Cameron Collegian (Spring 2024) Issue #8

Mastering Education:

Cameron University graduate degrees

Brittney Payette Managing Editor

Cameron offers master’s degrees in Business, Psychology and Education.

Department of Business Chair and Assistant Dean Dr. Krystal Brue said that within the business department, there are two master’s degrees offered — a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership (MSOL).

Brue said the MBA offered at Cameron is designed for working professionals or recent graduates who want a competitive advantage.

“This degree provides students with course content in a variety of business disciplines, including finance, accounting, marketing and management,” she said. “MBA students benefit from connecting concepts to current business issues and expanding their business knowledge, exposure, and expertise.”

Brue said the MSOL is a versatile degree that is especially helpful for those who want to start or continue working in government agencies or nonprofits.

“CU's MSOL has helped students find the value and marketability of a degree that focuses on leadership and management from a business perspective,” she said. “(Also,) Our graduates have mentioned that they like how MBA and MSOL faculty care about student learning.”

Professor and Interim Chair of the Psychology Department, Dr. Mary Dzindolet, said that the Psychology Department at Cameron offers two master's degrees: the Master of Science in Behavioral Sciences (MSBS) and the Master of Arts in Mental Health (MAMH).

The MSBS has one track, the general psychology track. The MAMH has two tracks: the counseling track and the marriage and family track.

Dzindolet said that one of the requirements for admission into one of the master’s programs is to have a bachelor’s degree.

“We want to encourage people — don’t feel like you have to be a Psychology major to earn one of these degrees,” she said.

Dzindolet said there are some classes that are required for all of the master’s programs in the Psychology Department such as Psychopathology, Human Development, Research Methods, etc.

She said that the MAMH counseling track gives the students all the academic requirements to become a licensed professional counselor in Oklahoma, and the MAMH Marital and Family Counseling track provides students with all the

What’s Inside

academic requirements to become a Licensed Marital and Family Counselor in Oklahoma.

“The counseling track also has an embedded certificate for Alcohol and Drug Counseling (LADC),” she said. “That certificate gives someone all of the academic requirements to become a LADC in the state of Oklahoma.”

The MSBS General Psychology track has 11 courses.

“You can finish it full-time in two summers, a fall and a spring (semester),” she said. “It’s real fast.”

Cameron also has the Psychology Clinic, where students can get clinical experience seeing actual patients. The therapy provided there is completely free for the community. The Oklahoma Board of Behavioral Health requires that students receive 300 hours of clinical experience.

“Our CPC is a huge advantage for Cameron students,” Dzindolet said. “We have that CPC where you know you’re going to have good people giving you good training … There are no words to say how powerful that is.”

She said that both the educational and clinical experience that students receive from Cameron will help them be prepared to see clients alone.

There are some microcredentials scholarships embedded into courses and we do have some graduate tuition waivers to help offset the cost.”

There are some similarities and differences between the masters degrees offered by the Education Department.

“The Masters of Education in Reading requires that the person has a 3.0 undergrad GPA and holds a valid teaching certificate,” Garrett said. “There is no years of experience requirement with that.”

The Masters of Science in Educational Leadership also requires a GPA of 3.0 and a valid teaching certificate and students must have one year of teaching experience.

The Masters of Education in Education requires that the candidate have a 3.0 GPA and hold a teaching certificate or have passed their Oklahoma General Education Test (OGET) and Oklahoma Subject Area Test (OSAT.)

“We have that CPC where you know you’re going to have good people giving you good training There are no words to say how powerful that is.”

-Mary Dzindolet Professor and Interim Department Chair

“You have the tools to be a great therapist or counselor,” she said. “It’s up to you to continue developing, but we give you the best foundation you can have, and a lot of that is from the CPC.”

Dzindolet said that jobs in the mental health sector are desperately needed.

“One of the missions of the Department of Psychology is to improve the mental health of the people in the community,” she said. “Opening the CPC meant that people in the community who can’t afford mental healthcare have a place to go for free, and that’s huge.

Department of Education Chair Stacie Garrett said that Cameron’s Education Department has three master’s degrees: Master of Education in Education, Master of Education in Reading, and Master of Science in Educational Leadership.

“We understand that finances and the cost of graduate school is typically the number one concern and barrier that keeps people from being able to fulfill that graduate level of learning,” she said. “There are incentives. For example, there is a teach grant that is out there that can offer up a significant amount of money for reimbursement.

