Fall 2018 Alumni Newsletter

FALL 2018

HUNT LEADERSHIP SCHOLARS PROGRAM ALUMNI NEWSLETTER

LESSONS ON LEADERSHIP This year's annual Tate Lecture with the Hunt family featured esteemed presidential historian, Jon Meacham. What better way for the Hunt Scholars to learn more about leadership than to hear from someone who studies the presidency!

Meacham gave the Hunt Scholars Program two shoutouts in his lecture, too, which was a fun treat for all of us in attendance.

GREETINGS FROM THE HILLTOP! The Fall 2018 semester flew by with a wealth of events, service, and learning along the way. We kicked off the year with another fantastic retreat in Taos, where the group participated in a goal setting workshop and plenty of outdoor fun.

The rest of our semester has been filled with Tate Lectures, Family Weekend, a service project at St. Philip's School and Community Center, an indoor cycling class, and tons of opportunities to interact with campus and community leaders.

I hope you will enjoy learning more about the latest happenings in the Hunt Leadership Scholars Program. It was a joy to have so many of you in attendance at our two happy hours this fall, and I look forward to seeing many of you at interview day this spring!

Pony Up! Lindsay Davis

PROGRAM STATS SCHOLARS AT A GLANCE Total Scholars: 95 55% female, 45% male 47% Texans, 53% out-of-state

LEADERSHIP IN ACTION 66% of Hunt Scholars have held one or more internships while at SMU. 21% of Hunt Scholars have held a leadership position in a social fraternity or sorority.

18% of Student Ambassadors in the Office of Admission are Hunt Scholars.

15% of Hunt Scholars have held a leadership position on their Commons Council.

23% of Student Senate leadership roles are held by Hunt Scholars.

36% of Hunt Scholars have volunteered with new student orientation programs, either as AARO Leaders or Mustang Corral Guides.

94% of Hunt Scholars have volunteered in the community outside of an SMU organiation.

FEATURED ALUMNUS DEREK K. HUBBARD Graduation Year: 2012 Major: Corporate Communication & Public Affairs Minor: Spanish Freshman Year Residence Hall: Virginia-Snider, specifically the Snider side

Work now: Southwest Airlines – External Communications team; manages Company’s proactive social media content and serves as media spokesperson What is your favorite quote?

I can’t choose between these three: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” – Maya Angelou “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Mahatma Gandhi If you could have a super power, which one would you choose and why?

I’m not going to say fly (because I can do that for free for the most part with Southwest, ha!). On a more serious note, I would choose the ability to spread love and happiness instantly. To instantly turn a negative situation into a positive one for people would be very powerful. In a more selfish way, I would also add invisibility. It would also be very fun and useful.

Did you always know you wanted to work in the Corporate Communications industry in Social Media?

No, not at all. If someone told me in undergrad I would be managing social media for one of the top 10 companies to work for in America, I would have not believed it. I get to create and curate content for the company’s social media channels, and I get to produce videos that go live around the world and sometimes viral. I take charge of the voice of Southwest in the social media sphere. Company leaders come to me and my team asking, “How do we control a narrative in a social lens for the company?”.

Social media is no longer a backburner conversation, it is a highly prioritized topic for leaders. A powerful aspect of this job is that it allows me to wake up every day thinking, “Is this really my life?” and I feel very fortunate. I get to let my creativity take me to places I didn’t know were available. It has been one great ride.

FEATURED ALUMNUS Room, desk, or car – which one do you clean first?

Room for sure – my desk and my car are typically clean, so they don’t require much additional attention. My room is the first place because it holds my favorite possession, which is my bed (laughs). I enjoy sleeping so it’s a priority to be able to walk into my room and feel like the space is clean. The only nuance is that I don’t mind if my bed is not perfectly made, it doesn’t bother me. The rest of the space, however, I need to be tidy.

What is the funniest thing that has happened to you recently?

