Ross McCammon (’97) is shepherding Texas Monthly into the future.
Circular Shopping
The recommerce retail trend is popular among a variety of consumers.
A Ripple Effect
First-generation UNT alums reflect on the impact of their degrees.
Empire State of Mind
Follow two young grads as they pursue their dreams in New York City.
DEPARTMENTS
FROM OUR PRESIDENT P.2
DIALOGUE P.3
BRILLIANTLY GREEN
UP FIRST P.4
GIVING IMPACT P.10
INNOVATION P.12
MUSE P.16
MEAN GREEN P.40
EAGLES’ NEST
CONNECTING WITH FRIENDS P .4 3
RETROSPECTIVE P.51
PERSPECTIVE P.52
northtexan.unt.edu/online
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FROM OUR PRESIDENT
FOCUS ON THE FUTURE
UNT’s creativity will move Texas and the nation forward
Reflecting on this spring’s UNT Day at the Capitol, I am inspired by our students, alumni, faculty, and staff who shared our UNT story with policymakers. I’m grateful for the support our Texas legislators have already shown universities like UNT through their generous support of the Texas University Fund, and I am looking forward to everything we will achieve together. (Read page 5 for more about UNT’s Day at the Capitol.)
Our alumni network is strong and makes a difference in supporting and advocating for UNT. We have 480,000 alumni — with nearly 70 percent of them living right here in North Texas. The accomplishments, generous support, and networks of our UNT alumni and leaders from every sector have helped us move faster, be bolder, and increase our impact.
As we develop our five-year strategic plan, my vision is that we will advance UNT as a national leader in educational access, innovation, and excellence. A major part of making that a reality will be for us to better engage with alumni like you. University Advancement and the UNT Alumni Association are creating new opportunities for alumni to get involved and share your experiences and expertise so we can better serve our students. We soon will be sharing more about exciting updates to the association and a call for each of you to actively participate.
I am grateful for your partnership as we work toward an even greater future for UNT.
Respectfully,
Harrison Keller, Ph.D. President president@unt.edu
@UNTPrez
North Texan
North Texan magazine (ISSN 0468-6659) is published two times a year by the University of North Texas, 1155 Union Circle #311070, Denton, Texas 76203-5017, for distribution to alumni and friends of the university. Periodicals postage paid at Denton, Texas, and at additional mailing offices. The diverse views on matters of public interest presented in the North Texan do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the university. Publications staff can be reached at northtexan@ unt.edu or 940-565-2108.
Postmaster: Please send requests for changes of address, accompanied if possible by old address labels, to the University of North Texas, University Brand Strategy and Communications, 1155 Union Circle #311070, Denton, Texas 76203-5017.
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At UNT Preview in February, prospective students learned so many aspects about campus, from
At UNT Preview in February, prospective students learned so many aspects about campus, from academics to housing. The event, which takes place every semester, includes campus tours and a academics which tours and a fair with faculty and staff from academic departments, service offices and student organizations. fair and staff Students also get lessons in the Eagle Claw and other Mean Green traditions. and other Mean Green traditions.
UNT Day at the Capitol 2025
Despite the cool temperatures, spirits were high as more than 120 UNT students, alumni, staff and supporters gathered at the Texas Capitol in February to advocate for continued support for UNT. After enjoying lunch on the lawn, volunteers began navigating the Capitol’s winding halls to share their UNT stories.
“UNT has nurtured me — mentally, physically, educationally and academically,” psychology junior Irene Nakitende said. “This was such a great opportunity for me to give back to my school because when my voice is heard, my school is heard.”
Read more: northtexan.unt.edu/2025/capitol
Skills Under Construction
College of Engineering students have created tiny homes with big impact. Students in the construction management and construction engineering technology programs built tiny homes that can serve as playhouses or sheds with working lights and an electrical outlet.
The aim is for every student to experience all roles — including project manager, safety management, documentation, materials handling and general laborers — on a real-world job site. Students build the frame, install insulation, wire the electrical system and add the roof.
“In this class, I really feel like I’m understanding construction,” says Emily Garcia, a sophomore in mechanical engineering.
Read more at northtexan.unt.edu/2025/tiny-homes
TEXAS FIRST
NEWS ROUND-UP
UNT launched its Texas First Program, an initiative designed to support high-achieving Texas students who graduate early from high school. The program, created by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, offers scholarships, mentorship and leadership opportunities, automatic admission to the Honors College and a dedicated campus liaison to ensure student success and equip participants to lead in their chosen fields.“I joined Texas First with UNT to show that students like me can really make an impact,” says Bryce Spencer, a sophomore studying nonprofit leadership.“The program has definitely helped support my goals and has made my time at UNT even better.”
Learn more at financialaid.unt.edu/texas-first-scholars
A once-barren plot of land at the Chemistry Building was turned into a plot of native wildflowers by UNT Grounds — and now the blooming flowers have attracted 53 different species of insects documented by students with the Bee Campus USA Committee and the Society for Ecological Restoration. ... The Moot Court team recently earned multiple speaker awards at the American Moot Court Association’s regional qualifier and preliminary national tournaments, with two speakers — Ashlyn Dodson and Quinn Kelly — advancing to the final rounds of the national tournament. ... For the second year in a row, UNT Debate members Joseph Wofford and Zach Jones have qualified for the National Debate Tournament in Spokane, Washington, where they will compete in April.
DR. MICHAEL BURGESS (’72, ’74 M.S.), NOW RETIRED FROM THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, DONATED HIS ARCHIVES TO UNT SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, WITHIN THE UNT LIBRARIES. HIS ARCHIVE INCLUDES DOCUMENTS, RECORDS AND OTHER ITEMS THAT WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR USE BY RESEARCHERS AND CONSTITUENTS.
Lion-Hearted Fan
When Plano firefighter paramedic Ben Roth (’19,’23 M.S.) was at Soldier Field Dec. 22, he noticed something from back home.
A young spectator at the Detroit Lions-Chicago Bears game was wearing a UNT shirt.
Roth and 6-year-old daughter Isadora met the fan, then ended up with field passes.A few minutes later, a fan named Wally Schmidt collapsed just 10 yards away from them.
Ben, a firefighter paramedic for 17 years, instantly ran to Wally and was able to resuscitate him. Wally stayed alive for about five hours, giving him time with his family before he died. Ben says the string of events were meant to happen.
“There are signs all around us, and all those things had to line up perfectly to have the right place, time and situation,” says Ben, a Nebraska native who
is a lifetime Lions fan and season ticket holder.
The story has made headlines in Detroit, and the Roth family — which includes wife Brittany, the head coach of the Mean Green swimming and diving team, who became its all-time winningest coach this year — were special guests at the Jan. 5 Lions game.
“We get into the profession to help people,” Ben says.“In that situation, we all came together to attempt to help somebody. It was over 300 minutes of quality time with their family that they wouldn’t have got back.”
Read more about Brittany Roth’s coaching record on p. 41.
Read more about his career at northtexan.edu/2025/lion-heart
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Academics
Homework Hotline
An interdisciplinary project led by UNT faculty received recognition and awards across the state.
The Juntxs, or “Together,” project, also known as the Bilingual Homework Hotline, earned the 2024 Nueva Direcciones Award from the Association of Latina/o and Latinx Anthropologists, as well as the 2024 Robert A. and Beverly Hackenberg Prize from the Society for Applied Anthropology.
Since 2020, the project has offered homework assistance and academic support to K-12 students in Denton Independent School District (DISD) and beyond.
Faculty from the UNT Departments of Anthropology and Teacher Education and
Administration, as well as Texas Woman’s University, originally created the hotline to support students and school teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
UNT helpers are typically recruited from the anthropology and education programs, as well as the Department of Spanish.
“The hotline allows our student volunteers to see the direct meaning and application of the academic work they do,” says Mariela Nuñez-Janes, UNT professor of applied anthropology and project lead for Juntxs.
Helpers assist with homework assignments on all subjects, read books or simply chat over the hotline. The hotline, hosted on Zoom, has grown in popularity, doubling from 1,000 to nearly 2,000 calls per semester to assist students outside of DISD.
Jenn Castillo, a doctoral candidate in curriculum and instruction, says, “Sometimes we have students who call just to
Academics
Tools to Succeed
When Celeste Ortega-Rodriguez (’15) decided to pursue her bachelor’s degree in biological sciences at UNT, graduate school was the furthest thing from her mind.
A first-generation college student raised by her mother in Sherman, Ortega-Rodriguez funded her undergraduate studies through a combination of scholarships, federal aid and UNT’s Emerald Eagle Scholars Program, which provides four years of tuition to academically talented students with high financial need.