People with an undergraduate GPA less than 3.0 can be conditionally admitted to the program.

There are some commonalities between the different master’s in education programs.

“All of our programs require some sort of research course,” she said. “They all have to take that. Not necessarily the same course. It depends on the program that you’re in. All the master’s degrees consist of 11 classes, so 33 credits all together to obtain a master’s.” Garrett said that field placements are offered in all of the department’s masters programs to provide students with a quality learning experience.

“We have partnerships with schools,” Garrett said. “The field placements are embedded into the courses, and so usually the field placement will somehow align with the course requirement … each class that they have a field placement (for) will have a minimum of field hours. It varies depending on the course and on the program.”

For more information about admission into a master’s degree program at Cameron, email the Office of the Registrar at registrar@cameron.edu.

For more information about the Psychology Department, email marydz@cameron.edu

For more information about the Education Department email sgarrett@cameron.edu. For more information about the Business Department, email graduate@cameron.edu.

Graphic by Brittney Payette

K9S ON CAMPUS

Scott Smith Staff Writer

Cameron University in Duncan holds several classes a week, and with many of those classes being remote I-TV classes, someone has to take care of all of the equipment and make sure everything runs smoothly.

Meet Bill Rowan, CU-Duncan’s Distance Learning Coordinator.

Remote classes are a given at Cameron’s satellite campus in Duncan and Rowan keeps everything going.

Rowan came to CU-Duncan from Halliburton Industries where he spent thirty years in E-Commerce. In his position at Halliburton, Rowan dealt with interfaces between business partners as well as customers, suppliers and banks that spanned the globe.

In 2007, CU-Duncan Director Susan Camp contacted Rowan about teaching a class on his lunch breaks. After working out details with Halliburton, Rowan spent the next seven and a half years teaching Introduction to Computer Information Systems at CU-Duncan.

Rowan said that teaching the class was rewarding as well as informative.

got to know about the inner workings of Cameron University.”

In 2020, after a staff retirement, Rowan found out about a Distance Learning Coordinator opening and Cameron hired him for the position.

Rowan currently coordinates all I-TV classes, but his job doesn’t end there. Rowan also works with main campus Information Technology Services (ITS) on technical issues that students and faculty may face.

Rowan said his primary job is to make sure distance learning occurs at the Duncan campus.

distance learning tele-medicine course.

Rowan said he frequently travels to the rural schools that range from Ryan to Frederick and points beyond to work on equipment.

“Bill wears a lot of hats. With everything he does on campus as well as off campus, without him, things definitely wouldn’t run as smoothly as they do.”

Chelsea Black

CU-Duncan

Academic Advisor

“Of all the classes we have here at CU Duncan, 85% of them originate somewhere else,” Rowan said. “That somewhere else is the Lawton campus.” Rowan’s other duties include handling paperwork, hand-outs and the coordination of proctored exams for the instructors back at the main campus.

“The equipment was purchased before the pandemic, so it is a little older,” Rowan said. “With that being said, sometimes it just needs some simple maintenance after being moved around. Other times, it’s just teaching people how to use the older equipment.”

CU-Duncan Academic Advisor Chelsea Black said that Rowan is a vital part of CU-Duncan’s operations.

“Bill wears a lot of hats,” Black said. “With everything he does on campus as well as off campus, without him, things definitely wouldn’t run as smoothly as they do.”

In his time away from campus, Rowan said he likes to watch documentaries.

MEET CU-DUNCAN’S DISTANCE LEARNING COORDINATOR BILL ROWAN

“I learned a lot about teaching during the seven plus years at CU-Duncan.” Rowan said, “I also

In addition to all of the requirements at CUDuncan, Rowan also works with 28 rural high schools to maintain I-TV video equipment for a

Rowan is also a self-proclaimed, social golfer and likes spending time on the course with friends. He also enjoys spending time with family and especially his six-year-old granddaughter.

Photo by Scott Smith

Photos by Hannah Owens

Outfits for Eeby

by Amelia Lozano Voices Editor

Awards season is behind us, but the lingering scent of Hollywood’s favorite popularity contest is still in the air.

While awards season is primarily a publicized bragging contest, it has its merits. It is a great opportunity for filmmakers to advertise their work, plus it gives actors a chance to remain in the spotlight.

That being said, I’ve noticed a growing trend of foreign actors becoming popular in the United States.

is that her characteristic German bluntness is baffling to American interviewers.

