As another semester started, the countless hours of studying began for students. But when a storm brought ice and snow to the area in January, students received a nice break to play outside on the Library Mall.
— Photography by Ahna Hubnik
FEATURES
Pop Star
Allison Ellsworth (’09) turned a homemade beverage into the billion-dollar company poppi.
Research Innovators
Thanks to UNT’s vast resources, students are building skills for their careers and society.
Better Look North
UNT’s five-year strategic plan creates enduring value for students and the North Texas region.
100 Years of Service
Learn how the Green Jackets and Talons originated UNT’s most time-honored traditions.
History Changemakers
As the U.S. celebrates its 250th anniversary, alumni reflect on its landmarks and the milestones that made the country.
DEPARTMENTS
FROM OUR PRESIDENT P.2 BRILLIANTLY GREEN
UP FIRST P.4
GIVING IMPACT P.10
INNOVATION P.12
MUSE P.16
MEAN GREEN P.42
EAGLES’ NEST
CONNECTING WITH FRIENDS P .44
RETROSPECTIVE P.51
PERSPECTIVE P.52
GIVE TO UNT
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FROM OUR PRESIDENT
BETTER LOOK NORTH
Guiding grit to greatness
It’s been a busy academic year at UNT, and despite the budget challenges we are navigating, I continue to be excited and optimistic about progress we’re making across multiple fronts. Last fall we announced Look North: UNT 2030, the strategic plan that will guide our work — and underscore our commitment to student success — through 2030.
As part of the release of our strategic plan, we announced Better Look North, an ambitious $100 million fundraising campaign to support student success. The campaign is already making great progress, and I want to share more about the campaign’s goals.
The Better Look North campaign supports programs and resources to help UNT students gain the skills and experiences they need for good jobs and lives of meaning and purpose.
To become the next generation of alumni who have the confidence, drive, and preparation to lead. To remove barriers to success when students face housing or food insecurity. It will also give students opportunities to unlock their potential and perform at the highest levels, whether in our classrooms, laboratories, studios, stages, or athletics fields.
This campaign sends a powerful message to our region, the state of Texas, and the nation. That UNT is where futures take shape, where we transform inspiration into impact, and where we guide grit to greatness.
UNT aims to set a new standard for public universities, to create enduring value for our students, employers, and the public good. To make this vision a reality, the support of our alumni, friends, and donors is more important than ever. We can’t do it alone. We need your partnership and commitment to help us fund the margin of excellence and define the future for UNT.
Time and time again, our alumni have stepped up to support our great university, and I am deeply grateful for and inspired by your continued commitment to our Mean Green Family.
This is who we are. We’re just getting started, and you Better Look North.
Very respectfully,
Harrison Keller, Ph.D. President president@unt.edu @UNTPrez
UNIVERSITY BRAND STRATEGY AND COMMUNICATIONS
LEADERSHIP VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
JAMES P. COLL
SR. ASSOCIATE
PRESIDENT KELLEY REESE (’95)
MAGAZINE STAFF EXECUTIVE EDITOR
ELLIOTT PAYNE (’97)
MANAGING EDITOR JESSICA DELEÓN
EDITORS SCOTT BROWN (’10) CHRISTIANA DIAK
KING (’93 M.S., ’00 M.A.)
SMART (’09) ART DIRECTOR
WILKERSON DESIGN EDITOR NOLA KEMP (’92)
PHOTO/VIDEO EDITOR
PAYNE (’99)
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
CLOUNTZ (’92)
SANGANI (’23 M.S.)
ADVERTISING SHELBY GIBBONS (’17) CHRISTOPHER KNAPP ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS
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.
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The One O’Clock Lab Band made big noise during a presidential stewardship event Feb. 26 — commemorating a $2 million bequest from James W. Thomason (’82, ’86 M.A.) to create the James Thomason Endowed Chair of the One O’Clock Lab Band in the College of Music and the James Thomason Theatre Excellence Fund in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.
center gives financial advice
UNT celebrated a major step forward in student financial empowerment this spring with the dedication of the Student Money Management Center, powered by DATCU, marking a partnership designed to help students build financial confidence, navigate real-time challenges and plan for long-term success. Located in the UNT One Stop inside UNT’s Eagle Student Services Center, the center provides personalized financial coaching, workshops and practical resources focused on budgeting, credit, debt management and financial planning.
“We are excited to partner with UNT’s Student Money Management Center and provide financial literacy support to help students succeed,” says Melanie Vest (’04), president and CEO at DATCU. “The center’s mission to give students real-time solutions for their current financial needs aligns with how we serve our community.”
The Student Money Management Center, powered by DATCU, serves as a vital support system for UNT students, many of whom balance coursework with jobs, family responsibilities and financial pressures. Through one-on-one guidance and accessible programming, the center helps students make informed financial decisions that support career readiness. “With partnerships like the one with DATCU, the center can reach even more students, giving them the knowledge and confidence to build financial security for the future,” says Blake Cunningham, a senior studying financial planning.
Donors Establish $20M Scholarship
UNT received a transformational estate commitment of about $20 million from anonymous longtime supporters, including a devoted UNT alumnus, to establish a permanent legacy scholarship endowment — the largest scholarship gift in the university’s history.
The gift creates scholarships that provide full cost of attendance for high-achieving undergraduate students in the G. Brint Ryan College of Business, rewarding those who demonstrate strong academic performance, leadership and community involvement.
The anonymous donors are longtime supporters of the G. Brint Ryan College of Business.
“We believe strongly in the hard work and determination that we see in the many UNT business students who are working to become the leaders of tomorrow,” the donors say. “Our hope is that by removing financial barriers, students can focus fully on their education and graduate without the uncertainty or disruption that financial challenges can create. This scholarship is meant to give students the freedom to persist, finish what they start and step confidently into what comes next.”
The North Texas Promise Program, launching this fall, guarantees that qualifying first-time freshmen pursuing their first bachelor’s degree can attend UNT tuition-free for up to four years. Learn more at northtexan.unt.edu/2026/north-texas-promise.
Chip Off the New Block
When first-generation college student Brian Hale (’08) crossed the commencement stage to earn his bachelor’s degree in public relations from the Mayborn School of Journalism, he knew he’d made his parents proud.
But he wouldn’t know exactly how proud until 17 years later when one of those parents walked that very same stage in Fall 2025.
After Brian’s 78-year-old father, Robert “Bob” Hale (’25), earned an associate’s degree at a community college, he thought that was the end of his journey in higher education — until the summer of 2024, when Brian inspired him to get his bachelor’s degree.
“I saw Brian’s passion for North Texas, and he had nothing but good things to say about the school,” Bob says. “I thought it would just be so nice if
Brian and I could say we graduated from the same place.”
Bob earned a bachelor of applied arts and sciences degree by taking accelerated eight-week online courses. He occasionally struggled with unfamiliar course software, but never let the challenges get in his way — he took his work very seriously.
Of the 12 courses he took at UNT, he earned 11 A grades and just one B.
Watching his father walk the stage was a full-circle moment for Brian.
“I remember what it took for me to get there and to accomplish that. And I know how important this was to him,” he says.“It was incredible to sit there and watch him walk the stage from that same perspective he had back in 2008.”
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Recognition
Fulbright Scholars
Faculty and students are working to make connections on an international scale, and three more are continuing the hard work of collaboration this academic year as part of the prestigious Fulbright Program.
Established by the U.S. Congress in 1946, the Fulbright Program aims to increase the mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries through research, study, teaching and other collaborative opportunities. The program provides funding for university faculty, staff and students to teach, study and conduct research projects abroad.
The award winners for the 2025-26 academic year include Julie Leventhal (’07 M.S.), a principal lecturer in the Honors College, who taught a course on interpersonal relationships at the West University of Timisoara in Timisoara, Romania, in the spring. This is her second time going to Romania as part of the Fulbright Program.
Feifei Pan, professor of geography and the environment in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and director of graduate studies, was in Türkiye last fall establishing a collaborative relationship between the Izmir Institute of Technology and UNT to develop an irrigation scheduling tool.
Lily Stone (’25), a German and marketing major, was an English teaching assistant at a high school in the North RhineWestphalia state in Germany last fall.
The Drone Mapping Project, created by faculty in the Department of Geography and the Environment to provide students with professional certifications and hands-on experience operating industry-grade drone systems, received $80,000 from the Diamond Eagles Excellence Fund, which supports impactful projects created by and for the UNT community. … Brad Leali (’89), professor of jazz saxophone, received the Ellis Marsalis Jr. Jazz Educator of the Year Award from the Jazz Education Network. … Orlando Bagcal, clinical associate professor of mechanical engineering and undergraduate program coordinator of construction management, was named 2026 Associated General Contractors of America National Outstanding Educator. … UNT was selected as one of eight institutions nationwide to
Braven
Career Ready Course
UNT partnered with nationally recognized nonprofit Braven to create new learning opportunities that equip students with career-ready skills, networks, confidence and workplace experiences.