Now a second-year Ph.D. student in biological sciences and a member of UNT’s Graduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (G-RISE) program, Ortega-Rodriguez has been given the support system to soar even farther in her field.
talk or read together. It goes beyond homework — it fosters relationships and connections.”
Below: Jenn Castillo and Mariela Nuñez-Janes with Zachary Prater, a master’s student in applied anthropology and volunteer
G-RISE is a program funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health to cultivate scientists from all backgrounds who have the skills to thrive in the biomedical research workforce.As one of only 22 Tier One research universities in the nation designated a Hispanic-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education, UNT is committed to preparing the next generation of scientists, scholars and innovators who have the skills and experience they need to launch careers in a competitive market in Texas and beyond. Since it debuted at UNT in 2021, the G-RISE program has supported 16 doctoral students across STEM disciplines including three who have completed their degrees.
“Coming to UNT was life-changing for me,” she says.“UNT gave me the opportunity to get an education, because otherwise it wouldn’t have been on the table.”
Read more about the program at northtexan.unt.edu/2025/grise
GIVING
IMP A CT IMPACT
ALUMNI HELPING FUTURE ALUMNI
Aksel Martinsen is continuing a family tradition.
His grandmother, Betty Wilson (’70), attended North Texas, majoring in elementary education.
There was even a picture in the Campus Chat of Wilson and her daughter — Martinsen’s mom, Stacie, at about three years old — waiting in the room to sign up for classes.
“It’s really cool that she has that picture saved,” says Martinsen, a junior media arts major who grew up in Keller. “So, when I was searching for scholarships, I saw these alumni scholarships. I thought back to that picture she has, and I realized that I’m not just some random person that’s trying to get a scholarship. I have connections here, so I might as well try my best to get this scholarship. And it turned out for the better.”
Martinsen is the beneficiary of two UNT Alumni Association scholarships. Fueled by donations from alumni, these scholarships have enabled dozens of students to achieve their educational goals through the decades.
Martinsen won the 2023-2024 UNT Alumni Association Legacy Scholarship, which was created to honor university alumni. The scholarship awards $1,500 to about six students each year with a preference given to students with family members who are currently members of the UNT Alumni Association. It has undergone several name changes since it was established in 1994.
He also won the Jostens 2024-2025 UNT Alumni Scholarship. Established in 2014, this scholarship awards $1,400 to two students a year, with a preference given to applicants who have a family member who is an alumnus and is a current member of the UNT Alumni Association.
Besides the family connection, Martinsen chose UNT because it allows him to pursue his career goals and his hobby. “UNT’s jazz program is amazing here, so that’s why I can still have fun with the trombone and also pursue my major of media arts,” says Martinsen, who is a member of the Six O’Clock Lab Band.
Martinsen has always been a movie fan — noticing certain editing cuts when others didn’t — and has been making films since high school. He would like to work as a film editor.
Right before his sophomore year at UNT, he took a course, Media Production in the Southwest, in which students traveled to filming locations such as Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, where movies such as Oppenheimer, Wyatt Earp and City Slickers were shot.
“These types of scholarships allowed me to take trips like that,” he says. “You’re actually going there to New Mexico and seeing the film sets, seeing how all this stuff is done.”
And his grandmother, who is a member of the UNT Alumni Association, was happy to see he earned the scholarships.
“My grandparents, they’re always excited. They even come up here from Granbury every Thursday to drive me around to my classes. They just love seeing me, and knowing that they’re here supporting me, it really means a lot.”
— Jessica DeLeón
Aksel Martinsen is a junior media arts major
TRANSFORMING HIGHER EDUCATION TOGETHER
At the University of North Texas, we are shaping the future of higher education and leading the way for the dynamic Texas economy.
We embrace a future where technology and information drive innovation, ensuring every student gains the knowledge, skill, and credentials they need to succeed.
Through strategic partnerships, internal collaboration, and embracing our public responsibilities, UNT will create transformative value for students and our community.
We are better together.
Sustainable Space Power
UNT physicists helping to develop next-generation solar cells.
The abundance of sunlight makes solar cells a preferred source of electricity in outer space, but the harsh conditions also can cause solar cells to degrade. Supported by the United States Space Force, UNT is part of a multi-institutional team contributing to a new type of solar cell that is lower cost and capable of enduring longer periods of time in space.
Learn more about UNT’s Tier One research. research.unt.edu
For UNT’s part, physics professor Bibhudutta Rout and his students are conducting vital radiation ground testing in UNT’s Ion Beam Laboratory — the only university facility in the nation capable of performing elemental and ion-induced charge mapping in electronics materials and devices at a sub-micrometer scale.
“Developing a new generation of solar cells will offer a more sustainable power source and open new opportunities of discovery in space,” Rout says.
Above
UNT physics professor Bibhudutta Rout (middle) and his students conduct radiation ground testing on solar cells in the Ion Beam Laboratory.
Improving Law Access
Understanding zoning rules that shape Texas communities is now easier, thanks to UNT faculty and students in economics and public administration.Their work on the Texas Zoning Atlas, part of the National Zoning Atlas projects, makes complex housing and land-use regulations more accessible to policymakers, planners and the public.
The UNT team focused on charting portions of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Using research, geographic information systems (GIS) mapping and data processing, they helped build a detailed, open-source database of zoning rules — from parking requirements to yard sizes.
“By demystifying these policies, we empower city planners, academics and everyday Texans to make informed decisions,” says Yang Zhou, assistant professor of economics and assistant director of the UNT Economics Research Group.
Diabetes Education
In UNT’s College of Visual Arts and Design and College of Information, researchers are working to make a difference for people with diabetes, especially in rural parts of Texas, where the disease’s prevalence and complications are 15% to 20% higher than in urban areas.
The team is working with local physicians to develop and test a new digital health technology system. EndoMD aims to facilitate online education and self-management support for diabetic patients and their caregivers.
“The EndoMD project has the potential to transform how diabetes self-management is facilitated for millions of rural Texans,” says UNT communication design professor Michael R. Gibson, who is co-leading the project with Flower Mound endocrinologist Wasim Haque.
Recycling Habits
Collaborating with the Texas chapter of the Solid Waste Association of North America, UNT anthropology graduate students conducted surveys and interviews with residents across the North Texas region to learn more about their recycling habits and the underlying causes of recycling contamination.
Collected data was transcribed and analyzed, allowing students to identify patterns and trends, which can be used to make recommendations that can improve recycling education and practices.
“By equipping those who manage recycling programs with this type of data, they’ll be able to steward better habits in their communities, resulting in the collection of cleaner, higher-quality recyclables,” says Brian Boerner (’86, ’95 M.S.), TxSWANA president and solid waste director for the city of Denton.
COLLABORATIVE INNOVATION
Art Meets Music
Balance is key for CVAD alumna as she navigates two careers.
Claire Morales (’12) finds that her dual careers as a graphic artist and musician often intersect. A longtime Denton resident, she has been entrenched in the local arts scene for years. With her band, Morales has toured and performed nationwide. Her next album, titled Lost in the Desert, is scheduled for release this summer. It is inspired by “traveling with friends and just seeing the world and making art.” She also created a book of illustrations to accompany it.
Morales credits the College of Visual Arts and Design’s communication design program for challenging her as an artist.“It’s had ripples — not just with design, but of having this mentality of you can do what you want to do, and it can be creative, but you have to work really hard.”
She also established her own company, Claire Morales Design. Her advice to aspiring entrepreneurs: “Don’t be afraid — when the moment comes, and you feel confident that you have the skills to stand on your own two feet — to take some agency and let it direct what you do.”
Back when Jen Rose (’99, ’02 M.F.A.) was studying ceramics in UNT’s College of Visual Arts and Design, the curriculum contrasted with the sculpture-style works she created. More than two decades later, the artist and entrepreneur invented Bee Cups — small, handcrafted porcelain funnels that help keep bees hydrated as they pollinate plants.
After seeing insects drinking water that had collected in sculptures throughout her backyard, “I thought, ‘Do insects need water?’ and it just kind of evolved from there,” she says. Rose also developed a special “Bee Vision” glaze for the cups that attracts pollinators to the vessels.
Bees have a special place in Rose’s heart. “Drawing people’s attention to the smallest creatures creates empathy, and that is important in a world where I don’t think empathy is high on a lot of people’s lists right now.”
Producing the Goods
Justin Rhodes (’20) knows fulfilling dreams takes hard work.
He’s created a stellar career as a producer, working with fellow alum Lecrae (’02), as well as Talib Kweli and the Game.
