27 minute read
A student’s reflection
by McMurry
students, are satiating the needs of our world!
As I stand back and observe the fruits of the McMurry in Motion project thus far, I’m amazed at what I see. Families in Haiti have a safe, dry place to call home. Children at New Beginnings Children’s Home in India have a renewed hope in life and their own capacity to lead India into the future. And, McMurry students are becoming the change they wish to see in the world. But
BY MARTHA CHASE
I’m not just amazed; I’m excited about the fruits to come because, just like those seeds my grandfather planted, each student on our campus is packed full of potential. The question is for us. Will we continue to cultivate environments that unlock that potential and produce the fruits of leadership, excellence, virtue, and service that our world is so desperately hungry for?
“L’amore es belle.” Love is beautiful. A child from the first time I went to Haiti exchanged bracelets with Bethany, a friend of mine who also went on this mission trip, and L’amore es belle was written on the bracelet.
Prior to Haiti, love was something I thought I had my mind wrapped around—boys, myself, friends, family and Christ, right? Wrong. It didn’t take but a day of working with the people of Haiti, to realize love was bigger than anything I could ever imagine.
I had gone to Haiti with the intention of having my eyes opened to the world and to things of the world that I was not aware of. Sure, the trip definitely opened my eyes to this, but on a grander scale, at least for me, it opened my eyes to the world I live in, not the one that surrounds me. Because, truth is, the world that I thought surrounded me IS the world that I live in.
Going to Haiti was a phenomenal experience, and the sheer velocity of the culture shock struck me the moment we walked off the plane. The air felt different, and as we scurried on, it was extremely evident that the people were different too. We could look them in the eye, barely smiling because we were tired from traveling, and they would give us a huge, white smile in return—something that is pretty
uncommon on the streets in America.
After a quick ride in a tap-tap, Haiti’s primary mode of transportation, we arrived at the Partners in Development site, where everyone warmly greeted us, even if they couldn’t speak English! We spent one day at the beach (which was beautiful like the beach backgrounds you can set on your phones), and then we split off into our respective assignments. During my first Haiti experience, I went to a site called Canaan—spelled like “Canaan” in the Bible, but pronounced “Cana Ahn.” Canaan is a town that had been around prior to the earthquake but suffered greatly because of it. The people there have so much hope, and it was through the children that I learned this. We originally went to Canaan to help stucco a house that had been built for a family who had earned it. However, we worked right next to the town center where all the children played—it soon became evident we were not going to do much stuccoing. . .
I met three little girls named Eliza, RoseMarta, and Estelle. These little girls loved me from the moment they met me.
The first thing I learned in Haiti from these girls was that I still can’t dance! There’s something
about movement of the hips that I just can’t get! But the girls and other children I played with didn’t care; they wanted to show me their dances. And
despite how badly I did these crazy dances, they wanted me to dance too. So I danced. But dancing is simply symbolic of what these children taught me to do and continue to teach me to do every day: to love, not with my mind and not with my heart, but with both, in conjunction with my soul. During school, I teach a guitar class to younger children. It has always been hard for me to engage with children at their level in order to understand who they are and what they are feeling. But with these three little girls, Eliza, RoseMarta, and Estelle, I learned that it’s okay to go to a child’s level to understand them. These girls helped me put on a new pair of glasses, and I can almost guarantee they have no idea how much they have impacted me. They taught me their words and I taught them mine. Words like watch, “montre,” and arm, “bra,” and love, “amour.” They taught me “Frère Jacques” in creole, and Katie Walper and I showed them “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” and we danced and danced and danced. At the end of the week, on the very last day, I couldn’t make it out to Canaan because I was working on another project. But those three little girls had gotten Winnie the Pooh coloring book sheets and colored Winnie, Tigger, and Piglet for me in the only colors they had— orange and blue. They put their names on the top of the sheet and asked Shelby, another friend on the trip, to “please give it to Marta.” I put the sheets in my Bible and every time I open it, I always turn to the page and am reminded of the love those little girls showed me. They showed me that love doesn’t know a language, it doesn’t see a skin color, and it doesn’t care where you come from. Now, every day I try to love like Eliza, RoseMarta, and Estelle taught me to love.