The initiative was launched this spring with the Braven Career Accelerator course, with the goal to serve a target population of 4,000 students within the first five years after the initial launch. The course blends weekly online modules with in-person learning labs led by working professionals.
Learn more at vpaa.unt.edu/ss/braven.
participate in Arizona State University’s new Work-Integrated Learning Accelerator, which helps institutions develop new, scalable work experience opportunities to better prepare students for the future of work. As a participant, UNT is creating a pilot program in its College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences that will offer students new opportunities to connect classroom learning directly with the realities of today’s workforce. … The Network for Exploring the Intersection of Humans and Cybercrime, known as NEXUS, is connecting sociology students with professional development and internship opportunities in the cybersecurity field. The initiative is a collaborative effort between the UNT Department of Sociology and CISO XC, a cybersecurity organization based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Above, from left to right:
John South, UNT lecturer in geography and the environment, guides master’s students Jenish Chauhan and Jesse Reyna in the UNT Drone Mapping Project.
UNT
ROSE TO NO. 34 IN THE U.S. AND IS NO. 2 IN TEXAS ON THE “TOP PERFORMERS ON SOCIAL MOBILITY” RANKING, ACCORDING TO U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
ROTC Expansion
The Army ROTC battalion received host program status last fall, bringing additional faculty members and resources to student cadets in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
A host program is a university that acts as the home site for a regional Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, or ROTC, battalion. Cadets from neighboring schools travel to host program sites for drills, training, classes and related ROTC activities. Detachments with host program status receive additional faculty appointments, including a professor of military science and senior military science instructor, as well as support staff to provide more assistance to student cadets. Host programs also are awarded financial resources to accommodate a greater number of participants. But according to Capt.
Trae Wolfe, executive officer and assistant professor of military science, one of the greatest benefits to student cadets will be the resources and programming UNT already offers.
As of Fall 2025, Lt. Col. Scott Pieluszczak serves as the battalion’s professor of military science and leader. Pieluszczak expressed his excitement over joining the detachment at a pivotal moment for its growth.
“Elevation to host program status signifies commitment and excellence for North Texas, the university and the student body,” he says. “We will be a trusted connection for military-civic engagement and community service and a partner of choice for both academic and military professions throughout the region.”
A Force for the Workforce
UNT convened the Texas Talent Accelerator, a collaborative initiative designed to strengthen the North Texas workforce and support the state’s economic growth, last fall.
The Texas Talent Accelerator will bring together colleges, universities, businesses and community leaders to plan for the jobs North Texas will need in the future. Its goals include sharing information about which jobs and skills are in high demand; aligning academic curricula, credentials and work-integrated learning with high-demand occupations; and helping businesses grow and stay in the region by making sure they have the workers they need.
“One of the major barriers to economic development in any region is talent. Companies in this region cannot grow if they cannot find the skilled talent they are looking for,” says Ben Magill, who joined UNT as the executive director of the initiative and the university’s inaugural chief economic development officer. “The Texas Talent Accelerator will be a regional labor market intelligence network that will facilitate economic development by bringing industry and higher education closer together and providing insights into talent supply and talent demand.”
The Texas Talent Accelerator unites employers, higher education institutions, and economic development organizations to strengthen the workforce in the fast-growing North Texas region.
Led by the University of North Texas, in collaboration with other educational and economic partners, this initiative will establish a regional partnership that aligns data and strategy to develop innovative talent solutions. The Texas Talent Accelerator will drive Dallas-Fort Worth’s economic growth and strengthen its global competitiveness.
Learn more about the Texas Talent Accelerator:
texas-talent.org
from humble beginnings to hall of fame
It was just a regular day for UNT senior and business major Davian Serna, until he got a call from a representative of the Texas Business Hall of Fame.
“I wasn’t expecting anything,” Serna says. “And he was like, ‘Congratulations, Davian.’”
Serna received a $15,000 Future Texas Business Legend Directors’ Award for his business, CDTV Media Productions LLC, which provides videography and photography services.
“I started crying, it was very emotional,” Serna says.“Other people are starting to recognize the hard work that not a lot of people see.”
Growing up in Keller, Serna says he came from “humble beginnings” as his mom was only 17 years old when she gave birth to him. His dad was in and out of his life and is currently in prison.
“None of my family was entrepreneurial,” Serna says.“I was one of the first people in my family to start my own business.”
His motive for becoming an entrepreneur stemmed from his passion for filmmaking. While a student at Timberview Middle School in north Fort Worth, he met his friend and business partner Jose-Carlo Martinez.
They filmed YouTube videos together and took filmmaking classes at Timbercreek High School. They competed in film competitions, getting first place at district, state and national levels.
“We could probably turn this into a business,” Serna thought. “That’s where the entrepreneurial spirit came about.”
Serna and Martinez started CDTV in 2015. Back then, it was photo shoots for students at school. Now they have increased their production, specializing in professional high-quality commercials, social media content, music videos, weddings, graduations and more.
After attending the University of New Mexico to study film, Serna came back to UNT to be closer to family. He switched majors to business to help CDTV grow.
“UNT taught me how to think. That’s the biggest thing that I can really, really hone down.”
— Mamadou Kante
GIVING IMPACT
A GIFT FOR JOEY
On a quiet Saturday in 2024, Deborah Watkins (’91, ’97 M.S.) sat at the kitchen table and cried — not from sadness, but from the sound drifting through the house. Downstairs, her fiancé Joey Sloan practiced double bass. Upstairs, his daughter practiced flute. And sitting there with her coffee, Watkins realized she finally had the kind of music-filled home she had always wished for.
That moment didn’t happen by accident. Music had been part of Watkins’ life long before she became a two-time graduate of UNT.
She first came to campus as a child, back when UNT was still North Texas State University, tagging along while her mother worked on her master’s degree. Watkins remembers being dropped off in the Union with her siblings and coloring books while her mom went to class. Once, she even took a summer course on how to train a pet, then went straight home to teach the family dog to sit.
Years later, choosing North Texas for her own education was simple. Watkins enrolled at North Texas with a plan. She wanted to teach, but she also wanted to follow her mother’s advice to earn a degree in a subject she loved. She chose mathematics, with minors in economics and education — a foundation that launched a successful career in finance and forecasting.
Long after graduating, she returned to UNT in a new way, establishing an endowed economics scholarship in honor of her favorite professor.
“UNT changed my trajectory,” Watkins says. “Those economics classes gave me the confidence in statistics that I needed to do what I do.”
Watkins knew she would keep giving back, and she thought her story of supporting UNT would continue to be about economics. But her newest endowment, benefiting students in the College of Music, celebrates her late fiancé, Joey Sloan. That story began in a high school orchestra hall. Sloan grew up in a musical home. His father, a jeweler by trade, was also a gifted jazz pianist, and Joey followed his lead. In sixth grade, he chose the double bass — a decision that carried him from jazz into classical music and, eventually, into a lifelong calling.
He and Watkins played in the same award-winning orchestra at North Mesquite High School. Sloan was a fourtime All-State musician — “king of the orchestra,” Watkins says with a laugh. Watkins played viola. They weren’t close then, but they shared the same seriousness about music.
Years later, Sloan told Watkins he remembered the first time he noticed her. She was holding the stage door open for bass and cello players, arms full of instruments and music stands. He thought she was sweet. Then he thought she was cute.
They nearly found each other again at their 20-year high school reunion in 2006. Sloan, who went on to become orchestra director with Lovejoy ISD, reached out on MySpace before the reunion. Both had recently ended long relationships. Both quietly hoped the other might be there.
But nerves intervened. Watkins flirted boldly. Sloan was not used to that — he panicked and got up from the table for a moment. He later told her he stood in the hallway for quite a while, deciding whether to turn left to the bar or right back to the table with Watkins.
He turned left, and at the bar, he met another woman who would become his wife and the mother of his daughter.
Sloan and Watkins were both in their mid-50s when they finally reconnected for good.
“It was a miracle,” Watkins says.
They found their way back to each other just in time. They were together only a short time before Sloan passed away.
In the fog of grief that followed, Watkins woke up one morning with a clear thought: She needed to do something musical to honor him. She established the Joey Sloan Memorial Scholarship for undergraduate music students using money she and Joey had planned to spend on a car. The need-based scholarship supports students who play double bass or viola — instruments, she says with a wink, that “don’t usually get invited to the party” — admitting she stole the
Deborah Watkins (’91, ’97 M.S.) with her late fiancé, Joey Sloan.
phrase from Jeff Bradetich, Regents Professor of double bass.
But honoring Joey through a single scholarship didn’t feel like enough.
UNT’s Planned Gifting team gave her a great idea. “I wanted to name a quintet after him,” she says. UNT already has the Bancroft Quartet.
“There had to be five — with a double bass for Joey and a viola for me.”