In 2024, he won a Grammy Award for producing the rap album of the year, Michael, by Killer Mike. His movie, King of Dallas, is now streaming on Amazon Prime, and he wrote a new book, These Dreams Ain’t Free. He does all this while traveling between Dallas and Boston, where he teaches at Berklee College of Music.“Ultimately, you’re the one getting taught. You’re learning to teach them better and you’re learning to grow with them,” he says.
“You wake up every day thinking, ‘OK, this is what I’m going to do,’” he says. “It seems tough, and it really is, because some days I go to sleep feeling unfulfilled because I’m like,‘Man, I needed to do more.’ I can’t remember a time when I’ve wasted a day. Even if you take a day off, it’s to build your mentality and get you back prepared so that you can do this.”
Read more: northtexan.unt.edu/2025/justin-rhodes
Learn more: northtexan.unt.edu/2025/jen-rose
GRAMMY-NOMINATED ARTIST TOBE NWIGWE, WHO ATTENDED UNT DURING THE 2000 S , IS PERFORMING THIS YEAR ACROSS NORTH AMERICA AND EUROPE ON HIS “HOME IS WHERE THE HOOD IS” TOUR.
Sports’ Softer Side
Armando Lutz (’24) turned a class assignment into an award-winning film. He received a Student Production Award in the College — Long Form — Non-Fiction category from the Lone Star Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the same organization that gives out the Emmy Awards.
The film, Dear Kasen, is a profile of Mean Green women’s basketball player Tommisha Lampkin and her challenges as a single mother.
“You find out that it’s arguably the best player on the team who has a 5-year-old son,” he says.
Dear Kasen was also accepted into the Denton Black Film Festival.
Lutz plans to work in sports broadcasting.
“I never got an adrenaline rush more than I had doing play-by-play and color commentary.”
Read more about Lampkin on page 40.
Read more: northtexan.unt. edu/2025/armando-lutz
Using her Voice
The first female vocalist in U.S. Marine Band history, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Sara Sheffield (’01), has performed for some of the most influential people in the world.
She’s sung for Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump, met President Barack Obama and worked with President George W. Bush, and she played an essential behind-the-scenes role for the 60th Presidential Inauguration in January.
Originally planning to become an opera singer after graduating from UNT, Sheffield shifted career paths. She changed paths again in 2023, working as director for administration and production for the U.S. Marine Band. Sheffield has never forgotten where she came from.“It’s not lost on me that I’m a gal from East Texas who got to go to the White House,” she says.
“We are going to do something serious today,” Umut Demirgüç Thurman (’05 M.F.A.) says to a group of seven people gathered for a workshop on a Sunday morning in November.
A rainbow of wool lines a group of tables. The students take some wool in the color of their choice. Then, they grasp a sharp needle.
“You will stab your hand and cry a lot,” quips Demirgüç Thurman, an adjunct professor in the College of Visual Arts and Design.
The students are there to make a felted cactus in a small clay pot, using a needle to form the wool into the shape of the plant and dirt. The hands of the students flow back and forth repeatedly as they make their creations and conversation.
This class is part of the Denton Maker Center, which was opened this fall by a group of UNT faculty members and alumni, led by Demirgüç Thurman and her husband James Thurman, professor of studio art. In its short time, the center has hosted dozens of workshops and offers a store and space for local artists.
Kimberly Bien, who is pursuing a studio art degree at UNT and is the owner of Salted Sanctuary Soap, serves as shop manager.
“As someone who’s an artist, you go through a lot of starts and stops, and to become a deeper part of this particular artist community is very inspirational to me,” says Bien, a senior administrative specialist in UNT’s College of Engineering.
ROSS MCCAMMON (’97) SETTLES INTO HIS NEW ROLE AT THE HELM OF TEXAS MONTHLY MAGAZINE.
TEXT BY LISA SCIORTINO | PHOTOGRAPH BY AHNA HUBNIK
Ross McCammon (’97) always wanted to end up in Austin at Texas Monthly. “This is where I wanted to go,” he said recently while driving up Congress Avenue toward the Texas State Capitol.
But McCammon took what was possibly the most indirect route in getting to Austin from his native Dallas. Instead of heading south on traffic-choked I-35E, he turned east and gunned the engine all the way to New York City. There, he spent more than a decade building a successful journalism career — editing award-winning stories and collecting bylines at some of the nation’s biggest magazines along the way, including Esquire and GQ — before flipping a U-turn and heading back to Texas.
In 2023, he finally arrived in Austin after being hired as Texas Monthly’s deputy editor. In Fall 2024, McCammon was named editor in chief of the state’s preeminent magazine. “I’ve worked at a lot of great places, but there’s no better magazine than Texas Monthly. It took me 20 years, but I finally made it,” he says.
Born and raised in Dallas’ Oak Cliff neighborhood, in 1994 he started at UNT, where his father, Dan McCammon (’71), had graduated with a degree in business administration. He began taking literature classes and enrolled in the Great Books Program, which eventually evolved into UNT’s Honors College. Its syllabus was packed with classic literature that was dissected and discussed through the lenses of philosophy, history and English. McCammon recalls it as a “defining experience” of his college career — and his life.
“It was unbelievably difficult — very high-level,” he says, explaining that he likely wasn’t entirely prepared to take the program at that time. “But it was these amazing teachers reflecting amazing ideas and an open-discussion format. It was just so cool.” McCammon credits his coursework, in part, with helping set him on the path toward his career, which began during college when he took a part-time job as a fact checker for Southwest Airline’s in-flight magazine. “I always wanted to tell stories and be an active participant in how those stories were told, both as an editor and as a writer, and magazine journalism really affords you that.”
After graduating with a bachelor’s in English from what is now the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, he spent a year working in American Airlines’ magazine publishing division before briefly returning to UNT to “explore” drawing and design at the College of Visual Arts and Design. “It was great and it helped me learn to communicate effectively with designers — and then I got it out of my system.”
He returned to work at Southwest Airlines’ Spirit magazine and, in 2005, was named its editor in chief. Inspired by his favorite magazine, Esquire, he set out to make the content more story-focused and engaging for its “captive audience” of in-flight readers. Among them was the director of talent acquisition at publishing powerhouse Hearst Magazines, who saw the magazine on a flight and contacted McCammon. A week later, McCammon flew to New York City to interview for a staff position with Esquire magazine’s editor, who offered him the job on the phone as he was hopping into a taxi on the way to LaGuardia airport. “Within a month, my entire life changed,” he says.
McCammon was at Esquire for more than a decade before departing in 2016 — the same year he started on staff at GQ magazine and wrote a book titled Works Well with Others: Shaking Hands, Shutting Up, and Other Crucial Skills in Business That No One Ever Teaches You. It featured a “thought exercise” — called “Two Beers and a Puppy” — that went viral as a litmus test that involves drinking two beers with or allowing someone to look after a puppy to determine their value in one’s life. “Right now, that’s my greatest contribution,” he jokes. “Here’s to hoping I will eclipse that in my time as editor in chief at Texas Monthly, but it’s a tall order.”
After writing and editing for other magazines and online publications, including Men’s Health and Popular Mechanics, in 2022, McCammon got a call from a Texas Monthly editor urging him to consider the available deputy editor role. Hesitant to move with his wife and two kids across the country, McCammon initially turned down the offer. But while working on a special project for the magazine, he visited its Austin headquarters.
As editor in chief, McCammon says he intends to shepherd Texas Monthly into the future with a healthy respect for its past. “We’re all stewards of this 51-year-old institution. We’re here to take care of it, and do right by it, and do right by the readers,” who McCammon says want “great stories” — not only on the magazine’s pages but via video, podcasts and other platforms. Under his watch, he assures Texas Monthly won’t deviate from producing its hallmark narratives and intriguing features that emanate from all corners of the Lone Star State. “I think Texas Monthly is in the conversation with some of the great magazines out there, and I want to continue that,” he says. “I want Texas Monthly to be the place where you come not for just the best storytelling in Texas, but for the best storytelling in the country.”
By Lisa Sciortino By Lisa Sciortino
Photos by Ahna Hubnik Photos Ahna Hubnik
CMHT
professors write the premier case study on the growing recommerce trend
When Sanjukta Pookulangara previously wanted a new sweater or casual dress for her wardrobe, she would peruse the racks at a brick-and-mortar retail store. These days, she’s inclined to select gently used garments from a website that rents or sells her favorite clothing brands at discounted prices.
Although the professor and chair of merchandising and digital retailing at UNT’s College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism is new to shopping for secondhand clothing, Pookulangara is well acquainted with the rapidly expanding marketplace. In 2023, she and CMHT professor and associate dean Jiyoung Kim and assistant professor Iva Jestratijevic — with the assistance of CMHT senior fashion merchandising major Caroline Bowen — wrote and published the first educational case study about the fast-growing retail trend of recommerce.
