43 minute read
MEAN GREEN
Hoop, There It Is
Mean Green men’s and women’s basketball teams net spectacular seasons with record-setting wins and conference bids — and making UNT history for both reaching postseason play in the same year.
The North Texas men’s basketball
team is once again the Conference USA West Division champion and played in the National Invitation Tournament for the fi rst time in the program’s history. With two games still remaining in the regular season, the Mean Green defeated Louisiana Tech to clinch the division title in front of a home crowd of 8,522, the fourth-largest in Super Pit history. In early March, the team won a program-record 15th straight game with a victory over UTSA in San Antonio. The men made it to the semifi nals of the Conference USA Tournament and then, as a No. 2 seed, to the NIT. At the Super Pit, they defeated Texas State University in the fi rst round of the NIT before losing a heartbreaker in overtime to Virginia, 71-69, in the second round. The team fi nished with 25 wins, a single season program record, and had the nation’s best scoring defense.
Meanwhile, the women’s team clinched a No. 2 seed in the C-USA tournament, making it to the semifi nals, and played in the opening round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament, losing to Tulsa at the Super Pit.
This season is the fi rst time the women’s basketball program has won back-to-back double-digit conference games in consecutive seasons since 2000-01 and 2001-02. They set a program record for most consecutive C-USA victories with six. And they fi nished the season with 17 wins overall (conference and nonconference), the fi fth-most in program history.
“Great way to send our seniors out with a win,” says head coach Jalie Mitchell.
Check out more sports news. meangreensports.com
Right
Sophomore forward Abou Ousmane
C-USA Pitcher of the Week
Junior Ashley Peters was named the Conference USA Pitcher of the Week in late February. She earned the honor for the first time in her career after pitching in all four games in the Tracy Beard College Classic and recording a 3-0 record and one save. Through four games in Melissa, Peters finished with 15.0 innings pitched, 2 runs allowed, 1 earned run allowed, 13 strikeouts, no walks and a 0.60 earned run average. In the last game of the classic, she pitched a complete game against Abilene Christian, did not allow an earned run and set a new single-game career high of seven strikeouts.
Tennis Racks Up Wins
The 2022 season is head coach Sujay
Lama’s 16th as the leader of the Mean Green tennis program, which has won three conference championships and made three NCAA Tournaments.
This season’s team welcomed back five returners from last year including three all-conference honorees — Lucie Devier, Maria Ponomareva and Saki Oyama — along with three talented and experienced newcomers who make UNT one of the deepest teams in Conference USA as they are in pursuit of another league title.
So far this season, the team has won matches against universities including ACU, Arkansas State, NMSU, MTSU, USF and Marshall.
By the Numbers
62
That’s how many feet North Texas track and field athlete Chris Samaniego, a senior from Monahans, surpassed in the weight throw to take down the previous two records he already had set this season. His first record- breaking throw took place at the J.D. Martin Invitational in Norman, where he recorded a mark of 61-00.25 (18.60m) to take down the school record set by John Garrish in 2013.
2022 MEAN GREEN FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
SEPT. 3 vs. SMU
SEPT. 10 vs. TEXAS SOUTHERN
SEPT. 17 at UNLV
SEPT. 24 at MEMPHIS
OCT. 1 vs. RICE
OCT. 15 at MARSHALL
OCT. 22 vs. SOUTHERN MISS
OCT. 29 at UAB
NOV. 5 vs. FIU
NOV. 12 at UTSA
NOV. 19 vs. LA Tech
NOV. 26 at UTEP
Schedule is subject to change. Check meangreensports.com for the most up-to-date information.
Alum’s Olympic Debut
Sliding headfirst on an ice track at speeds up to 90 mph
with only a small sled to carry her is Kellie Delka’s (’11) idea of pure joy.
For more than a decade, she’s been traveling across the world to compete in the sliding sport of skeleton. Most recently, the UNT alumna’s global success earned her the title of Olympian, a distinction she’s dreamed of since childhood.
“It still doesn’t feel real to me,” says Delka, who represented Puerto Rico as its sole competitor in women’s skeleton for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
While at UNT, Delka was a pole vaulter and part of the North Texas Cheerleaders. At that point, she had never heard of skeleton, and might not have even entered the sport if it weren’t for fellow UNT alum and Olympic bobsledder Johnny Quinn (’06).
As she was finishing up her bachelor’s degree in kinesiology, Delka came across a social media post from Quinn about a combine in McKinney hosted by the USA Bobsled and Skeleton Federation. She showed up to give it a try and was catapulted toward a path in skeleton.
The sport can be mentally and physically taxing, but lots of fun, Delka says.
“I’m an adrenaline junkie and a fighter,” Delka says. “I’m the crazy one who will take tons of runs in one day.”
MILES TO GO
OPAL LEE (’63 M.ED.) LED THE SUCCESSFUL CHARGE TO MAKE JUNETEENTH A NATIONAL HOLIDAY, EARNING ADMIRATION AND ACCOLADES ALONG THE WAY. BUT HER JOURNEY, SHE SAYS, IS FAR FROM OVER.
TEXT BY ERIN CRISTALES
IT’S BEEN A BANNER FEW MONTHS FOR OPAL
LEE (’63 M.Ed.). In December, the 95-year-old civil rights icon was named The Dallas Morning News’ Texan of the Year, followed by a Nobel Peace Prize nomination in February. Ask her about these extraordinary designations, and the longtime Fort Worth resident shrugs them off. For Lee, there’s no such thing as a capstone accomplishment.
