Hunt Scholars Alumni Newsletter: Spring 2020

SPRING 2020

HUNT LEADERSHIP SCHOLARS PROGRAM ALUMNI NEWSLETTER

CONGRATULATIONS, HUNT SCHOLARS CLASS OF 2020!

Cooper Barghols, Micah Bernard, Paxton Clark, James Clifford, Dalton Gibson, Gabriella Gonzalez, Christine Hensley, Hunter Kolon, Sydnie LaDuke, Emma Lewis, Olivia Matthews,

WE STILL HAVE EACH OTHER Normally, I use this space to write a brief message about all of the fantastic things the Hunt Scholars did during the previous semester.

As you can undoubtedly imagine, Spring 2020 brought all kinds of changes to our plans.

Interview Day was switched to a virtual experience, and many of SMU's biggest campus events, like Tate Lectures, PerunaPalooza, and Sing Song have been postponed or cancelled. While this was disappointing to all, we have tried to celebrate all of the hard work the students put in to planning events like these and others.

Tannah Oppliger, Alex Payne, Nikki Shah, Sydney Snowden, Josh Sylvester, Darian Taylor, Marlo Weisberg, Carson Yeager, Priya Young

The constant this semester has been the community the Hunt Scholars create. I have so admired the lengths these students have gone to in order to stay connected. But enough about COVID-19, here's a look at everything we did do before the world changed.

Enjoy!

CLASS OF 2024 AT A GLANCE Total Scholars: 15 40% female, 60% male 46% Texans, 54% out-of-state States Represented: Alabama, California, Kansas, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas Leadership Positions: Student Body/Class President (5), Student Body/Class Vice President (2), Girl Scout Gold Award/Eagle Scout (2), Other (6)

CLASS ROSTER Tryg Aanenson (Freeman, South Dakota); Alex Alarcon (Las Vegas, Nevada); Maggie Asare (The Woodlands, Texas); Noah Barnard (San Benito, Texas); Matt Daniel (Lake Forest, California); Da'Shayla Foard (Dallas, Texas); Lauren Gardner (Plano, Texas); Rhett Goldman (Carthage, Texas); Averyl Hartje (Wilsonville, Oregon); Andre Ketter (McKinney, Texas); Mason Moreno (Tampa, Florida); Lucy Morris (Tampa, Florida); Christian Taylor (Leawood, Kansas); Griffin Vail (Homewood, Alabama); Julie Zahrndt (Waxahachie, Texas)

FEATURED ALUMNUS DENVER NICKS Class of 2007 Where are you quarantined these days?

I was living in New Orleans when the zombies attacked. I’m a law student at Tulane and my campus shut down. The prospect of remote learning was going to be a major hassle, because I didn’t have internet at my apartment, and I’d planned to move to Tulsa, my hometown, for a summer associate position anyway, so I packed my things and hit the road. I’m quarantined in Tulsa. It’s nice here this time of year.

Have you picked up any new skills/hobbies during this unprecedented time?

I learned how to use a program on my phone to record and mix music and made my friend a song for the theme for his new Instagram live show. And I’ve been working for a local attorney here in Oklahoma, writing legal memos and such. But I’ve also just been plowing through ungodly amounts of television and not exercising enough.

Tell us about your journey in becoming a writer.

As a little kid my grandmother would tell me stories about her childhood, and I wrote them down. I used to write short stories and poetry. I’ve always known I was a pretty good writer, but I never really thought of myself as a writer until college. Around that time I thought writing might be a part of how I made my living. After college I moved to Manila for a Fulbright fellowship. I was there doing research on a peculiar aspect of their congress, and encountered a news magazine called Newsbreak that did really important, courageous work. I volunteered my time as a copyeditor. Something happened one day at congress while I was there and they called me and asked if I’d run over to a congressional office to interview someone. I did, enjoyed it, and they gave me another assignment. After a while I proposed a big feature story for which I traveled to Mindanao and then spent a while walking with some indigenous people on a protest march over the taking of their lands by a big corporation. (continued...)

FEATURED ALUMNUS Living in Manila I had a lot of time to write and a lot to write about. I emailed the newspaper in my hometown to ask if they’d give me an internship when I came home. At first they said no, but I kept asking and sending in clips. Eventually they relented and I got an internship at my ...hometown newspaper. At the end of the summer before my internship began I’d finished my summer job and was driving around the country sort of aimlessly. While in Los Angeles visiting friends I thought what the hell and asked my newspaper job—The Tulsa World—if they could get my press credentials for the Democratic National Convention. They told me to ask their DC correspondent (this was back in the days when a paper like the World had a DC bureau). As it happened they gave him an extra, so I drove straight from LA to Denver, stopped at a Walmart to buy slacks and a shirt and take a little sink bath and went to Invesco Field to report on the night Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination in 2008. That was my first newspaper byline.

Tell us more about your pivot into law.

I’d been thinking about law school for a long time. Years ago a girlfriend and I broke up and she decided to go to law school. I thought if I signed up for the LSAT maybe she’d study with me and we could get back together. That plan didn’t pan out, but I went ahead and took the test, so I had a score sitting around. I asked some law schools if my score was still usable, and turned out it was good for two more weeks. So I applied. Both of my parents are attorneys, so I grew up around law-world people and knew, to some extent, what I was getting into. I am really loving law school and love working for a lawyer now. I’ve loved my journalism career too and I’ll always be a writer, but law is definitely where I’m supposed to be now. There’s so much power to do good, to protect people, and the law is an endlessly intricate puzzle. I love it.