By pledging annual support now, Watkins ensured the Joey Sloan Chamber Quintet will begin performing while she’s still here to listen. The quintet is expected to launch in fall 2027, offering scholarships to five graduate students each year.
She tears up thinking about hearing them play, then adds with a laugh, “It’s really selfish, because now people have to talk to me about Joey forever.”
That’s exactly the point.
Watkins hopes the students who benefit feel supported. But more than anything, she wants Joey’s name spoken in a musical setting, over and over again.
“This will be forever,” she says. “Even long after I’m gone.”
For Watkins, the gift is about love, timing and legacy — and making sure the man who changed her life continues to do the same for others.
“I just want his name spoken,” she says. “That’s all I care about.”
— Amanda Yanowski
History Meets Possibility
Step inside the Gene H. Fuhrman Memorial Telecommunications Education Center at UNT’s Discovery Park, and the story begins. Students arrive expecting technology, but they leave with a deeper understanding of how innovation happens and where they fit inside it.
Made possible through a principal gift-in-kind from longtime friend of UNT Alvin Fuhrman, the center brings historic telecommunications equipment, archival materials and immersive learning experiences to UNT’s College of Engineering. Fuhrman donated his family’s collection, spanning more than a century of technological evolution. The collection was donated alongside a generous cash gift, totaling $1 million, which lives on as a permanent endowment to expand STEM education opportunities. Students and visitors experience the history of telecommunications dating back to the 1890s, Thanks to donor’s gift, students can view legacy of telecommunications. from hand-crank telephones to TV, satellite, teleconferencing and modern cellular devices.
Eighteen curated exhibits tell the story of how the Muenster Telephone Company became a high-tech leader among America’s rural telecommunications providers. A dedicated room honors Gene H. Fuhrman and commemorates the work of Gene, Gracie and Alvin Fuhrman. Alvin and Gracie Fuhrman, who grew up on farms and had high school educations, taught themselves the telecommunications business. Their son, Gene, became the first in his family to attend a university. “We want students to have hope,” Fuhrman says. “Even if no one in their family before them ever graduated from a university, they could succeed.”
Visit givingday.unt.edu for the latest information.
GATOR AID
UNT researchers are teaming up with the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge on alligator research.
There’s a population of alligators living in DFW, and UNT researchers want to know what makes them special. The Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge is teaming up with biological sciences assistant professor Andrew Gregory and UNT’s Wildlife Society student chapter to learn more about their gators. UNT researchers and student volunteer teams will document as many nests as possible and collect data such as daily temperature profiles, number of eggs, the incubation period and hatch rates — helping students build real-world skills and gain experience to prepare for their careers.
“Every time you do research, something else pops up that becomes a new opportunity, a new problem to solve. All we can do is continue to learn, accumulate that knowledge and then transfer it to the next generation so they can be prepared for their futures.”
— Chemistry Regents Professor Francis D’Souza, recipient of the Hans Fischer Career Award for Lifetime Achievements
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
Regents Professor Francis D’Souza is being recognized by the Society of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines with the Hans Fischer Career Award for Lifetime Achievements. D’Souza is a Regents Professor in the College of Science’s chemistry department who began his career as an independent researcher at Wichita State University in 1994. He joined UNT in 2011.
Considered an expert in the field of fundamental and applied porphyrin chemistry, he works with collaborators around the world. Porphyrins are central molecules that provide oxygen transport for life, such as heme in hemoglobin or chlorophyll for photosynthesis. The NSF and the Department of Energy have funded his research into the molecules for the past two decades.
Economic Security
Economics associate professor Xi Yang has served as principal investigator on a research project to survey the economic security of older adults. Social Security Income and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are vital for reducing economic insecurity among older low-income adults, but their policies have diverged — SSI benefits and asset limits have tightened while SNAP’s have expanded.
This study, funded by the U.S. Social Security Administration through the Retirement and Disability Research Consortium, examines how these trends affect joint program participation and economic outcomes like material hardship and asset disparities. The findings will shed light on whether current policies effectively protect vulnerable older adults or inadvertently deepen inequities.
Next-Gen Power Grid
Materials science and engineering professor Vijay Vasudevan earned more than $1 million through an ARPA-E Cooperative Agreement for his project, “High Efficiency, Resilient Transformers for Next Generation Power Distribution Systems.” This project supports the research and development of advanced low-loss, grain-oriented steel designed to improve the energy efficiency of transformers used in the electric power grid. The research team will identify and fabricate promising steel alloy compositions, evaluate their performance using defined technical metrics and narrow the field to the most effective candidates. By reducing energy losses during electricity transmission and distribution, the technology has the potential to lower operating costs, decrease wasted power and contribute to a more reliable and sustainable energy infrastructure.
Innovation in Education Award
UNT’s Center for Information and Cyber Security, led by computer science and engineering professor Ram Dantu, was named a winner in the annual Innovation Awards presented by D CEO and Dallas Innovates. The center was recognized in the Innovation in Education category and was the only higher education entity represented in the category. The project that earned the award is called Microtranscript, a work-skills readiness tool. The program breaks down students’ coursework to highlight specific skills learned and how students performed in each area. Dantu says the program will help interns in computer science and engineering start contributing more quickly when hired.
As companies continue to leverage artificial intelligence and look to implement it in all aspects of life, a researcher at UNT wants to make sure that AI is accountable. Supreeth Shastri, an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, is working with a law scholar to lay the groundwork for a benchmark that companies building AI can use to evaluate and demonstrate their accountability. Thanks to a National Science Foundation EAGER (Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research) award, Shastri will focus on three areas for the framework: self-driving vehicles, health care and cybersecurity.
DEVELOP DISCOVER DRIVE DEVELOP DISCOVER DRIVE
As a top Texas public research university, the University of North Texas DEVELOPS the potential of our community members, DISCOVERS new insights across academic disciplines, and DRIVES innovations to build a better tomorrow. AND WE’RE JUST GETTING STARTED. AND WE’RE JUST GETTING STARTED.
Story and Song
Amanda Ekery (’16) earns Grammy nomination for a project about her heritage.
While at the kitchen table of her Brooklyn apartment in November, Amanda Ekery (’16) scanned her computer for the Grammy Award nominations.
She saw her name. “I was shocked. I checked three websites to make sure it was real.”
Ekery’s first Grammy nomination comes for best album notes for her 12-track album, Árabe, released in 2025. Inspired by a genealogy project, each song has an accompanying essay describing the inspiration behind it, collected in a 64-page book.
“If this never happens to me again in my life, I will always be able to say that I’m a Grammynominated artist,” Ekery says.
Other alumni with nominations included Lecrae (’02), for best contemporary Christian music performance/song for “Headphones” and best contemporary Christian music album for Reconstruction. Tito Charneco (’02, ’13 M.M.) played tenor saxophone on The Original Influencers: Dizzy, Chano & Chico, nominated for best Latin jazz album.
IT’S A PROJECT TO REPRESENT THE INVISIBLE PRESENCE OF DISABILITY IN OUR SOCIETY AND THE POWER OF REPRESENTING IT.”
— Emily Cavender (’24), who created Invisibly Visible, a community series featuring art from local creatives with disabilities. Read more at northtexan.unt.edu/2026/emily-cav ender
The memoir from the professor of music and director of orchestral studies follows his life from growing up in the Pacific Northwest to traveling around the world as a professional conductor of symphony orchestras.
Books
The Mother Next Door
Through decades of work as an investigator for several police departments and the Tarrant County District Attorney’s office, Mike Weber’s (’90) expertise led him to co-write The Mother Next Door: Medicine, Deception, and Munchausen by Proxy. The book examines three impactful cases of the severe form of abuse in which caregivers induce illness in a person under their care, most commonly children. Now retired and working as a consultant, Weber is inspired when he sees how victims change when they’re removed from the offender.
“That’s extremely rewarding to see them become everything that they could be, that they weren’t allowed to be — intentionally — by their parent.”
Manufacturing Dissent: American Modernism and the Science of Belief
Stephanie Hawkins
The English professor explores how the creative class of the 20th century used their art to disrupt disinformation and propaganda.
The Archive and the Aural City: Sound, Knowledge, and the Politics of Listening
Alejandro L. Madrid (’99 M.M.)
The Walter W. Naumburg Professor of Music at Harvard University examines how engaging archives storing Latin American sounds contributes to dialogue and activism.
Viral Sensation
Alum makes fun videos out of real-life experiences.
When Madison Humphrey (’21) downloaded TikTok at the end of 2021, she didn’t realize it would lead her to fulfilling her lifelong goal of becoming an actress.
The journalism major began making videos on the platform for fun while working as a college football sideline reporter.
“I was scrolling, and I was like,‘Wait, people are making skits on here,’” Humphrey says.“‘That’s kind of cool. I want to try it, too.’ So I started making videos in my room.”
