Tarleton Magazine - Fall 2017

The Tarleton State University Magazine

Mike A. Myers

A Legacy of Commitment

Major General James Earl Rudder A Tarleton Man

Campus Police Department Marks Golden Anniversary Cool and Collected

Engineering edifice to showcase new academic initiative

FALL 2017

Volume 8 Number 2

Tarleton State University Magazine

FALL 2017 ON THE COVER

Mike A. Myers, chairman and owner of Myers Financial Corporation for almost 50 years and a Tarleton alumnus, is committed to helping people. Read his story inside on Page 16.

President

Dr. F. Dominic Dottavio

Assistant Vice President, Marketing and Communications Harry Battson

Production Director Alyson Chapman

Associate Editor, Photographer Kurt Mogonye

Associate Editor, Writer Phil Riddle

Contributors

Cecilia Jacobs, Mary Saltarelli

Design

Molly Murphy Blank Canvas Graphic Design

DIVISION OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT Box T-0415 Stephenville, TX 76402 254-968-9890

Vice President, Institutional Advancement Dr. Kyle McGregor

To update your mailing address, contact Advancement Services ebouquet@tarleton.edu (254) 968-9948

is published three times a year by the

Department of Marketing and Communications Tarleton State University Box T-0730 Stephenville, TX 76402

Come home.

Join us for Homecoming 2017!

OCTOBER 27-28

Friday, Oct. 27 noon Registration at the Alumni House 5 p.m. Alumni Homecoming Kick-Off Social

Saturday, Oct. 28 10 a.m. Homecoming Parade 2 p.m. Texan Alley Tailgate Party 6 p.m. Texan Football versus Western Oregon

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Inside Cool and Collected

Engineering edifice to showcase new academic thrust

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SHORTS

Briefs on Tarleton’s celebration of 1,000 students at Waco, winner of the Entrepreneurs of Erath County contest, a new partnership with the Air Force and TCU and a discovery that could prevent brain death after cardiac arrest

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FACULTY FOCUS

Francine Pratt prepares tomorrow’s social workers

Making the Switch From professional careers to teaching in community schools

Campus Police Department Marks Golden Anniversary A Tarleton Man Major General James Earl Rudder was one was one of the nation’s most decorated soldiers. An influential leader in politics at the state level. A pioneer in higher education in Texas. And one of Tarleton’s most distinguished alumni.

Mike A. Myers A Legacy of Commitment

TEXANS

18 SUNNY BROUS ERASMUS An outlook to match her name: Sunny 19 DR. KEVIN HUNT Linking science and business takes a special chemistry 20 JUSTIN SMITH Life coming back around 21 ERNIE BATCHELLER Reservations about college: Reluctant student turns into career educator of Navajo youth

22 CLASS NOTES 24 A SMALL WORLD, AFTER ALL

Tarleton coaches look worldwide for talent to fuel athletic programs

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Ryou discovery could prevent brain death after cardiac arrest

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discovery by Tarleton’s Dr. Myoung-gwi Ryou and a team of Texas researchers could prevent brain death after cardiac arrest. The team’s findings are featured in the May issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal dedicated to biomedical research.

The researchers found that protective enzymes are deactivated in the brain following cardiac arrest and CPR, but an intravenous infusion of pyruvate preserves their activities.

The team’s research shows that pyruvate—a natural, energy-yielding fuel and antioxidant— prevents brain cell death after cardiac arrest.

Father-daughter scientists represent Tarleton at Research Day

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arleton junior Kassie Marble is becoming a well-traveled scientist, presenting her research across the country.

Her most recent stop was the Texas Legislature’s Undergraduate Research Day in April, where she shared how to collect ions and particles in a cylindrical Penning trap.

Kassie’s faculty mentor—and father—Dr. Daniel Marble, professor of physics at Tarleton and director of the Texas Physics Consortium, accompanied her.

The Council of Public University Presidents and Chancellors, the Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas Inc., and the Texas Association of Community Colleges coordinate Undergraduate Research Day. Dr. Marble said Kassie has presented her research on collecting ions and particles at the Texas State Meeting of Physics in San Antonio and at the Division of Nuclear Physics in Vancouver, where the keynote speaker cited her ideas as important findings in the field.

Giese wins top award at research conference in Poland

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wo Tarleton students presented research at the University of Agriculture in Krakow, Poland. One brought home top honors for his study on the nest survival of an endangered gamebird.

Jordan Giese, who recently finished his master’s degree in Tarleton’s Wildlife, Sustainability and Ecosystem Sciences program, received honors for the best oral presentation in the Animal Science Division at the 6th International Conference for Young Researchers. Graduate students and young scientists from universities worldwide participate in the annual event.

Jonathan Baker, an undergraduate student in the Department of Animal Science and Veterinary Technology, also presented at the conference.

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Jordan Giese and Dr. T. Wayne Schwertner

Tarleton partners with Air Force, TCU

Go online!

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For information about enrolling at Tarleton, go to

arleton’s Texan Corps of Cadets has partnered with the U.S. Air Force and Texas Christian University to offer aerospace studies and an opportunity to commission in the Air Force.

Starting this fall, cadets can enroll in TCU’s Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) and compete for AFROTC scholarships while completing their degree at Tarleton. Depending on the course of study selected and completion of AFROTC requirements, cadets can graduate as commissioned second lieutenants in the Air Force.

Need more information?

Check out these resources.

tarleton.edu/welcome

Discover ways to give back to your university at

tarleton.edu/giving

Check out the latest sports stats and information at

tarletonsports.com Reconnect with old classmates at

tarleton.edu/ alumniassociation Tarleton President Dr. F. Dominic Dottavio (left) and MCC President Dr. Johnette McKown with Katie Billeaud, whose registration pushed Tarleton’s Waco single-semester enrollment to 1,000 students.

For everything else, go to

tarleton.edu

Chat with us!

facebook.com/ tarletonstate Tweet us!

Tarleton celebrates Waco 1,000 student milestone Winners include (seated, l-r) first place, Fisher Rinderknecht, owner of Flight Reach Productions; second place, Steffani and Eric Oaks, owners of Von Drogo Kennels; and third place, Jahmicah Dawes and Jonathan Powell, operators of SlimPickins Outfitters.

Tarleton student wins Entrepreneurs of Erath

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tephenville-based Flight Reach Productions (FRP)—owned by Tarleton senior Fisher Rinderknecht—took top prize in the school’s Entrepreneurs of Erath (EoErath) business plan contest.

Started in 2015, the biennial contest is open to startup and existing businesses as well as Tarleton students who write the best business plan. Competition consists of three rounds: the executive summary, formal business plan and a pitch before contest judges.

An aerial media company, FRP uses small, unmanned aircrafts (drones) for photography, videography and telemetry.

Rinderknecht—owner, remote pilot and creative director—graduated from Tarleton in the spring with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

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hen Katie Billeaud enrolled at McLennan Community College, she knew she wanted to transfer her basic courses into a bachelor’s degree program at one of the six schools that make up MCC’s University Center. When she chose Tarleton, she didn’t know there’d be a party.

That celebration took place in April, recognizing that Katie’s registration pushed Tarleton’s Waco singlesemester enrollment to 1,000 students.

Tarleton’s march to 1,000 began when MCC invited the university to Waco 15 years ago to provide greater access to state-supported undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Today, Tarleton-Waco offers more than 30 degree opportunities as part of the MCC University Center, with a total spring enrollment of 1,012.

@tarletonstate Follow us!

TarletonState

texan facts

2 Number of Tarleton

graduate students who were part of a research team who found two threatened species of freshwater mussels in the Colorado River.

95 Number of potential

first-generation students from local area high schools that will benefit from a $2.1 million Upward Bound grant.

350,000 Amount of National

Science Foundation grant that will fund undergraduate scientific research.

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Richardson named interim vice president of finance division Dr. Rick Richardson has been named interim vice president for the Division of Finance and Administration beginning Aug. 1. He succeeds Dr. Tye Minckler, who joins the University of Washington-Tacoma.

As part of Tarleton’s leadership team, Richardson will oversee the budgetary and fiscal affairs of the university, including planning, monitoring and managing overall financial plans, policies, programs and operations.

Richardson formerly served as the university’s vice president for institutional advancement and is a certified public accountant and recognized by the State Bar of Texas as an attorney and counselor at law.

