two months apart. “I could text her at any time and get a response,” says Baumgart, who has two children of her own. “And then we could always say, ‘Oh, remember that one time at North Texas when this happened, and look where we are now.’”
Rodriguez, who has three children of her own, says, “Just to be able to know someone who saw all of the pieces of your adult life, and marriage and birth of children, and having that person who understands like, ‘Oh, this is where you were as a freshman,’ to, ‘Oh, this is where you are as a mom,’ is a really cool connection to have.”
– Jessica DeLeón
A Sisterly Bond
When Erika Symonette Ferguson (’14 Ph.D.) spoke to Kittiwan Junrith Brasuell (’11 Ph.D.), an international student from Thailand, in her health care delivery systems class, she didn’t know she’d be making a lifelong
“I sat next to her and said, ‘Hi,’” Ferguson says. “Later, she told me I was the only person in the gerontology program who spoke to her that day.”
During their studies in UNT’s then-Department of Applied Gerontology, the duo actively participated in campus events like Homecoming and International Day and traveled to Mexico and Turkey to present their research.
Their friendship would turn into a sisterly bond.
“She lost her parents when she was 35 so she called my parents Mom and Dad,” Ferguson says.
Ferguson got married in UNT’s Goolsby Chapel while she was still a student and says Brasuell supported her through the whole process. When Ferguson was pregnant, Brasuell would go to prenatal appointments with her.
Ferguson delivered her son in her home state of Maryland, which kept her from going to Brasuell’s graduation — so Ferguson’s mother went.
“I felt proud and honored to introduce her as my mother,” Brasuell says. “I still consider her my mom.”
In 2013, Brasuell, now a gerontology professor at Uttaradit Rajabhat University in Thailand, moved back to her home country, but the friends have kept in touch with video calls. Ferguson, a senior research associate at Howard University, traveled to Thailand to visit Brasuell last year with her son and her mom.
“We had a great time exploring,” Brasuell says, “but mostly we spent our time talking about the time we studied at UNT.”
– Amanda Lyons
Clockwise from top: Brooke Rodriguez (’06, ’08 M.A.) and Bethany Baumgart (’05) in 2024 in Frisco and in 2005 at the end of year swimming and diving banquet. Kittiwan Junrith Brasuell (’11 Ph.D.) and Erika Symonette Ferguson (’14 Ph.D.) in 2009 during Family Weekend and 2023 in Thailand. Shelby Benton (’89) and Malin Scott LaPlace (’89) in 2024 in Galveston.
BILLY
HARPER
‘Practicer’ Makes Perfect
DEDICATION TO HIS CRAFT LED BILLY HARPER (’65) TO A LEGENDARY JAZZ CAREER
TEXT BY LISA SCIORTINO
PHOTOGRAPH BY PETE COMPARONI
During the years he studied music at North Texas, Billy Harper (’65) was known as “The Mad Practicer.” The nickname was earned because he’d hole up for hours on end in a College of Music practice room perfecting his tenor saxophone performance.
“I stayed there until they closed the building at night,” he recalls. “I could play whatever I wanted to play.”
Harper’s diligence paid off. In 1964, he earned a spot with UNT’s famed One O’Clock Lab Band, becoming the first Black performer in the renowned jazz band’s history.
In the decades since, he has recorded nearly two dozen solo albums, performed with many of jazz music’s biggest names — including Louis Armstrong, drummers Art Blakey and Max Roach and trumpeter Lee Morgan — and cemented his status as a legend of the genre.
Harper is among the last remaining “Texas Tenors,” a select group of Lone Star State sax players whose signature sounds blend R&B, swing, blues and bebop. At age 81 he continues to tour internationally, fronting the Billy Harper Quintet. This summer, the Houston native returned to Texas and played four shows, including two sets at Steve’s Wine Bar in Denton. Harper has performances scheduled later this year in Philadelphia and early next year in New York City — where he relocated soon after graduating from North Texas — as well as in Austria and Greece. He still hits the road to perform because “I’m just fulfilling what I thought I was supposed to do,” he says — an idea formulated while he was at North Texas honing his craft.