Humphrey never expected to strike gold with one of her first videos going mega-viral, leading her to amass over one billion collective views. The satirical skit features Humphrey acting in a point-of-view scenario based on real-life experiences and stereotypes, marking the beginning of her famous series depicting characters like a suburban mother and her most popular, an apartment leasing agent.
“People say to me all the time,‘I thought you were a real leasing manager,’” Humphrey says.“That was the one who helped me realize,‘Oh wait, I could do this as a career.’”
Now a full-time content creator, she will co-star in Offsite, her debut feature film.
“People on the internet can sniff out if you’re being disingenuous so quickly,” Humphrey says.“I have a great audience and a supportive following; I wouldn’t be where I am without them.”
In the early 1900s, Madame Ethel Linn O’Neil — great-great-grandmother of Amy Louise O’Neil (’17) was the prima donna soprano at the Luzerner Theater, an opera house in Switzerland. Her daughter Clara Linn O’Neil, Amy O’Neil’s great-grandmother, soon became an actress in the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Over a century later, O’Neil is following in her ancestors’ footsteps as an artist, actress and opera enthusiast — and digital content marketing manager for The Dallas Opera. She has found an audience creating content, best exemplified in her dress-up opera web series Don’t Look Under the Wig, which was recognized by the 2024 Awards for Digital Excellence in Opera.
O’Neil, who has an integrative studies degree and is a licensed cosmetologist, is helping opera meet new audiences through humor, vulnerability and a willingness to look a little ridiculous online.
“The magic ingredient is that I’m not shy,” O’Neil says. “I can look silly in a bald cap and talk about Wagner for 10 minutes, and it works somehow.”
Read more: northtexan.unt.edu/2026/opera-for-all
Life of a Showgirl
When Charity Eden (’13) attended Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour,” she was captivated.
“Everything about that show drew you in and took you on this adventure. And I left thinking,‘Everyone needs to experience “The Eras Tour.’’’And that’s what turned me to thinking, ‘Maybe I can help them do that. Maybe I can try to replicate the show as close as I possibly can.’ So, the first thing I did was start buying costumes and making backing tracks and building out a show.”
Now, “Lover: The Unofficial Eras Tour” is one of the most popular Taylor Swift tribute shows, taking Eden to numerous countries around the world and being featured in USA Today. The College of Music alum also released her own music, but she doesn’t mind portraying someone else.
“When I’m on stage, it’s not about me. This is about Taylor’s music, and this is because the audience loves Taylor, and I’m here to help create this environment for us to have the best night of our lives, sing our little hearts out and forget about everything going on in the world.”
Read more: northtexan.unt.edu/2026/ life-showgirl
going to interior design classes and working as a civil engineering draftsman.
In nearly four decades since graduating from the College of Visual Arts and Design, he hasn’t skipped a beat — refusing to retire and remaining busy from dawn ’til dusk. In 1992, Cochran founded CDA Design, which has designed 300 country clubs across the United States. In addition to his duties as CDA president and owner of Tipton Family Ranch in Stephens County, Cochran plans to start a construction company
As a former member of the CVAD Advisory Board, he is involved with many community organizations and has acted as an extra in Texas-based TV shows like Yellowstone, Walker, Texas Ranger and Landman.
“I don’t know what I would do if I retired,” he says.
TWO ALUMS HAVE NEW NOVELS OUT. STEPHEN GRAHAM JONES ( ’96 M.A.) JUST RELEASED NIGHT OF THE MANNEQUINS. SARAH DAMOFF’S ( ’09) THE BURNING SIDE WILL BE PUBLISHED IN MAY.
Seryn-dipity
Formed at UNT, the band Seryn reunited for a new album and tour.
Throughout his life, Trenton Wheeler has been a musician, filmmaker and activist. He’s widely recognized for co-founding Seryn, an indie-folk band born at UNT. Between teaching, advocacy and organizing a multicultural music and art festival, he has reunited with Seryn and put out the band’s first album in 10 years — War on Christmas, which provides a science fiction take on the holidays. They played a gig in Denton in March.
The band began with Wheeler, a business-turned-journalism major who attended UNT from 2007 to 2011, and others who were attending around that time: Chelsea Bohrer, a studio art major; Nathan Allen (’10), Wheeler’s best friend and college roommate who majored in biology; Aaron Stoner, a business major; and Chris Semmelbeck, a radio, television and film major.
Seryn found substantial success with their debut album, This is Where We Are, but members came and went with time, with Chase Johnson (’10), a music education major, joining the group.
“I’m grateful we’ve overcome a lot of things,” Wheeler says. “The stories we share have made for a lifetime of friendship.”
Read more: northtexan.unt.edu/2026/seryn
Like Father, Like Son
In every house he’s ever lived in, Jason Garrett (’23) has hung a scenic painting of a large oak tree facing a horizon that his father, Gary Garrett (’74), created 50 years ago. “The tree in this painting is probably the single most influential piece of art for me in my entire life,” Jason says.
This symbolic painting has made its way from Jason’s childhood home to his college apartment, then his house in Austin and now to his home in Massachusetts. After graduating from the College of Visual Arts and Design, Jason moved to New England and started making props for his theater business, Ghostlight Stage Design, with two friends.
Gary, who also graduated from CVAD, remains a North Texas resident and recently retired from a successful career designing and directing projects for various companies. Similar in spirit, Gary and Jason share many qualities, but they are distinct artists in their own ways.
“You have to keep your creative side, no matter what,” Gary says.
ALLISON ELLSWORTH (’09) TURNED A BEVERAGE SHE MADE IN HER KITCHEN INTO POPPI, ONE OF THE MOST TALKED ABOUT DRINKS IN THE BUSINESS.
WRITTEN BY JESSICA DELEÓN | PHOTOGRAPHY BY KAITY COX PHOTOGRAPHY
Allison Ellsworth (’09) has always been determined. “I’ve always felt like I can do anything in life,” she says. “When I was a little kid, I was always told yes — even if I was in my Sunday best about to go to church. If I wanted to go play in the dirt, my dad would be like, ‘Go do it. You’re going to have consequences from that.’ So, learning to push boundaries from a young age really impacted me as an older child. I am built a little bit different than most people because fear doesn’t stop me from doing anything. I usually say yes and figure it out later.”
That fearlessness propelled her, along with her husband, Stephen Ellsworth, to create a beverage brand with healthy attributes that quickly sold out at the Dallas Farmers Market. Then a 2018 appearance on Shark Tank — when she was nine months pregnant — boosted the brand. Now called poppi, the drink boasts low calories, five grams of sugar, colorful branding and strong social media content — and it has become one of the fastest-growing non-alcoholic beverages in history. It was sold to Pepsi for $1.95 billion this spring.
“We’re going to go all in on this.”
Ellsworth has taken risks and worked hard her whole life. Growing up in Wichita Falls, she came to UNT for the dance program. She toiled in multiple jobs and paid her own tuition and books. But she realized she didn’t want to teach dancing. “I had this, ‘What am I doing with my life?’ moment,” she says. “So I took a year off and moved to Spain by myself. I dropped my classes, and I took that money and I bought a one-way ticket. And what I learned in doing that was there’s a big beautiful world out there and I was ready to experience it.”
When she ran out of money, she returned to UNT and pivoted to sociology. After graduation, she worked as a contractor for the oil and gas industry. The frequent traveling in that job led her to health problems. She lacked energy. Her skin was a mess. She felt bloated all the time. “So, I started drinking apple cider vinegar. I didn’t like the way it tasted, so I was like, ‘I need to make this taste better.’” She and her husband concocted several versions in their kitchen. “And then it got to the point where we were so obsessed with it. I was like, ‘How do I share this with as many people as possible?’”
At the Dallas Farmers Market, it sold out the first week and they ran out of the doubled batch the next week. The third week, a buyer from Whole Foods Market told them the beverage needed to be sold at grocery stores.
“It was the first time I realized I had a business and it wasn’t just a hobby. I looked at my husband and said, ‘We’re going to go all in on this. I want to max the credit cards. I want to open a manufacturing facility.’ I was three months pregnant and we’d just bought a house and he told me I was crazy. But we went all in and then we got into Whole Foods Market and started having a real business.”
After they made a $400,000 deal with investor Rohan Oza on Shark Tank — and she delivered her second child two weeks later — they took nine months off to rebrand, changing the name from Mother Beverage to poppi. The drink was scheduled for a national rollout in March 2020 — just as COVID-19 hit. But the Ellsworths turned it into an advantage. Since many people were worried about their health, they touted it as an alternative to their full sugar competition. They also reappeared on Shark Tank for an update, snagging more publicity. At the time, many national companies weren’t on TikTok, but poppi began posting on the social media channel and went viral.
As it gained popularity, poppi has had a few bubbles burst — such as when consumers didn’t like its root beer flavor.
“Many founders let their ego get in the way and are hesitant to change or evolve their product,” Ellsworth says. “If we’re calling ourself a soda, we have to have a killer root beer flavor.” They changed the flavor, taking a year to compile consumers’ opinions and changing the packaging.