Farmer appointed chief of staff to Tarleton president Dr. Tod Allen Farmer has been named chief of staff to President F. Dominic Dottavio. After a successful career with the Springtown (Texas) Independent School District, Farmer joined the Tarleton faculty in 2006 and has been serving as head of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies.

In addition to managing the operations of the Office of the President and serving as an official representative of the university, Farmer will coordinate legal and policy issues with The Texas A&M University System as well as state agencies and organizations.

Farmer earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Tarleton in 1992, and his master’s degree in education in 1998. Additionally, he holds a doctorate of education from the University of North Texas.

Faculty Focus

A Calling to Help Others Francine Pratt prepares tomorrow’s social workers

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B Y M A RY G . S A LTA R E L L I

uring his inaugural address, President John F. Kennedy implored his fellow Americans to “ask what you can do for your country.”

His call to service galvanized an entire

generation, including Francine Pratt, who was a young teenager in 1961.

“I felt set on fire,” Francine said. “I wanted to do something to help others, so I chose social work.”

Her family and their home life, where four generations lived together at one time, also influenced Francine. She aspired to be “nonjudgmental and merciful,” like her maternal grandmother, and to serve her community, like her parents.

“You must be called to do social work,” said Francine, assistant professor in the College of Health Sciences and Human Services. “Because there are no easy, cookie-cutter solutions for our clients.”

Throughout her career in North Texas, Francine focused on issues that stirred her passions, like child and social welfare. She worked in agencies developing safety programs for latchkey children, with women’s organizations advocating for changes to the juvenile justice system, and with colleagues pushing for

Leach selected associate dean of research, sponsored projects Dr. Lesley Leach has been selected associate dean of research and sponsored projects at Tarleton.

Leach has served Tarleton as an associate professor since 2012, leading the university’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies for the last two years. As coordinator of Tarleton’s doctorate in educational leadership program until 2015, she has chaired more than 20 student dissertation committees and served as research methodologist for many others.

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nutritious formula for needy babies.

“We advocate for the oppressed or vulnerable to have resources appropriated for them,” Francine said. “Social workers help those living in poverty with resources and put together a plan for their selfsufficiency.”

At Tarleton, Francine directs field education for undergraduate social work students. She uses her vast network of professional contacts to find partners for her students in affecting change in their communities.

“I am but a guide in this journey,” Francine tells her students as they embark upon their fieldwork. “It’s cooperative learning. I learn from you and you learn from me.”

Francine’s students have worked with tornado survivors in Granbury and poverty-stricken families in Stephenville, where they developed a food security program. In Waco, her students worked with the homeless, providing the city with statistics about their local impact.

Amanda Rivera Benitez, who graduated in May 2016, said she learned effectively in Francine’s class because students worked directly with clients impacted by their research. Amanda’s class prepared a Tarleton resource guide for students who are first in their families to attend college.

“Professor Pratt is passionate about her students and preparing them to be productive in the work field,” Amanda said. “She is dedicated to her students’ success.”

Weissenburger moves to interim dean of health sciences college Dr. David Weissenburger has been named interim dean of the College of Health Sciences and Human Services.

He has been chief of staff to President F. Dominic Dottavio since July 2014. During his 18 years with the university, he also has led the Department of Psychology and Counseling and served as associate vice president of enrollment management.

The College of Health Sciences and Human Services was created last fall to better serve more than 1,600 students already enrolled in successful, established programs in medical lab sciences, public health, social work, counseling and nursing.

Amy James, who also graduated last year, co-wrote, with Francine’s guidance, a professionally published paper about the food security project in Stephenville.

“Professor Pratt taught me that a small group of people who care about an important issue can bring about discussion and potential change in a community through effective community organizing and social work practice,” Amy said.

For Francine, her job as professor is the perfect culmination of a service career inspired in the 1960s.

“I’m leaving a legacy,” Francine, who retired in August 2017, said, “through the education of wellequipped social workers, who will go out in the field and embrace and engage people wherever they are

Benedict named VP of mass communication council Dr. Liza P. Benedict, assistant professor of communication studies, has been named vice president for the Southwest Education Council for Journalism and Mass Communication (SWECJMC).

Benedict will oversee the organization’s research paper competition held in conjunction with its annual fall conference—set October 6 and 7 this year at Arizona State University. Following her one-year appointment, she’ll continue as SWECJMC president.

and walk with them in their journey.”

Edwards elected TACUSPA research director Dr. Jennifer Edwards has been elected director of research for the Texas Association of College and University Student Personnel Administrators (TACUSPA). She will serve a two-year term beginning with TACUSPA’s annual fall conference in October.

In her new role with TACUSPA, Edwards will lead the Graduate Student Caucus and the Graduate Education and Research Committee as well as oversee a number of other initiatives.

At Tarleton, Edwards serves as assistant vice president of Student Success and Multicultural Initiatives and as executive director and founding member of the Texas Social Media Research Institute.

She is an associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies and editor of the Journal of Social Media in Society.

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Cool and Collected

Engineering edifice to showcase new academic initiative

BY PHIL RIDDLE

From the aesthetic appeal of the much-anticipated edifice, to improved logistics between departments, to expanded opportunities for students, movers and shakers in various engineering and related programs have different reasons for looking forward to moving into Tarleton’s new engineering building.

Groundbreaking for the $54 million facility off Washington Street, straddling the space between the Business Administration and Dick Smith Library buildings, occurred in March and the programs it will house hope to move in before the 2019 spring semester.

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“I think it’s going to be quite a visually appealing building,” said Dr. James Pierce, dean of the College of Science and Technology. “There will be a lot of glass, so you can see into the labs from outside, and a beautiful courtyard. It’s a nice gateway to the university.”

At almost 98,000 square feet, the edifice is expected to provide space for programs currently housed in facilities across the Stephenville campus, including the civil engineering, electrical engineering, environmental engineering, engineering technology and newly approved mechanical engineering degree programs.

“It’s really a great opportunity for our programs. Both engineering and engineering technology are in old, outdated facilities,” Pierce said. “We’re going to have 100 percent state-of-the-art facilities for new students. We’ll be a heavily interconnected building with all kinds of access to computers and other technology, in addition to the labs that are there. It’s a great opportunity for students to be part of the best we have to offer.”

Dr. Denise Martinez, head of the Engineering and Computer Science Department, sees more space as a big plus for students enrolled in any of the engineering programs.

“Students will really notice a huge difference in the labs, the things they’ll be able to do there,” she said.

Students in several disciplines now forced to share lab space will have more room and will be working together within specialties, Martinez said, noting that the logistics of the lab set-up will allow students to focus more.

“They’ll have lots of writing space, they’ll have project work space, all of these amenities,” she said.

Updated facilities, including air-conditioning, will certainly make building occupants more comfortable, but also add to the number of classes that may be scheduled. Fall semester classes, which begin in late August or early September, now may be held in classrooms where the temperature exceeds 100 degrees.

“What it does is opens up the summers to be available for classes,” said Dr. Billy Gray, head of Engineering Technology.

“The building we are in now was built in the ‘50s and isn’t air conditioned or heated. Now we’ll have controlled environment where we can teach some of our labs during the summer as well.”

Perhaps the most important aspect of moving into the new building is the opportunity for cooperation across program lines.

“The way we’ve set up the building is going to be conducive to collaboration, not only within our programs but between engineering and engineering technology,” said Martinez. “Putting us in the same building will help us with new initiatives, like contests with the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Society for Mechanical Engineers. Those are things we can work on together. Plus, there are industry projects, senior design projects. It will allow for so many of them since we have more teaching and research space.”

Gray concurs, adding the increased capabilities will provide extra time and keep the departments apprised of other areas of study under the engineering umbrella.

“Being together, they can see what we’re doing, we can see what they’re doing,” he said. “It gives us the opportunity to see what we could do to help each other.”

The proximity of the programs will benefit the students, according to Pierce, since jobs they are training for work closely together.

“They really should be together because there are a lot of interactions,” he said. “In industry, engineering technologists and engineers work side by side. They’ll be learning side-by-side in the new building. That’s going to be a huge synergy to bring those programs all together.”

In air-conditioned comfort, no less.

Real-world manufacturing issues tackled by engineering students

BY PHIL RIDDLE

Students in Dr. George Mollick’s engineering technology class have to prove themselves worthy of solving real-world manufacturing dilemmas— before they graduate.