One particular interview with TNT has been circulated around social media for Hüller’s honest take on her acting process: “It’s not so much – I learned the lines.” The words of a true master of her craft.

There’s also Hüller’s “Anatomy of a Fall” French costar, Swann Arlaud, who has seen quite a lot of attention recently. Plenty of fan edits have hit TikTok and the like, lovey-dovey music and all.

in “Anatomy of a Fall” and “Zone of Interest,” has achieved great success due to both her incredible talent and her fans on social media.

The only downside to her rising popularity in the U.S.

Or we have Michelle Yeoh, a personal favorite actress of mine. Yeoh is Malaysian and first gained notoriety for her films in Hong Kong, to which she went overseas and established fame in the U.S. as well.

From “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” to “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” Michelle Yeoh has only gone further in her acting career, joining a number of Asian-led films and TV shows.

It goes without saying that there’s a plethora of English actors who have made a name for themselves in the U.S. – Idris Elba, Sir Patrick Stewart, and Christian

Bale, to name a few – but Americans are losing their fascination with the English to turn their sights toward Irish stars.

There’s Paul Mescal, who starred alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones in the show “Normal People.” He also acted with another, equally famous Irish actor, Andrew Scott (“Sherlock” fans: this is your Moriarty. “Fleabag” lovers: he is the Hot Priest).

Among these Irish icons is also Cillian Murphy, the beloved favorite actor of director Christopher Nolan, who starred in the titular role of “Oppenheimer” as well as John Krasinski’s “A Quiet Place: Part Two.”

With how quickly we can spread things through social media, I’d theorize that these other actors are famous in part because they have such an international following online.

If not for social media, I doubt that our modern intake of media would be as saturated with international content.

I love foreign films and television, so it’s exciting for me to see this growing cultural exchange, but perhaps it’s not so exciting for my wallet when I start buying merchandise from outside of America ... But one of the traits of pop culture is the money-making aspect, so I guess I’ve just fallen into that trap like everybody else.

Correction:

In Vol. 110, Issue 7, the “Cameron Collegian” incorrectly reported Dr. Heflin served at Cameron since 1958 (for 66 years). To redress the mistake, we are reprinting the feature in this issue on Student Life (page 5) with the correct information. The Collegian deeply regrets this error.

Contributions (left to right): Savannah Lozano, David R. Bublitz, Ramona Villegas

A MONSTROUS REVIEW

By Jacob Doughty Staff Writer

Two iconic cinema monsters cross paths once again, this time to fight alongside each other and save the planet from a new imminent threat that wants to make its way to the surface and conquer all lands. “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” sets the bar high going forward with future films in this universe — nothing but high stakes, gigantic foes, and earth-shattering action.

The multiple subplots that take place between the main characters all gradually build up until the final act of the film, each serving their own purpose that affects the unknown outcome.

What is known though, is that this battle for the throne was destined to take place.

Deep in the depths of hollow earth, a great evil and growing hatred for the current titan rulers has been brewing for thousands of years,

if not more. Dawned the name ‘Scar King’ by human tribes who live within the Earth, this great ape titan had once attempted to conquer the surface before. It was during this great prehistoric war, that Godzilla defeated Scar King and imprisoned the great ape titans within a subterranean layer of the

battle, Kong eventually reaches the enslaved ape colony being ruled over by the Scar King. A brief showdown between the two powerful titan enfolds and Kong is quickly overpowered. It’s during this fight that Scar King unveils his great hidden power that will aid him in the second attempt to rise to the surface, the captured ancient titan, Shimo.

Fans of the Godzilla franchise, or Legendary Pictures’ ongoing cinematic universe, will have a blast seeing this in theaters. By no means is this a perfect film, as the pacing can seem a little quick at times. With so much new canonical story material introduced to the series, many different titans to show off, and catching up with some of the main human characters, the film can seem overloaded. However, the action, CGI, cinematography and comedy, all meet the mark for varying audiences around the globe.

By Serenity Clark Staff Writer

Generally, people (me included) moan, groan and complain upon seeing a trailer for yet another reboot/remake/ re-animated/re-mastered/the-same-butat-a-different-angle movie, but hear me out, alright?

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire wasn’t so bad!

Two years after the events of “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” (2021), the Spengler family, consisting of nolonger-single mom Callie (Carrie Coon), her now-eighteen-year-old son Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), her youngest Phoebe (McKenna Grace), their self-titled “stepteacher,” Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd), relocates from Summerville, Oklahoma to New York City. Among these four, there is an emotionally beautiful, yet still developing, family dynamic.