“I feel like a lady who’s got a whole lot left to do,” says Lee, a retired educator who is widely known as the Grandmother of Juneteenth. “I’m not gonna rest on my laurels.”
It makes sense for a woman who has been a lifelong adversary of can’t. As a guidance and elementary education major at UNT, she jumped in her car — “so old I had to stick a hairpin in to keep it going”— and headed off to Denton with her four kids in tow (three attended North Texas with her, while her youngest was enrolled in the Laboratory School). As a burgeoning civil rights advocate and co-founder of the Tarrant County Black Historical and Genealogical Society, she watched as Fort Worth officials unplugged Sycamore Park’s lights at 10 p.m. to send Juneteenth celebrators home — until she jumped on a flatbed truck and plugged the lights back in. “We had fun until dawn,” she says.
And in 2016, as the reigning voice in the movement to make Juneteenth a national holiday, the then 89-year-old Lee embarked from Fort Worth and walked 2.5 miles each day in cities across the U.S. before reaching Washington, D.C. — a distance steeped in symbolism as Juneteenth marks the date that slaves in Texas learned of their freedom a full 2.5 years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Lee’s nearly four-month — and 1,400mile — expedition (which started in September 2016 and concluded in January 2017) led to 1.6 million signatures on a petition for Congress to formally recognize the global importance of the day.
Four years later, in spring 2021, the White House called. President Biden planned to designate Juneteenth the 11th federal holiday. Could she be there for the signing?
“We got there the next day,” says Lee, who credits the late Rev. Ronald Myers — with whom she served as a board member of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation — for impressing upon her Juneteenth’s rightful place among national holidays. “During the signing, I thought, ‘How wonderful that the whole world can celebrate Juneteenth. That finally people can see it was freedom for everybody — not just for the enslaved or for Black people or for Texans. For everybody.’ And then I thought, ‘We should celebrate from June 19 to July 4.’ Now that would be a celebration.”
After nine decades devoted to advocacy and the greater good, most people would consider their to-do list complete. But most people aren’t Opal Lee. There are still so many issues to address, she says. Like education (“We can’t let people remove books from schools that tell our real history”); equity (“We’ve got to tackle joblessness and homelessness and health care that some people can get, and others can’t”); and climate change (“I contend that if we don’t get busy cleaning up our Earth, we’re all going to Hell in a handbasket”).
But from years of experience, she can tell you the good news is this: We can do it — together.
“Most of us all want the same things: a decent place to live, a job that pays enough for us to have food and a car and a house of our own, to be able to send our children to college. Everybody wants this way of life,” she says. “I hope that people will realize that by working together against the disparities we have now, we can get so much done — and so much sooner.”
Watch President Biden pay tribute to Opal Lee before signing the Juneteenth bill, and learn about Opal’s Farm, dedicated to tackling Tarrant County food deserts. northtexan.unt.edu/opal-lee
With an eye toward ensuring the world’s natural resources are sustained for the future, UNT researchers are creating solutions to combat climate change, biodiversity concerns and air pollution.
Protecting the Environment
TEXT BY TRISTA MOXLEY PHOTOGRAPHY BY AHNA HUBNIK & MICHAEL CLEMENTS
When environmental anthropologist Courtney Cecale moved to Dallas in August 2020 from the
Peruvian Andes where she had been studying glaciers and climate change, she experienced her first triple-digit summer in North Texas. She couldn’t stop thinking about how heat might influence people’s everyday lives.
“I saw on the dash on my car that it was 116 with the heat index, and I didn’t know how people lived here,” she says.
With a long history of studying human-environment relationships, Cecale, who joined UNT in 2020 as an assistant professor, turned her curiosity into the North Texas Heat Research Project. The study looks at how extreme temperatures affect the social aspects of our lives, including living, working and playing. After gathering experiences from North Texans through surveys and interviews, she and her team will recruit residents to serve as citizen scientists to measure temperature data in their neighborhoods — data she hopes can be used to inform policy and decisions made by local governments to better the lives of residents.
Since modern recordkeeping began in 1880, the earth’s average surface temperature has risen more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit, with 2016 and
are already here. — Courtney Cecale, assistant professor of anthropology
2020 tying for the warmest years on record, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The heat has increased the average temperature of the ocean, as well as melting billions of tons of ice from glaciers.
While steps can be taken to help reduce or reverse the damage, they will be expensive and difficult. Suggestions like restoring natural spaces, utilizing clean energy and finding sustainable production methods for food and other products face a multitude of obstacles. But like Cecale, UNT researchers across disciplines are tackling these challenges head on to find cheaper, more sustainable and effective solutions to protect our environment.
“It is important to study climate change because the effects are not located in an imaginary future. They are already here. They will continue to worsen, and more people will die if we do not strategize our efforts wisely,” she says. “I genuinely believe that we are imaginative, clever and creative enough to solve problems like climate change.”
Climate Change
Shengqian Ma, chemistry professor, is collaborating with Northern Illinois University and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory on a prototype low-cost system for capturing carbon dioxide waste from manufacturing emissions and cleanly converting it into ethanol.
