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UP FIRST
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BRILLIANTLY GREEN A new tower is one of many exciting developments in the partnership between UNT and the city of Frisco to create a new UNT at Frisco location, which is set to open in Spring 2023 with 27 undergraduate and master’s-level programs. The site sits on 100 acres of green space, can accommodate up to 25,000 students, and boasts creative, collaborative classrooms and wellness features such as a nature pavilion.
UP FIRST
A Taste of UNT
The Dish on Dining
Here’s the skinny: Not only is UNT home to the nation’s first vegan dining hall, Mean Greens Café, and one of the few allergen-free dining halls in the country, Kitchen West, but its mouth-watering meals also earned it the No. 2 spot on Delish.com’s list of colleges with the best food. This year, Mean Greens celebrated its 10th anniversary, and the hydroponic garden Mean Green Acres — which grows fresh vegetables for use in dining halls — earned funding from the Diamond Eagles to expand its space. That means even more tasty meals like the award-winning Tomato Mushroom Curry, which won Best Vegan Recipe in the National Association of College & University Food Services Nutrition Awards Contest. Find the recipe at northtexan.unt.edu/taste-UNT.
A tradition of tasty: Mean Greens by the numbers
150
Number of different recipes served at Mean Greens over a three-week cycle
750
Heads of lettuce produced weekly in Mean Green Acres to serve at Mean Greens and other UNT dining halls — all on about one gallon of water per day
1,000
Approximate number of guests served at Mean Greens each day
Notable Noms
Ice Cream
Forget the grocery store freezer. Made in-house from all-natural ingredients and preservative free, Scrappy’s Ice Cream can be found in the Union and Clark Bakery at Eagle Landing.
Coffee Cake
This UNT food favorite has quite the history, making its decadent debut on campus in the mid-20th century. You can buy miniature loaves at the Corner Store or order via catering.
Croissants
Try a Clark Bakery croissant, one of 500 baked goods produced on campus, and an essential part of UNT’s many mouth-watering sandwiches. Check out a video of how they’re made at
northtexan.unt.edu/taste-UNT.
“WE ARE DEDICATED TO SERVING A DIVERSE STUDENT POPULATION FROM TEXAS AND ACROSS THE GLOBE AS THEY START THEIR HIGHER EDUCATION JOURNEY, CONTINUE THEIR STUDIES OR ADVANCE IN THEIR PROFESSIONS.” — UNT President Neal Smatresk on the university’s Spring 2022 enrollment, which saw 39% more new graduate students and 62% more new first-time-in-college students as compared to Spring 2021.
Q&A
A Newsworthy Career
Neil Foote, principal lecturer in UNT’s
Mayborn School of Journalism, is a consummate journalist — in addition to making a name for himself in academia, he’s worked in news outlets including The Washington Post and The Dallas Morning News, and for the American Society of Newspaper Editors (now known as the Newsroom Leaders Association). His dedication to diversifying newsrooms and the public relations industry recently earned him induction into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame.
Q: How does it feel to be an NABJ Hall of Famer?
A: I am humbled to be recognized amongst so many greats. Ever since I started in the journalism business in 1981, I’ve been involved in NABJ. The organization has always been a part of my life.
Q: What inspired you to pursue a journalism career?
A: As a kid, I wrote for my high school newspaper. When I was looking at schools that had strong liberal arts programs, I opted to go to Wesleyan University. By the time I left Wesleyan, I had been co-editor of the campus newspaper and got to teach journalism to new staff writers for the paper.
Q: What is the importance of journalism?
A: Journalism is at the forefront of how we get and trust information, and how we make decisions about our daily lives. Even though the credibility of media has been under attack in recent years, the best journalists in the world are doing the job of helping inform people about what’s really going on.
IN THE MEDIA
ADAM FEIN AND RUTHANNE “RUDI” THOMPSON, who serve as vice president and associate vice president of UNT’s Division of Digital Strategy and Innovation, were featured in The Wall Street Journal for helping the Dallas Cowboys thrive in virtual meetings.
TEXAS MONTHLY told the tale of alumna Dee Brock (’50, ’56 M.A., ’85 Ph.D.), one of “The Women Who Created the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.”
FOOD SERVICE EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES highlighted the unique dining experience offered by Eagle Landing.
SENIOR FRANKY DELGADO — whose fitness advice has made him TikTok famous — discussed his wellness journey with Spectrum News.
HISTORY PROFESSOR TODD MOYE spoke with Texas Standard about Civil Rights in Black and Brown: Histories of Resistance and Struggle in Texas, a book he co-authored. It’s based on the Civil Rights in Black and Brown project, a collaboration among several universities in Texas, in which historians travel the state collecting oral histories of the Civil Rights era from both African American and Mexican-American activists.