As the Spenglers work from home, the opening scene with all four main characters shows them chasing what Trevor has deemed “Hell’s Kitchen’s sewer dragon” through the city, which is a hell of a lot more populated than little ol’ Oklahoma, as we all know.

One thing I’ve learned when watching movies with superheroes in New York

is that residents are way too comfortable with the architectural damage happening in their city, but I suppose they’re all used to this kind of thing.

The cops even say, “Nah, they got it,” as the old Ectomobile blasts through the streets with its shrill siren.

Though the police have adjusted, it seems the mayor Walter Peck (William Atherton) still definitely has it out for the Ghostbusters – for good reason; they do keep causing major problems and damage across his city – because he ruins their celebration of catching Hell’s Kitchen sewer dragon by asking the realest question anyone in a movie like this has ever asked: “Who’s going to pay for this mess?”

These are the kinds of questions people in the Marvel universe should’ve been asking instead of asking Iron Man for his autograph. Then he sticks the last nail in the coffin by saying, “We don’t let kids become cops or firefighters, and we certainly don’t let them become ghost busters.”

In order to avoid being shut down completely, Callie and Gary have to make the tough decision to bench their star player, Phoebe.

And though this movie does have a pretty intense storyline (evil spirit

gets unleashed from its brass prison by accident and threatens to destroy the planet – you know, the usual), it is also a painfully relatable depiction of teenage girlhood.

Fifteen year old Phoebe is the reason any of them are here in the first place – in New York, in the old firehouse, busting ghosts and protecting the masses – and she gets tossed to the sideline without a second glance.

Being fifteen, of course she internalizes this and develops a grudge against her family, bitter and upset because she feels (and knows) on the inside, that she is the most passionate about ghost busting out of all of them.

This is her thing – and it gets taken away from her, and now one bothers to comfort her, or ask her how she’s feeling, nor do they offer her any kind of coping mechanism or backup entertainment.

So what does Phoebe do?

She befriends a ghost, obviously. Playing chess in the park, she is joined by the ghost of a girl named Melody, who burned with her family in a house fire. Melody becomes her closest friend, her only confidant. Like many heartwrenching early high school friendships, Melody turns her back on Phoebe, using her to bring the big bad evil out of its

cage because she was promised it was the only way to pass on.

There is a lesson to be learned for each of them – especially Phoebe and Melody too –over and over, until the very end.

Being a fifteen-year-old girl is incredibly hard, whether you’re a ghost or not. At the end of everything, Melody gives Phoebe her matchbook, the only thing she brought into the afterlife with her.

She says, “You were right. I’ll see you in the fabric of the universe.”

Phoebe is left to mourn, to celebrate the end of the big bad, to grow and to learn. It is a story of learning and loving, heartbreak and mourning. It is both coming of age and the end of an era.

Though I do definitely think rehashing old movies and doing remakes over and over again is tired and unoriginal, “Frozen Empire” exists for good reason.

Full of laughter and sort-ofembarrassing Gen Z jokes (seriously, one of the main defenders against the big bad evil says, “Look, man, why don’t you let me go home and you head back to Narnia and we just call it even, okay?”), tender, blooming friendships and emotional familial bonds, “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” proves why it deserves to be on the big screen.

Courtesy Photo Graphic by Kemar Noel

vEt F E st

From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., April 1-2,

Fest at Cameron Univeristy.

A multitude of organizations for veterans came together to share with Cameron students and alumni the resources and opportunities that are accessible to veterans.

The Vet Center, an organization that assists veterans, set up a table and provided pamphlets about their organization.

Veteran advocate Tyrone Holden is the operator of the Mobile Vet Center.

“We console veterans and veterans’ families,” he said. “We do everything from PTSD, anxiety and depression

that kind of thing.” The Vet Center assists veterans with transitioning through the Veterans Benefits Administation system.

“We help them (veterans) find providers or find information on how they get VA (Veterans Affairs) ID cards or a primary care team — whatever the case may be,” he said.

The Vet Center helps veterans all around Oklahoma.

“I use the Vet mobile to go out to rural areas to talk to veterans about the VA and all the benefits they offer to the veterans,” Holden said. Holden said Cameron is warm and welcoming to the veteran community.

“It has an atmosphere that’s very inviting, and the military personnel are received very well,” he said.

“They have programs lined up.”

The Vet Center seized the opportunity to talk and discuss with future military personnel.