At the beginning of each spring semester, Mollick’s students are placed on teams and paired with a faculty mentor to tackle problems presented by the likes of Lockheed Martin, Fibergrate, L3 and other manufacturing firms.

Seventeen projects were presented to more than 50 engineering technology students, Mollick said.

“When we say we’re about applied learning, we’re not joking,” Mollick said. “The sort of applied engineering skills students use on these projects are also put to use when they work out in the world.

“When our students go on their first job interview they can say, ‘Yes, I’ve had industrial experience before. Yes, I’ve saved a company money before.’

It gives them something they can talk about when they take their first step out the door, which I think is phenomenally important.”

A team project last year from aerospace giant Lockheed Martin explored making the F-16 fighter jet assembly more efficient. The problem involved precisely applying sealant to bolts on the aircraft’s wing.

“It’s a fighter plane and it carries fuel in its wing,” Mollick said. “Any kind of fastener you have that protrudes into the tank has to have sealant on it or the wing leaks. We were trying to find a more efficient way to apply sealant to fasteners to speed up production.”

Students used a 3-D printer to fabricate an adaptor that fit on the front of the sealant gun. The adapter locates the fastener and, with a tiny trigger, applies sealant accurately without hitting the threads of the bolt, which would require a time-consuming cleanup. Testing for the student-led solution is ongoing.

That was not the only success story for student engineers.

Pal-Con, an Erath County company that manufactures and services gas regenerators, asked for a model of the process involved taking natural gas from the pipeline and cooling it. According to Mollick, as it decompresses, the gas gives off heat. The regenerators, essentially, dissipate the heat.

“Our students took on the project of modeling it, simulating the actual gas flow and making recommendations on how it could be more efficient,” he said. “The students’ model showed exactly the same thing the company had found out through instrumentation. We gave them a way to actually mock things up—save money—since now they don’t have to go into fabrication to find out what the issue might be.”

The Tarleton engineering technology partnerships with area industries provides critical student experience and aids in student success after leaving Tarleton, but also offers real benefits to manufacturers.

“We do this as a way to give back to the manufacturing folks, to help them be more competitive,” Mollick said. “They give us their time, and we help them out and they help us out.”

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From professional careers to teaching in community schools

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M A RY G . S A LTA R E L L I

fter graduating with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts, Abraham Medina went to work as an assembler at a wiring company, building airplane parts. Yet he longed to be an educator, inspired as a boy by his middle school art teachers.

“I felt so unfulfilled,” Medina said. “As I moved up in the company, I felt weary from the type of work I was doing.”

Medina’s wife, sensing his discontent, suggested he look into teaching as his long-term career. About the same time, a friend recommended the Tarleton Model for Accelerated Teacher Education, or TMATE program. Medina entered the program and received his Texas teacher certification after two semesters. He is now a fifth-grade bilingual teacher studying for his master’s degree in educational administration.

Tarleton student Kalee Smith is getting real classroom experience through the TMATE program.

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“Now, I feel so much better to be doing something I was created to do,” Medina said. “I am very grateful for TMATE because it equipped me to create an engaging, safe environment for children.”

Established in 1986 and celebrating its 30th anniversary last year, TMATE was one of the first university-based approved alternative teacher certification programs in Texas. Tarleton’s faculty developed the program in response to Commissioner of Education William Kirby’s call for help with the state’s teacher shortage. Within two to three semesters in the TMATE program, students who already have a bachelor’s degree become certified teachers and begin making a difference for Texas children.

“Our students come to us with rich life experiences in business and often with children of their own,” said Dr. Laura Estes, director of TMATE. “They learn what we teach them based on their knowledge and maturity level, and build on their experiences to become effective teachers.”

Since its inception, TMATE has certified 2,284 teachers, who can be found in more than 281 Texas school districts and charter school systems, from El Paso to Amarillo and Brazosport to Palestine. The program offers more than 36 different certifications. When students complete TMATE, they are halfway through a master’s degree, so the program now offers three graduate-level programs in history, biology, and curriculum and instruction.

Making

Want to make a difference in a child’s life?

If you have a bachelor’s degree and are interested in becoming a Texas teacher, you can find out more about TMATE: Tarleton Model for Accelerated Teacher Education www.tarleton.edu/tmate Dr. Laura Estes, TMATE director estes@tarleton.edu | 817-717-3690

the

Switch Structured for working professionals, TMATE offers first-semester classes on weekday evenings and Saturdays. During those classes, students work with the Alvarado School District and actually teach classes.

Students then have a choice of clinical co-teaching in a school district for one semester with no pay, or teaching as a paid intern for two semesters. In both situations, TMATE students have a school district mentor and a Tarleton field supervisor who monitor their progress and observe their teaching and provide written feedback.

“We provide support for our students that’s second to none,” Estes said. “If an intern or clinical teacher calls me, we’re there for them the next day.”

Sarah Stephens completed the TMATE program and graduated with a master’s degree in curriculum and

Abraham Medina found his passion in teaching and made it a reality through the TMATE program.

instruction this year. She waited until her children were old enough to attend school full time to enter a teacher certification program. Stephens said she appreciated the interaction among TMATE professors, field supervisors and candidates.

“I had partners during the entire process of entering the teaching field,” Stephens said. “Overall, there was a tremendous amount of support in my classroom to help me succeed, and that support helped me believe I was truly ready to be a teacher.”

Both Medina and Stephens said they recommend Tarleton’s TMATE program to anyone interested in becoming a teacher.

“The world is in dire need of better educators,” Medina said. “And TMATE is where they’re being produced.”

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Campus Police Department Marks

Golden Anniversary

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BY PHIL RIDDLE

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s Tarleton State University celebrates its centennial as the founding member of The Texas A&M University System, the university police department observes its own anniversary—50 years of serving the campus.

A letter seeking authorization to create a campus police force, signed by then university president W.O. Trogdon and System Chancellor Earl Rudder, won approval from the Texas legislature on July 13, 1967.

Celebration of the milestone, which coincided with an Open House for the department’s new headquarters, was held in late July.

Current Police Chief Matt Welch and Assistant Chief Alvin Allcon, both retired from the Fort Worth Police Department (FWPD), agree that law enforcement on campus has evolved.

“A lot of changes have taken place,” Allcon said, “just shifting from strictly law enforcement to becoming more community oriented.”

Welch concurs, citing his department’s list of communityoutreach classes—Rape Aggression Defense (RAD), Civilian Response to an Active Shooter Event (CRASE)—as well as oncampus motorist assistance. He also supports other programs to engender trust between Tarleton students and his officers.

For example, Tarleton officers’ meals at the dining hall are paid from departmental funds.

“It gets them out around the students,” Welch explained.

“They see us more, they get comfortable with us. It’s a chance for us to interact with them.”

Additionally, each officer is assigned a student residence hall to keep tabs on.

“It’s a community policing aspect,” Welch said. “Recently, there was a big cookout at Honors Hall. Sgt. Jeffrey “Chili” Alexander came in that day in normal clothes, and cooked all the food there at a big grill. It’s another way for students to know the officers better.”

Tarleton’s police department, primarily composed of seasoned law enforcement officers who previously served at other agencies, have merged to form a cohesive unit.

“I like to hire more experienced officers,” Welch said.

“People who know what to do, who have prior experience to draw upon; people with a good, long track history. I also want a very easy-going, laid back officer.”

In addition to four former FWPD officers, the current roster includes a former Harris County Accident Reconstruction Specialist and one who came from a community college in the Amarillo area.

Sgt. Clell Murray has been patrolling the campus since 1991, more than half the department’s five decades.

He has seen four changes in department badges, four moves to new offices and expansion from six officers to 17.

“When I started at Tarleton, there were 5,000 students,” Murray said. “Now there’s a little over 13,000.

The demographics have changed a lot, too. There used to be a lot of cowboys, now we’re a lot of everything.”

Tarleton police officers, state certified with a jurisdiction that encompasses any county in which Texas A&M owns property, have become an integral part of law enforcement, even off campus.

“I’ve backed up officers in shooting incidents out in the county, helped in manhunts,” Murray said. “Any time another agency requests assistance we usually help. We’re part of this community and we do a lot around here.”