I went back to Haiti about two months ago with a team of returning and new Haiti travelers, and I saw all of the people I met last summer
again. Haiti wasn’t different the second time, it was the same Haiti. But this time I went with eyes accustomed to the country and I was able to drink in more of it because I was not caught up in its newness. During our week, I delved even deeper into my friendships in Haiti—we worked side by side building a house, we played together at the beach, and we worshiped together in the evenings.
My second trip to Haiti left me with different feelings than the first time. Before, Haiti was the place to go and help, to go and make a difference; but now, more than ever, I am aware of the needed changes in my own back yard. Yes, I still want to go to Haiti as often as I can to help, but I also want to stay involved here in Abilene or wherever I end up after college. I want to spread the love that is so freely given in Haiti. Maybe I’ll even teach some people to dance. There’s nothing more I could ask of God than the moments when I look into dark brown glistening eyes, see God, and feel God reflected back at me. I treasure those moments. McMurry, thank you for letting me go. I could never thank you enough. Your love is beautiful. ❖
ne W OPPO rtunities t O CO nne C t Where is social Media taking us?
Universities all over the United States are active in social media, but there are only a handful of universities who have truly done great things via social media. This year McMurry has set a goal to make sure we are one of those universities interacting, informing and recruiting through our social media channels. We are raising the bar and setting up our social media platforms so students, alumni, potential students and friends of the University can interact with professors, athletics, financial aid and admissions on our social media outlets, specifically Facebook. “The University recognizes social media as an effective and interactive way to communicate with our students: future, present and past. We are committed to making sure our social media presence continues to grow,” said Steve Crisman, Vice President of Marketing Services. McMurry has expanded our presence beyond just one “official” University Facebook page. On Facebook alone, we now have pages for athletics, alumni, admissions, financial aid, the Schools of Arts and Letters, Education, Social Sciences and Religion, and Natural and Computational Sciences. We have expanded beyond just one page so that prospective/current students and alumni can receive a more personal and targeted
interaction. Alicia Wyatt, Dean of the School of Natural and Computational Sciences stated, “We use WordPress and our Facebook pages to keep alumni and friends of the sciences updated on our activities. Social media makes it easy to stay on top of the latest activities and achievements of students and faculty.”
While Facebook is McMurry’s most popular form of social networking, we have also expanded our presence on Twitter, WordPress, YouTube, Instagram and Flickr. Twitter, the most popular social media outlet outside of Facebook, is being used as a broadcasting channel rather than a medium for conversations. As a university, we use both Twitter and WordPress primarily to post university updates and official announcements. Although there is not as much conversation on these social media platforms, they still allow followers to be in the “know” about what is going on at McMurry.
McMurry uses YouTube, Flickr and Instagram as a way to share video and pictures with our audience. We use our YouTube channel to get the word out about McMurry through video. Our goal is to give potential students a view into what life on campus is like, to show alumni what is going on at their alma mater and to feature and document important happenings related to the University.
We have all heard the phrase: A picture is worth a thousand words. That pretty much sums up our reason for engaging in Flickr and Instagram. Photos of real-life students enjoying their time on campus can really influence the opinion of prospective students and make alumni feel reconnected with their alma mater. By sharing these photos on Flickr and Instagram we have a unique opportunity to create an “experience” for our audience through photos. Flickr and Instagram are our newest social media outlets at McMurry and we are excited about the potential of growing these two platforms over the next year.
We feel that social media is important to the success of the University. “Social Media allows us to communicate and interact with people who we might not ever get the opportunity to communicate with otherwise. Instead of only getting to talk to our alumni a few times a year, we are able to interact and converse with them on a daily basis via Facebook and Twitter,” said Associate Director of Marketing, Le’ann Ardoyno.