With the deal with Pepsi, poppi now has one distributor instead of 180. It can be sold in stadiums and on college campuses. While the whole experience has been a wild ride, Ellsworth — who gave birth to a third boy while poppi was growing — says, “I like chaos. I like thinking from a disruptive and different creative perspective. When I hear no, it means I’m talking to the wrong person. I’ll get my yes. I always will be very confident. But with all of that said, I feel like it’s essential to lead with humanity and kindness through it all.”
CH INNOVATORS
UNT
is providing its students with the resources and opportunities to launch their research careers in a competitive market in Texas and beyond.
When Annette Becker (’15 M.A., ’25 Ph.D.) was searching for graduate schools, she could have gone to London or New York City. But with her interest in material culture, she knew UNT was the place for her.
UNT’s vast resources have proved to be foundational jumpstarts for the careers of alumni, like Becker, who are serving as changemakers in a variety of industries. And UNT, the largest R1 research university in the North Texas region, is working to cultivate those opportunities.
It is ensuring its researchers have modern spaces, such as the forthcoming 111,000-square-foot Science and Technology Building, that promote innovative discovery, cross-training and interdisciplinary collaboration. Faculty and staff across the university are building a research infrastructure with opportunities ranging from workshops and training programs to fellowships, internships, structured mentoring and more.
“Engaging students in meaningful and inclusive research early on not only improves their persistence and long-term success — it also helps them build skills and relationships that will benefit them well into their careers,” says Pamela Padilla, vice president for research and innovation. “As UNT’s impact as a higher education leader in the North Texas region continues to grow, we’re committed to finding new ways to spark our students’ curiosity and prepare them to become future leaders and innovators.”
“As UNT’s impact as a higher education leader in the North Texas region continues to grow, we’re committed to finding new ways to spark our students’ curiosity and prepare them to become future leaders and innovators.”
—Pamela Padilla, UNT vice president for research and innovation
Annette Becker (’15 M.A., ’25 Ph.D.) found mentors who supported her in interning at the Dallas Museum of Art, crafting research presentations, publishing a book chapter and curating an exhibition from UNT’s Texas Fashion Collection. Becker, TFC director for nine years, says she still feels the impact of those opportunities. As a recent doctoral graduate in history, she took Todd Moye’s courses on oral history, which inspired her to interview Dallas fashion industry professionals — models, manufacturers, retailers, reporters — whose experiences had never been documented. “That research opportunity shaped my field of study beyond my own work, informed how I formulated my dissertation and has expanded my capacity for interpreting material culture artifacts at the TFC,” she says.
Kush Aggarwal (’23) is a brand technical seller for IBM, where he helps clients address challenges and enhance their businesses’ value through data, artificial intelligence and information architecture solutions. His education at UNT at Frisco equipped him well for his career with courses in professional communication, project management, design thinking and data analysis. After earning his degree, Aggarwal launched his career as a regional technology specialist trainee at Toyota Motor North America. While there, he participated in the 2022 Global Swarm Hackathon, where he contributed to anti-drunk driving technology that earned a patent, paving the way for Toyota to further develop the solution.
— Neil Foote
Adrian Harvey (’06, ’09 M.B.A.) helps businesses make better informed decisions with customers in mind as senior vice president at the marketing insights company Buxton. Recognized as a UNT Department of Information Technology and Decision Sciences Alumni of the Year in 2014 and a G. Brint Ryan College of Business Rising Star in 2017, Harvey says research he conducted at UNT using data and real-world scenarios prepared him for his current role. “It was very beneficial in helping me in a professional setting to make the translation between academia and real-world application.” He explained that what may look good for a business on paper does not always translate. “Looking at more than what the data says is important. You have to marry the art and the science.”
— Christiana Diak
Shane Kuo (’20 Ph.D.) scales the company’s discoveries up from the lab to a commercially viable product as a senior development scientist for Corning, a materials science technology company in New York. It can be a complicated process, but Kuo’s time at UNT helping professor Jincheng Du start his Functional Glasses and Materials Modeling Laboratory taught Kuo to focus on the details. “As students, we started learning how to build a lab,” Kuo says. “What instruments do we need? What kind of electric plug do we need? There were lots of details and it was a big learning process. We didn’t know how to do it but having that experience has actually proven very useful in my career.”
— Scott Brown
Justin West (’18 Ph.D.) is an associate professor of music and human learning at the University of Texas at Austin’s Butler School of Music. His research, which has been published in a half-dozen peer-reviewed journals, is focused on professional development efforts and outcomes for music educators — specifically, the vital role played by multi-day professional conferences, which he attended while at UNT to gather qualitative data for his Ph.D. dissertation. A former high school choir teacher, West, who was a Ronald E. McNair Scholars Fellow at UNT, estimates more than 80 percent of music educators attend such conferences annually. He says the events can be improved so teachers may better implement lessons learned there upon returning to the classroom.
— Lisa Sciortino
Taylar Gomez (’18), entrepreneur in residence at Dallas venture capital firm RevTech Ventures, began building her e-commerce startup SYFT while earning bachelor’s degrees in merchandising and digital retailing at UNT. “My professors provided the encouragement I needed to establish the company,” Gomez says. Now, she’s hiring current UNT students to help analyze data collected by her company’s browser extension. The SYFT plug-in uses artificial intelligence and algorithms she developed to scour social media trends and analyze user preferences to create personalized fashion options for its target audience of Gen Z shoppers. As online shoppers browse their favorite sites, the SYFT plug-in curates personalized collections of clothing items that are displayed in a pop-up window for purchase.
— Lisa Sciortino
UNT unveils new five-year strategic plan with $100M campaign to support student success.
In 1890, UNT’s founding President Joshua C. Chilton said, “Our aim will constantly be to adjust the work of the college to the demands of the times.”
Today, UNT stands as a Carnegie-ranked R1 public research university and is the largest university in the Dallas-Fort Worth area — one of the fastest-growing and most dynamic regions in the world. Through its campuses in Denton and Frisco, UNT serves nearly 44,000 students and awards about 13,000 degrees each year with more than 480,000 alumni across the globe.
Under the leadership of President Harrison Keller, Ph.D., UNT unveiled its new five-year strategic plan — Look North: UNT 2030 — outlining a bold vision to create enduring value for students, employers, taxpayers and communities across the North Texas region and beyond. The plan emphasizes three core priorities to ensure UNT adapts to the times — develop the potential of its students and community members to meet the needs of the changing economy, discover new insights and innovations that bridge traditional academic disciplines to advance Texas’ competitiveness, and drive innovations, partnerships and new models of higher education to create economic growth and build a better tomorrow.
“Look North: UNT 2030 reflects our commitment to guide grit to greatness,” President Keller says. “As North Texas’ largest university committed to creating enduring value for the public good, we are building new models that not only prepare students for success but also contribute solutions and leadership that benefit our region, our state and our nation.”
“At UNT, the diploma isn’t the destination — the UNT experience and student success must translate into meaningful opportunities.”
— UNT President Harrison Keller, Ph.D.
GUIDING PRIORITIES
At the core of Look North: UNT 2030 are three driving priorities designed to guide the university over the next five years:
• Develop: The university plans to heavily invest in the potential of its students and the broader community. UNT will modernize curriculum, expand student success systems, enhance faculty and staff development to meet the demands of a rapidly changing industry, and cultivate a culture of resilience.
• Discover: UNT aims to bridge academic disciplines, sparking new insights and innovations that will elevate Texas' competitive edge on a global scale. UNT will tackle Texas’ major challenges in fields from artificial intelligence and aerospace to logistics and semiconductors, expand student research opportunities, amplify human insights with technology and foster curiosity and problem solving.
• Drive: The goal is to position UNT as a national model that turns academic research into real-world, applicable solutions. By scaling what works, UNT will create transformative education and training, expand opportunities for students, promote entrepreneurship and bring ideas to market, while deepening partnerships with industry leaders to drive economic growth across Texas.
“Our plan is built on a bolder conception of student success than most universities have been willing to embrace,” President Keller says. “Universities typically measure student success in diplomas and graduation rates, which glosses over questions about the quality of the student experience and what happens after graduation.
“At UNT, the diploma isn’t the destination — the UNT experience and student success must translate into meaningful opportunities.”
SUPPORTING STUDENT SUCCESS
With 75% of UNT’s undergraduates coming from the North Texas region, nearly half from low-income families and more than 40% identifying as first-generation college students, UNT has a deep commitment to providing access to an affordable, high-quality education that expands opportunities for students and communities. This commitment is reflected in UNT’s rising national recognition for advancing social mobility, including its recent jump to No. 34 on U.S. News & World Report’s “Top Performers on Social Mobility” list, as well as the university’s ongoing efforts to reduce student debt and offer financial aid opportunities.