“I had to stay in that practice room and work a lot. I had to do that for myself.”
In fact, Harper says that space is likely where he began composing “Capra Black,” the title song from his 1973 debut album, which is included among the influential recordings of jazz music’s Black Consciousness movement. “Practicing so much, I would sometimes get tired of that and I’d sit down and try to write something,” he recalls. “I’d get these little sounds in my head and one of them was the beginning of ‘ Capra Black,’ and then I developed it.”
gether?’ I don’t know how I put it together. I think it just came from Heaven and got in my head and my soul.”
Music has always been in Harper’s soul. As a child, he sang solos at the Houston church where his grandfather preached. He discovered the saxophone at age 11 after stopping to admire one in a store window along his walk home from school. “I didn’t know anything about the sound. I just liked the way it looked,” he recalls, and he put the horn on his Christmas wish list that year. By age 14, he had formed the first incarnation of the Billy Harper Quintet.
Harper began attending North Texas in 1961 after “somebody told me they had a real good jazz department. I said, ‘ That’s the place for me.’” He worked his way up the ranks of the Four, Three and Two O’Clock Lab Bands before joining the One O’Clock Lab Band, which was then led by Leon Breeden, director of jazz studies from 1959 through 1981.
“He made sure only the top guys were in the One O’Clock band,” Harper says. “For me to get to that band and play in that band, it was like I finally made it.”
During the era of segregation, Harper — who wasn’t allowed to live in the North Texas dorms and instead walked to campus daily from a Denton home where he and several other Black students resided — says he was warmly welcomed into the band.
When he was attending North Texas, he ventured to Dallas on most Sunday afternoons to sit in with legendary tenor sax player James Clay and other professional jazz performers at clubs there. “I realized how great those guys were. It was a great experience for me and it was very lucky I was able to be there,” he says.
Coupled with his time in the One O’Clock Lab Band, Harper says the experience readied him to take on the New York jazz scene, where he would achieve music-legend status.
“North Texas prepared me to be able to cope with whatever happened on the professional level, especially in the big bands,” Harper says. “I was in college but I thought, ‘ I’m going to New York eventually and I’m going to play with whoever the big names were.’ It was just a matter of, ‘ I’m going to be on that level.’”
Watch a video featuring Billy Harper.
More than 50 years since its release, the song is considered “sort of an anthem,” Harper says. “A lot of musicians who are younger than me — and some who are my age and a little older — always ask, ‘ How did you put that to-
Harper hopes his music continues to resonate with fans and fellow artists for decades to come. “I hope that one or two or three songs stay in the jazz world and some of the younger players keep playing them. That way, maybe some of the messages that I felt in writing those songs might get across to the ears of listeners who can hear it.”
EAGLES’ NEST
This spring, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and actor Lyle Lovett performed with the famed One O’Clock Lab Band to a standing room only crowd in the Music Building. The band backed Lovett on a trio of his tunes that were specially arranged for the occasion by College of Music students. As part of Lovett’s two-day artist-in-residency, he attended a songwriter masterclass and participated in a question-and-answer session.
CONNECTING WITH FRIENDS
CLASS NOTES
keep up with the latest developments in the UNT family and tell your peers what you’ve been up to since leaving the nest. Send your news to the North Texan (see contact information on page 7).
1958 SUE ANN BEALS MOORE, Plano. After graduation, she and her husband, Thomas E. Moore (’57, ’58 M.Ed.), moved to Plano and she wrote the first secondary art curriculum. Tom, who is deceased, was a coach who then became a principal and an assistant superintendent.
1970 MICHAEL KENNEDY, New Bern, North Carolina, was inducted into the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation Hall of Fame. He retired from DLA in 2018 and previously retired from the U.S. Marine Corps as a colonel in 2000.
1971 JOSÉ DODIER, Zapata, is serving on the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB). He is a partner in the Don José Land & Cattle Company in Zapata County, which the Dodier family has been operating for over 80 years. He also serves as chairman of the Zapata Soil and Water Conservation Board.