Our goal is to make it easy and accessible for our audiences. “We want them to get connected to the University and each other and to stay connected. Social media has made this possible,” said Ardoyno. ❖
Official Facebook Pages www.facebook.com/mcmurryuniversity www.facebook.com/mcmurrysports www.facebook.com/McMurryAlumni www.facebook.com/McMurrySNCS Official twitter Pages @mcmuniv @mcmsports Also find us on:
se LF-MAD e OPPO rtunities The tina Melendez story
Tina with award for Teacher of the Year Tina Melendez’s journey from a disadvantaged childhood growing up in Sweetwater, Texas, to her recent selection as Sweetwater’s High School and Secondary Teacher of the Year is a story filled with determination and courage in the face of overwhelming obstacles. A 2004 McMurry graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Multidisciplinary Studies, Tina taught Spanish and English her first two years at Wylie Junior High and now teaches beginning and intermediate Spanish at Sweetwater High School. She received the award in June and is currently in the running for Secondary and High School Teacher of the Year for Region 14 Education Service Center, which serves and supports approximately 50,000 students in 42 school districts located in the thirteen counties which make up the region.
“It’s really exciting. I told myself if I became ‘Teacher of the Year’ I would like to do it in ten years and I’ve been teaching eight years,” Tina said. Before winning the award, Tina knew it would be difficult to obtain. “I told my husband that there are a lot of teachers who teach for a long time and never see this award. I knew I would be fine with that, too, as long as I know that I do my job to the best of my ability and teach my students, not just Spanish, but the skills they need to make it in the real world.”
“I try to be a good role model to all my students, as well as to my sons, nieces, nephews, and others in my family. Someone’s always watching and listening, and if I show them that I can accomplish these things then they can, too,” said Tina. “I have students who walk into my classroom who don’t have that encouragement at home and I tell them they can do this. I tell them, ‘You don’t have to like Spanish but I want you learn the life skills that you need to go out there in the world and succeed.’ Hopefully, I can light a spark in them.”
Tina’s journey to a McMurry degree began in the second grade, when she decided she would be the first in her family to get both a high school diploma and a college degree. However, her family’s custom was to drop out of high school to work or get married, or both.
“I knew from a very young age that I wanted an education, even though at the time I didn’t know a lot about college because it wasn’t mentioned in our home. My dad wasn’t very supportive of it. He kept telling the family, ‘You really don’t need to go to college. You just do what everybody else does,’” Tina said. “Of course my parents were dropouts, and I think if they had had the mentors and support of other family members saying, ‘Let’s try to do better,’ I think they would have accomplished great things. They were just repeating the cycle they had fallen into.”
Tina’s father wanted her to drop out and go to work at sixteen, but with encouragement from her mom, she said, “‘No, Dad, I want to do this’ and of course he let me continue. As the oldest in a family of five, I watched my family struggle so much that I knew I wanted something more.”
High school graduation came and Tina was planning to go to Angelo State, which had offered
her a Pell grant. “My father found out about it and said, ‘You’re not going. I let you finish high school and now it’s time to get busy and go to work.’ I had been working every summer—from working with my mother to even harvesting cotton from the fields. That was no fun at all!”
Tina decided to go with plan B. “I’m one of those people who always plans ahead, so I told my mom to take me to the recruiting station.” Tina joined the U.S. Army and served in Desert Storm before returning to Sweetwater to work and begin her journey toward a college degree.
“My military background helped me. I told myself that if I could handle the military where I did pretty well, I can handle this, too. I also had the support of my husband, my kids and other family members. When my second child came, I decided to take a time out, and when he was a little older I started again. My goal was to finish by the time I was 35 and I graduated at 33, so I beat my goal,” said Tina.
Tina began her quest for a college degree by taking classes at Texas State Technical College and then at Cisco Junior College. She was working as an administrative assistant when she finally decided to go back to school. “I wasn’t sure I wanted to go into education, but I decided I would just take my basics first and figure that out later. I think it was meant to be because I was working with a lot of people in that department who encouraged me along the way.”
Tina recalls, “It took me about eight years. I started out with one class at a time. I was very scared at first. I thought, ‘I’ve been out of school for too long, I don’t know if I can make it. I’m not smart enough to do this.’ Having my family and working full-time seemed like an insurmountable obstacle.” But she took one class at a time and eventually saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
“I know God had a hand in my accomplishments. He always put people in my path to help me get where I’m I am now,” she said. One of them was her boss at West Central Texas Council of Governments, Bobby Campbell.