To expand student opportunities, UNT unveiled its Better Look North student success campaign in conjunction with the five-year strategic plan to raise $100 million aimed at advancing scholarships, student support services, career-connected learning opportunities and other strategies to ensure every student has the support needed to earn their degree and launch into meaningful careers.
Alumni and community members have already contributed $75 million toward the $100 million goal.
“By investing in people and programs that remove barriers and strengthen pathways, UNT is positioning its students and faculty to drive the future of Texas and beyond,” says Brandon Buzbee, vice president for university advancement. “This campaign is about unlocking potential. When our donors invest in student success, they’re shaping the trajectory of our state’s workforce, economy and communities.
“Better Look North is an invitation to believe in the power of what’s possible when we give talent a chance to rise.”
BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS FOR SUCCESS
As the largest R1 research university in North Texas, UNT is recognized as a powerful pipeline contributing to the DFW talent pool as the university prepares the next generation of leaders, scholars, entrepreneurs, educators, artists, athletes and innovators to build a better future. DFW is poised to overtake Chicago as the nation’s thirdlargest metropolitan area in the next decade, and UNT will no doubt continue to play a critical role as it fuels the region’s network of industries and communities.
UNT was one of only eight institutions nationwide selected to partner with the National Work-Integrated Learning Accelerator led by Arizona State University to develop new, scalable work experience opportunities to better prepare students for the future of work. The program is designed to provide a proven pathway to blend classroom learning with industry-informed, career-aligned experiences that build confidence, increase student success and enhance the value of UNT degrees.
“This will not only amplify the inherent value of our students' liberal arts and social sciences degrees, but also more seamlessly bridge their academic pursuits with an exciting and encouraging outlook toward early and sustained success in their professional careers,” says Albert Bimper, executive dean of UNT’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. “UNT stands on a proud foundation of audacious, student-centered innovation, driven by our unwavering commitment to improving outcomes for every student.”
And with new initiatives like the Texas Talent Accelerator launched in September 2025 to address North Texas’ workforce needs, UNT’s strategic direction also emphasizes strong industry partnerships. The accelerator includes
a broad coalition of regional partners, colleges and universities, and economic development partners working together to anticipate change, align institutional efforts and foster new opportunities at the scale and speed the economy demands. (See page 7 to learn more about the accelerator.)
“President Keller’s vision for the future of UNT is a strong indicator that the university will remain poised to drive North Texas’ economic growth and workforce development for generations to come,” says Melanie Vest (’04), president and CEO of DATCU. “We are grateful to play a part in making his strategic plans a reality and to continue partnering with UNT to strengthen our community.”
UNT is a catalyst for our community and region, Denton Mayor Gerard Hudspeth (’20) says.
“UNT and Denton are joined in so many ways, and we work best when we collaborate, whether it’s welcoming new students, hosting community events or finding ways to grow smart together,” Hudspeth says. “It’s a delight to have President Keller here, someone who knows how to set a vision, build partnerships and bring people together. That partnership is what makes our city special.”
Sanger Mayor Thomas Muir (’93) says he sees UNT’s influence reaching across the region.
“President Keller’s got a bold vision for where we’re going,” Muir says. “I love the collaborative nature of what he’s doing with our faculty, students, workforce and community. Anything this university does has a spillover effect that touches every town and economic unit in North Texas. We’re starting to see that impact even in Sanger, and it’s a win-win for everyone.”
FOCUSING ON THE FUTURE
Implementation of UNT’s new strategic plan will occur in three phases over five years, guided by measurable outcomes including student retention and graduation rates, research and innovation metrics and alumni success in high-demand careers.
The plan reflects UNT’s leadership across the system and the state, says Laura Wright (’82, ’82 M.S.), former chair and member of the UNT System Board of Regents.
“It’s a very comprehensive plan that centers on students, faculty, staff and philanthropy,” Wright says. “UNT is our flagship university and a big part of our system. This plan aligns perfectly with where we want to head across all three of our universities.”
In these times of rapid change and great uncertainty about the future of American higher education, UNT is ready to adapt, innovate, endure and lead the way forward.
Better Look North is UNT’s call to build what’s next — together. And in the words of President Keller, “We are sending a powerful message to our region, to the state of Texas and beyond. That this is where futures take shape, where we transform inspiration into impact, where we guide grit to greatness. That we will set a new standard, to create enduring value for our students, employers, our region, our state our nation — to create enduring value for the public good. This is who we are.
“And we’re just getting started.”
Better Look North.
To learn more about UNT’s strategic plan, visit looknorth.unt.edu.
Better Look North
For anyone who’s ever been told — you can’t. You’re not ready. Not elite. Not what success looks like.
We see you … The unrelenting. The unapologetic.
At UNT, success isn’t handed out. We roll up our sleeves and build it for ourselves. And for each other.
Here, students go from uncertain … to UNshakable.
From underestimated … to UNdeniable.
From unseen … to UNmatched.
From undervalued … to UNstoppable.
We back ambition with opportunity because success isn’t just about where we’ve been, it’s about how far we can go. And it doesn’t stop at the graduation stage. It’s about families. Communities. Generations.
It’s about those who have always been the strivers. The doers. The early arrivers. The last to leave … and the first to give back.
This is where doors open, futures take shape, and the experience transforms inspiration and effort into impact.
Our commitment is simple: you bring the grit, we’ll guide you to greatness.
Are you ready, world?
Better Look North
At UNT, we believe progress doesn’t wait for permission. It starts with the students who show up ready to work hard and think bigger — and with the community that stands behind them.
Better Look North is our call to build what’s next — together.
Learn more about how this campaign is transforming opportunity and helping every student rise.
BetterLookNorth.unt.edu
text by Jessica DeLeón
photographs by Gary Payne and Ahna Hubnik
100 YEARS OF SERVICE
The Green Jackets and Talons both celebrate their 100th anniversaries this year. Alumni remember how the organizations shaped UNT — and their lives.
GREEN JACKETS
Becoming Green
In 1925-26, Beulah Harriss founded the Green Jackets as a spirit and service organization that has long played a role in assisting with university events, from lectures to commencement ceremonies. Cathy Krendl (’67) and Sherri Key (’71) joined the group in the 1960s.
Krendl: “The Green Jackets were a big force on campus. If there was an important football game, we wore our green jacket with a white top and a white skirt.”
Students had to go through a process to join.
Krendl: “You had to be nominated by a current member of the group and then you were elected. The Green Jackets-to-be were called Warts, horrible name. And once you were invited to come in, we had a period of time where we were required to do certain tasks before we could become a Green Jacket. The initiation process was interesting because we had to go talk to every member of Green Jackets, which I always thought was a good idea. That way you got to learn about the people in the group.”
Key: “We had to have a candy box. If we greeted a member, we’d have to say, ‘Good morning, would you like some candy?’ Everybody had a cigar box full of candy, about six different kinds.”
Krendl: “My main activity at North Texas was debate, and my debate colleague joined at the same time I did. One of the things you had to do, which she was incredibly good at and I was incredibly bad at, was give a presentation with songs. And then at the end of that period of time, they had a ceremony where we were given our green jackets and inducted into the group.”
Helping Out
The Green Jackets helped out wherever possible.
Krendl: “North Texas had the speaker series, which is wonderful, and part of our tasks was to distribute the pamphlets. We also went to
football games. We helped during orientation. Whenever there was a task that would be of service to the university, we would be available.”
Key: “If they needed help, they knew they could ask the Green Jackets to do it. They made you more responsible, because you had to make your grades, and you had to attend class, and they held you higher than just a student. The Green Jackets were really the spirit and knowledge of the college at the time.”
Creating Good Times
The Green Jackets became inactive in the late 1970s and were re-formed in 2006. The revived group reflects its modern times and what began as an all-female group expanded its membership. The initiation process changed so members go through an interview process, but not a pledge week. They volunteer at service events by request from UNT departments.
Instead of a full uniform, they wear polo shirts or jackets with the organization’s name, and slacks or jeans, depending on the tone of the event.
Members of the Nicks family — sisters Jude Nicks (’17), Esther Ferre (’12) and Bekah Grace (’12) — learned about Green Jackets on a study abroad trip and brought Bekah’s now-husband, Graham Grace (’13), to the organization.
Ferre: “We grew up in 4-H, and so we had been doing service projects our whole lives. You’re just helping out where needed.”
Bekah Grace: “We got to help with everything from serving meals on campus for different events to helping with a Veterans Day project, or graduation, so it was a cool way of getting to see all these different slices of university life.”
Graham Grace: “We all had to show up for graduation. Being able
to help people on their happiest day of college was fun. You’re always drained at the end of it.”
Nicks: “Drained in a very good way. I would say Green Jackets are usually the type of people who want to help keep the party going, and so they’re the ones behind the scenes, making refills and setting things out, because they want everybody else to have a good time.”