1972 JAMES D. NATIONS (M.S.), Rockville, Maryland, wrote Lacandón Maya in the Twenty-First Century: Indigenous Knowledge and Conservation in Mexico’s Tropical Rainforest (University Press of Florida), an account of 49 years of anthropological research on Mayan Indigenous groups in southeastern Mexico. He has dedicated his career
to helping establish and protect indigenous territories, national parks and biosphere reserves throughout Latin America and the United States. He spent three years as a Fulbright Senior Researcher in Guatemala, where he served as an international advisor in the creation of the Maya Biosphere Reserve.
1976
JANICE L. TAYLOR, Spring, an assistant professor in the educational leadership and human development department at Lamar University, received the Distinguished Educator of the Year award from Sam Houston State University College of Education.
1977
GYNA BIVENS, Fort Worth, mayor pro tem of the city of Fort Worth, was elected by the National League of Cities to serve on its board of directors. Bivens represents Fort Worth’s Council 5 district.
1977 GARTH MATTHEW
DROZIN, Los Angeles, retired following 36 years as an attorney and judge in California, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia and has resumed his previous career as a music composer and ensemble conductor. Time for Christmas, his choral piece that he transcribed for brass ensemble and percussion, was premiered by the Cerritos College Wind Ensemble in California. A former player in the One
BRIGHT HEART
Christine Truong’s (’24) name in Vietnamese, Minh Tam, means “bright heart.”
And she definitely lives up to her name. While studying supply chain management and operations at the G. Brint Ryan College of Business, she was using those studies to help provide food, supplies and educational opportunities to young girls in her native Vietnam as part of the organization, She Inspires Me, that she founded at age 19 in 2018.
“When I first started, a lot of people told me that I’m too young. But God helped me. I met amazing mentors and donors that are willing to help and guide me through hardship,” says Truong, who is now 24. “Seeing the kids’ smiles after receiving our gifts and enjoying our projects gives me the strength to keep going.”
— Jessica DeLeón
the
story. northtexan. unt.edu/christine-truong
CONNECTING WITH FRIENDS
WILD WOMEN
A mysterious time capsule, left behind three decades ago by a group of at least half a dozen graduates who dubbed themselves the “Wild Women,” was found this summer at Clark Hall, where they all met and lived. The box, put together at their 10-year reunion in 1992, held old T-shirts, buttons, a bottle and even faded Polaroid photos. The only thing it didn’t have was identifying information, but the search ended thanks to a Facebook post. In college, the group hosted dinner clubs and talent shows, and were active in the Residence Hall Association on campus. “I think this is living proof that you really do make friends for life in college,” says Letty Gallegos (’82). “We haven’t gotten together in quite a while, but I know that in an instant I can call on any of them.”
— Amanda Lyons
Read the full story. northtexan.unt.edu/wild-women
SPREE ON SCREEN
Scott Berman has been the visual wizard behind two popular Dallas bands, Tripping Daisy and The Polyphonic Spree, beginning with a slideshow presentation in the 1990s and now with the movie, Atmosphere, that made its debut in September at UNT’s Sky Theater planetarium.
The movie features live-action and animation set to the songs from the Spree album, Salvage Enterprise. The movie will run through the winter and then expand nationwide. Berman, who studied art at UNT in the 1990s and is pictured with Spree founder Tim DeLaughter, says, “This album was the perfect soundscape for the kind of visual planetarium experience that we’ve talked about for years and Denton seemed like the perfect place to launch it.” — Jessica DeLeón
Read the full story. northtexan.unt.edu/ polyphonic-spree
Four members of the Scott family siblings are attending or have attended UNT. “So tailgating at Mean Green football games at an early age is clearly the key,” says mother Nicole Scott (’00). They are (from left) Caleb Scott, a seminary student who attended UNT from 2022 to 2023; Taylor (’24), an elementary education alum; senior art education major Madeleine; and freshman converged broadcast media major Timmy. Nicole Scott, a senior academic advisor in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, met her husband, Travis Scott (’02), at the Catholic Campus Center at UNT. The family, which also includes two younger kids, has been tailgating since 2001.