The prototype will intercept carbon dioxide before it’s emitted into the atmosphere and convert it back to fuel. Ma says it’s possible they might even be able to capture more carbon dioxide from the environment than has been emitted through manufacturing processes. Ideally, they would use renewable solar and wind energy to then convert carbon dioxide into ethanol.
“Our long-term vision is for a cleaner and sustainable planet,” Ma says.
Calvin Henard, an assistant professor of biological sciences and a researcher at UNT’s BioDiscovery Institute, is working to use microbiology to convert methane to bioplastics, biofuels and other valuable products normally derived from petroleum.
“Methanotrophic bacteria are the only organisms that are able to use atmospheric methane. They eat about 10% to 15% of methane in the atmosphere,” Henard says.
Through this research, Henard learned that some methanotrophs consume carbon dioxide in addition to methane, and he speculates that
— Shengqian Ma, chemistry professor
these bacteria are consuming methane and carbon dioxide in the soil.
“Our goal is to simultaneously util- ize and mitigate greenhouse gases in a single, sustainable process,” he says. “It’s a dual route to help the planet and achieve a sustainable bioeconomy.”
Biodiversity
Heat from climate change also can affect the diversity of plants, animals and insects, as well as how different species interact with humans. According to Conservation International, bee territories for bumblebee migrations have shrunk by about 200 miles in North America and Europe over the past 110 years due to climate change.
“Without these pollinators, it would be a much different world,” says Elinor Lichtenberg, assistant professor of ecology. “There would be a lot fewer flowers, and our fruits, vegetables and nuts are heavily dependent on insect pollination.”
In her lab, as part of UNT’s Advanced Environmental Research Institute, Lichtenberg studies the behavior of pollinators, primarily wild bees. In addition to studying how grazing practices impact pollinators, she’s researching what other flower visitors bees use as sources of social information.
Andrew Gregory, assistant professor of biological sciences, is examining a possible malaria outbreak in birds in Chile, which could lead to a better understanding of the effects of global warming on disease transmission. As climate change moves colder temperatures higher in the Chilean mountainside, bird populations are being affected with more contact with mosquitoes. This not only offers opportunities to see how wildlife disease can restructure with climate change, but also how it affects other populations, including humans, who interact with birds.
Gregory traveled to Chile in January as part of the Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation program with a group of students who are chosen from universities across the country to study the impacts of malaria and climate change on biodiversity.
“We have a unique opportunity to study a novel landscape where birds are being exposed to a new threat brought about by climate change,” Gregory says.
Air Quality
Lu Liang, assistant professor of geography and the environment, is using citizen scientists to help test whether there is a correlation between heat and air pollution. Through her proj-
Left
Elinor Lichtenberg studying insect pollinator communities at a ranch in Wise County owned and operated by the Dixon Water Foundation.
Right
UNT biology students study water distribution at the ranch.
Bottom
Lichenberg studies what other flower visitors bees use as sources of social information.
ect, she’s deploying a low-cost sensor network throughout Denton County to obtain granular measurements of heat and air pollution, particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less — tiny particles of pollution that are detrimental to human health when inhaled. The data will then be available to researchers and citizens through an online open access map that shows air quality changes wherever the sensors are installed. Temperature information will be gained through other sources.
“We are trying to understand exactly what’s happening in our city and how to better, more accurately measure exposure to heat and pollution,” Liang says.
Additionally, Alexandra PonetteGonzález, associate professor of geography and the environment, is studying the particles in the air that are transported from the atmosphere to the surface of the earth in precipitation. Every time it rains, millions of tiny particles hitchhike on the falling water droplets.
This water contains a large and diverse community of organisms such as bacteria, fungi and even tardigrades along with non-living particles like dust, soot, microplastics and radioactive material. What’s in our rainwater can have major implications for how ecosystems work, from economic impacts on agricultural crop yields to environmental effects of pollutants.
“We’re improving our understanding of how changes in air quality due to urban pollution, increasing wildfires and dust storms affect the ecosystems we depend on for clean air, water and well-being,” PonetteGonzález says. “We’re also interested in the ways and contexts in which vegetation can mitigate urban environmental problems, including air pollution and climate warming.”
Sustainable Ranch Practices
A collaboration between UNT researchers and the Dixon Water Foundation is helping to create sustainable ranch practices and further basic science about biodiversity. The foundation owns and operates several working cattle ranches, including two outside of Decatur, which seek to demonstrate environmentally and economically sound ways to manage rangeland. The ranches use a method called multi-paddock grazing where cattle are moved around very frequently so they don’t overgraze any particular area. They partner with local researchers to monitor how the environment responds to their stewardship and to fund grants, including one that is supporting David Hoeinghaus’ studies on the biodiversity and ecosystem functioning of the ranches’ aquatic habitats.
Because aquatic habitats can change drastically from season to season and year to year, Hoeinghaus, biological sciences associate professor, and his team are working to identify the distribution of water on the ranch in terms of time and space.
Additionally, Elinor Lichtenberg, assistant professor of biological sciences, is looking at insect pollinator communities on the ranches quantifying food and shelter resources. Both researchers are comparing the biodiversity across different variations of grazing practices, such as the amount of time cattle spend in a particular area, beginning with a baseline inventory of aquatic species and insect species. Their data will help assess how this alternate grazing management practice compares with traditional grazing management practices in terms of aquatic ecosystem condition and functioning. They hope to improve best management practices for long-term sustainability of rangelands.