Another change celebrated by the Tarleton Police Department is the recent promotion of Kristie Bint, a 16year campus veteran, to become just the second female sergeant on the university force. In her role, she instructs the semi-annual RAD course, which is an all women selfdefense program.

“Most all the police officers are here because they want to be here, be part of this community,” Allcon said. “All of us together make a really good team, complementing each other.”

In the 50 years since the department came into existence, the unit has had its own building for two months, having previously shared office and administrative space in various locations on campus.

“That’s significant, psychologically,” Welch said. “Now the officers have their own building. Before we’ve shared space at Davis Hall and Wisdom Gym. Now we have our own place, one we can really be proud of.”

Earlier this year Welch placed a time capsule in the new building, featuring current artifacts, a group photo of officers and staff, a Tarleton Police Department uniform patch, a campus parking map and various news headlines.

There is no specific date to when the capsule will be opened, though it is marked.

“We do not know how long the building will be here,” Welch said. “When the time comes, and it is either torn down or remodeled again, the capsule will be opened.”

Maybe after another 50 years.

At the grand opening for the new police station, former Fort Worth Mayor and Tarleton alumnus Mike Moncrief and his wife, Rosie, aided President F. Dominic Dottavio, Police Chief Matt Welch and Vice President of Student Affairs Laura Boren with the ribbon cutting.

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A Tarleton man

BY PHIL RIDDLE

He was one of the nation’s most decorated soldiers. An influential leader in politics at the state level. A pioneer in higher education in Texas. And one of Tarleton State University’s most distinguished alumni.

In October, Tarleton will honor Major General James Earl Rudder—former president of Texas A&M University and Chancellor of The Texas A&M University System—by unveiling a statue of him at the end of a new pedestrian walkway, named Rudder Way. Rudder’s success was rooted in his time as a student at Tarleton, according to historian Dr. Thomas Hatfield who wrote the book, Rudder: From Leader to Legend, and his connection to other important figures in the university’s history.

“He was first and last a product of Tarleton,” Hatfield said in an October campus appearance. “When he came here, he came not knowing what he wanted to do. He discovered here what he wanted to do in his life and in his career.”

According to Hatfield’s research, Rudder, who landed in Stephenville with less than $100 and all his worldly belongings in a cardboard suitcase, parried his time as a student-athlete on the football team into a career as a coach, a military leader revered on two continents, a respected elected state official and finally the head of one of the state’s most highly regarded university systems.

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From Eden to Stephenville

Duty calls - The making of a Hero

Rudder was enticed to come to Tarleton to play football by legendary coach W.J. Wisdom, who would become one of the young man’s most trusted life-long examples.

One of six boys, Rudder grew up in Eden, a community of farmers and ranchers in Central Texas. His family, not farmers, were forced to subsist on the earnings of his father, a less-thansuccessful salesman or “commission man.”

“In his father’s failure, Rudder learned a great deal about life,” Hatfield explained. “But, when he came to Tarleton and met Coach Wisdom, he met a man that would become his role model. He never stopped talking about Wisdom.”

With little money, Rudder received several scholarships which required doing odd jobs around the college.

Nearing the end of his first year, he told Wisdom that he would have to leave school due to his lack of funds, which led Wisdom to present a unique financial aid opportunity, the Milk Cow Scholarship.

Wisdom persuaded the local Lions Club to purchase a cow that would graze on Tarleton’s grounds. Rudder, twice daily, would milk the cow and take the milk to the dining hall manager for credit toward his food bill.

Even with Wisdom’s help, and that of another mentor, then-President J. Thomas Davis, Rudder was forced back to Eden, where he worked on a road crew until he made enough money to return and graduate before transferring to Texas A&M to finish his bachelor’s degree.

During his education at Tarleton, Rudder found he loved working with young people and, as part of the ROTC program and the Corps of Cadets, he learned he also loved soldiering, both skills that would play big roles the rest of his life.

“He went to Texas A&M, graduated, but always thought about Tarleton,” Hatfield said. “That was the place he wanted to be. In 1938, the head coaching position came open at Tarleton and that was the job of all the jobs in the world that Rudder wanted. To return to Tarleton. He got the job. Tarleton was the place he considered home.”

With Europe and Asia already engaged in war, Rudder enlisted with the expectation that he would be back to Tarleton within a year, Hatfield noted.

Called to active duty in 1941, Rudder fought until the end of World War II in the European Theater.

The U.S. Army Reserve Corps first lieutenant reported to Fort Sam Houston, and the next day was promoted to Captain.

A defining point in the war, and in Rudder’s life, came in June 1944, D-Day, the allied advance onto the beaches of France. Leading a group of Army Rangers, Lt. Col. Rudder faced withering enemy fire, a 60-percent casualty rate and almost vertical cliffs at Pointe du Hoc, to take out a key German gun placement.

Hatfield offers the opinion that Rudder’s leadership in the military, as it had been as a football coach, was greatly influenced by his association with Wisdom.

“One of the things that made him such a successful high school football coach and later when he became head football coach here at Tarleton, his teams were drilled so much that when they went out onto the field, they were confident they were going to win,” the historian said.

“He had a big part in the planning for the D-Day invasion at Normandy,” Hatfield said. “The men who were with him were so confident when they hit the beach and began scaling the 100-foot sheer cliffs at Pointe du Hoc, they knew they were going to be victorious.”

Later in the conflict, as Germany mounted its last-ditch counter-attack, The Battle of the Bulge, then-Col. Rudder took over the regiment assigned to hold ground in the dense Ardennes forest.

“The men on the front lines had never seen the regimental commander that Rudder replaced,” Hatfield said. “They saw Rudder. He came right up to the front.

They would remember what he looked like, how he walked, handled himself.”

His military efforts won him every decoration for gallantry, save the Medal of Honor.

14

Maj. Gen. Earl Rudder, left, with four other World War II commanders at an Army Rangers Banquet in Pointe du Hoc, France.

A war hero enters politics Returning to Texas as a bona fide hero, Rudder rejoined his family, a wife and two children, in Brady, where he had coached high school football before coming back to Tarleton.

Soon urged to run for mayor of the Central Texas town, he served six years, gaining attention from other up-and-coming Texas politicians—Congressman Lyndon Johnson and future Governor Allan Shivers.

“They promoted Rudder in a real sense,” Hatfield said of Johnson and Shivers.

“Because he had so much appeal to voters, he was an asset to them.”

As Governor, Shivers appointed Rudder Commissioner of the State Land Office in 1955 to fill the unexpired term of James Bascom Giles, who abandoned the position. Under Giles, the Veterans Land Program had been scrutinized for possible mismanagement and corruption. Rudder accepted the task of reforming

policies and cleaning up the reputation of the agency. He was so successful at his new job that he was elected to remain in the office in 1958, amid requests that he seek the governor’s chair.

“He didn’t want that and it isn’t long until the Board of Regents at Texas A&M came to him to come to College Station, to Texas A&M,” Hatfield said. “This is an extraordinary thing. He had no advanced degree. What he had was a bachelor’s degree in education and his experience in college administration was that of a coach at Tarleton, then a two-year college. Still, the Regents wanted him to be their president. He proved to be an extraordinary president.”

A transformational educator Rudder accepted the Regents’ call and became the university’s vice president in 1958, ascending to the presidency a year later and Chancellor of The Texas A&M University System, including Tarleton, in 1965.

It was a difficult period of adjustment for colleges and universities as civil rights issues and opposition to military action in Vietnam flared in protests on campuses across the country.

“He was largely consumed with issues of the day in the 1960s,” Hatfield reported, “and trying to elevate TAMU at a time when other institutions were rising.”

A&M was having difficulties drawing students, mostly blamed on the facts that the university was all male and required military participation.

“This is a period when baby-boomers were beginning to arrive on college campuses in the early 1960s,” Hatfield said. “Rudder rights the ship at A&M. He eliminated the requirement for military training and integrated the place in regard to gender and race. He put A&M on the path to becoming the extraordinary research university that it is today.”

Rudder suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died on March 23, 1970, having spent his final day on his beloved Tarleton campus.

Maj. Gen. Earl Rudder, retiring after 35 years’ military service, inspects the troops in the Fourth U.S. Army quadrangle at Fort Sam Houston accompanied by the commander of troops, Capt. J.L. Jones.

About Maj. Gen. James Earl Rudder Rudder was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal

by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967.