President of the Lawton/Ft. Sill chapter of the Oklahoma Women’s Veterans Organization (OKWVO)

U. Lisa Williams visited Cameron to stand with fellow veterans and

their family members to share as a community the different organizations and services that OKWVO provides.

“I’m here to support and let fellow veterans know that we exist and to bring awareness,” she said.

Native American Navigator

Michael Gardner is part of the US Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and he came to Cameron to advocate for Native Veterans.

“The VA has contracts with the tribes here in Oklahoma, so when veterans that are Native American get enrolled and want to seek their health care in Lawton at the Indian hospital, we’ll pay for it,” Gardner said. “That way they can stay locally for their health care, but they also get to use to the VA in case they need something else we have (such as an MRI). I want students that are here to know the benefits they’ve earned through the VA; it has a partner with education, health care and family benefits,” he said.

For more information on Vet Fest, contact the Office of Veterans Affairs at va@cameron.edu

biggest change is the diversity of students,” he said. “And I enjoy that very much.” This is the one thing that has changed more than anything else, and yet it seems to be–to have always been–Dr. Heflin’s favorite part of teaching, of living in Lawton, and of living in general. “People are people,” he said.

“Students bring their people-ness with them to school.”

Heflin said that the path that brings students to Cameron is, “in itself, very interesting.” No matter a student’s background, no matter if they “have it easy” or “have it very hard,” he’s always most proud watching them come to class regardless of circumstance.

Heflin said his current source of pride comes from the simple fact that everyone in every single one of his classes managed to pass the first exam.

Not a single student failed – and while this is definitely an excellent accomplishment, Heflin’s entire track record at Cameron does more than speak for itself.

He spoke a great deal about how important communication is specifically, and how his favorite class to teach is Interpersonal Communication – person to person conversations. He stressed the importance of interpersonal relationships and getting to know someone based on two things: what they say and what they don’t say.

There is much to be learned from Heflin’s teachings and even more to be learned from his wisdom.

“That’s the reason I love life,” he said, “life is ... creative and unpredictable in an exciting way. Anything you try – you have no idea whether it’s going to succeed or not, so it’s fun!”

With regard to retirement, Heflin cracked a joke about getting an office over in the library, so students can “go out there, watch me drink my Starbucks coffee and chit chat.”

In all seriousness, he explained how he looks forward to continuing to raise his youngest son with his wife, as well as spending time with his 21 grandchildren.

Photo by Ciera Terry

on the second floor of the McMahon Centennial Complex, the Office of Veterans Affairs hosted their biannual Vet

Photos by Ramona Villegas

Cameron Baseball

Hit Hard, Run Fast and Turn Left

Ramona Villegas Sports

At 3 p.m. on April 5, 2024, at McCord Field, the Cameron University Aggie baseball team played against the University of Texas at Tyler patrots. The Patriots won, ending the first game of a four-game series 14-4.

The game was a slow start, with Patriot Nathan Carriere being the only one to score.

Minimal errors got both teams in an excellent position to start the second inning.

Patriot Blake LaBuda started the second inning, securing a spot on first base. Kaston Mason followed his lead, but LaBuda was taken out at second. With the first base occupied, Kyle Atkinson hit a home run to secure a productive second inning with a 0-3 lead. The following two hitters got up to the plate and quickly returned to the dugout. No scoring done when it was the Aggie’s turn to hit.

April Bourg is the mother of Carter Bourg, a fifthyear student-athlete playing in his final season with the Aggies.

April said, “We’ve been playing baseball since he was three, so just to come out here and watch him and see how happy he is playing makes us happy, so we enjoy watching the boys and watching the comradery between all of them.”

In the middle of the third inning, the Patriots loaded the bases. With LaBuda getting a single and two other Patriots scoring, the score was 5-0 in favor of the Patriots. Although the Aggies did not score in the third inning, they made no errors. Spencer Simpson reached

third base, but the following batter struck out swinging, ending the Lane Hutchinson was the only hitter to reach home plate during the fourth inning. At the end of the fourth inning, the scoreboard read 6-0.

In the top of the fifth inning, Atkinson hit a double, advancing Mason to third base and allowing LaBuda to reach home plate. This was the sole point scored by the Patriots in that inning.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Aggies sensed an opportunity for a comeback. Gabe Clyden got a single, securing his spot on first base. Donavan Borg then grounded out to third base, but Clyden advanced to second. Next up was powerhouse Lance Barnett, who hit a home run, bringing both himself and

With no further points scored in the fifth inning, the scoreboard read 7-2, with the Patriots still in the lead.