Also known as reverse commerce or circularity, it is the practice of trading and selling preowned goods, including clothing and other apparel, through physical and online platforms. Its popularity is on the rise, especially among Gen Z and Millennial consumers who tend to favor more eco-friendly, sustainable sales, one-of-a-kind items and discounted shopping options.
Hundreds of international fashion brands — including Patagonia, Frye and Lululemon — operate “branded resale” channels to recirculate their own merchandise. Items typically are purchased from or traded in by previous and existing customers before they’re “refurbished,” marketed and sold to shoppers who may be new to the brand. Others use third-party recommerce providers such as ThredUp and Trove to resell their garments. Meanwhile, “peer-to-peer” platforms — including Poshmark, Depop and eBay — allow consumers to take the lead in selling clothes sourced directly from their closets.
“It is one of the biggest trends in the fashion industry,” Kim says. “It’s a lifestyle choice. You can try new brands, and it’s giving shoppers access to higher-end brands.”
UNT alumni whose careers are in the fashion industry also are monitoring the rapid recommerce expansion among apparel manufacturers, retailers and consumers.
“It opens up the door to keeping goods in circulation for a longer time,” says Matthew Blair (’19), who studied fashion merchandising at CMHT prior to joining Lewisville-based The Apparel Group, where he served as their sustainable material sourcing and fabric development executive. TAG's parent company is TAL Apparel, an international garment manufacturer committed
to sustainability. Blair currently works for Austinbased apparel maker Tecovas as an associate apparel product developer.
Sustainable practices have not always been a priority for the fashion industry, which is responsible for about 10% of all global carbon emissions. “It hasn’t been until recently that we’ve been getting notice on the impact that apparel has,” he says. “The landfills are piling full of apparel waste. It’s really come to the point where it’s do or die for our industry.”
Giving existing garments multiple lives “inherently is more sustainable than having to start all the way over from the beginning of the manufacturing process,” Blair says. Also, “creating consumer education about why that’s better will help take down any stigmas there may be about buying secondhand or through a recommerce platform.”
SUSTAINABLE SHOPPING
CMHT faculty produced the case study in partnership with the NRF Foundation, a nonprofit that provides access to education and opportunities needed for successful retail careers. In 2023, the foundation
Matthew Blair (’19)
unpredictable supply-and-demand levels for products as well as shifting price points. The CMHT case study found that luxury and athleisure-wear brands tend to fare better as high-end apparel typically retains its value even with recommerce’s discounted pricing.
Still, Kim says, “The advantages of recommerce are pretty well-known. It is beneficial for sustainability efforts. It brings additional profits to brands. It gives customers more options.”
While studying for his master’s degree in merchandising, Cody Henson (’13, ’22 M.S.) received funding from UNT’s Center for Consumer Insights and Innovations to research fashion-ownership redistribution in the secondhand-apparel market. The center works to advance consumer insights through industry and academia collaboration.
Through his research, Henson — a buyer for Kay Jewelers, which is owned by Coppell-based Signet Jewelers — found that a growing number of young consumers begin their “shopping journeys” within the secondhand marketplace.
“An individual’s need for uniqueness, for the element of bringing substance to self-expression, is a really important part of recommerce shopping,”
Henson says. “Consumers are looking for something special that’s going to help them express their identity, their values and what they believe in” through their personal styles and wardrobes.
Secondhand shopping boasts a “treasure-hunting component” as well that adds to its appeal. “You never know what you’re going to find until you find it, and there’s a good dopamine hit that comes with finding something super exciting,” he says.
‘WELL-EDUCATED’ CONSUMERS
Pookulangara, Kim and Jestratijevic have collected additional data to expand the original recommerce educational case study, which they presented in 2024 at the International Conference on Clothing and Textiles in South Korea and the International Textile and Apparel Association’s annual conference in Long Beach, California. They hope to publish the study in a research journal this year.
The professors have hosted focus groups with Gen Z shoppers, who tend to be tech savvy and conscious about price, quality and sustainability. Members of that generation are concerned about “greenwashing” — misleading or false claims about the environmental benefits of products and services — as well as the potential negative impact large recommerce platforms could have on small, independently owned thrift and vintage stores.
“Their viewpoint as customers is well-educated,” Kim says.
The original educational case study has been made more user friendly for the 50,000 students of high schools, community colleges and workforce development organizations who participate in the NRF Foundation’s RISE Up training and credentialing program annually.
Despite being in its infancy, Kim says recommerce will likely remain in vogue for decades to come.
“Everyone is trying it out. Some of the models will remain sustainable and robust — business-wise, profit-wise and in terms of their ecological impact,” she says. “The recommerce market will not stop growing.”
Read more about the innovative alumni in UNT's fashion programs.
Cody Henson (’13, ’22 M.S.)
Students work together at the First-Generation Success Center.
WALTER ‘ WALL-E ’ BARRAZA CO-FOUNDER,
CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER, WALO
During his career, Walter “Wall-E” Barraza (’06) has created marketing and advertising campaigns and collateral for some of the world’s bestknown brands, including Samsung, Fruit of the Loom, Miller Lite and NBC Universal.
But there’s no telling how his life may have turned out had his family not fled civil war-torn El Salvador when he was 4 years old and started over in the Dallas suburbs.
“My parents always pushed me and my siblings — ‘ Whatever you do, do more, be better’ — and they wanted us to go to college,” he says. “I almost felt like I had that duty and responsibility to repay them for what they’d done for us.”
Barraza took his first art class in high school. At his teacher’s insistence, he entered a painting in an art contest and won a scholarship to a school in Georgia, where he planned to attend college.
That plan changed after he briefly attended Dallas College’s North Lake campus before transferring to UNT’s College of Visual Arts and Design, where he earned a bachelor’s in communication design.
“The program’s really tough,” he says. “It’s designed to build you and mold you into what the industry demands.”
Barraza says he struggled at times as a first-generation student. “I had no path laid out for me or someone saying, ‘Hey, this is what I did. You should follow this or tweak it to you and your needs.’”
He worked two jobs during his first year at UNT and applied for multiple scholarships and grants to fund his education. “I did whatever I needed to do,” he says. That included landing a pair of internships with area advertising firms.
After graduating, Barraza worked at a couple of Dallas advertising agencies and firms in Los Angeles and Houston. Along the way, he met his longtime friend and colleague, Lalo Durán, and they founded WALO Creative in 2014.
Less than a year after opening the Dallas agency, they landed their first big account with Mexican soda brand Jarritos. WALO has since created impactful work for companies including 7-Eleven, Reliant Energy and, most recently, Academy Sports + Outdoors.
Barraza, who is WALO’s chief creative officer, mentors high school students and encourages them to pursue their education and career goals.
“I talk to them and let them know my experiences and let them pick my brain and just help them make a decision,” he says. “I want to show them a blueprint, a path to say, ‘Hey, it’s doable. I did it this way. You can do it.’”
RICHARD GONZALEZ CO-FOUNDER/CEO, PETRO-VICTORY ENERGY BUSINES S
Richard Gonzalez (’90) started his first company as a senior studying business at UNT when he produced a music festival, called “Fall Celebration,” at the North Texas Fairgrounds in Denton.
The event was the launchpad for a successful entrepreneurial career that has spanned 30 years, during which he has employed thousands of people and served as an international diplomat.
“I always knew I was going to be an entrepreneur in the business world. It's just something that I dreamed of,” says Gonzalez, a first-generation American whose Brazilian mother and Paraguayan father immigrated to the U.S. in the 1960s. “My parents taught me to dream big.”
In 2006, Gonzalez, who graduated with a bachelor’s in business administration with a focus on finance, co-founded Dallas-based Petro-Victory Energy Corp. and serves as its CEO.
The publicly traded company has more than three dozen government-granted contracts to engage in the acquisition, development and production of crude oil and natural gas throughout Brazil. It’s similar to business he previously conducted in Paraguay and Guatemala.
Gonzalez funded his college education as a first-generation student by working at an accounting firm.
He described his time at UNT as “an absolute game changer. I was learning in a classroom and getting some
practical, real-life education,” he says. “Studying at North Texas and learning the intricacies of business and then being able to go to work and seeing it in practice was a great foundation for me.”
A former UNT Foundation board member, in 2006 Gonzalez was presented the UNT President Citation for his service and support of the university. He dedicated the award to his parents. “I might have done the work, but I would not have had the opportunity had it not been for them.”
UNT “changed my life,” he said. “It's a big part of my life. It was a huge part then and it still is today.”