O’Clock and Two O’Clock Lab Bands, he spent an additional year following graduation studying for his doctorate and working at UNT as a gymnastics instructor. After earning his Ph.D. at Cornell University and juris doctorate at Southwestern Law School, he was inducted into the SUNY-Plattsburgh Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.
1977 DOUGLAS MAY, Dallas, received the Golden Egg Award for lifetime achievement from the Dallas Society of Visual Communications for his four-decade career. An assistant professor of communication design in the College of Visual Arts and Design, he has led his design firm, May & Co., in campaigns for various companies.
1980 JACK SCHWARTZWALD, North Kingstown, Rhode Island, is a clinical assistant professor of medicine at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School and a hospitalist physician. A history major at North Texas, he has published five books on historical topics including Europe on the Path to Self-Destruction: Nationalism and the Struggle for Hegemony, 1815-1945, which won honors from the National Indies Excellence Awards and Foreword Book Awards Competition.
1980 DAVID ‘DAVE’ WILGUS, Dallas, celebrated the 20th anniversary of Launch Agency, which he cofounded. He serves as creative director for the advertising agency, which has worked with high-profile companies and nonprofits.
1984 PHILIP POOLE, Spanish Fort, Alabama, serves as 2024 chair of the Public Relations Society
of America’s College of Fellows. He retired in 2021 following a 45year career as a higher education administrator and adjunct instructor.
1986 LAURA COBB HAYES, (M.Ed.), Allen, is founder and CEO of The Learning Bridge, which won a million-dollar National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research grant to conduct research and development work on an edtech solution for college entrance and persistence in underserved populations.
1988 CURTIS CLINESMITH (’93 M.S.), Dallas, is the founder and CEO, and DAWN SMITH (’99) is a managing partner of Smith Clinesmith LLP, a national litigation firm in Dallas that specializes in nursing home abuse and neglect cases. Curtis earned his juris doctor from St. Mary’s School of Law and established his law practice in 1998. Dawn is a graduate of Whittier Law School, and she is a founding board member of the Whittier Journal of Child and Family Advocacy.
1995 STACY MCGAHEY BENGE (’97 M.S.), Coppell, wrote the book, The Whole Child Alphabet: How Children Actually Develop Literacy (Exchange Press), which aims to transform how educators approach literacy. While at UNT, she met her husband, Jason Benge (’95).
1995 MATTHEW MAILMAN
(D.M.A.), Oklahoma City, celebrated his 29th year as professor of conducting in the Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University. He recently placed second in the American Prize for Band Conducting
OPENING DOORS
After years of creating a diverse portfolio in business, Jeff Fisher (’93) has finally found his calling in life.
Fisher created the North Texas chapter of The Miracle League, a nonprofit organization that allows mentally and physically disabled children to play baseball.
Last fall, Evers Park in Denton became the second field to be added to the North Texas chapter, which started with 22 kids and now boasts more than 50 participants.
“To see nine-year-old boys have the maturity to push wheelchairs and hold other kids’ hands and help these amazing athletes get to experience what they had experienced on the baseball field, just in a different way, it brought back the true joy and love of the game of baseball,” Fisher says.
— Anthony Simone
Read more. northtexan.unt.edu/ jeff-fisher
CONNECTING WITH FRIENDS
Competition (college division). In fall 2023, he served as music director for the production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at OCU.
1996 SCOTT VINCI, Los Angeles, is the co-owner of catholiclaughter. com, which promotes stand-up comedy shows at churches and other events. He appeared in an episode of the NBC series Quantum Leap.
1997 JAMES FORD III (M.M., ’07 D.M.A.), Los Angeles, is a professor of music in the College of Arts and Letters at California State University, Los Angeles, who was named Outstanding Professor. He teaches studio trumpet and courses in jazz studies and serves as director of the Cal State LA Jazz Orchestra. While working as a research assistant at UNT, he co-wrote the first epidemiologic study of brass players.