“Understanding how these factors drive changes in the pollinator communities is really important if we want to develop data-driven land management practices,” Lichtenberg says.
WE HAVEN’T BEEN NORMAL IN YEARS
TEXT BY JESSICA DELEÓN PHOTOGRAPHS BY MICHAEL CLEMENTS
A caring city that embraces and celebrates its eclectic, cultural identity and history, Denton is anything but ordinary. The best college town is a distinctive destination that’s flourishing due to UNT’s creative alumni and community.
David J. Anzaldúa Pierce (’97), creator of the Day of the Dead Festival.
henever Joey Liechty roamed around Denton, he couldn’t help but notice a young man playing the keyboard on the city’s street corners — while wearing a fake tiger head.
The youth, named Joshua, had become a fi xture on Denton’s downtown square and other spots around town. And Liechty decided Joshua, also known as Tiger Head Keyboard Dude, needed to be on stage.
But not just Joshua. Liechty wanted to spotlight the wacky but beloved sights and characters of Denton — from the old Howdy Doody sign and Lucky the albino squirrel to a video appearance by Robocop star Peter Weller (’70) and performances by Eric Michener’s (’07) band Fishboy and Paul Slavens, host of the Paul Slavens Show on KXT 91.7, to name a few.
Liechty, a computer programmer and DJ who attended UNT from 2003 to 2010, called the event, which took place this past December, Dentonpalooza.
“If you’re doing something off the beaten path, we will accept you,” Liechty says. “And not only will we accept you, we will celebrate you and champion you in ways that you may have not anticipated.”
The event was very Denton. It not only showed off the city’s quirky characters, but it also displayed its unique ability to come together and support the community. Through ticket, poster and T-shirt sales, the event raised $16,000 for the Denton Musicians and Artists Collaborative (DMAC) and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. It also raised $500 for Joshua through enamel pin sales bearing his likeness.
“Dentonpalooza showed us the best parts of the city altogether and all at once. Generosity, talent, craziness, history, friendship. It was overwhelming in the best way,” Liechty says.
In fact, lots of people want to be part of Denton’s energetic community. Dentonpalooza is one of many examples of how the city has especially thrived over the past few decades thanks to UNT alumni, like Liechty, who are staying and creating events, businesses and nonprofi ts that have turned “Little D” into a big destination and bolstered its reputation as one of the nation’s best college towns.
The university has always helped to fuel Denton’s unique and culturally rich essence. And being near Dallas-Fort Worth, one of the country’s fastest-growing metropolitan areas, means easy access to even more opportunities in addition to Denton’s local businesses, bustling festivals and caring community in which members are always willing to help out. That’s all while UNT’s excellence in the arts, nationally recognized research programs and athletic events attract students, researchers and visitors from far and wide.
“UNT brings people to Denton who might not have stopped,” says Denton Mayor Gerard Hudspeth (’20), an applied arts and sciences alumnus. “Beyond that, there’s the expertise of the university community who set down roots. This creative and forward-thinking attitude has helped put Denton on the map and made it a destination city.”
Oh No You Denton
Denton, of course, always has been distinctive. It boasts iconic landmarks, such as the Denton County Courthouse and the downtown square, fi lled with restaurants and stores.
The town is painted in bold, vivid colors thanks to the many murals splashed across the city’s buildings. The soundtrack is provided by buskers on the square and blasted from bars and clubs, giving Denton an edge and unmistakable sense of place.
The city’s many quirks include the purple door on the square that is a popular background for Instagram pictures; the lilac building that houses Recycled Books, with its huge inventory of literature and music; and the Chairy Orchard, a small patch of land in the residential neighborhood known as Idiot’s Hill, in which chairs are used to decorate a “chairy-go-round” and other whimsical amusements.
Denton speaks its own language — with phrases like “#dentoning,” “Only in Denton” and “Oh No You Denton,” coined by former art professor Jude Landry for a T-shirt — for all those Denton-esque moments that you can’t experience anywhere else.
Others have taken notice. In 2012, Mother Earth magazine declared Denton one of “8 Great Places You’ve (Maybe) Never Heard Of.” USA Today ranked it among the Top 25 fastest-growing cities in the country, with the population increasing 63% from 2000 to 2018. Actor Jason Lee — friends with the members of the UNT-educated band Midlake — even lived in Denton for a few years.
As UNT has grown, so has the city. The university is experiencing record enrollment and recently reaffi rmed its Tier One research status, ensuring the campus and the city continue to fl ourish together. A McKinsey Global Institute study shows college towns are expected to experience an 11% jump in employment growth in the next decade, thanks to their strong worker pools in creative, STEM and health care fi elds.
Realtor Darien Orr (’86), who studied art, is active in numerous community organizations and eager to talk about the city and its off erings with prospective residents.
“We’re not just getting bigger geographically,” Orr says. “We’re becoming culturally richer and deeper. There’s more variety. Denton also is very welcoming.”
A Magnetic Force
When Mike Cochran (’79) came to Denton in 1968 from Dallas, he thought it was a podunk town.
“Like many folks, I came to school with no intention of sticking around,” he says. “But I found it a pleasant place to live and raise a family.”
Cochran, a history major, ended up not only settling in Denton, but he became active in civic aff airs as a former city councilmember and served as chair of Denton’s Historic Landmark Commission and president of the Historical Society of Denton County. He has published a catalog of the works of architect O’Neil Ford, a UNT alum, and recently published a biography of John B. Denton with UNT Press.