While operating Petro-Victory Energy in Paraguay, that nation’s president invited Gonzalez to represent the country as an honorary consul and fully registered U.S. diplomat.
“That was a tremendous experience because I worked closely with the ambassador in Washington, D.C., and was able to represent my father's country for several years,” Gonzalez says. “It was an honor and privilege to be able to do that.”
Gonzalez credits the sacrifices his parents made for his family coupled with his education for his success. “Going to school and graduating from the University of North Texas and getting a strong education is the base that you build it all from.”
“The program’s how I fell in love with UNT.”
ASIAH CLAIBORNE
DIRECTOR OF STUDENT TRANSITION, UT DALLAS
Growing up, Asiah Claiborne (’17) assumed higher education wouldn’t figure into her future. Now, it’s her livelihood.
“Honestly, I had no idea what college even was,” says Claiborne, director of student transition programs at the University of Texas at Dallas, where she previously served as assistant director of student union programs.
While Claiborne was attending high school in Denton, a friend’s mother who worked at the school introduced her to a college prep program through TRIO, a federal outreach and student services program for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, including low-income and first-generation college students.
The daughter of a single mother and high school GED recipient, Claiborne qualified for TRIO and went on to participate in its Upward Bound MathScience program, attending several of its annual summer academic camps that formerly were hosted at UNT.
“The program is how I fell in love with UNT,” she says. “We worked with professors on campus and got to meet students who were going there. The spirit and the camaraderie on campus is what sold me.”
As a first-generation student, Claiborne continued in TRIO at UNT, got involved with its Student Support Services program and worked for the former Upward Bound program on campus as a summer camp resident advisor and student program activity coordinator.
Her college education was funded entirely through scholarships and by working jobs on and off campus. A hostess at a local Texas Roadhouse restaurant, she also was a student assistant, and as a senior, worked the front desk at the Division of Student Affairs office as a student assistant with the NT40 organization. Claiborne volunteered with the Talons spirit and traditions organization and the Alternative Breaks program, among others.
After graduating from UNT debt free with a bachelor’s in integrative studies that focused on behavior analysis, counseling and psychology, Claiborne earned a master’s in college student personnel administration at Illinois State University.
Claiborne was a founding member of the UNT Young Alumni Network and has served in leadership and committees of several UNT alumni organizations, including the Black Alumni Network and the Denton County Alumni Network chapter.
In 2019, she was hired as coordinator of student organizations at UNT and developed training, workshops and services for more than 400 student organizations. At UT Dallas, she continues to work closely with students.
“I want to give back,” she says. “I want to be that person who helps others rise to the occasion and navigate who they are and what they want to do.”
MARTIN GODOY
FLUTE INSTRUCTOR, GRAPEVINE-COLLEYVILLE ISD
Martin Godoy (’20 D.M.A.) always has been what he calls “a high-achiever.”
As a first-generation student, “It was important for me to go to school and make a name for my family,” he says. “I felt like I always had to prove myself.”
Drawn to classical music at an early age, he was assigned by a junior high school band director to play euphonium — despite having his heart set on flute.
Godoy eventually switched to flute and went on to win several local, regional and state music awards in high school. After earning a bachelor’s in music education and a master’s in music performance at the University of Texas at Arlington, he began studying for a D.M.A. in flute performance at UNT’s College of Music.
At UNT, he performed with the Symphony Orchestra, Opera Orchestra and the new music ensemble Nova, directed by principal flute lecturer Elizabeth McNutt, who guided him in learning new music notations and techniques. “I’m very thankful for everything that she’s poured into me,” he says.
“Life just takes so many twists and turns, and we have to find what works for us. I just want my students to find what’s important to them and what fulfills them.”
In 2018, he made headlines by winning first place in the Texas Flute Society’s prestigious Myrna W. Brown Artist Competition. One of the highest-level international flute competitions, he competed against musicians of all ages. That year, he also took top honors at UNT’s William Gammon Henry Concerto Competition.
“I was gobsmacked,” he recalls. Godoy funded his education by working as a private music instructor as well as a color guard technician and director at GrapevineColleyville ISD’s Colleyville Heritage High School, where he now serves as a flute instructor and director of its national championship-winning Diamonds Color Guard team.
Teaching music “has always been my dream,” he says.
Godoy strives to be the type of mentor for his students that he needed as a young musician. “I tell my students that I’m teaching them to be good citizens, not music majors. Do I want them to be music majors? Yes. But my goal is to teach them to appreciate the arts and to support the arts.”
J OY MOON AN
ATTORNE Y
“I wanted to be able to make changes on campus.”
Joy (’14) and Laura Moonan (’15) always knew they’d be the first in their family to attend college.
The twin sisters are first-generation Americans born to immigrant parents from the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. The women got a jump on completing their bachelor’s degrees — Joy in criminal justice, Laura with dual degrees in applied behavior analysis and sociology — by taking dual-credit courses in high school.
When they started at UNT in 2011 as Emerald Eagle Scholars, Laura already had 15 credit hours under her belt, and Joy was just a few credit hours shy of being a junior.
The women — who participated in the TRIO federal outreach and student services program that assists low-income, first-generation and other qualifying college students — say the assistance they received at UNT through tutoring opportunities, coupled with career-focused workshops and services, made all the difference in their respective college experiences.
Joy, who was born with cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, was elected to the UNT Student Senate and helped develop new legislative and institutional policies. As an appointed member of UNT’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Advisory Committee, she advocated for students with disabilities and participated in planning discussions for the current University Union building to ensure their needs were considered in its design.
“I wanted to be able to make changes on campus,” says Joy, who always knew she wanted to be an attorney. After graduating from UNT, she earned her juris doctor degree at UNT Dallas College of Law and is now a lawyer in Dallas. Throughout her career, she has worked with the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program, the Disability Rights Texas agency and other volunteer-attorney initiatives across the state to provide pro bono legal services to low-income clients and those with disabilities.
EMPIRE STATE OF MIND
Every year, a few new UNT graduates move to New York City to pursue their dreams to make it in the arts. Beginning in the summer of 2023, we followed two alums on their journey. They found good times, including making new friends and meeting celebrities. And there were some challenging moments, from late nights to laundry. Read their month-by-month adventures online at northtexan.unt.edu/2025/nyc-journal .
TEXT BY JESSICA DELEÓN
PORTRAITS BY AHNA HUBNIK
SAX AND THE CITY
In the sixth grade, Ian Weidmann (’23) picked up the saxophone.
“I couldn’t stop listening to it,” he says. “I knew I wanted to make it a career immediately.”
And the jazz studies major, who grew up mostly in San Antonio, knew he wanted to study at UNT. Going to New York City was the next logical move.
“It seemed the place to be if you wanted to see the players,” he says.
Weidmann spent his first year in the Big Apple studying for his master’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music while playing gigs and honing his craft. Weidmann also performed at a theater during the summer in upstate New York. He has one more year of graduate school and he’d like to get more consistent work, such as a weekly gig in a big band.
Weidmann was excited to experience life in a big city. But, before he moved, he was anxious about the late-night schedule and networking.
“It’s like the calm before the storm a little bit. It’s just crazy. You have to be willing to take gigs that aren’t dream gigs,” he says. “That’s a little nerve-wracking, but I’m willing to take a leap.”
A YEAR LATER
How he’s changed:
“You have to have tougher skin. I mean, that’s maybe a little bit of a stereotype. But I think you meet a lot of people, and you’re not always going to agree with them. My sense of scheduling had to get a lot better, too, just because you have so many options. You have to hold yourself accountable. It’s like, ‘OK, do I go out tonight or do I stay home and maybe do something that’s more practice related or for a class?’”
Biggest challenge:
Weidmann had to figure out when to sleep. His classes usually started at 10 a.m. and they along with rehearsals lasted until 5 p.m. Then, he had to decide how to spend his evening. He usually went to bed at midnight, but jazz clubs stayed open until 3 in the morning.
“There was a point where I was trying to go to jams and shows every night. You have to pick and choose what you go to. At least in Texas, most things end earlier. In New York, you could just choose to not go to sleep. I was living on campus last year, and sometimes I’d want to go to a show in Brooklyn. That’s going to take you about an hour, and I’d think, ‘I don’t know if I want to go all the way to Brooklyn.’ Sometimes, I’d have to stop myself and be like, ‘Well, this is the reason you came here to go to shows.’”
Working with others:
Weidmann played in a school combo led by Buster Williams, a legendary 82-year-old bass player who’s worked with Miles Davis. “He was pretty nice, but he holds you to a high standard. If he thinks you’re not delivering, he’ll definitely call you out on it. It was just a real treat to get to work with him.”