She recalls, “I went to Cisco College to find out the costs, and when I came back Bobby asked me if I had registered at Cisco. I told him
Tina serving in Operation Desert Storm
Tina with two of her McMurry mentors, Dr. Perry Kay Haley-Brown and the late Dr. Bill Short
no, and he asked why. I said I didn’t have the money right now and I that had to be registered in order to get my VA benefits. He took out his checkbook and said, ‘How much money do you need?’ I look back on it now and think if he hadn’t signed that check, I don’t know where I would be.”
After completing the basics at Cisco, Tina considered traveling to Angelo State to finish her bachelor’s degree, but the distance and having to work while attending school made the commute too difficult for her husband and children. In stepped Bobby Campbell and Dr. Louis Lemmond, who encouraged her to explore McMurry’s education program. She did, and “they were able to find me more financial aid. With that and the rest of my GI money, I decided I would go to McMurry.”
She remembers it fondly. “I enjoyed being at McMurry. It was a wonderful time for me. Even though I was a non-traditional student, I made a lot of good friends. They thought I was one of them. But I had to say, ‘No, actually I have a family, so I can’t go out,” she recalls laughing. “My goal was to finish school and I did. I’m so glad that I did cross that stage and get my degree. Afterward, I sat down and looked at that diploma and I got tears in my eyes realizing I had done it!” When circumstances were the toughest, Tina said her professors helped her make it through. As a wife, a mom and full-time worker, her days in Abilene started early in the morning and ended late at night. Her professors encouraged her to keep going and not give up.
One in particular was her languages professor the late Dr. Bill Short. “He encouraged me to hang in there and to not give up.” Tina credits much of her teaching skills to her professors at McMurry and to her mentor teachers. “I was blessed to have wonderful professors in the education department, and I feel like I share this award with them because they helped me become an effective teacher in the classroom,” Tina said. “To watch them work as hard as they do to make sure they produce highly effective teachers is what helped me along the way. My mentor teachers were also very instrumental in my success.” Now that Tina has reached many of her goals, she is especially proud of one accomplishment— earning her father’s pride in what she achieved.
“Looking back now, he’s very happy and very proud of what I’ve done. And my mother is just as proud,” Tina said. “When I came home after serving in Desert Storm he said to me, ‘I remember what you wanted me to tell you the day you were getting ready to leave. You wanted me to say that I was proud of you.’ I told my dad that was all I wanted. I did everything he asked when I was at home, but after I graduated, I wanted to do this for me. I wanted to make him proud and to show him that we are all capable of doing more with our lives. We had a crying moment.” Tina recalls her graduation day. “When I graduated from McMurry, he wasn’t with me because he doesn’t like to be in crowds. But he asked me to come see him before my graduation party, and he told me how proud he was of me. When I got my award for Teacher of the Year, I showed him my plaque and my clock and he said, ‘That’s awesome.’ It was special to also have my husband, our sons, my mother, and my mother-in-law see me receive my award before the school district.” Tina’s family and her mother attended her graduation ceremony. “It was encouraging for my kids to see me finally graduate and to know that ‘if my mom can do that, I can, too,’” Tina said. “We’ve always talked about college in our home. My oldest son has one more year in high school. Right now he’s talking about attending WTC (Western Texas College) or going into the military. Either way he goes, we’ll support what he chooses.” ❖
Top: Tina pictured with her mother-in-law, Mary Palma, and her mother, Rose Gauna Left: With her two sons, Gabriel and Andrew Above: With her husband, Randy
ne W servi C e OPPO rtunities McMurry needs you!
BY NANCY SMITH, DIRECTOR OF UNIVERSITY AND DONOR RELATIONS
Do you remember the World War I posters depicting a red, white, and blue clad Uncle Sam with piercing eyes and his index finger pointing straight ahead? The rendering sent a clear message that our country needed every able-bodied patriot to volunteer to ensure victory.
McMurry University will soon be celebrating our 100-year anniversary, and we have thousands of alumni, faculty, staff, and benefactors whose footprints on this campus have shaped its identity and made it unique among our sister universities. Our success in the future will not be dependent on buildings, academic programs, and extracurricular offerings—it will be dependent on our people. McMurry needs its alumni and friend’s collective talents, gifts and expertise. If we haven’t asked for your involvement before, please accept our sincerest apologies. You are valuable to this university, and McMurry needs you!