Fellow Green Jacket Luke Westervelt (’19) shares that same sentiment with the Nicks family. Westervelt: “I have always considered myself very introverted. Now I’m able to put myself out there and approach people and ask if they need something and ensure they’re having a good time. Green Jackets really allowed me to hone in on and develop those skills.”
Read more about Beulah Harriss on pg. 51.
The Green Jackets began in the 1920s and continued with current alumni, (clockwise from front left) Esther Ferre (’12), Jude Nicks (’17), Graham Grace (’13) and Bekah Grace (’12).
TALONS
When you attend a Mean Green football game or other athletic event, the Talons are there in full force. The first Talons formed as a fraternity and spirit group in 1926. They hosted annual social events and became a chapter of the Kappa Alpha Order by 1953, when local fraternities on campus began affiliating with national Greek organizations. The Talons spirit group as we know it today began in 1960 and created many of the traditions that have become the fabric of UNT.
A ‘Transformative’ Time
The Talons were an all-male group until the 1970s. Tom Hockaday (’78) one of its leaders, remembers the dean of students’ push in the late ’70s, after the passage of Title IX,
for women to be accepted into the organization.
Hockaday: “Most of the members were supportive of it, but it was a real change in culture. The university was starting to grow more. There were a lot of changes that were going on in that time period. Changes in America, changes at the campus and changes in student lives. Promoting athletic programs and school spirit were our main focus, especially urging attendance at games and our efforts to ‘Fill Fouts Field.’ And it was easy for us the years I was there, because we had a great football coach, Hayden Fry. We were at the time where we had to change the organization. We did more active things. Denton was so much smaller then. We would get in the Model A and drive through downtown Denton, go into the stores and ask people to come to the games.”
Light the Tower
The students in the 1970s also established one of the most iconic traditions. Steve Brodbeck (’80) had an idea when he was president of the 1975 pledge class.
Brodbeck: “We had to come up with a legacy at that time. It’s a project you do for the good of the university. Because I was living in Johnson City, near Austin, I saw the tower at the University of Texas lit orange every time they won. It’s pretty impressive. With McConnell Tower, we had a great opportunity to light that tower green when we won. Folks paid us $10 to paint their house number and a university logo on their curb. The University Advancement department matched our funds, and we pulled together $1,200 to put the necessary lights and electricity on the tower. When I see a lighting, I still get the same
The clothes and hairstyles may have changed through the years, but the Talons’ traditions have thrived.
feeling. It’s a lump in my throat, a tear in my eye. I’m quite proud of it, and I’m proud of the university. They’ve really taken it and used it as a good tradition.”
Keeping the Flame
One tradition that’s been popular through the years is the bonfire.
Brodbeck: “You’re young and you’ve got all the energy that you need, and you don’t want to sit still. You love doing things that are fun with your friends, that make a difference, that involve the university. We’d load trailers with wood from farmers. We built a way different bonfire than they have now. Sometimes people, just out of fun, would come and burn our bonfire a week before we got it built, so we had to sit out there with cars 24 hours a day and guard the place to keep people away from it. And that’s the kind of
stuff you just love the heck out of doing when you’re a kid. It was a lot of work. And it’s a lot of work now, but it’s a little different. They’ve got a better bonfire than we had, but ours was a lot of fun.”
Laura Goodwin (’92) says the bonfire was like an extra job.
Goodwin: “If you were building the bonfire, you lived at the bonfire, if you could. And then you would leave for class, and then come back. In between classes and work, I would have to call companies and find pallets. And most of the time, the answer was, ‘Absolutely, you can have them. They’re out back, you’re going to have to bring a truck.’ And that’s what we did. We brought whatever vehicles we had available and just piled everything in, splinters and all. When we built the bonfire back in our day, it was in a different place than it is now.
“ WHEN I SEE A LIGHTING, I STILL GET THE SAME FEELING. IT’S A LUMP IN MY THROAT, A TEAR IN MY EYE.”
STEVE BRODBECK (’80)
When we drove in off of the access road, the mesquite trees were there. So, we would drive over thorns in our cars, and then get flat tires. We’d have to fix the flat before we could get out to go home or go to class. I mean, you really had to want to build that bonfire. It was totally worth it.”
Today, Talons acquire the pallets by picking them up from various businesses and from emailing sponsors, says sponsor Tracy Frier (’02, ’08 M.Ed., ’18 M.S.). They rent trucks to pick up the pallets, but two companies — Fastenal and Kamps
— deliver the pallets with their semi-trucks. The students also use a sophisticated system, says Lashiara Wilson, a junior criminal justice major.
Wilson: “The assembly line is where you’re all stacked in a line, and you’re moving the pallets toward one another. Since I was more artistic as a kid, I went toward the painting for the boards. There’s also something called Pallet Hospital. We break down the pallets that are unusable or dangerous to walk on, and we use them for filling for the actual bonfire itself.”
Mean Green Machine
The Mean Green Machine, a refurbished 1929 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan that is driven around games and other activities, is another favorite. But it had its hiccups.
Goodwin: “It reeked of gasoline. When you got out of the Model A, there just really wasn’t a lot between you and the engine. As a girl in college, you’re going to the game, and you’re all fixed up, and then you get out, and you’re like, ‘Well, that’s awesome. I smell like a gas station.’”
Wilson: “I absolutely love the Mean Green Machine. It is so beautiful, and it does hold a very special place in my heart during the games. She is a little old. She’s fighting. We’re updating her as we go.”
Boomer the Cannon
Boomer began appearing at football games in 1970, and Rick McKinney (’90) redesigned the cannon’s carriage in 1987, renovated it in 2004 and added an accompanying cart in 2006.
McKinney: “Keith Swartz (’90), me and an engineering student named Alex Balic (’89 M.S.) combined our efforts and re-built the cannon. Everybody loved it. The original carriage was on a trailer made from an old pickup truck. Now it’s the museum-quality field artillery piece the university deserves.”
Wilson: “What I love about the cannon is just how much maintenance goes into it, and how you see just how much the cannon crew cares about Boomer.”
Spirit Bell
During games, the Talons ring the Spirit Bell to energize the crowd. The original bell was brought to campus in 1891 to signal curfew and class changes.
Brodbeck: “My brother and I donated the small bell that they use in the end zone. We secured that
bell because they retired the curfew bell to the Student Union. The small bell came from an old farm down in Johnson City. It was on the field in the football stadium, and when something good happened, they’d ring the bell.”
Memories
Thanks to their time in the Talons, the Swartz siblings — Sherman (’82), Rebecca (’84, ’91 M.S., ’02 Ph.D.) and Keith (’90) — are embedded in UNT spirit. Both Sherman and Keith served as president.
Sherman Swartz: “It’s just what you do. You’ve put a lot of your own time and effort and blood into it, and so you stay with it. You may disagree and argue, but it’s a family.”
Keith Swartz: “I like figuring out the puzzle of how to get all these people motivated and where they’re supposed to do the things that they
said they were going to do or had committed to. That’s why I stayed with it. Plus, I got to burn a lot of stuff and blow up the cannon.”
Rebecca Swartz: “I got to sew on the outfit that we had for the Eagle mascot, and everybody got to see it. It was an unsung hero thing, which is my gig, so I was great with that. But I always thought, ‘Isn’t this cool that I got to be a part of it?’ In my little way, I got to help with school spirit, all the time.”
“ IN MY LITTLE WAY, I GOT TO HELP WITH SCHOOL SPIRIT, ALL THE TIME.”
REBECCA SWARTZ (’84, ’91 M.S., ’02 PH.D.)
Lashiara Wilson, a junior criminal justice major, continues the Talons traditions today.
Capturing the Nation
Chip Somodevilla (’95), a photojournalism major, has served as a photographer for Getty Images since 2005 in Washington, D.C., covering political events, such as President Obama’s campaign stop in 2008 below. Read more at northtexan. unt.edu/2026/chip-somodevill a
“Political campaigns are amazing. It is not only an opportunity to turn a magnifying glass onto each of the candidates, but it's also an opportunity for us to travel with them across the country. You see different people from all walks of life. You see people there who are fanatical, wearing all of the campaign garb, the shirts, the hats, everything, and then you don't have to move very far down the line to see someone who's clearly not convinced. They aren't a fan, they're there to discover what they can about these candidates in person. It's a privilege for people to be able to sign up, go and see a person who could eventually become the political leader of the world, and listen to them, and if they're lucky, sometimes they get to ask questions and get answers directly from that person. It's an incredible privilege for us as voters in the United States. And it's a privilege for me to be able to cover it all the time.”
Serving the Country
Michael Burgess (’72, ’74 M.S.), who earned degrees in biology and psychology, worked nearly three decades as an obstetrician and gynecologist before serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2003 to 2025. He worked in one of the country’s most famous landmarks — the U.S. Capitol.