UP FIRST
EVENTS
APRIL
14 UNT’s inaugural Art Mart, set from 1 to 7 p.m. in the Library Mall, will feature dozens of local makers showcasing their art, crafts, prints and more, as well as special performances and interactive workshops throughout the day. Admission is free and open to the public. Learn more at studentaffairs. unt.edu/events/unt-art-mart.
MAY
13-15
Celebrate UNT’s newest graduates
during commencement, which will take place at the UNT Coliseum and Murchison Performing Arts Center. To view the full schedule, visit commencement.unt.edu/schedule. JUNE
9
JULY
10
AUGUST
29
An eat-and-ask for the show Parallax
2022 will take place at the UNT Union Art Gallery from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Featured artists include Jessica Brown, Mianiche Calhoun, Alexandra DeLeon, Ivy Owens, Leian Shaer, Lezli McDaniel, Megan Murillo, Jose Narvaez, Amy Nava Ruiz, Litzy Rea Valdez, Shannon Gaudard and Ryan Smith.
A Carter BloodCare drive is set from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Willis Library, Room 250H. The UNT community, as well as the general public, are invited to donate.
The fall semester begins. To learn more about events leading up to the beginning of classes — such as First Flight Week, UNT’s official welcome week program — visit studentaffairs.unt.edu/orientation- and-transition-programs.
sTAR sTUDeNT
Tenacity in Tough Times
Tiblets Abreha was only 11 when she
left her home in Eritrea, a country in East Africa, in hopes of a better life in nearby Ethiopia.
She didn’t tell her parents, who lived in a small, impoverished village where watering crops meant not having enough drinking water to survive.
“There is no water on hand,” Abreha says, “so we have to travel like an hour to get some. You have to carry any back, or, if you have a donkey, you’re lucky. ... Life there was very tough. Women don’t have the same rights that men do. They don’t go to school.”
The morning she left, she put on her school backpack and headed for the Ethiopian border, knowing that once she crossed, she wouldn’t be able to go back. After Abreha spent three years in an Ethiopian refugee camp, her caseworker told her that she would be able to go to the United States. In Dallas, new experiences awaited. She didn’t speak any English, and her foster family and new classmates in the DFW area didn’t speak her language.
“I began my new life with people I had never seen — different languages and different cultures,” Abreha says.
Eventually, she was placed with a foster family in Grapevine, where she found a home and the help she needed.
Since choosing to attend UNT, where she is considering a career in kinesiology, she’s joined UNT’s PUSH program for foster care alumni and was elected vice president of the PUSH student organization. She also earned a spot on the UNT cross country team.
“She is a leader, a kind-hearted soul and, because of her incredible resiliency, a role model for other students who have experienced hard times,” says Brenda Sweeten, PUSH program advisor and UNT foster care liaison officer.
Yes, Abreha says, it’s been a challenge to move from place to place, make friends, and get used to a new family and school.
“But I am a survivor,” she says. “I want to travel. I want to see my family. I want to go back home. I also want to travel to refugee camps, to see the kids and help them if I can. That’s my first goal.”
— Trista Moxley
News Roundup
Want to know more about what makes UNT such a great place to
live and learn? Check out the popular Amazon series The College Tour, which features an episode about Mean Green greatness.
admissions.unt.edu/the-college-tour
UNT welcomed Brooke Moore as assistant vice president for its new integrated student financial support center, and UNT alum and former employee Kevin Fralicks (’87) was named the new associate vice president for alumni relations and advancement communication.
UNT is the first university in the U.S. to offer a fully online Bachelor of Science in General Business degree on the Coursera platform. The university also announced a partnership with Google to help students and working adults learn job-ready skills for tech careers.
Online master’s degree programs in
the College of Education have once again been named some of the best in the nation, according to new rankings released by U.S. News & World Report.
Find the full stories at northtexan.unt.edu/ newsroundup.
UP FIRST
expeRT TAke
Animal Magnetism
While dogs may be man’s best
friend, they often have a much bigger role to play than that of furry acquaintance.
For example, right here at UNT, you can see canine companions in a variety of roles (for more proof, see story at right). They’re service animals, therapy dogs, police partners and more — each with their own unique tasks and abilities.
In her role as director of the Consortium for Animal Assisted Therapy, College of Education professor Cynthia Chandler has seen how crucial therapy dogs can be in establishing trust between therapists and their patients.
“Nurturing touch and play between a client and a therapy animal can enhance therapeutic atmosphere, lower anxiety in a client, and help create a trusting bond between a client and the animal’s handler, who is the psychotherapist,” she says. “Furthermore, the animal’s keen senses, especially the profound sense of smell, enable the animal to detect and respond to emotional states of a client.”