The Major General James E. Rudder Medal is awarded annually by the Association of the United States Army to an Army Reserve soldier whose career exemplifies the example of the Army Reserve Citizen-Soldier modeled by Rudder.

An annual service has been held in Normandy, France in his honor since 1970.

A special training unit of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets is known as Rudder’s Rangers.

The U.S. Army Ranger School at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida is named Camp James E. Rudder.

Earl Rudder Freeway, a portion of U.S. Highway 190, runs through Bryan and College Station.

When the early rumblings of World War II began in Europe, Rudder took extension courses and attended officer schools, anticipating his call to active duty.

A First Lieutenant upon reporting to active duty on June 18, 1941, Rudder was promoted to Captain the next day.

Rudder directed the Army to notify his eldest brother—John, who lived in Brady—if he were killed in action, so his wife, Margaret, would not receive bad news from a stranger.

Epilogue - Rudder Though a graduate and the ultimate leader at Texas A&M, Hatfield argues that Rudder always felt most at home in Stephenville.

“When Rudder could be on the Tarleton campus, he was here,” he said. “I say, his adult life, his career, began and ended on the Tarleton campus. It began when he came here as a 17-year-old boy, who had hitchhiked here. This is the place he wanted to be.

“He was a Tarleton man.” ”

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Honors and Service It’d take a book—a big one—to list all of Mike A. Myers’ honors and his service to make the world a better place for others, but here’s a sampling.

Myers has been recognized as DFW Entrepreneur of the Year, honored as recipient of the prestigious Charles Sprague Community Service Award given by UT Southwestern Medical Foundation and was inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame in 2008.

He’s also achieved Hall of Fame-level success through his involvement in numerous civic and philanthropic activities. Among many leadership roles, he’s been president of the Dallas Assembly, treasurer of the Young Presidents Organization and both treasurer and chairperson of the investments committee for Parkland Foundation, which supports the Dallas County Health and Hospital System.

Tarleton honored Myers as a Distinguished Alumnus in 1978 and Ring of Honor recipient in 2004.

He has received the President’s All-Purple Award, was inducted into the Tarleton Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012 and was presented the President’s Legacy Award for Excellence through Leadership February 2017. Myers is a co-founder of the Tarleton State University Foundation, Inc. and a lifetime member of the Tarleton Alumni Association.

In 1983, he created an endowed fund, now valued at nearly $200,000, in his mother’s honor to provide scholarships to Tarleton’s Presidential Honors Scholars. He has made several additional significant contributions since.

Myers has served as a trustee of the University of Texas Law School Foundation, is a co-founder of the Foundation for Texas Excellence Scholars, has served as president of the Texas Longhorn Education Foundation and chairperson of the UT Chancellor’s Council.

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Mike A. Myers A Legacy of Commitment

BY CECILIA JACOBS

Mike A. Myers is committed to helping people.

It’s something he learned from his mother and the reason behind his success as a self-made entrepreneur and philanthropist.

Chairman and owner of Myers Financial Corporation for almost 50 years, the Tarleton alumnus recently gave $2.4 million to help renovate and expand Memorial Stadium. He believes the project will promote Tarleton spirit for generations to come and encourage others to give—if not for the stadium to some other worthwhile project.

“Giving back is about so much more than money or buildings or stadiums,” Myers says. “It’s about creating an example that you hope your children and grandchildren, even people you don’t know, will follow.

“It’s a commitment to make life better for others.”

The $26.4 million Memorial Stadium renovation and expansion project will increase overall seating, convert the west side stands to seat home fans, enhance concession facilities, replace track-and-field surfaces, and improve the suites, entrances and ticket booths.

In addition to supporting stadium enhancements, Myers’s gift honors Tarleton’s athletic director by designating the west side expansion the Lonn Reisman Athletic Center. Athletic director for 26 years—the longest tenure in the university’s history—Reisman has created one of the strongest sports programs in the NCAA. Myers says Reisman deserves to have his name join those of legendary Tarleton coaches like W.J. Wisdom, Oscar Frazier and Cecil Ballow on the school’s athletic facilities.

“An outstanding athletic director, Lonn’s beginning his 30th season as head coach of the men’s basketball program at Tarleton with 635 career wins

to his credit,” Myers says, “making him the winningest active basketball coach in Texas. That’s legendary.”

Myers, too, has a claim to making Tarleton sports history.

A student from 1954 to 1956, he helped the Plowboys notch their biggest win since 1928, defeating Arlington State—now the University of Texas at Arlington—who went on to compete in the Junior Rose Bowl.

A football scholarship brought Myers to Tarleton from Olney, Texas, and a few successful summers selling Bibles in the northeast paid for the rest of his education and opened his eyes to his natural knack for making money.

He calls it a God-given talent that, combined with the will to succeed, pays big dividends for others and brings the same feel-good as winning a football game or track meet.

“My mother taught me that,” he says, “and she mirrored the joy that comes from helping others. She taught the young married women’s Sunday school class for 40 years, spending at least two hours every night counseling them. She didn’t just talk the talk; she walked the walk.”

By the time Myers finished a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a law degree at The University of Texas at Austin, his catering business and a couple of restaurants were bringing in more money than many of the school’s leaders earned in a year, providing the finances to begin a career in real estate and banking and to establish the Mike A. Myers Foundation.

Before chartering his first bank at 36, he put in a fiveyear stint as administrative assistant to then Texas Gov. John Connally, helping him double the state appropriation for higher education and fund junior colleges for the first time.

While generously supporting athletic programs at Tarleton and UT—the UT track-and-field stadium bears his name and he is a founder and majority partner in the UT Golf Club— Myers’s primary commitment is to education.

It’s a commitment that stems from the push by his grandparents and parents to excel academically. Of the 17 grandchildren who grew up in the small community of Olney, 16 earned university degrees, and three of those completed doctorates.

“My mother earned a university degree in 1921 and taught school in Olney for a dozen years or so before I came along,” he says. “Like any mother, she wanted the best for her children, and education topped her list of priorities.

“Athletics, too, is an important part of any university,” Myers adds, “providing something for students and the community to rally around. However, the older I get, the more convinced I am that education is the key to solving so many problems.”

In addition to education and athletics, he’s a huge supporter of healthcare, recently kicking in $5 million to help pay for the new Parkland Memorial Hospital—Dallas County’s only public hospital—and a myriad other endeavors to improve quality of life.

“Helping others—whatever the cause—gives me a lot of personal satisfaction and makes me happy,” Myers says, “just like it did my mother. It’s the right kind of commitment to leave as a legacy.”

Watch Mike Myers talk about the importance of family, higher education and philanthropy at tarleton.edu/mikemyers

Lonn Reisman Athletic Center made a reality with $2.4 million gift When Lonn Reisman first took to the sidelines at Tarleton in 1988, Ronald Reagan was president, a movie ticket was $3.50, a postage stamp 24 cents and the Kansas Jayhawks were NCAA national basketball champions.

That was almost three decades, extended success and many accolades ago.

Now, preparing for season No. 30 as coach of Texans basketball, Reisman is recipient of another high-profile honor.

At the annual Tarleton Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony in May, the university announced the naming of the stadium’s west side as the Lonn Reisman Athletic Center.

“I really don’t have words for this,” said Reisman, a 13-time Coach of the Year. “You just don’t think about something like this happening.”

The naming results from a $2.4 million gift to fund stadium improvements from Texas businessman and longtime Tarleton supporter, Mike A. Myers, who wanted his gift to recognize Reisman.

“What it says about Mike Myers is that he’s probably one of the most caring and giving people I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Reisman. “He’s a Tarleton alum, a hall of famer here.”

Since Reisman became athletic director, Tarleton has graduated from NAIA-level competition to NCAA Division II. Its teams have qualified for national playoffs in every sport, including Final Four finishes in men’s basketball and women’s golf. Under his guidance, Tarleton athletics forged a No. 23 ranking in the 2014 Learfield Cup standings, the national standard for overall program excellence.

The $26.4 million expansion and renovation project for Tarleton’s venerable Memorial Stadium features switching the home fans to the west side and a boost to more than 9,000 in seating capacity.

“It’s been a dream, not only of mine, but of many people in the area to renovate and expand Memorial Stadium,” Reisman said.

“This gift makes it possible to transform Memorial Stadium into a source of pride for our students, our student-athletes, coaches, fans, boosters and alumni.”