McMurry needs those of you who have an interest in the enhancement of our academic programs to be involved on advisory committees for our schools, and to offer internships for our students. The Schools of Business, Education, Natural and Computational Sciences, Social Sciences and Religion, and Arts and Letters want the expertise and experiential wisdom you can give our students and faculty. Your involvement is vital to ensuring excellence and relevance of our academic offerings. If you’re interested in serving on an advisory committee or offering an internship, contact Steve Crisman at crismans@mcm.edu or call (325) 793-4601.
Do you recall a cherished mentor when you were at McMurry? Someone who genuinely cared about you, who provided guidance in your career path, and who nurtured you through your collegiate experience? You can give the same gift to an incoming student through involvement with the McMurry Family Legacy Network. Through the Legacy Network, interested alumni are paired with new McMurry students. The program is flexible, and the type and frequency of interaction is up to you. You have an opportunity to affect the
success of a young person’s college experience and make a life-changing impact!
How can we better connect our alumni with each other and with McMurry? How do we involve our alumni in the University in more substantive ways? In what ways can we increase the marketability of a McMurry degree through alumni career networks? These are just some of the questions that our Office of Alumni Relations strives to address with the invaluable assistance from the Alumni Association Board of Directors. You can play an instrumental role in ensuring a vibrant alumni network that will excite and attract alumni of all ages to pave the way for future alumni, and enjoy personal relationships with their alma mater that will last a lifetime. To get involved with the Alumni Board or to become a mentor for the McMurry Family Legacy Network, contact Josh Poorman in the Office of Alumni Relations at poorman.joshua@mcm.edu or (325) 793-4608. The Alumni Association and the Office of Alumni Relations needs you!
As important as your commitment of time and experience is to McMurry, your financial support is imperative. Like every university, we must have support from sources other than tuition income. The level of support we receive from alumni and friends will make the difference between whether McMurry flourishes…or whether it simply survives. Every dollar counts. Imagine what can be accomplished if every alumna and alumnus committed to sending a gift of $10 more each year than what they currently send! What about $25 more?! There is impact in numbers, and every gift is important.
McMurry needs all of us to commit to making a McMurry education possible for our students. The reality is there are only a few large donors who are being called on to support a number of causes, but there are thousands of donors like you and me, whose collective giving can affect the future of our University and the students who need McMurry. To support an academic program, to give scholarship funds, to honor or memorialize a family member, or to set up an endowment, contact the Office of Development at (325) 793-4602 or by e-mail to hulse.debra@mcm.edu.
McMurry University is bustling with activity these days. It is a university in motion—get caught up in the excitement! Come to Homecoming in October, attend a class reunion or an alumni event in your area, attend a sporting event, a choir concert, or a theatre production. The list of opportunities for you to see McMurry’s progress and interact with students is endless. We need your presence!
Valued alumni of McMurry preserve our heritage and expand our reach, and in so doing, you provide opportunity for future students, and your involvement adds depth and richness to the each student’s personal McMurry experience. Albert Schweitzer once said that “The true worth of a man is not to be found in man himself, but in the colors and textures that come alive in others… Wherever a man turns, he can find someone who needs him.” You add color to the fabric of McMurry University, and we need you! ❖
ne W OPPO rtunities FO r O ur A t HL et e s McMurry Accepted for nCCAA Membership in 2012-13
McMurry University has been accepted for membership in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) beginning with the 2012-13 school year. The War Hawks' athletics programs—which also begin provisional status for NCAA Division II this fall—will hold dual affiliation in the two national collegiate organizations.
“McMurry University is delighted to have received notification of our acceptance into the prestigious National Christian College Athletic Association (which began on July 1st),” McMurry Acting President Dr. Paul Fabrizio said. “We are pleased to have the opportunity to join with
Christian colleges throughout the nation in competing for athletic championships.”
“The NCCAA speaks of the importance of winning 'the game of life' in focusing on both the athletic and spiritual needs of student athletes. The mission and core values of McMurry align nicely with the NCCAA as we view 'Christian faith as the foundation of life'. We look forward to this shared connection with other Christian colleges as we compete on the athletic field.”