Celebrity encounters:
“I got to take a picture with U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and some friends at a jazz club in the village. That was a crazy coincidence!”
Advice to other graduates who want to live in New York:
“It’s good to be a reasonable, caring person. Sometimes you meet people and they think, ‘Oh, well, I’m in a big city so now I need to change my personality and try to be cool,’ or change something about yourself to appeal to other people. But I think that’s not a good strategy. It’s just not good for your own wellbeing either.”
SETTING THE STAGE
Ellie Armitage (’21) had been dreaming of New York City since she was a child.
When she was 5 years old, she appeared in a Memphis theater’s production of Cinderella. Her parents started a community theater, and the stage always has been part of her life. Through the years, she visited the city about five times –often hurrying to get from one Broadway show to another.
After earning a degree in theatre, she traveled the country as part of the Jurassic World Live Tour, a production based on the movie, and saved the money for her eventual move to New York. She set herself up in a financial position and with a schedule that allowed her to pursue auditions half of the time and work part time.
Armitage moved to New York City in late July 2023, and she took part in the Actor Therapy musical intensive program, which is designed for actors living in the city for the first time. She landed a waitressing job at Sardi’s, a famous theater restaurant in Times Square that is frequented by celebrities, shortly after she moved.
After a year, she made her New York City stage debut in a production of Shakespeare’s Pericles that ran in October 2024.
“The dream is to be performing on stage,” she says.
AGAINST ALL ODDS
AS A STUDENT, YELAK BIRU (’95, ’97 M.S.) WAS DIAGNOSED WITH MULTIPLE MYELOMA. FOR THREE YEARS, HE SERVED AS PRESIDENT AND CEO OF THE NONPROFIT INTERNATIONAL MYELOMA FOUNDATION.
TEXT BY LISA SCIORTINO
Yelak Biru (’95, ’97 M.S.) has spent most of his life defying the odds. During the 1990s, while studying geology in his native Ethiopia, he escaped the civil war-embattled country to continue his education at UNT, where he earned a bachelor’s and master’s in computer science.
In 1995, amid the first semester studying for his master’s, he developed a nagging cough. An emergency room visit and subsequent medical tests revealed a shocking diagnosis — multiple myeloma, a rare, incurable blood cancer that develops within the plasma cells of bone marrow.
Less than 1% of people in the United States are at risk of developing multiple myeloma during their lifetime, typically between the ages of 40 and 70. Doctors gave Biru, who was just 25 when he was diagnosed, about three years to live.
December 2024 marked 29 years that Biru has survived with the disease. In March 2025, he celebrated his 55th birthday — a miraculous milestone since “I’m not supposed to be here,” he says.
“I attribute my living fully and bringing my knowledge to my work with my roots at UNT.”
For the last three years, Biru has been president and CEO of the nonprofit International Myeloma Foundation (IMF), which serves more than a half-million members in 140 countries. Besides providing support, education, research and advocacy for multiple myeloma patients and their families, the organization also raises funds that go toward helping prevent the disease, develop new treatments and hopefully find a cure. Now, as he prepares to step away from his role, he reflects on the organization’s work.
“When a myeloma patient is newly diagnosed, we really want to put a warm blanket around them and show them that there is hope,” he says. “We want to advocate for them and make sure their voices are heard. We want to make sure that patients are well-educated.”
Following his diagnosis, Biru was resolved in his determination to complete his education at UNT. “I thought, ‘I came to America to go to school and build a life for myself. I am not going to stop,’” he says. “Also, school was a distraction from the cancer. It allowed me to focus on something that was not me. It allowed me to have balance.”
His treatment required chemotherapy infusions administered continuously for several days at a time. Rather than miss classes, Biru toted around campus a rolling bag containing a pump that delivered the potent medication directly into his bloodstream.
At UNT, he says he learned valuable life skills from professors including Paul Fisher, who chaired the Department of Computer Science and Engineering from 1990 through 1995; Stephen Tate, who founded UNT’s Center for Information and Computer Security; and Kathleen Swigger, who taught an artificial intelligence course — the textbook for which Biru still has.
Within months of receiving his diagnosis and beginning treatment, he joined the North Texas Myeloma Support Group and eventually began leading its meetings, initiating his activism with the disease. Within the group, he met others who were enjoying successful lives and careers despite their diagnoses.
“It was living hopefully through our shared experiences and teaching each other and supporting each other throughout our multiple myeloma journeys,” he says.
He landed his first professional job after attending a career fair at UNT and being recruited by Plano-based PepsiCo, where he worked for 20 years. He returned to campus multiple times to recruit and hire other UNT students to the company.
In 2015, Biru joined IMF’s board of directors. Two years later, he was recruited to work in IT for Walmart and relocated to northwest Arkansas, where he established a local multiple myeloma support group.
In 2021, he began as CEO of IMF, which is headquartered in Southern California where he now resides.
One of the highlights in his tenure came in August 2024, when he was among a dozen patients, caregivers, physicians and others who traveled to Iceland for iStopMM, the world’s first large-scale myeloma screening study. The goal is to screen that nation’s population for the presence of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance — called MGUS — a non-cancerous condition considered a precursor to “smoldering” multiple myeloma, as well as for active myeloma cases.
“We are closer to a cure than we’ve ever been,” he says.
Biru, who has experienced at least five periods of relapse and remission from multiple myeloma over the years, is currently in remission from the disease. “I stay vigilant,” he says about his health. “The challenges patients like me present are ensuring that they have the ability to reenter the workforce and live a full life. I attribute my living fully and bringing my knowledge to my work with my roots at UNT.”
New Clubhouse
UNT Athletics broke ground this spring on a new softball clubhouse that represents the third phase of the multiyear Lovelace Stadium renovation project. The new 6,800-squarefoot facility is expected to open in 2026 with player and coach locker rooms, a team meeting room, staff offices, an athletic training room, a player lounge, a nutrition station, an equipment room and an outdoor patio. Phase one of the project included a new video board and complete field renovation in 2022, phase two included new dugouts and field lights in 2024 and a future phase four is expected to include a new press box and grandstands.
Making a Splash
UNT swimming and diving head coach Brittany Roth just wrapped up her ninth season leading the program, cementing herself as the winningest coach in program history with a regular season-ending win over Little Rock Feb. 8.
“This win highlights the years of work and the effort that every UNT swimmer and diver has put in since they chose to represent the Mean Green,” Roth says. “I’m honored to be surrounded by such a supportive environment and I’m proud of this milestone. I’m mostly grateful for UNT for trusting me with this team, believing in our mission and supporting our efforts over the years.”
Read about the life-saving heroics of Roth’s husband that gained national media attention on page 7.
By the Numbers By the Numbers
The number of home football games UNT will host in 2025 –the most in program history. See the full schedule below and visit meangreensports.com to get tickets to see the Mean Green this fall at DATCU Stadium. DATCU is the official sponsor of UNT Athletics.
Softball Sisterhood
2025 MEAN GREEN FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
AUG. 30 vs. LAMAR
SEPT. 6 at WESTERN MICHIGAN
SEPT. 13 vs. WASHINGTON STATE FAMILY WEEKEND
SEPT. 20 at ARMY
SEPT. 27 vs. SOUTH ALABAMA
OCT. 10 vs. SOUTH FLORIDA
OCT. 18 vs UTSA HOMECOMING
OCT. 24 at CHARLOTTE
NOV. 1 vs. NAVY
NOV. 15 at UAB
NOV. 22 at RICE
NOV. 28 or 29 vs. TEMPLE
Schedule is subject to change. Check meangreensports.com for the most up-to-date information.
Senior softball teammates Cierra Simon and Skylar Savage played on the same select team for a few years before coming to UNT in 2022. But the duo says they barely knew each other before they were paired up as freshman roommates.
“We’ve been stuck with each other side-by-side for all four years now,” says Simon, an all-conference infielder who has started every game of her Mean Green career. “We really didn’t get close until UNT and I’m glad we have because she’s my best friend.”
As their friendship has grown, the pair has seen the program grow over the years, too, including a slew of renovations at Lovelace Stadium. For Savage, the most important growth she’s seen since the team made it to the NCAA Regionals freshman year has been in the stands.
“Once we made it to that conference tournament and that regional, our community just continued to grow and grow and support us,” says Savage, a pitcher who earned First Team All-American Athletic Conference honors last season. “It’s just been amazing to watch.”
EN
EAGLES’ NEST
Between long hours of studying, there’s always time for a little fun. Students showed off their moves during Union Fest, the annual event celebrating the history of the University Union. The day-long event featured the Union’s legendary coffee cake, a carnival, bingo, an arcade and silent disco.