Going into the sixth inning, Carriere scored then Hutchinson when the bases had been loaded, also scored in the inning. The bottom of the six held no scoring points for the Aggies. Connor Clark was second up to bat and got hit by the pitch; advancing to first base.

Directly after, Carriere hit a double, putting Clark in scoring position. Clark scored after Ethan Bedgoos got a hit to the shortstop.

At the bottom of the seventh, the Aggies got on base with the second batter, Clyden, getting hit by a pitch. Then, Borg tripled and took Clyden to a scoring position. Barnett singled, with Borg scoring the second run of the inning. With Simpson getting out and Barnett at third, Wyatt Grant was out at first, ending the seventh inning.

Going into the top of the eighth. The patriot’s points started with Mason getting a home run, Atkinson getting onto first, Drew Schmidt getting another home run, getting him and Atkinson over the home base. Clark doubled, getting onto second. Carriere grounded out to the shortstop and Clark got to third in scoring position. Then Clark ended the points with a wild pitch. Hutchinson shot a hit to right field, but the Aggie right fielder caught it. For the Aggies, Bigford grounded out to second base, Randy Aberouett struck out swinging, and Elijah Tolsma hit the ball to the shortstop and was caught.

“As a team, we have to stick to the plan. Have long at-bats and try to get the starters out of the game early. I think today we didn’t execute when runners were in scoring position. I think that was a big part. Besides that, we’re going to keep playing hard and hope it goes our way,” said Kody Bigford.

The Aggies did make a comeback when they won the next two games of the series, 15-12 and 9-7. However, the Patriots did get the last win with a 10-9 end. Tying the series 2-2.

For more information on the Cameron University baseball team, go to https://cameronaggies.com/sports/ baseball/schedule.

Submit to the Opportunity

Hannah Owens News Editor

In a move targeted at enriching students’ holistic development, Cameron University has announced the launch of a new Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) course. This initiative marks a departure from traditional physical education courses such as Walking and Jogging or Disc Golf. The class seeks to foster physical fitness, mental resilience and self-defense skills among its student body. The decision to integrate Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu into the university’s curriculum emphasizes a growing recognition of the importance of diverse learning experiences.

While academic excellence remains a cornerstone of higher education, there is a realization that cultivating physical fitness and personal empowerment are equally vital components of a well-rounded education.

The BJJ course, offered as an elective, aims to provide students with practical selfdefense skills while fostering personal development and resilience. Led by seasoned instructors with extensive experience in Brazilian JiuJitsu, the course will cater to students of all skill levels, from beginners to advanced practitioners.

Instructor Dana Winters has practiced BJJ for over 15 years and currently holds a brown belt. Winters regularly brings in other jiu-jitsu instructors from the local BJJ gym to help lead the class. Winters expressed that the physicalness of the class is not the only important component.

“Sometimes Jiu-Jitsu is thought of as being like a physical chess, you know? It’s about learning where to move and how to move,” Winters said. “It ultimately promotes a healthy lifestyle.”

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a martial art and combat sport that focuses on ground fighting and submission holds, has gained widespread popularity in recent years. Renowned for its emphasis on technique and leverage rather than brute strength, BJJ is regarded as a highly effective form of self-defense for individuals of all ages and fitness levels.

The introduction of the BJJ course has been met with enthusiasm by students, many of whom see it as a welcome addition to the university’s offerings.

Junior Alyssa Martinez has particularly enjoyed it.

“It was a unique opportunity on campus for credit,” Martinez said. “I thought the opportunity to take a beginners class, on campus, worked out better for me as well.”

In addition to its physical benefits, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has been shown to have a positive impact on mental health. The training regimen, coupled with the focus required to master techniques, can help alleviate stress and anxiety, providing students with an outlet for self-expression and personal growth.

The university’s decision to incorporate Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu into its course rotation reflects a broader trend within higher education toward promoting a well-rounded life. By offering students opportunities to

develop physical fitness, mental resilience and practical life skills, they are equipping them with the tools they need to thrive in an increasingly complex and challenging world.

As the Brazilian JiuJitsu course gets underway, anticipation is high among students and faculty alike. The class is being offered again this summer and the next fall semester.

With its emphasis on empowerment and personal growth, the course is poised to become a staple of Cameron University’s commitment to nurturing the next generation of well-rounded, resilient leaders.

Photos by Ramona Villegas