Not to mention honoring Reisman—the face of Tarleton athletic success since $3.50 would get you a movie ticket.

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Sunny Brous Erasmus

An outlook to match her name: Sunny

S

BY PHIL RIDDLE

ome names really fit. One is that of 2009 Tarleton graduate Sunny Brous Erasmus.

With a cheery, outgoing personality, a calendar that includes a full-time job, a new husband, volunteer mentoring and community service, it’s hard to realize she is battling a devastating disease.

Sunny, 30, faces the challenges of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Lou Gehrig’s disease, but that hasn’t quelled her zest for helping others.

Sunny first attended Tarleton as an Upward Bound student.

The program is federally funded, with the goal of reaching first-generation college students from low-income backgrounds with educational opportunities.

“During high school, I would be part of an intensive six-week summer program at Tarleton,” she said. “We took classes, not for credit, more for preparation for classes we were taking in the fall. We competed with other Upward Bound programs in what was called Academic Bowl. We got to experience things that, had we not been in the program, we’d not have gotten to do.”

After four years of summer activities with Upward Bound, Sunny headed to Tarleton as a student in 2005, where she worked in the summers for the program. After graduating with a degree in interdisciplinary business, she took a job with another low-income, first-generation grant program while earning her graduate degree at Texas State University.

“While I was in college, it was important for me to stay involved,” she said, “so I worked for Upward Bound through undergrad and grad school. That opened the doors to Weatherford College. I worked there three-and-a-half years as the Assistant Director of Housing.”

At Weatherford, Sunny volunteered with Junior Achievement, a youth development program that bridges the gap between what students learn in school and how it is

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Photo by FW INC.

applied in the workforce. After two years as a volunteer, a full-time job opened up.

Now, as Director of Development and Events for Junior Achievement of the Chisholm Trail, she’s a newlywed, a first-time homeowner and active in the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce.

Even with her hectic schedule, she has time for her alma mater. She and husband, Kenneth Erasmus, are regulars at alumni events, especially homecoming.

“I bleed purple,” she said. “Tarleton is the reason I am where I am. I still have my sticker on my car.”

As a student, Sunny was part of PANKUS—People Against Not Knowing University Spirit—supporting athletic, fine arts and academic programs campus-wide. She was part of the recreational sports crew and one of “Lonn’s Posse,” supporting Tarleton basketball and Coach Lonn Reisman.

Things, however, are bound to change for Sunny.

“Right now I’m doing and going as my body allows,” she said cheerfully. “One day it’s not going to let me. I just kind of blow and go while I can.”

One of the ways she copes with ALS is by composing regular blog entries at SunnyStrongblog.wordpress.com.

There she writes of her challenges, even giving her walking stick, “Phil,” a starring role in one regular entry. She reports having more than 3,000 following her online journey, with the majority coming from what she calls her “Tarleton family.”

She was diagnosed with ALS in 2015. With a typical life expectancy of two to five years, she remains characteristically upbeat, while realistic about her future.

“I’m fighting the odds,” she said, “but it is taking over my life. I’m trying to balance being a newlywed, having fun, being 30 and dealing with this terminal disease.”

Still Sunny, in name and attitude.

Dr. Kevin Hunt

Linking science and business takes a special chemistry

D

BY PHIL RIDDLE

r. Kevin Hunt is a Texan…and a pioneer.

Hunt, a 1994 chemistry graduate, is the Director of the Biopharmaceutical Product Development Office for Technology Development and head of the Translational Science Center for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

A tough position to pronounce, and also an innovative job, created just for Hunt and his impressive skillset.

After earning his Ph.D. at the University of Indiana, Hunt began a 13-year stint at a biopharmaceutical company in Boulder, Colo. From there, he was recruited by Google’s neuroscience and aging company to develop technology under the auspices of UT Southwestern.

The job was set to relocate to San Francisco, but Hunt, a native of Huckabay, was not keen on leaving Texas.

“I met with some of the key stakeholders here and we created this job,” Hunt related, “which is the first of its kind for an academic institution.” With that development, he was able to call Texas home.

A primary goal of his position, Hunt said, is to add bio-tech jobs in North Texas by linking business and science.

“I’m very fortunate,” he said. “This is a good gig.”

One of six kids and a first-generation college student, he took advantage of dual credit classes, putting him ahead of the curve before college.

“Tarleton offered a summer enrichment program where I was able to take my freshman year of chemistry between my junior and senior years of high school,” he said. “Tarleton did that for me, which set me up for success.”

A member of the Texan cross-country team and the Chemistry Club during his time on campus, Hunt remembers classes in what he calls the “old chemistry building,” and the individual attention from his professors. He relished,

and profited from, the opportunity to start undergraduate research projects as a freshman.

“That individual attention was really important,” he said.

“I still remember things they taught me—slow things down, don’t make problems bigger than they are.”

Using the education he received at Tarleton, Hunt formulated the basis for the trailblazing position he now holds.

“At Tarleton, you learn a lot of different things,” he said.

“It’s the aggregation of what you learn, not necessarily exactly what you learn but the ability to bring ideas together, even those you may not know much about. Tarleton taught me to ask questions.

“The key is really assembling ideas from different areas of science and business to create a program, hopefully to create jobs in the bio-tech sector in Dallas.”

Spoken like a true pioneer.

“

At Tarleton, you learn a lot of different things. It’s the aggregation of what you learn, not necessarily exactly what you learn but the ability to bring ideas together, even those you may not know much about. Tarleton taught me to ask questions.

”

Dr. Kevin Hunt

19

Justin Smith

Life coming back around

J

BY PHIL RIDDLE

ustin Smith’s life has come full circle. In many ways.

After leaving Bryan, Texas to accept a football scholarship at Tarleton, he has returned to the Brazos Valley city as a middle school principal.

He once helped build his family’s Habitat for Humanity home. Now he is on the organization’s board of directors.

He credits Tarleton teachers and coaches with the chance to reach his professional goals, and now is a decorated educator himself.

The circular track’s first lap came as Smith, a highly regarded offensive lineman in high school, joined Coach Todd Whitten’s Texans, becoming an integral part of three straight Lone Star Conference championship teams.

“That’s where I learned to work,” Smith said of his time on the Tarleton football team. “That’s kind of a skill you can’t go without if you want to be successful. You have to roll up your sleeves, be on time and be ready to do your job.”

Besides a vital work ethic, Smith credits Tarleton and Whitten with teaching him to appreciate the results of that effort.

“I learned what good looks like and what excellent looks like,” he said.

Beginning his career as an educator, Smith worked for a year in Temple, then joined the faculty opening up the then-brand new Heath High School in Rockwall, adding coaching duties in football, track, basketball and cross country.

Learning what it took to achieve excellence served him well, as he was named Teacher of the Year in two districts— Rockwall, and later upon his return to Bryan.

“It had everything to do with Tarleton,” Smith said of his professional success. “Being on the football team was all about excellence, about winning championships. They taught us to be men. The conversations we had on a daily basis was

20 TEXANS

all about what can you do to be a better man.

“That didn’t stop on the football field. It was the same in our classes here. We had great professors who took time to invest in us as people. You had a relationship with your professors.

“I said then, ‘whenever I go and wherever I go, I’m going to take that with me.’”

When he returned to Bryan 10 years ago, the details of his youth returned vividly to his memory. Growing up in what he called “humble beginnings,” Smith said, “It was a story of faith. My mom was a devout Christian and she raised us like that.”

His mother had hidden some pictures in a closet in their home, he recalls, pictures her sons thought she should use to decorate the walls.

“She said, ‘Those are for our new house,’” he remembered. “We got excited. When are we moving? She said we don’t have the house yet, but we’re going to get one.”

Her faith paid off as the Bryan chapter of Habitat for Humanity built them a home, what was called a blitz house, in just five days.

“They collected about 100 volunteers and all kinds of resources,” Smith said. “Since then, Habitat has been a huge part of my life. I am now on the board of directors for (Bryan-College Station Habitat for Humanity). That’s just a part of giving back to those who gave to me.”

That attitude of giving back, of life going in circles, is evident in his credo on educating young people.

“The best thing we can do for our kids is to have them focus on their goals,” he said. “If that goal is post-secondary success, you give them all the tools they need to do that. It has to do with preparing them for life.”