I just got back from a trip to Costa Rica about a week ago and I closed the trip with a funny anecdote. I was a Spanish minor at SMU and have studied Spanish for about 14 years now, but that doesn’t mean I know everything in the language. I’ve certainly forgotten how to say a few things – and with this context in mind, I got picked up by car service from my hotel to ride to the airport, and the driver didn’t speak any English. I was looking for the seatbelt and I couldn’t find it, so I tried to ask the driver if he could help me locate it. The driver then came to my seat and was doing what seemed like some sort of acrobatic movements over me to find this seatbelt. He suddenly then reclined my seat significantly and said the equivalent of “see, now you are comfortable!”. I realized we each had our own ideas of what the request was, so I rode in a reclined seat with no seat belt the whole trip to airport. A funny communication mishap for a communications guy!

What is your favorite SMU memory?

So many, it was a special place! If I had to choose one, winning the “M” Award senior year is unforgettable. It was the culmination of the love I devoted to the SMU community and the campus.

Jennifer Jones in the Student Affairs Office had called my family weeks before the award ceremony to ensure they would be in attendance. I had no idea I would win this award. It was a great moment I got to share with my family. It was the pinnacle of my 4 years at SMU.

FEATURED ALUMNUS What inspires you?

I’m inspired each day by the idea of “how I can make the world a better place”. I work in social media in part to foster brand affinity and awareness, but more of what I get to do is giving hope to people to travel, turning a bad day into a good day with content. For example, we shared a story about a mother who had anxiety traveling with her autistic daughter, yet Southwest was able to make this an enjoyable experience with the support of our airport employees. This is the content I work with; my goal is to create a connection with the rest of the world. If today isn’t a good day, I share hope that the days after can be better with Southwest’s help. I can leave the community better than we found it.

Are you involved in extracurricular activities today?

I was on the SMU alumni committee for a few years and helped plan the Five-Year Class reunion. I also volunteered through Dallas Dinner Table, which offers opportunities to engage in conversations with other people that don’t look, think, or believe in the same things as you. The organization allows people to have open dialogs between people with very different backgrounds and walks of life. I’m a big TV junky, if it’s a popular show, I’ve probably seen it. If not, it’s likely coming up on my queue. By working at Southwest, traveling has become a hobby.

If you had a single sentence for Ray and Nancy Ann Hunt right now, what would it be?

Thank you would be the first thing I would say. Because of their love and support, I have realized dreams that I have had since I was a kid. Through their generosity, I have been able to give hope and inspire people that I know and that I don’t know through my time at SMU and now in the professional world. Their love and support taught me that I have a responsibility to share my talent, kindness and hope with the world, and for that I am forever grateful.

Thank you, Derek, for letting us feature you, and thank you to Sandra Saenz '15 for her expert reporting! Have an alumnus you'd like us to feature? Send them our way!

WHAT'S NEW? The Hunt Scholars helped execute the fifth annual Kidpreneur Expo at St. Philip's School and Community Center this November. We love partnering with this organization that is so special to the Hunt family.

Right around midterm exam time, a group of Hunt Scholars signed up for an indoor cycling class together at Lync Cycling near campus. We spent a lot of time this semester talking about mental health and overall wellness, so this was the perfect way to put that learning into action.

This fall marked the second year that first year Hunt Scholars have enrolled in EPL 3101: Rediscovering Leadership as a cohort. The course includes a bit of leadership theory, selfexploration, exposure to SMU resources, and the opportunity for the Hunt Scholars to bond as a cohort right from the start of their time on campus.

ALUMNI UPDATES ALUMNI & STUDENTS SERVE TOGETHER

Hunt Scholar alumni & students worked with

Stephanie Dagelewicz '05 to facilitate her Move for Miles Field Day on campus.

How wonderful to see the two groups working together!

NEW JOB? BIG MOVE? OTHER EXCITING UPDATES? Send them to lrdavis@smu.edu! Be sure to keep your contact information up-to-date, too, especially your email address, to stay informed on alumni events and news.

MENTORS NEEDED FOR 2019-2020 Interested in mentoring a junior Hunt Scholar next year? We will need 28 alumni to serve as mentors during our inaugural year-long mentoring program. More information will be coming your way this spring, and you will not have to be located in Dallas to participate.

STUDENT NETWORKING Want to host a group of Hunt Scholars for a company visit? Need to spread the word about an internship? Lindsay can help to facilitate all of this. We want the Hunt Scholars network to expand far beyond four years on campus.

HELP US OUT! This newsletter should be what you need and want it to be. Content ideas? Things you want to know about the program? Send 'em on over!