What books do you gift or have you gifted the most to other people?

What a fabulous, interesting question! Usually one of my books, or books written by my friends. I Am Dandy, by Natty Adams. How to Be a Pirate, by Isaac Fitzgerald. Cooking With Spices, by Mark Stevens. I don’t know Alain de Botton, but he wrote a book called The Art of Travel, which I’ve gifted to several people. The Tao of Pooh. Why I Write, by George Orwell, and On Writing by Steven King, for budding writers. I gift people books that I think will be meaningful to them at the time I give them to them.

FEATURED ALUMNUS What is something you believe that other people believe is insane?

The universe was created by a long-lost member of the Wu-Tang Clan, the DZA (Dios ZigZag-Zig Allah), whose prophet was Old Dirty Bastard. DZA traveled from the beginning of time to 1992 Staten Island, where he taught a young man how to rap and told him to perform under the name RZA (Rakeem Zig-Zag-Zig Allah) and commanded him to start a hip hop crew and name it after the sound of celebration and the orange drink astronauts like. DZA left a letter with a message for ODB to spread, then became a single bead of light, which shot out to the farthest, most ancient reaches of the universe, where all his friends are. He’s been out there ever since, surfing the expanding universe into infinity.

What is your favorite SMU memory?

One day some friends and I were in a car driving down Bishop blasting the song Last Night, by the Strokes. We were stopped at a stop light at Mockingbird right in front of the church there, and there were all these little kids outside for recess or something. We’re all singing along to the song, which is just blaring over the stereo, and one of the kids, must have been like four years old, starts just dancing like a madman. Lots of other kids start joining him and eventually there are maybe a dozen and a half toddlers rocking out to The Strokes, jumping and dancing, and us singing and dancing in the car along with them. It kind of freaked out the adults who were looking after them but I thought it was a pretty spectacular moment.

First trip on your list post-quarantine?

New Orleans, definitely. It’s my other hometown and I really miss it.

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

Thank you so much! I can’t ever repay the opportunity they gave me, but wow. I’m so grateful for the life I’ve had and had I not been a Hunt Scholar it wouldn’t have been the same. All I can say is thank you, and hopefully someday pay it forward.

Thank you, Denver, for letting us feature you, and thank you to Sandra Saenz '15 for her expert reporting! Make sure to check out Denver's most recent book: Conviction: The Murder Trial That Powered Thurgood Marshall's Fight for Civil Rights

SPRING HAPPENINGS

Hunt Scholars continued to attend community events through the first half of the semester. These included the Genesis Lecture Series Luncheons hosted on campus.

In February, the Hunt Scholars attended the Tate Lecture featuring producer and author Brian Grazer. This longstanding tradition included a chance to enjoy dinner and conversation with the Hunt family and Mr. Grazer.

Four Hunt Scholars will be serving in major campus leadership roles for the 2020-2021 year: Molly Patrick, Student Body President; Chris Earles, Student Trustee; Austin Hickle, Student Body Vice President; and Matt Melcher, Student Representative to the Board of Trustees Finance & Audit Committee.

... LATER HAPPENINGS (also known as "when we got creative") The Class of 2020 celebrated their graduation with a virtual toast instead of our usual in-person reception.

The Class of 2022 was supposed to be studying abroad together in London and Belgium, While they will have another opportunity to go abroad, they got together for a virtual tea time on the day that would have been their departure.

The Class of 2020 put together words of advice for the high school seniors participating in Interview Day virtually. Check out their words of wisdom and advice here! While this was no typical way to host interview day, each of the current Hunt Scholars worked so hard to connect with the finalists.

ALUMNI UPDATES THANK YOU, ALUMNI MENTORS! We have just concluded the inaugural year of the Hunt Scholars Alumni mentor program. A huge thank you to the 28 mentors who made this first year a great success: Emily Bendorf, Olivia Beran, Scott Boland-Krouse, Meredith Carey, Zane Cavender, Chad Cohen, Kim Davidson, Jean-Paul Destarac, Sam Fife, Emily Gensheimer, Lauren Gurley, Katelyn Hall, Liz Hill, Derek Hubbard, John Hunninghake, Preston Hutcherson, David Jeffery, Mary Anna O'Neil, Blake Rainey, Seth Ramey, Kirstine Rogers, Kevelyn Rose, Eric Sabandal, Kenzie Cardella, Lucy Smith, Brie Strickland, Gabe Travers, and Dale Vaughn.

NOW, WE NEED MORE HELP! The 19 students in the Class of 2022 are the next group that is eager to receive your guidance and wisdom. Mentors and mentees meet once every six weeks (in person or virtually, so you can be anywhere in the world!), and we will have a mentor kick-off meeting (likely virtual) in late August. All you need to serve as a mentor is a passion for helping the junior Hunt Scholars grow as young professionals. If you're interested in helping out, please complete this Alumni Mentor Commitment Form by July 10. Please reach out to Lindsay Davis with any questions at all! (lrdavis@smu.edu)

STAY CONNECTED Big move? New job? Working on a cool project you'd like to share? Please reach out! We are always looking for alumni to feature and stories to share.

While this section of the newsletter would normally include upcoming events for the fall, we will monitor health and safety situations before planning any large group events. In the meantime, please join the alumni group on LinkedIn and follow the Hunt Leadership Scholars Program on Instagram. We look forward to seeing you in person just as soon as we can!

HUNT LEADERSHIP SCHOLAR ALUMNI

@SMUHUNTSCHOLARS