UNT was founded in 1890 as the Texas Normal College and Teacher Training Institute in a rented space above a hardware store downtown just 33 years after Denton was founded, giving the city character that others lacked.
“It added a certain level of culture to the community,” Cochran says. “We had an
Above
Harry (’79 M.B.A.) and Linda (’72, ’82 M.B.A.) Eaddy, founders of the Denton Black Film Festival, have lived in Denton since they graduated from UNT.
Above
Kiara Hunter’s (’21) Denton volunteering steered her to the nonprofi t sector. She’s pictured at Armadillo Ale Works, which was founded by Bobby Mullins (’07) and Yianni Arestis (’08, ’11 M.B.A.) infl ux of educated individuals who came into our town. The university has been a shot of intellectual energy and artistic vigor.”
Cochran says UNT is an “attractive magnetic force” for the community, introducing professors and alumni who have served on the Denton City Council and other commissions infl uencing local policy.
“It’s hard to even imagine what Denton would be like without the university,” he says. “What a dull place it would be.”
The relationship between town and gown continues. Hudspeth and UNT President Neal Smatresk meet quarterly to talk about upcoming issues, such as preparing for winter storms, and Hudspeth often represents the city at campus events.
He also works to help graduates stay in Denton by bringing in more business.
“The city’s role is to work with UNT so that graduates can land corporate jobs and have a great livelihood here,” he says. “I can say to prospective companies, ‘Here’s the talent. These people will hit the ground running and are ready to go.’”
Drawing Talent
Denton also has been a place with an exceptionally creative pool of students.
In 1946, UNT created the fi rst jazz studies program in the country, building to a nationally renowned College of Music. Future superstars like Roy Orbison, Don Henley and Norah Jones enrolled at UNT. Programs in the College of Visual Arts and Design helped nationally known artists like the late Jesús Moroles (’78) and Dana Tanamachi (’07) along their path. And writers like Larry McMurtry (’58) and Anne Rice got their start in the English program.
“Denton draws people from all over the world,” says Sharon Barnhill (’77), a small business owner who is active in Theatre Denton and other organizations. “We are a very diverse place. Because we have a big arts and music school, we draw people who are talented.”
For many decades, the music scene brought in visitors to Fry Street, the area north of campus that boasted clubs like Rick’s Place and funky eateries like Jim’s Diner and the Flying Tomato.
Left
Denton Mayor Gerard Hudspeth (’20), in the City Council chambers, was born and raised in Denton.
Bottom
Darien Orr (’86) stayed in Denton after college when she married Bill Orr (’63), a third-generation Dentonite.
Music alum David J. Anzaldúa Pierce (’97), a freelance composer and founder of Denton’s Day of the Dead Festival, remembers salsa nights at Bagheri’s.
“People would just come out and dance in the streets,” he says. “It would be OK and would just happen. Those are big ‘Only in Denton’ moments.”
From 1979 to 2007, Fry Street Fair featured a wide variety of bands. Music fans also fl ocked to Rubber Gloves, now owned by Rob Houdek (’78), near the railroad tracks. Groups like Brave Combo, formed by UNT alumni, grabbed national attention.
“My experience as an artist and musician in Denton was seeing some incredibly eclectic bands making great music,” Pierce says. “They were uniquely Denton bands.”
New Ideas
One of those uniquely Denton bands, Midlake, has gone from playing in the Music Practice North Building on UNT’s campus to the Sydney Opera House in Australia.
The group not only has created great music, but also has helped the downtown square and music scene thrive.
Formed in the late 1990s by students in the College of Music, the band never left its roots in Denton. In fact, its members established Paschall Bar, helped found the restaurants Barley and Board and 940’s Kitchen & Cocktails, and run Redwood Studio — homebase for their production company, Redwood Music — and Denton Music Workshop, a music studio off ering lessons, recording and audio production and rehearsal space for the community.
The band’s drummer, McKenzie Smith, is a former One O’Clock Lab Band member who attended UNT from 1997 to 2000.
“It’s really exciting to come up with ideas and be a part of something,” he says.
The musicians are not the only alums who are creating Denton’s cultural and economic boom.
Others have launched unique businesses, such as Oak Street Drafthouse and Armadillo Ale Works, which create their own craft beer and host community events; the DIME Store, in which makers sell their crafts; and Mashup Market, a small shop that sells vegan food products. UNT’s College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism sells alumni and student artwork and other goods at the UNT CoLab, off the square.
Often, these businesses began with a simple idea and owners who persevered. Pan Ector Industries started in a garage at a house on the corner of Panhandle and Ector streets. Nick Webber (’10) and Michael Little (’09), graduates of the College of Visual Arts and Design, stored their printmaking equipment in the house they rented there.
They fi rst got a request for a run of tote bags. Soon, some local bands wanted T-shirts and merchandise to sell at their own shows, and Webber and Little often brought their equipment to Rubber Gloves. Now you can’t go to an event in Denton without seeing the Pan Ector crew spinning their machine to make T-shirts.
When the business started in 2009, Denton was much quieter during the summer when the students left, but it began to change. “It was something you could feel slowly happening,” Webber says. “More and more people began sticking around.”
Artists Beth Klein (’87) and Roxane Clark (’95), business and education alums who opened Sleeping Lizzards gift store in 1992, have seen that change too. Their original clients were mostly mothers and older generations. But the advent of TikTok has brought in college students who want to buy crystals and other hot items trending on social media.