2000 ELISEO RAEL, Pittsburgh, won an Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Pacific Southwest Chapter for his percussion quartet Pana Percussion’s recording of Spiral. He is the percussion area coordinator at Duquesne University, where he also directs the percussion ensemble.
2000 JOSEPH T. SPANIOLA (D.M.A.), Pensacola, Florida, received an honorable mention for his band composition, UPLIFTED: Answering the Call, for the 2023 American Prize in composition in the Pops/Light Music division. The music was commissioned by the U.S. Air Force Band of MidAmerica in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the U.S. Air Force and to honor the Air Mobility Command.
2002
LOWELL BROWN (’02, ’09 M.J.), Austin, is the communications director for the State Bar of Texas and executive editor of the Texas Bar Journal. He was elected 2023-2024 chair of the National Association of Bar Executives Communications Section.
2004 PATRICIA W. VERMILLION
(M.L.S.), Dallas, wrote her third book, A Reading Partner for Emerald (TCU Press), about a lonely lizard in search of a reading partner. The retired librarian was a member of Beta Phi Mu and Kappa Delta while at UNT.
2008 DALEY RYAN, Dallas, is executive director of the Wilkinson Center, a nonprofit organization that assists Dallas families in crisis. He previously was director of the Texas office for refugees at Catholic Charities Diocese of Fort Worth and worked for the International Rescue Committee.
2008
PHILIP G. SIMON
(Ph.D.), Drums, Pennsylvania, retired from Wilkes University’s division of performing arts in 2019 and has since been named an associate professor of music emeritus. Simon transcribed and arranged Lily Boulanger’s “D’un Matin de printemps” (“Of a Spring Morning”) for woodwind trios and string quartets. His book, A History of American Popular Music, was published in 2023.
2012 ARIANNA SMITH, Dallas, joined Rawson Law. She has more than seven years of legal experience, litigating in state and federal courts and throughout Texas.
2012 CHELSEA WOODARD
(Ph.D.), Exeter, New Hampshire, is the author of At the Lepidopterist’s
ALUMNI IN PARIS
Several UNT alumni were among the athletes and participants at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Carlos Ortiz (’13) played golf for Mexico, while Karlington Anunagba (’23) represented his native Nigeria as an alternate for the 4x100 meter relay.
Theresa Acosta (’99, ’01 M.S.) served as an athletic trainer for the USA Basketball Women’s National Team. Jenna Reneau (’15) officiated men’s and women’s basketball.
John Sponsler (’99) (pictured) handled replays for NBC. Rapper Lecrae (’02) served as a content creator for NBC Universal.
Mark Followill (’20, ’21) called playby-play for soccer matches for NBC Sports. Ted Emrich (’09) provided updates for Westwood One.
Lisa Sciortino
Mean Green Pride
1 JULIE LEVENTHAL (’05, ’07 M.S.), PRINCIPAL LECTURER IN THE UNT HONORS COLLEGE, and her father Harry Leventhal (’76 M.B.A.) took Scrappy and Lucky during their travels to Europe, including the Trakai Island Castle in Lithuania.
2 JUNIPER CARRIGAN, PICTURED AT 13 MONTHS OLD, bleeds green. Juniper was born on St. Patrick’s Day, and her mother is Deirdrann Carrigan (’12).
3 BLAIR WRIGHT, PICTURED AT SIX MONTHS, celebrates Mean Green Friday. She is the daughter of Meredith Moriak Wright (’20 M.S.), a former UNT employee. Blair’s extended family has deep ties to UNT, and her grandparents lived on Prairie Street as newlyweds and NTSU students.
4 THREE GENERATIONS OF THE BEAIRD FAMILY celebrated the graduation of Landon Beaird (’24), who majored in media arts. Other alums include his father, Miller Beaird (’01 M.Ed.), an educational administration major, and his grandmother, Marilyn Beaird (’92 M.Ed., ’99 Ph.D.), who was a teaching assistant in the information science department in the 1990s while completing her Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction.