Here, UNT staff and faculty experts weigh in on the many benefits of animal-human relationships. CYNTHIA CHANDLER
Professor in UNT’s College of Education and director of the Consortium for Animal Assisted Therapy
“A therapy animal’s primary roles for participation in a psychotherapy session are that of nurturer and emotional distress detector. Interpretation of animal behavior responses can greatly aid a therapist’s understanding of a client, making it possible to better facilitate a client’s emotional growth and healing.”
CORP. NICHOLAS BRAUCHLE
UNT police officer and handler of Keegan, the UNT Police Department’s K-9
“Law enforcement K-9s, such as Keegan, help with the safety and security of campus and also play a crucial role in community relations. They can help connect the police department with members of their community and be a positive experience for everyone. For example, when I take Keegan for walks around the campus, I routinely chat with students about non-law enforcement topics. People are more likely to approach me when I’m walking with Keegan than by myself.” MICHAEL WISE
Associate professor and director of graduate studies in UNT’s Department of History
“Our interactions with animals urge us to reflect on our own animality, an experience that often involves unconscious historical narrations oriented toward explaining the differences between us and them. ... When we interact with animals, we put our own bodies back into the production of scholarly knowledge, reconsidering supposed gaps between human and non- human experience in ways that produce patience, empathy and new opportunities for joy.”
The Dogs of UNT
CALL IT ‘PUPPY LOVE.’ MEET THE FURRY FRIENDS WHO KEEP OUR STUDENTS SAFE AND HAPPY ...
TEXT BY JESSICA DELEÓN PHOTO BY AHNA HUBNIK
Jane Zink and Buddy, her Golden Labrador, always draw attention when they walk around campus.
“How often do you see a dog in boots?” Zink says.
The students are eager to touch him. She’ll tell them that he’s working — and they understand.
Buddy is a service animal who helps Zink, a biology and chemistry junior with Type 1 diabetes, when he senses her blood sugar is low.
He’s just one of the dogs who belong on the UNT campus.
Like Buddy, there are the service animals who help students with disabilities. More than two dozen dogs live in campus housing, including emotional support animals for students and companions to housing directors. Keegan is a member of the UNT Police Department and sniffs out potential explosives. And Buddy the Therapy Poodle in Counseling and Testing Services allows students time to heal from the stresses of life.
These dogs lend a lifeline to students for their physical and mental health. Zink, who wants to go to medical school and pursue a career in pathology, says Buddy keeps her safe and able to go places as she’ll be alerted to any incidents of hypoglycemia.
“He means independence, safety and security,” she says. “He’s my best friend, a fuzzy best friend.”
Meanwhile, Keegan — the K-9 yellow Labrador who has been on campus since 2018 with his partner, Corp. Nicholas Brauchle — means business.
“He is a great dog,” Brauchle says. “He is strong-willed, and he has a high work drive.”
Keegan keeps the campus safe by detecting explosives. Even though students are eager to touch him when they patrol the campus, Keegan is focused on his job.
“We do a lot of community relations, and he lets it happen. But most of the time, he’s like, ‘Let’s get this done with so I can get back to work,’” Brauchle says.
The students at Rawlins Hall get excited when they see Minnie, a long-haired Chihuahua mix, with the hall’s community director, Elizabeth Webb (’15).
“She loves the residents. They love her,” Webb says. “I joke, ‘I’m here too. You can say hi to me.’”
Minnie belongs to Webb, who oversees day-to-day operations and supervises the staff. She lives in an apartment in the hall, and community directors are allowed to bring their dog to live with them.
While Webb was hesitant at first to bring her, Minnie has adjusted well. She gets stopped a lot during walks, especially by students who say they miss the dogs they left behind. And she keeps Webb balanced. “We see students at their best and at their worst,” Webb says. “She helps me feel grounded.”
For the residents of Joe Greene Hall, their dog is Ellie, 7, believed to be a terrier mix, who was rescued by Julie Townley in South Carolina and has traveled with her to her position as community director.
Ellie mostly stays at Townley’s apartment, but will take walks throughout the day on campus, with her favorites being Clark Park and the walkway between Crumley Hall and the Business Leadership Building. She’ll often pick up half-eaten ice cream cones and other leftovers from Eagle Landing.
“She loves chasing squirrels on campus,” Townley says. “She loves being here. It’s been a good thing.”
Watch a video about Buddy and the other dogs of UNT. northtexan. unt.edu/dogs-unt.
Above
Buddy keeps watch in his designated space as Jane Zink takes part in her laboratory.