Klein, a jewelry designer and silversmith, and Clark, who makes handcrafted soaps, have not only helped the Denton economy by employing various people in their eclectic shop and selling their wares in many of the local festivals — they’ve also promoted the work of other Denton artisans and other independently owned Denton businesses.
Above
From left, Beth Klein (’87) and Roxane Clark (’95) opened Sleeping Lizzards gift shop, a unique shopping experience in Denton, in 1992.
And Dentonites have helped them too. When their store fl ooded 14 years ago, local businesses sent clean-up crews and food. During the two-month lockdown at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, customers bought gift certifi cates — some as much as $500 — and purchased items online.
“Denton has a deep-rooted core of people who value individuality, arts, creativity and local business,” Klein says. “Denton is growing so fast, you would think that this ideal might disappear, but that has not been the case.”
Building Community
In 2009, Orr, the realtor and UNT art alum, eyed a newspaper ad for a new community market. She signed up for a $10 booth to sell her notecards featuring photos of her vintage Barbie and Ken dolls frolicking around Denton sites. She joined about 10 other people that fi rst day.
“Denton people really want to support local makers and artists,” she says. “It was a perfect combination of the two things.”
The Denton Community Market has grown, now attracting 500 to 1,000 visitors and 50 to 70 vendors, who sell everything from soap to food each week. People gather to listen to local musicians and munch from food trucks’ off erings.
And Dentonites love a festival. There are more than a dozen such events each year, including the Denton Arts & Jazz Festival and the Denton Holiday Lighting Festival, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. Many are organized by alumni.
The Day of the Dead Festival began in 2011 when Pierce wanted to produce a Halloween cabaret musical for families called Cirque du Horror and pitched the idea to Dan Mojica, who owns Dan’s Silverleaf. Pierce envisioned a Shakespeare in the Park-type layout around Industrial and Hickory Streets with a minifestival built around it. The event would be set
in the fall to celebrate harvest, Halloween and Dia de los Muertos, a holiday Pierce grew up celebrating that refl ects his Hispanic heritage.
The festival was packed with people that fi rst day, and it continues to attract hundreds each year with its arts and food booths, children’s area and coffi n races. A huge Denton Day of the Dead Festival mural now takes up a wall on Hickory Street.
“I didn’t have any idea how grand it was going to look,” Pierce says of the mural. “Every time I go by there, it’s hard not to think of coffi n races and that time of the year. I have to pinch myself sometimes.”
And there’s the Denton Black Film Festival, which takes place in the fi rst months of the year and was originally started to raise scholarship money. Its fi rst screening in 2015 brought in 800 people to see 13 fi lms. Now the festival attracts about 9,000 fi lmgoers and has added art, music, dance, spoken word and a tech expo.
Although the festival has temporarily pivoted to an online format due to COVID-19, it takes over downtown in its in-person format, booking up venues for screenings and workshops. When it began, then-Mayor Chris Watts (’83, ’92 M.Ed.) told the event’s co-founder, Harry Eaddy (’79 M.B.A.), that he was struck by the tremendous amount of diversity, not only in terms of race but age.
“He thought that we did a lot to bring people together and, during the festival, Denton became a very diverse community downtown,” says Eaddy, who founded the event with his wife, Linda (’72, ’82 M.B.A.). “It reinforced what we believe is our mission: to share culture and build community.”
Making an Impact
That sense of community is a big reason why people love Denton and are so willing to give back to it.
“We’re still a small enough city in which people can make an impact,” Hudspeth says.
Josh Berthume (’05 ’10 M.A.), a political science major, noticed Denton had a gap in its business community. After graduating and settling in Denton with his wife, Diana Foner (’07), he often drove to Dallas for freelance creative advertising work and wondered why no one had set up such a business in Denton.
“My wife said, ‘You could be that person,’” he says, and in 2011, he founded Swash Labs. The business creates ads and social media campaigns for its clients, including Dentonbased Little Guys Movers, co-owned by alum Marcus Watson.
“Denton is a community that is interested in your ideas,” Berthume says. “There’s a real community spirit around new ideas that I’ve found very welcoming. With as much as Denton has grown, it’s maintained that scrappy entrepreneurial spirit.”
Kiara Hunter (’21) feels the same way. She and her husband, Charlie (’21), who were both applied arts and sciences majors, volunteered with 35 Denton, the music festival that took place off and on from 2009 to 2016.
“We loved celebrating Denton’s diverse musical culture and sharing it with the community,” she says.
When 35 Denton folded, the Hunters became involved with the Denton Music and Arts Collaborative, an organization that supports creatives by subsidizing insurance for health care, with an annual fundraiser, Summer Hangout, and other events.
And, in 2013, they co-founded Friends with Benefi ts along with Mindy Arendt. The nonprofi t organization has raised over $140,000 for 33 nonprofi t organizations, including Denton Friends of the Family, as well as annual winter-wear clothing drives for Our Daily Bread. The organization attracts a youthful crowd with its fun, low-cost events, such as We Denton Drag It and She-Rock.
Hunter says all of the experience she’s gained from volunteering helped steer her life in a diff erent direction, prompting her to fi nish her degree and work in the nonprofi t sector. Alongside her volunteer work, she is proud to serve Denton as the executive director for Denton Animal Support Foundation, a local nonprofi t that supports the City of Denton Animal Shelter.