Ernie Batcheller

Reservations about college: a career teaching Navajo youth

H

BY PHIL RIDDLE

e didn’t know he wanted to be a teacher. He wasn’t really sure he wanted to go to college.

But his mother wanted him to get an education, even if he later returned to the West Texas cotton fields to farm with his father.

Tarleton State College became a springboard for Ernie Batcheller’s three-decade teaching career, including 27 years on a Navajo Reservation.

Batcheller, ’60, remembers Tarleton instructors as transformative.

“I’d never heard of economics until I got here,” he recounts.

“My first paper, probably a D-minus-minus made him (the professor) call me into his office. I thought I was going to get a lecture on trying harder, or studying more, but he explained every little detail. He let me practice what I had been taught and he let me write that paper over. I’ll never forget that.”

Inspired at Tarleton, Batcheller entered Texas Tech, where he roomed with a buddy from Stephenville—future congressman Charles Stenholm. “Charlie played football and I ran track,” Batcheller said. “He helped me a lot; he was pretty brilliant. I needed help with economics and history. He was a good friend.”

After teaching at small schools around Lubbock, a summer working in Arizona altered his life. “I had gotten a grant to teach earth science master’s classes at Northern Arizona University. I went to check it out.”

While there, his wife was offered a home economics position at the Navajo Reservation school in Ganado. Ernie agreed to teach math until a science position opened.

“It was really beautiful country. What we had to overcome was our doubts about culture differences, the language. We were both pretty new teachers. And the only Native Americans we’d ever seen were in John Wayne movies.” They soon became an integral part of generations of Navajo and Hopi students.

From the outset, Batcheller was impressed with his students’ dedication. Covering part of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico, the reservation surrounds Hopi land—an issue that came up early in Ernie’s tenure.

“Some Hopi students had to ride the bus 60 miles, one way,” he remembered. “They did not recognize Daylight Saving Time, but the Navajo did. They had to be on the bus by 6 a.m.”

The long days often kept the Hopi from joining school activities. Drawing on the motivation and encouragement he’d received as a student, the Batchellers and others shared their homes with Hopi kids so they could participate in sports and school events.

As track and cross-country coach, Batcheller served as bus driver to meets—a time to learn about his students. “You could really get close to these kids when you started asking about their home and life away from school.”

While impressed with the highly respectful Navajo youth and their culture, Batcheller had to make some science curriculum changes.

“They would tell me, ‘We can’t dissect anything or touch anything that’s dead,’” he said. “We had a (fabricated) skeleton in the classroom. They thought it was real, so they wouldn’t touch it. Some students wouldn’t even look at it.”

Among his most memorable students was one who, unlike most, spoke up if she disagreed with a teacher. She worked with Batcheller to enter a science fair in Albuquerque, and placing well. Today she’s a doctor in Montana.

“My biggest talent was offering encouragement,” Batcheller said. “I really like kids. Keeping highachieving kids’ eyes on college, making sure they saw the opportunities from an education past high school, that’s the reason I stayed for 27 years.”

Not bad for a guy who wasn’t sure he even wanted to go to college.

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s s a l C tes � N ’68 LANCE ZIMMERMAN, B.A. has been inducted

into the Texas Distance Learning Hall of Fame. Zimmerman, a published author, helped create the first state-wide videoconferencing network. He was Entrepreneur-President and CEO of C&Z Systems, the first authorized Autocad Distributor and first authorized Autocad Training Center in the U.S. Zimmerman later taught Computer Science at Texas State Technical College throughout most of the 1980s and 1990s, serving as Department Chair of the Computer Networking and Systems Administration program, 1993-1998. He became Director of Distance Education at TSTC Waco in 1996 until his retirement in 2011.

’80

RANDY MCCAMEY, B.S. in Chemistry,

’82 MBA, ’98 M.Ed., has been named an associate editor of The Journal of Social Media in Society (JSMS). A professor of human resource management at Tarleton’s College of Business Administration, Dr. McCamey teaches graduate courses in human resource management, human resource development, organizational development and strategic human resources. He has more than 25 years of experience in business and industry as a consultant, coach and human resource specialist, with articles in Performance Improvement Quarterly, Hospital Topics and The Journal of Management and Entrepreneurship. His current research interests include employee engagement, workplace bullying and organizational justice. A threetime Tarleton alumnus, McCamey earned a doctorate from the University of North Texas in applied technology training and development.

’83

KEN HELVEY, B.S. in Agriculture Education,

has been named to the board of directors of the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas. The Board of Directors is the governing body for the organization and is responsible for advising management on financial and policy issues that shape the council’s strategic plans. GSNETX board members are volunteers who serve two-year terms in their positions. Dr. Helvey, assistant professor of the Texas Wesleyan University SOE Doctoral Program, will serve until 2019.

’96

BILL ATKINSON, B.B.A. magna cum laude,

was hired as part of the management and advertising team at the Crossville (Tenn.) Chronicle.

A Crossville native, Atkinson returned to Crossville in 2012 following 28 years working as a multimedia executive in Texas, Alabama and Maine. He has publishing experience in daily

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and weekly community newspapers, shoppers and new media development. For the past 10 years, he has owned and operated an internet marketing company.

’97

STEVEN FOUST, M.B.A., was named Senior Vice President of Operations for TurbineAero, Inc. In his new duties, Foust leads North American operations and day-to-day product line activities headquartered at the company’s Chandler, Ariz. facility. Foust, who began his aviation career more than three decades ago, joins TurbineAero from Honeywell Aerospace, where he led the Americas avionics aftermarket center, consisting of eight facilities across North America.

’97

MICHAEL GARCIA, M.ED., has been selected

’97

NATALIE GRIFFIN, B.S. in Education, was

principal at Abilene High School. Garcia, a former Abilene High assistant principal and currently the principal at Martinez Elementary School, began his AISD career 27 years ago as a computer literacy teacher and coach at Franklin Middle School. He entered administration as an assistant principal at AHS in 2003 and was named in 2009 as the Region 14 Outstanding Principal by the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals. His first head principal opportunity came later in 2009 when he was named to lead Jane Long Elementary. After Long closed as an elementary campus in 2015, he became principal at Martinez. A native of Anson, Garcia has a bachelor’s degree from Abilene Christian University.

promoted to Executive Director of Elementary Education by the Mineral Wells ISD Board of Trustees.

Griffin began her professional career at MWISD in 1997 and included roles as a classroom teacher, instructional specialist, assistant principal and, recently, as principal of Travis Elementary. As a lifelong educator, Griffin said she believes in the foundational power of strong teacher-student relationships combined with excellent curriculum and instruction.

’01

DARIAN DULIN, M.S. in Education, has been named the defensive coordinator for the University of West Florida football team. Dulin has 20 years’ experience as a college coach, including 17 as a head coach and coordinator. He spent the past five seasons as defensive coordinator and special teams coach at Abilene Christian. Dulin previously was head coach at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College, where he led the team to a 22-19 record from 2008-11.

’01

JAMES LENAMON, M.ED., was named

superintendent of the McGregor ISD. Lenamon has been the district’s assistant superintendent since 2007. He also has degrees from Baylor University, and a superintendent’s certification from the University of Houston-Victoria. He started his career as social studies teacher at Wortham High School. He also taught in Axtell and then served as assistant principal and then principal of Robinson Junior High School before joining the McGregor ISD in 2001 as a principal.

’02

JENNY FAJKUS, B.A. in Interdisciplinary

’03

RACHEL BURLESON, B.S. in Kinesiology and

Studies, was named assistant principal for the district’s elementary school by Needville ISD trustees. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in educational administration from Lamar University in Beaumont.

Exercise Science, has been named athletic director at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, N.H. Burleson has been associate athletic director for administration and compliance, as well as the senior woman administrator and the sport supervisor for golf, volleyball, soccer, baseball and softball.

’04

JUDD THRASH, B.S. in Education, was selected

athletic director and head football coach at McGregor ISD. Thrash, who began his coaching career in 2005 at Kaufman High School, has the distinction of helping previous high school football teams to two 4A state championships, two “7 on 7” state championships, and six district championships.

’05

JIM BAUM, M.ED. in Education, Biology and Physical Education, was chosen superintendent at Lockney ISD. Baum, principal of Iraan High School, is a former teacher, coach and principal at Comanche ISD, former teacher and coach at Lorenzo ISD, and former teacher and coach at Deer Park ISD.