CONNE CTING WITH FRIENDS CONNECTING
CLASS NOTES
keep up with the latest developments in the UNT family and tell your peers what you’ve been up to since leaving the nest. Send your news to the North Texan (see contact information on page 7).
1963 M.L. DANIELS (Ed.D.), Georgetown, is composer in residence with the Williamson County Symphony Orchestra. He formerly chaired the music department at Abilene Christian University. His favorite memory at UNT was studying music composition under Samuel Adler.
1968 ROBERT J. ‘JACK’ DUNCAN (’71 M.A., ’97 M.S.), McKinney, researched and wrote several entries for the Handbook of Texas, a digital state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association. At UNT, he earned a bachelor’s and master’s in economics and a master’s in interdisciplinary studies.
1972 BOBBY CLYDE OVERALL, Tyler, earned a bachelor’s of music at North Texas, where he performed in the marching band and with the Lab Band. Following a 38-year career as a teacher and band director, he provides musical entertainment for residents and others at retirement and memory care facilities.
1974 HUGH JOHNSON JR. (M.Ed.), Pearland, has written for The Upper Room Daily Devotional Guide A lifelong professional musician, he became a member of the Wiley College Musicians Hall of Fame in 1990 and taught at Hubert Middle School in Savannah, Georgia, where he started
the school’s first band program. He retired after 31 years of teaching in 1994.
1976
JIM BUCHANAN (’81 M.B.A.), Belton, founder of the business consulting firm Brighter Honor LLC and an adjunct business instructor at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, was named a CAM Fellow for distinguished service with the National Business Aviation Association’s Certified Aviation Manager program.
1981 EICHIN CHANG-LIM (M.S.), La Habra, California, is an optometrist and author of the book Talking About Adolescence: Supercharge Your Body and Brain Power, which discusses how teens may manage mood swings and stress to unlock their potential. She completed her master’s in microbiology at UNT and began as a clinical researcher in a hematology lab at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
1984
GREEN FINISH
As lead product engineer for Callaway Golf’s limited edition AI Smoke Tactical Driver, JJ Murray (’21, ’24 M.B.A.) shows his Mean Green pride.
His first product features a green, smoky design and an AI Smart Face welded onto the driver’s body. The color is symbolic of his time at UNT, which he directly contributes to the position he is in today.
Murray, an engineering major, played for the university’s men’s basketball team, where he was a member of three Conference USA championship teams and helped secure the first-ever NCAA tournament game win in the school’s history.
WILLIAM HORNE (D.M.A.), New Orleans, released the album Chamber Music of William Horne, Vol. 3 on the Blue Griffin label. He retired seven years ago from the music faculty of Loyola University New Orleans, where he is a professor emeritus of theory and composition. Read
“The camaraderie and being in a team environment to me is unmatched,” he says. “I wanted to keep those same experiences as a professional in my career after basketball.”
— Tiarra Drisker
1986 JAIRO MORENO, Philadelphia, is a professor in the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Music, a graduate faculty member in the Department of Anthropology and associate faculty member with the Center for Latinx and Latin American Studies. He wrote Sounding Latin Music, Hearing the Americas, which highlights artists who have immigrated to the United States and reveals the transformative power of their music. He earned a bachelor’s in music theory at UNT.
1989 FELICIA MERCER ROGERS, Arlington, was named executive vice president of Decision Analyst Inc., a marketing research and analytics firm. She joined the company more than three decades ago. At UNT, she earned a bachelor’s in business administration.
1990 CHRISTOPHER NORTH, Brooklyn, New York, attended North Texas from 1987 to 1990 and studied music composition. He made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut in 2023 with the Association of Classical Musicians and Artists Orchestra, leading the 24-piece ensemble in a program featuring the Mozart Clarinet Concerto and the world premiere of his own composition, “(on the) Verge Of.” His third collaboration with filmmaker Sam Pollard provided the score for Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes.
1991 LORI MARROQUIN BRAKHAGE, Dallas, wrote and published the book Linguistic Attitudes: Understanding Generational Communication Biases to Improve Organizational Culture. She earned
bachelor’s degrees in radio, television and film and political science at UNT.
1991 MELODY LITTLE HAIL, Rockwall, is senior director of philanthropy for Rockwall County Helping Hands, which provides services to residents in need. She is credited with creating the organization’s popular annual Festival of Trees fundraising event. At UNT, she earned a bachelor’s in communications.
1991 ADAM LEVOWITZ, Atlanta, a music composer, conductor and producer, earned his bachelor of music at UNT. He self-produced and arranged music for Mozart’s Don Giovanni — a rock opera. The production is a reimagined, contemporary English-singing adaptation of the classic opera Don Giovanni.
1991 SUSANNAH HOLBERT
O’BARA (’23 Ed.D.), Denton, was named superintendent of Denton ISD. The lifelong Denton resident earned a bachelor’s in interdisciplinary studies and teaching and a doctorate in educational leadership at UNT. She has served the district in various capacities, including as assistant superintendent of academic programs. She was a finalist for the 2013 Texas National Distinguished Principal Award.
1992 CHUCK KOBDISH and SONIA KOBDISH (M.Ed.), Dallas, recently celebrated 25 years of marriage. Employed by IBM, Sonia is the company’s global sales enablement lead in mergers and acquisitions. A chiropractor, Chuck is president of
MAJOR LEAGUE
Dianna Wynn (’88 M.S.) has gone from registering voters as a volunteer for the League of Women Voters to serving as its national president.
Wynn, a communication studies major, taught at community colleges near Cary, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband, Brian Holland, who attended UNT from 1986 to 1987 and now works as an attorney.
Wynn was drawn to the grassroots organization for its non-partisan philosophy.
For the last several years, she was a member of the national board and was elected president at the league’s national convention last year.
“That feeling of being a voter just never leaves me. I try to vote on the very first day of early voting in my state,” she says. “It’s exciting to know that you can have a say in your government by simply casting a ballot and exercising your right to vote.”
— Jessica DeLeón
Read more: northtexan.unt.edu/ 2025/dianna-wynn
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BackMenders Inc. and chairman of the board for the Greater East Dallas Chamber of Commerce.
1992 JAMES PARSONS (Ph.D.) Springfield, Missouri, a Beethoven scholar and distinguished professor of music history at Missouri State University, gave a scholarly presentation titled “What the Choral Fantasy Can Tell Us About the Choral Finale” at Boston University.
1993 PAUL BERG (’95 M.B.A.), Leavenworth, Kansas. The retired U.S. Army colonel was inducted into the University of Texas at Arlington’s Military Science Hall of Honor. While earning marketing degrees at UNT, he simultaneously attended the Army ROTC program at UTA to receive his Army commission in 1995.
1993 STEVE CONWELL (M.S.), Dallas, serves as CEO and partner at Final Ascent, which provides advisory services to entrepreneurs. He has served as president of the UNT Denton County Alumni Steering Committee and on the advisory boards of UNT’s G. Brint Ryan College of Business and College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism.
1993 CAROLE DUFF (M.A.), Roseland, Virginia, is an educator, flutist, naturalist and writer of the faith memoir Wisdom Builds Her House. She also writes a blog and her work has been featured in Huffington Post Carole graduated from UNT with a master’s in educational administration and supervision.
1994 MICHAEL PATRICK ‘PAT’ MAGUIRE, Kerrville, was elected 198th District Judge in 2023. Maguire earned
a bachelor’s in political science at UNT and his law degree at Texas Tech University School of Law. He practiced law for 25 years in Kerrville, where he also was a municipal judge for 19 years.
1994 D’ARLA GLENN TYLER, Grandview, is director of public relations and client services at Fort Worth-based public relations and marketing agency Kwedar & Co. At UNT, she earned a bachelor’s in broadcast journalism from the Mayborn School of Journalism.
1998 PASSION HAYES (’03 M.P.A.), Addison, is deputy city manager of the town of Addison. She received the Human Resources Professional of the Year Award of Distinction from the Texas Human Resources Management Association. She previously led Addison’s human resources department.
1998 ROBERT C. MOORE III (M.S.), Fort Worth, was appointed director of investigative support at the Center for Human Identification at the UNT Health Science Center. He supervises the first full-time genetic genealogists employed by a public forensic laboratory as they perform in-house forensic investigative genetic genealogy. At UNT, he earned a master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies with a focus on criminal justice administration.
1998 EDMON ‘JAKE’ TOMES, Dallas, CEO and private wealth advisor at Level Four Financial, is among Dallas Business Journal’s Top 100 Money Managers in North Texas. He earned a master’s in sports psychology and kinesiology from UNT.
HELPING OTHERS
While a student at UNT, Carlynn Greene (’21) became known as the “Scholarship Guru,” a title gained after earning 30 scholarships, allowing her to graduate debt free.