She has seen fi rsthand how the whole town pulls together with sincerity.
“Denton is an amazing, authentic community,” she says. “People feel that energy when they’re walking around downtown. We’re doing what we can to support one another, and I think that attracts and keeps people.” Read more about alumni who are the creative forces behind the band Midlake and innovative businesses such as Armadillo Ale Works, which cohosts “UNT on Tap,” a researcher speaker series from UNT’s Division of Research and Innovation. Also read amusing “Only in Denton” anecdotes from locals.
Listen to UNT Pod, Episode 32: Dentonpalooza Celebrates the City’s Oddball Charm.
Watch the video Denton – Where Creativity, Caring and Culture Thrive. northtexan.unt.edu/online
Brenda Barajas-Koch (’10, ’20 M.A.)
Spanish, women’s and gender studies
Job title: Prevention education specialist for Latinx populations with the Violence Prevention and Education team under the Rape Crisis and Victim Services Department at The Women’s Center of Tarrant County; previously worked as a Spanish teacher and as a liaison between UNT’s Outreach office and the Consulate General of Mexico in Dallas to create educational opportunities for Mexican nationals
Major requirements/skills of current job: We talk about such personal issues that you have to learn how to navigate different audiences and to talk about these issues in a sensitive and culturally competent way. We’re trying to prevent violent crime and sexual violence before it ever occurs. We’re talking to people about healthy relationships, online safety, consent, the dynamics of sexual assault, and how to better serve different groups of survivors in a culturally resonant or culturally competent way, whether that be working with LGBTQ+ survivors, non-English speaking survivors, or immigrant and refugee populations.
Career highlight(s): When I was a liaison for UNT and the Mexican Consulate, so many families and students saw themselves in me because I was a firstgeneration student. It was really cool to be able to let them know about my journey and help them realize that this university is for them — higher education is for them. With my current role, I’m so fortunate to do something that I am passionate about and that is very personal to me. It’s an immense responsibility to carry, but it’s also just such a privilege.
How your degrees helped you get to where you
are today: The soft skills you learn — empathy, communication — are applicable in so many different jobs and just help you be a better person. They’ve helped me to really connect and build relationships in every role that I’ve had.
Best advice you ever received: Earning a degree requires you to devote so much time and energy and money — do something that you’re passionate about instead of just doing something that you’re “supposed” to do.
Carl Whitaker (’15 M.A.)
Geography
Job title: Director of research and analysis at RealPage; previously served as RealPage’s manager of market analytics and market analyst
Major requirements/skills of current job: My team in particular works more on the market research and the investment side of the equation. A perfect example of this is, this morning, I had someone call me and say they were looking at buying an apartment property in Savannah, Georgia. We forecast for the next five years what the expected occupancy is going to be, what the expected rent would be and how a local economy is going to drive apartment demand. A lot of my current job ties back to geography because it’s understanding what it is about this place that makes it different. Like, what makes Denton different than Austin, and vice versa? These are differences our team helps explain.
Photo courtesy of Stacy Rhone
How your degree helped you get to where you are today: My thesis advisor, Dr. Murray Rice, had a background in academia, which is very applied. The geography analysis used was less theoretical and more about how to use it in a business setting, especially through an analytics framework. Working with him was very beneficial in helping me figure out applied perspectives, which is sometimes a little tougher to explain, but I thought he did a great job with that.
Best advice you ever received: The advice that I would give to anybody is always seek balance. I think balance is the most important thing in life, whether it’s a work-life balance or school-social balance. Be prudent with money but don’t be so prudent that you don’t enjoy yourself. There’s always that sweet spot.
What is something people would be surprised to learn about you?
I really like music — all kinds of music from all kinds of genres, and I love finding new music. In my office, there are like 20 albums behind me, and each album is from a part of my past that really resonates with me. Like, I can point back to one and be like, “Oh yeah, that’s when I was doing this.” I also love going to music festivals; before COVID, I had been to Bonnaroo five years in a row, and I attended Burning Man this year. I think that surprises people.
Stacy Rhone (’88)
Economics; also earned M.S. in civil engineering from UT Austin in 1993
Job title: CEO of BiGAUSTIN (focused on business investment growth to empower underserved Texans to excel and prosper through education, counseling and capital)
Career highlight(s): When I was hired as a program specialist at TxDOT in 1989, I was the first African American female in highway design construction. They told me, “It’s great to hire you because we’re killing two birds with one stone.” However, by the time I left there, the highlight for me was that they understood that it wasn’t about hiring someone because they were Black or because they were female. They knew that I was totally capable of doing my job. And then today, having been one of the only Black female developers in Austin to come in and purchase and develop 38 acres of land when everybody said, “You’re not going to be able to get that done at a nonprofit organization.” Well, we got it done, and we’re building one of the most fabulous resource centers that will perhaps ever impact Central Texas. The project is going to impact so many lives by creating small businesses, jobs and affordable housing.
How your degree helped you get to where you are today:
As an African American, understanding the importance of building generational wealth, understanding the market and investing — that deep understanding of how the economy works has played into everything that I’ve ever done. My economics degree has been extremely important in helping me to establish a baseline for every step I’ve taken in my career.
Advice for students majoring in economics: Be very serious about your studies. Economics is not the type of degree where you get any playtime. Every course is a challenge, and you have to be very focused.