’08

’09

JANCE MORRIS, B.S. in Kinesiology, has been named head basketball coach at Odessa High School. Morris spent the previous two seasons as the boys’ basketball coach at Perryton. He began coaching at Lingleville and, when he completed graduate school in 2012, Morris became the boys’ basketball coach at Dalhart.

He would later accept the same job at Tulia in 2014 and at Perryton in 2015.

’14

LAUREN WRIGHT B.S. in Communications, has been selected the new Executive Meetings Specialist by the Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Before joining the ACVB team, Wright was Director of Events at Clark Gardens in Weatherford, where she served on a committee to enhance tourism in the Mineral Wells area and became a Mineral Wells Chamber Ambassador.

’16

AMBER HARDY, M.S. in Agricultural and Environmental Science, has received a research grant from the Nature Conservancy and the University of Rhode Island’s Coastal Institute for research projects that advance the conservation and restoration of marine and coastal ecosystems. Hardy, a URI doctoral candidate, is studying the effect of sea level rise on tidal marshes. As part of this project, she is also evaluating a management approach for conserving tidal marshes called thin-layer deposition, which involves spreading a layer of dredge materials on top of the marsh surface to increase its elevation.

KATHY BECKER, B.S. in Family and Consumer Sciences (summa cum laude), has run the Liberty High School culinary arts program since its inception in 2011. The program, rooted in traditional home economics classes offering cooking, nutrition and health studies, has 18 students in its current class. To enhance the curriculum, students are offered opportunities for hands-on training in supporting school and community events and organizations. Several of her former students have used their high school training as a springboard to a career in culinary sciences.

TAYLOR KENNEDY, B.S. in Agriculture Communication, has been named to the first ever AgGrad Ultimate Ag Internship. The program was created as a window into agribusinesses across the country, which elevates work culture, career opportunities and a bird’s eye view of specific job functions. As intern, Kennedy travels to various agricultural companies to learn and document these components via videography.

Kennedy is an agricultural communications graduate student at Oklahoma State University.

’09

’16

SUNNY BROUS ERASMUS B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies, has been recognized as a TRIO Achiever. She received the honor at the 2017 TRIO State Conference in Tyler for outstanding professional and civic contributions in the Upward Bound program. Upward Bound is one of eight TRIO programs located on more than 2,800 college campuses and community centers around the country, serving nearly 820,000 people. TRIO programs provide tutoring, personal counseling, cultural enrichment, financial guidance and other services for young adults.

’09

CAMILLE RAMIREZ-LONGORIA, M.ED., was

named principal at Pflugerville ISD’s Spring Hill Elementary School. Ramirez-Longoria has been the principal at Wieland Elementary since 2014. Before that, she was the assistant principal at Delco Primary and Caldwell Elementary from 2010-2014. From 1993-2010, she held several teaching and administrative positions with Austin ISD.

’16

CASSIDY MCCOWAN, B.S. in Administrative Systems with secondary school teacher certification, is serving with Go Now Missions as a semester missionary in New York City.

Contact us

Send your alumni and class updates to Tarleton State University Box T-0730, Stephenville, TX 76402 media@tarleton.edu | (254) 968-9460 To update your mailing address, contact Advancement Services ebouquet@tarleton.edu | (254) 968-9948

TEXANS 23

Tarleton tennis coach Lance Drake talks with two of his players during a tournament.

A small world, Tarleton coaches look worldwide for talent to fuel athletic programs

C

BY PHIL RIDDLE

ollege coaches in all sports are known to be resourceful in finding the best student-athletes, and Tarleton coaches bear out that reputation by casting a global net for talent.

Last year, about a dozen international students were on Tarleton rosters—golf, tennis, baseball, volleyball and track and field. European students came from England, Spain, France, Moldova and Germany. More sports talent was imported from Australia, Venezuela and Brazil.

For golf coach Jerry Doyle, recruiting international players was a way to make his team instantly viable.

“When we first came here we were just getting killed,” he said. “So, I learned about recruiting, and I realized I had to get out and get some of these really good international players.”

Doyle made the right decision. In 17 seasons at Tarleton, he has won 10 Lone Star Conference titles, nine West Region crowns and consistently ranks in the top 10 at the seasonending national tournament.

Through his years, Doyle has found a network of agents all over the world that share information about players looking to come to the United States.

“I thoroughly go over the information, look at their swings.

See what kind of scholarship it will take to get her here,” Doyle said. “Once I got a couple of them over here, they found out who I was and got comfortable with me and the school. After that they had friends they recommended.”

Doyle has three top-flight international players on his team, including junior kinesiology major Casey Wild from Wodonga, Australia, who finished the season in sixth place nationally, and was named to the Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-America team.

24 TEXANS

Graduate Assistant Isabel Jimenez-Perez, another of Doyle’s international success stories, was named Lone Star Conference Player of the Year three times and national player of the year in 2016, leading the TexAnns to a fourthplace finish nationally. As a graduate assistant in the golf program, she is helping coach the TexAnns while working on earning her master’s degree in kinesiology.

Like most student-athletes moving to the United States, Jimenez-Perez had to adjust, coming from the suburbs of Madrid, Spain. Learning a new language and a different culture are challenges for most international students, but each recruit also faces unique issues.

In her case, it was communicating with Doyle, who is almost deaf.

“I thought I knew English well,” Jimenez-Perez said.

“We learned English since we were about five, all the way through high school. Coach Doyle reads lips and he said I moved my mouth too fast for him to read my lips. The first year was tough, but after that we got used to it.”

The size of her adopted home state also required adjustment.

“Spain is only half of the whole state of Texas,” she said.

“If I wanted to go downtown or to the airport, I had to travel about 15 minutes. Here, I have to drive an hour-anda-half.”

According to Jimenez-Perez, her time in Stephenville has swayed her to consider staying.

“I really want to find a job here when I graduate next year,” she said. “I’ve been here almost five years. I have all my friends here. Basically my life is here now.”

She teaches golf lessons and recently competed in a U.S. Open qualifier.

Like Doyle, Tarleton tennis coach Lance Drake recognized early the need to recruit globally. Drake had five international players on his roster last year. Now in his 17th season at Tarleton, Drake has led the TexAnns to nine NCAA Regional tournament appearances in the last 12 years. In 2014, his team boasted the conference and South Central Regional Player of the Year, Alicia Perez, from Murcia, Spain.

“Recruiting is pretty much worldwide for us,” he said. “The landscape of tennis in Texas has changed, so it’s not as deep as it used to be.

The international side tends to have a little more depth.”

Sports agents market tennis players looking to go to college in America, a help to small-school coaches like Drake.

“We can’t just jump in a plane and go over there or bring them over here and let them see the campus,” he said. “It’s contacts and the internet.”

The student-athletes Tarleton recruits are excited at the prospect of coming to Stephenville.

“They are very appreciative of the fact they are given an opportunity to come and pursue an education and play tennis at the same time,” Drake said. “They don’t always get that opportunity there.”

Elena Preadca of Chisinau, Moldova, moved into the No. 2 singles spot for Drake as a senior last season, winning five matches and teaming up with Sao Paulo, Brazil’s Luiza Ferraro-Adas to win 13 doubles matches as the team’s top-seeded tandem. Preadca was also an Academic All-Lone Star Conference selection.

When trying to entice players to join his team, Drake said he emphasizes getting a quality education at Tarleton, smaller class sizes and university traditions.

“We’ll explain about Stephenville, that it’s a great place,” he said. “How the tennis program does, the rankings, what programs we offer, the whole experience.”

“We are gaining a global reputation.”

after all

Tarleton golfer Casey Wild is a 2013 graduate of Wodonga Senior Secondary College in Wodonga, Australia. She guided Tarleton to an LSC Championship and a West Regional Championship in the 2015-16 season.

25

Box T-0570 Stephenville, TX 76402 (2 54 ) 968- 9000 | www.tarleton.edu

Deja View After nearly three decades at the helm of the Tarleton State University Jazz Studies Program, Director Greg Ball retired at the end of the Spring 2017 semester from teaching and conducting. Ball began in 1991 and since then has taught more than 500 students in jazz studies courses. He and his ensembles have performed well over 400 charts — both on campus and on international stages in London, Ireland, Switzerland, Italy and the Czech Republic.