CONNECTING WITH FRIENDS
ALUMNI CREATE FUNNY BUSINESSES
Two alumni enjoy a good laugh — and they’re bringing comedy to audiences in unique ways.
Dallas-based Marena Riyad (’15) runs the Kufiya Comedy club after hours and spearheaded the Kufiya Comedy Festival in May, bringing acts from backgrounds that are not usually represented in the entertainment circuit. But the building is used as The Haus of Henna, a salon she runs, during the day. Henna, often featured at holidays and weddings, is rooted in sharing stories, with chitchatting and laughing among women.
“I feel the same thing when I’m onstage doing comedy. I’m just sharing my story. When the audience laughs, it’s them acknowledging like, ‘Oh, my God, I’ve also gone through that,’” says Riyad, an integrative studies major who performs standup. “People think those two things have nothing in common. I’m like, ‘You actually have
Read the full story. northtexan. unt.edu/marena-riyad and northtexan.unt.edu/mo-elzubeir
no idea how similar they are.’”
In Denton, Mo Elzubeir’s (’02) love for comedy drew him to use code to discover comedians.
The computer science major has launched the app FanCrowd, which provides comedians a way to earn money and other perks. At his family restaurant Royal YUM, he also hosts Denton Laughs, a series of comedy nights featuring aspiring talent.
Elzubeir is not only providing more tools for comedians, but an escape for audiences.
“A lot of comedy is observational and relatable, and it’s things that people are thinking about and someone is saying it for them,” he says. “I know comedy sounds like it’s frivolous, but I don’t think it is. I think it’s really, really important.”
— Jessica DeLeón
House (Southern Indiana Review Press), a poetry collection that won the 2022 Michael Waters Poetry Prize. The poems explore themes of grief, love and lightness within natural and mythic landscapes. She teaches in the English department at Phillips Exeter Academy.
2015 ANGIE PRICE (M.S.), Gainesville, Florida, who earned her master’s in library science, serves as University Librarian, Biological and Life Sciences, at the University of Florida at Gainesville, in the Marston Science Library.
2016 KIMBERLY HOGGATT KRUMWIEDE (Ph.D.), Grapevine, serves as dean of the School of Health Professions at MD Anderson Cancer Center. She began her career as a medical illustrator and was on faculty in a graduate program for biomedical communications before transitioning to the field of interprofessional practice and education. She previously worked as a professor and administrator at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
2018 ARIEL N. ANDERSON, Denton, wrote the book Under Your Scars, a dark romance novel.
2020 KARA WALTON, Dallas, is the office and communications coordinator for the Sammons Center for the Arts. As part of the Sammons Cabaret concert series, she performed her show, “Reused, Renewed and Rearranged,” featuring musical arrangements she wrote of familiar songs updated with “creative twists.”
blasts from the past
LET’S GO BACK IN TIME TO SOME OF OUR FAVORITE PLACES ON AND AROUND CAMPUS. CAN YOU GUESS THE DECADE THESE PICTURES WERE TAKEN?
1. Students are enjoying the outdoors while on campus, which was only about 30 years old at the time the picture was taken and was then called North Texas State Normal College.
2. Dyche’s Corner was a popular restaurant located on Hickory Street and Avenue A. Imagine eating a T-bone steak for 50 cents.
3. These students knew how to have a good time. They are hanging out at the Slab outside the Union. Students even had their own dance called the North Texas Push.
4. Does the hair give this one away? Maybe the arcade machine or the clothes? These students were having a totally awesome time at the Flying Tomato, one of the hangouts on Fry Street. The block now includes a Chipotle and other restaurants.
The North Texan turns 75 this fall. Our first issue — a four-page newspaper in November 1949 — plugged a dance in the Harriss Gym and a football game with the Houston Cougars. The North Texan’s look may have changed down the corridor of years, but the mission remains the same: sharing with our UNT family the North Texas we love. View some of our favorite covers at northtexan.unt.edu/northtexan-75