McMurry will be immediately eligible to compete in NCCAA championship events in 201213, as well as for post-season academic and athletic awards from the organization. This is especially important to the McMurry programs because, as a provisional member of NCAA Division II, the War Hawks are not eligible for those championships and/or post-season honors until the University reaches full NCAA Division II membership status.
McMurry will compete on the NCCAA's Division I level. The NCCAA offers post-season competition in all of the sports which McMurry sponsors, with the exception of men's and women's swimming. The NCCAA permits its dual-affiliated members to opt out of NCCAA post-season play when qualifying for the NCAA championships.
There are 110 NCCAA-affiliated colleges and universities for 2012-13—67 Division I and 43 Division II. All are either strictly NCCAA members or have dual affiliations in NCAA II, NCAA III or the NAIA.
There are currently 17 NCAA Division II institutions (either full-member or provisional) which also hold NCCAA memberships. Among those are Azusa Pacific University—winners of eight-straight NACDA Learfield Cups (for allaround athletics superiority) in the NAIA from 2005-12—and California Baptist University, which earned the NCCAA's “President's Cup” as the organization's top athletics program in 2011-12.
The War Hawks cross country head coach David Chandler believes the affiliation offers McMurry student-athletes a unique opportunity. “Our student-athletes love to compete and honor God with their ability, which is a natural fit with the NCCAA,” Chandler said. “Being members will give us an even better opportunity to develop the
mind, body, and spirit of our student-athletes.”
All NCCAA championship events require competitors to participate in a community service/ outreach project. These are designed to have the student-athletes from opposing schools working together on a common goal, prior to competing in the venues of athletics events, putting proper perspective on sports in relation to “real life.”
“The NCCAA is excited to welcome McMurry into its membership,” NCCAA Executive Director Dan Wood said. “We look forward in partnering to impact our culture through the use of intercollegiate athletics as we assist our student-athletes in developing their own personal 'Game Plan 4 LIFE'.”
Meet the new neighbors
When McMurry University’s athletics teams take to the fields of competition beginning in the fall of 2012, you may see quite a few new faces. We’re not just talking about new War Hawk athletes, but rather those on the opposite side of the fields and courts.
Officially in its first full year competing as an NCAA Division II school, McMurry also is one of the newest members of the Heartland Conference and has left familiar foes of the NCAA Division III American Southwest Conference behind as league mates.
McMurry is located very close to the geographic center of the 10-member Heartland Conference map. The Conference’s northernmost member is Newman University in Wichita, Kansas, and ranges 782 miles south to Texas A&M-International in Laredo. UTPermian Basin in Odessa is the Heartland’s most western location, while the University of Arkansas-Ft. Smith has the Heartland Conference’s eastern outpost.
Just as diverse is the make-up of the Heartland Conference’s members. The Heartland is comprised of six private and four public institutions. Below is a snapshot look at each member:
HEARTLAND CONFERENCE
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS-FORT SMITH
Location: Fort Smith, Arkansas Enrollment: 7,587 Nickname: Lions Type: Public
DALLAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY
Location: Dallas, Texas Enrollment: 5,545 Nickname: Patriots Type: Private (Baptist)
NEWMAN UNIVERSITY
Location: Wichita, Kansas Enrollment: 2,746 Nickname: Jets Type: Private (Catholic)
OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
Location: Edmond, Oklahoma Enrollment: 2,000 Nickname: Eagles Type: Private (Church of Christ)
OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE STATE UNIVERSITY
Location: Goodwell, Oklahoma Enrollment: 1,242 Nickname: Aggies Type: Public
ST. EDWARD’S UNIVERSITY
Location: Austin, Texas Enrollment: 3,395 Nickname: Hilltoppers Type: Private (Catholic)
ST. MARY’S UNIVERSITY
Location: San Antonio, Texas Enrollment: 4,000 Nickname: Rattlers Type: Private (Catholic)
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITYINTERNATIONAL
Location: Laredo, Texas Enrollment: 7,000 Nickname: Dustdevils Type: Public
UNIVERSITY OF TEXASPERMIAN BASIN
Location: Odessa, Texas Enrollment: 4,000 Nickname: Falcons Type: Public