Best advice you ever received: Stay agile. Stay encouraged. Keep working hard, applying for jobs and reaching out to alumni. Life is all about the opportunities, and there are a lot of opportunities to be found with UNT alumni. There are many alums I have created great partnerships with.
What people would be most surprised to learn about
you: Community service is more important to me than money. Most people think that when you’re in economics, your focus is money. But community service is at the heart of what I do and that is why I stay at the company I’m at. I focus on community service and public service more than anything because I believe the financial part of it will come to you over time.
Courtney Brazile (’05, ’09 M.A.)
Communication studies
Job title: Professor of communication studies, Dallas College; part-time house manager at Dallas Summer Musicals
Organizations: Being involved at UNT helped shape where I am today. I previously participated in the Performance Interest Group; I also led as president my junior year. Serving as a student leader afforded an opportunity to meet other students with a passion for performance and communication. I was able to hone my leadership skills in a student-centered atmosphere while making authentic interpersonal connections.
Career highlight(s): One of the highlights of my career involves producing a documentary titled Director Your Future — a short film about the obstacles and stereotypes facing minority males. The documentary was created as a promotional video for the Men’s Empowerment Coalition, a retention program for male students of color at Eastfield College. The film features the powerful stories of three students who share their successes and challenges through their college journey. What started off as a two-minute promo video turned into a 26-minute documentary, and the premise is for young people to realize they’re in the director’s chair to write their script. The project was challenging; however, it was one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. Another highlight was serving as the commencement speaker at my institution after being chosen by my peers as the 2018 Excellence in Teaching Award recipient at Eastfield College.
How your degree helped you get to where you are today:
Courses such as interpersonal communication develop important skills for building and maintaining sustainable relationships. Public speaking is instrumental in my faculty role and when I present locally or at national conferences. Intercultural communication has been an integral component for delivering my own TEDx talk on diversity. Moreover, I want to empower my students to address the stereotypes and biases they experience to become change agents in their communities.
Advice for students majoring in communication studies:
It’s OK to shift gears. For instance, I started college with a desire to teach high school, and now I’m employed at the collegiate level. Assess your strengths and your talents. Be present and learn from all life’s experiences. Be mindful and approach your courses with fresh curiosity. Get to know your instructors and get involved because extracurricular activities, internships and networking provide the path to where you ultimately want to be in your career.
— Courtney Brazile
Learn about more CLASS alums who are making their mark. northtexan.unt.edu/head-of-class
INSPIRED DELIGHT
Text by Jessica DeLeón
The Texas Fashion Collection’s new exhibition features artifacts that make viewers look for the details.
From left
Two wedding dresses boast unique features. Victor Costa’s white dress includes a skirt formed of a lattice of satin cording, while Vera Wang’s dress was originally white and dyed black. Designer Ashish Gupta, working under the ASHISH brand, created this hand-crocheted outfit inspired by his grandmother’s quilt. Cristóbal Balenciaga’s pink evening gown stands next to a black-and-white printed silk faille dress with a dalmatian print against a white background, designed by Hubert de Givenchy, who studied under Balenciaga. A dress by Michael Faircloth (’83) is highlighted by a gold silk fabric and an embroidered bodice.
In the Details
The dress looks like a quilt many people could find draped across their grandmother’s sofa. Until you look a little closer.
“That piece is nothing but sequins,” says Annette Becker (’15 M.A.), director of UNT’s Texas Fashion Collection.
The gown, created by Indian-born, London-based designer Ashish Gupta, working under the brand ASHISH, is composed of a lightweight, almost sheer, black fabric. And it’s one of more than 35 garments and accessories on display at the exhibition, Delight: Selections from the Texas Fashion Collection, running through May 21 in the College of Visual Arts and Design Gallery in the UNT Art Building.
As the title suggests, the clothes are designed to evoke pleasure in viewers when they see them first hand.
“You can’t understand the depth of that beauty and craftsmanship unless you’re in person,” says Becker, who curated the show.
All of the items were drawn from the nearly 20,000- piece permanent collection to reflect its history.
“We wanted to make sure fashion’s past is in conversation in the present,” Becker says.
Pieces include a black Vera Wang dress that originally was white when it went down the runway but later translated to black to be more wearable for formal events. A gold dress with intricate embroidery on the bodice by Michael Faircloth (’83) shows the Texas designer’s caliber of haute couture. Cristóbal Balenciaga’s confection of a dress features a voluminous skirt — made with real hoops — and an exuberant pink color.
Becker says the fashion artifacts often feature unexpected details that turn unassuming pieces into works of art.
One Patrick Kelly outfit inspired the whole exhibition. At first glance, it looks like a typical skirt suit. But as visitors look closer, they’ll see the buttons are made of dice and the pockets seem randomly placed, including in the back of the suit — perhaps a reference to luck, as this collection was inspired in part by Las Vegas.
The exhibition’s title was inspired by The New York Times best-selling collection of essays The Book of Delights by Ross Gay, and is meant to encourage visitors to think more about each artifact and celebrate the distinctive story it holds.
“Clothes exist in our everyday lives,” Becker says. “But if we train ourselves to see delight in the details around us, it opens us to see the world in new and exciting ways.”
The free exhibition is open through May 21, with gallery hours from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, and from noon to 8 p.m. Thursday. Explore the Texas Fashion Collection’s digital archives at