Greene, whose degree is in digital journalism, has since dedicated herself to helping others achieve the same success through social media.
In 2021, she received a grant from LinkedIn and won the TikTok Creator Award for her advocacy efforts on social media, inspiring her to pursue content creation full time. Last year, she was awarded a business grant from TikTok x MACRO, which will help launch her latest initiative, Edfluential, assisting those who want to create social change while achieving financial sustainability.
“Helping others and improving society — that is my mission,” she says.
Audrey Short
Read the full story: northtexan. unt.edu/2025/carlynn-greene
Mean Green Pride
1 CHUCK LOBB (’75) AND HIS WIFE, LISA, enjoyed their summer vacation at the Rio Grande Gorge in Taos, New Mexico.
2 SHELLY JOYNER SHOWED HER MEAN GREEN PRIDE at the Formula 1 Barcelona Grand Prix. Shelly graduated from the UNT Dallas Law School in 2019.
3 MELISSA YBARRA-JIMENEZ (’92) KEPT COZY at Chamonix-Mont-Blanc ski resort in the French Alps. 2
1999
BEATRIZ E. AGUILAR, (M.M., ’04 Ph.D.), Stevens Point, Wisconsin, is director of music education at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. At UNT, she earned a master’s and Ph.D. in music education and enjoyed attending gatherings of international students.
2001 HEATHER HADDOCK KILGORE, Campbell, is public relations coordinator at Commerce ISD. She began her career as a kindergarten teacher and later became an instructional technology coordinator before starting her current role.
2002 TAKIYAH WALLACE, Fort Worth, is a photographer who has published two books, The Color of Dance and Brown Girls Do Ballet. She earned a bachelor’s in psychology.
2003 ANTHONY CACERES, Houston, is a vocalist who recorded a single and video with the Glenn Miller Orchestra for a cover of the song “Too Marvelous For Words.” For his last album, Something’s Gotta Give, he recorded with UNT jazz professor and guitarist Davy Mooney, former professor Stefan Karlsson and renowned jazz drummer Jeff Hamilton. He earned a bachelor’s in jazz studies.
2003 CHRISTIAN HOLZER (M.M.), Aubrey, served as conductor of the 2023 Texas Music Educators Association Honor Full Orchestra from Lawler Middle School in Frisco ISD along with Jay McKellar (’05, ’11 B.M.), Kevin Sluder (’06) and Christine Lalonde (’09).
2003 BRAD SCHWEIG, Dallas, is vice president of operations for Dallas-based Sunnyland Outdoor
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THINKING OUT LOUD
More than 50 people packed into Kevin Roden’s (’98) home. Roden takes his place in front of the fireplace to start the monthly Drink and Think. Tonight’s discussion, just a week after the U.S. presidential election: “Will we ever be able to talk politics at cocktail parties again?”
“For whatever reason,” he says, “this is a topic of interest.”
The audience bursts out laughing. Roden, vice president of partner success for the Teaching Strategies educational company, has hosted these monthly gatherings for more than 20 years. The events, which also are organized by Roden’s longtime friend Brian Daskam (’02) since the early 2000s, have focused on intellectual topics as a way to build community. The format is not that much different from when Roden, who majored in political science, would buy pizzas and talk issues with friends as a student living in Bruce Hall.
Read the full story: northtexan. unt.edu/2025/thinking-out-loud
“What is love? What is justice? What is beauty? What is art? All these sorts of big questions of human life. What does it mean to be human?” Roden says. “So, I got the idea of ‘Why don’t I just get some of my friends that might be interested in talking, and let’s just center each night around a particular question?’ And folks just crowded into my little apartment on Fry Street and opened up my refrigerator full of beer.” And they’re keeping a bit of college life alive.
“There was a desire to not lose, as part of my identity, someone who was thoughtful and was continuing to interrogate those questions about life,” says Daskam, a journalism major who is lead strategist with the firm, Arts and Sciences Communications. “And, 20 years later, I’m not satisfied to leave those as dorm room conversations.”
— Jessica DeLeón
Living, which received the Mary Fruehauf Retail Genius Award from the International Casual Furnishings Association. His father, David Schweig (’70), is the company’s president.
2004
KEDRICK BROWN, Houston, who graduated with a bachelor’s in theatre, guest starred on the television series The Rookie. He previously appeared on the shows The Chosen, New Amsterdam and Black Lightning. Kedrick teaches theater students in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD.
2004
JUSTIN GERMAIN, Dallas, has written ∑ Book I: Thumos Rising, the first novel of a fantasy/sci-fi series he created. A senior lecturer of Latin, ancient Greek and GrecoRoman history at Southern Methodist University, his love of history began at UNT when a roommate gave him a copy of the historical fiction book, Gates of Fire, by Stephen Pressfield.
2004
MICHELE LUCERO
VILLAGRAN (M.S., ’08 M.B.A.), Alhambra, California, was awarded tenure and promoted to associate professor at San José State University School of Information.
2005
GRAHAM DOUGLAS, Brooklyn, New York, is founder and creative director of the creative strategy company Gus, which was named Small Agency of the Year by AdAge. At UNT, he earned a bachelor’s in journalism, was involved with the Ad Club, enjoyed Lab Band performances in The Syndicate and attended Mean Green football games.
2005
PETER EMERSON (M.M.), Austin, is creator and composer of He Rules the World, a rock-music
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of social intelligence at global media agency EssenceMediacom. A former student writer for the North Texan, she earned a degree in journalism at UNT.
2015 TRAVIS DAVIS, Arlington, is vice president of early education workforce development at Camp Fire First Texas in Fort Worth, which provides an apprenticeship program, coaching and development for child care professionals. He was a student teacher at UNT while pursuing his doctorate in early childhood education.
2018 MATT ARTZ (M.S.), Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, who earned a master’s in applied anthropology at UNT, co-edited the book EmTech Anthropology: Careers at the Frontier. It explores how anthropologists can forge innovative careers at the intersection of emerging technologies, culture and society.
2019 JACQUELYN LANKFORD (D.M.A.), Los Angeles, California, lead trumpet for the band Jester and executive to the CEO of Fearless Visionary Entertainment, was named as one of Yamaha Music USA’s 40 Under 40 Music Educators for 2024. She spearheaded the Women Composing for Trumpet competition and the Trumpet Festival at McNeese State and is a founding member of the Calypsus Brass. At UNT, she earned a doctorate in trumpet performance with a related field in music education.
2020 BARBARA KAY STONE (Ph.D.), Fort Worth, was named 2024 Teacher of the Year at Keller Collegiate Academy in Keller ISD, where she teaches high school English. She has been an educator for 18 years.
2023 SYDNEY MCCLELLON, Denton, wrote the novel Brown Sugar Divine’s Cafe & Bakery, which follows the fictional proprietor of a Denton café and bakery. At UNT, she majored in English and media arts.
2024 KAETLIN MARSH, Atlanta, Georgia, is conducting research at Emory University in Atlanta, focusing on examining barriers to eating disorder diagnoses, such as body shape and weight, as well as the development of effective public nutrition programming. She received an $8,500 fellowship from the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. She built a robust research portfolio focused on public health as an undergraduate psychology student and McNair Scholar in the UNT Honors College.
NAILED IT
While studying accounting in UNT’s G. Brint Ryan College of Business, Sara Casey (’13) enjoyed treating herself to professional manicures. But trips to the salon to beautify her fingernails were costly.
Instead, she purchased supplies and made her own nail polish, laying the groundwork for her company Cupcake Polish. It sells about 50,000 bottles annually of the holographic polish, which has been featured in Harper’s Bazaar and Women’s World magazines.
“I wanted something that has special effects, something that is really going to make you stand out,” she says.
Go online to read obituaries for football trailblazer Abner Haynes, musician Shaun Martin (’01), journalism legend Keith Shelton (’72 M.J.), and other alumni, faculty and staff.
Casey and her small team of workers design and hand mix small batches of polish at her Dallas warehousestudio space. Among Cupcake Polish’s best-selling colors is a hot-pink glitter paint called Mr. Mint. “It’s a classic.”
— Lisa Sciortino
Read the full story: northtexan. unt.edu/2025/sara-casey
PERSPE CTIVE PERSPECTIVE
UNT’s College of Visual Arts and Design celebrated the naming of the Michael W. Faircloth Fashion Design Program in honor of the alumnus (’83), who began creating his custom couture designs for clients while earning a bachelor’s degree in fashion design. Many of his designs and sketches, including those pictured below, are part of the UNT Texas Fashion Collection. Read more at northtexan.unt.edu/2025/michael-faircloth.