“You arrive there with every other freshman who’s just been elected. I mean, you have an orientation period, and you look around and think, ‘Oh my gosh, how in the world did I get here?’ You never get tired of working at the Capitol. Even when you're going to do something relatively mundane, or going to get yelled at by your Speaker because you're not going to vote for their bill, you're mindful of the fact that going up those winding steps to the Speaker's office, David Crockett walked these steps the day he left the Capitol and came to Texas. So it does stick with you, all of the history in that building. When President George W. Bush was in office, he did engage members of Congress, and there would be times it was a spur-of-the-moment, comehave-a-non-alcoholic-beer on the Truman Balcony, and he'd meet with a bipartisan group of House members. I would arrive in Washington, and my staff would say, ‘You've got a meeting in the White House this evening.’ And he personally would walk you through, ‘Here's the Lincoln Bedroom, here's the desk where Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.’ It was really quite striking.”
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Walking the Land
Lisa “Tex” Parker (’02), an art education major, is a former teacher who quit her job in the fashion design industry to become a mule wrangler in the Grand Canyon. In 2021, she completed hiking the Appalachian Trail, which runs 2,190 miles from Georgia to Maine, and in 2025, she hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, the 2,655-milelong trek from Mexico to Canada. Read more at northtexan.unt.edu/2026/lisa-parker.
“Hiking two of the country’s national scenic trails took me on foot through 17 states and 13 national parks. It immersed me in the history of the East Coast, the settlement of the Appalachian Mountains and the Civil War, as well as the country’s westward expansion with the Gold Rush and the role mules played in developing that part of the country. It exposed me to the grandeur of our nation’s diverse natural beauty and fauna through the spring, summer and fall, from the deserts of Southern California to the mountain ranges of the Blue Ridge, Appalachia, Sierra Nevada and Cascades. It also gave me an appreciation of the wonderful people who populate both coasts, as their openness, volunteering and hospitality are what allow these long hikes to be possible. I truly feel lucky to have experienced so much of our country in such a unique way."
More Changemakers
Meeting a President
Carol Paar Thompson (’73), a journalism major who lives in Tyler, is retired from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Texas. She previously worked as a newspaper reporter for the Tyler Morning Telegraph.
“I was 5 years old and lived in Waco when President Dwight D. Eisenhower visited the city to give the commencement speech at Baylor University. My mother took me down to stand on Waco Drive as the president rode past in an open-air automobile so that he could greet the crowds. As young as I was, I remember waving as he passed us. Sometime after his visit, my mother told me that President Eisenhower was ill. She remembers that I insisted on sending the president a getwell card. I received a note from the White House with the presidential seal thanking me for the card. I still have it today. This is a
"During the signing, I thought, ‘How wonderful that the whole world can celebrate Juneteenth. That finally people can see it was freedom for everybody — not just for the enslaved or for Black people or for Texans. For everybody.' … I hope that people will realize that by working together against the disparities we have now, we can get so much done — and so much sooner."
Opal Lee ('63 M.Ed.), known as the grandmother of Juneteenth for her decades-long work to have this day recognized as a national holiday
“At the end of the day, if I can look at the dome and feel I’ve helped move the ball down the field, then I feel good and know I’ve made a difference.”
Lorraine C. Miller (’75), first Black person to serve as clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. She served from 2007 to 2011.
“We proved that you can do topquality research in space, which is important for us and the space station program. We set milestones that we hope people will be building on 50 years in the future.”
James Pawelczyk (’89 Ph.D.), astronaut who was part of the Space Shuttle Columbia crew in 1998
MEAN GREEN
The Spirit of St. Lucia
Senior forward Megan Nestor played competitive basketball for the first time in 2022. She now leads the country in rebounding and has her sights set on the WNBA.
Mean Green women’s basketball senior forward Megan Nestor never played basketball until her freshman year of college. Now she’s dominating the court.
After transferring to UNT for her senior year, Nestor leads the team in games started, steals made and free throws made. She also led the nation in regular season rebounds with 435. Nestor, the only Division I player in the country hailing from the island nation of St. Lucia, grew up playing netball, representing her homeland in international competition from the age of 11.
Nestor immigrated to the United States in 2019 and was living in Connecticut, working two jobs after stalling out of nursing school, when she got a call about a college scholarship offer to play basketball at Wayland Baptist University in Plainview. She wasn’t sure about the basketball side of the equation since she had never played but considered the offer a sign from above.
“When I got that call, I just looked at it as God giving me another opportunity to finish school,” Nestor says. “So I grabbed the opportunity because of the full scholarship.”
The 6ˇ4ˇˇ forward didn’t see much playing time her freshman year as she learned the basics of the game, but her coach saw enough promise in her to renew her scholarship for her sophomore year. She proved a quick study.
Nestor couldn’t believe her growth after she scored a season-high eight points against Central Christian her freshman year. As a sophomore, she tallied 19 double-doubles (when a player reaches double digits in both points and rebounds in a single game) and was the Sooner Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. As a junior, she recorded 24 double-doubles and was named the Conference Player of the Year and an NAIA First Team All-American.
Listen to Nestor’s story in her own words on the "Happy Friday, North Texas!" podcast. unt.edu/podcast
Given her meteoric rise, Nestor began to consider the possibility of playing basketball professionally but knew that would require transferring to a Division I program to get more experience and exposure, which brought her to Denton. As evidenced by her stats, her trajectory hasn’t plateaued. In fact, she’s averaging a double-double and became the third player in Division I history to clear 30 points and 30 rebounds in the same game earlier this season when she scored 34 points and collected 31 rebounds against Texas Southern.
“It was all over social media,” Nestor says of her historic performance. “Candace Parker, she’s a WNBA legend, spoke about me. Being able to do that here, even when I had doubts that I was going to be able to play as well as I did at Wayland, but having the coaches push me to be better every day and my teammates, that really meant a lot to me.”
Even as her profile has risen and she has set her sights on the WNBA, Nestor has never lost sight of where she came from. As she was considering her many Division I options, during her recruiting lunch with Mean Green staff, she mentioned a desire to organize a charity drive to give back to St. Lucia, and the UNT team fully supported the idea.
“That immediately sold me because I realized it’s more than just basketball here.”
By the Numbers
3.457
Last fall, UNT studentathletes achieved the highest departmental grade point average in Mean Green history with a 3.457. For the first time ever, all 14 athletic programs earned a semester GPA above 3.15. Six teams earned the highest semester GPA in their programs’ history, and four others achieved their second-highest.
2026 MEAN GREEN FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
SEPT. 5 at INDIANA
SEPT. 12 vs. UNLV
SEPT. 19 at TEXAS STATE
SEPT. 26 vs. HOUSTON CHRISTIAN
OCT. 1 at TULSA
OCT. 10 vs. CHARLOTTE
OCT. 24 at NAVY
OCT. 29 vs. FAU
NOV. 7 vs. RICE
NOV. 14 at UTSA
NOV. 21 at TULANE
NOV. 28 vs. UAB
Read more about how Nestor hopes to give back to St. Lucia at northtexan.unt.edu/2026/megan-nestor Get tickets: meangreensports.com
On the Hunt
Norma Knobel Hunt (’60) was the “original soccer mom,” says Dan Hunt, president of FC Dallas.
“Mom loved soccer,” he says. “And she loved the people who made the game special — the players, the fans and the community that is built around the pitch.”
This spring, UNT officially named its soccer field Norma Knobel Hunt Stadium after the alumna who supported the sport’s growth nationally.
“Seeing her name on this stadium will be incredibly special for our family,” Dan Hunt says. “She would be so proud, and she would absolutely be sitting in the stands cheering on the Mean Green.”
An honors graduate, Norma Hunt was a former president of the Chi Omega sorority and mentored students. She went on to become a teacher and, later, a founding investor in the Chicago Bulls, the North American Soccer League and later Major League Soccer, including FC Dallas, with her husband, the late Lamar Hunt.
Clark Hunt, chairman and CEO of the Kansas City Chiefs and FC Dallas, adds, “She believed in the power of sports to bring people together, and we strive to bring her same joy, grace and generosity to our work throughout the North Texas community. Before she was our mother, she was a teacher, and I know that she would be thrilled to support the university in its mission to help young people reach their full potential.”
Doug Renfro’s (’84) job duties range from keeping up with government regulations to tasting new dishes around the world. Renfro is president of Fort Worth-based Mrs. Renfro’s, which makes a wide variety of condiments and is known for salsas. Learn more about Renfro, a member of the Texas Food Processors and Specialty Food Association’s Halls of Fame, at northtexan.unt.edu/2026/doug-renfro.
EAGLES’ NEST
CONNECTING WITH FRIENDS
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 5).
1959 EDWARD MYCUE, San Francisco, California, is a poet whose work has been published in more than 2,000 publications since 1970. He was in the first class of Peace Corps volunteers in 1961, serving in Ghana, and his book, I Am a Fact Not a Fiction: Selected Poems, received the 2024 Peace Corps Writers’ Award for Best Book of Poetry. He has been partners with Richard Steger since 1971.
1965 JO MERRILY WATKINS, Houston, is enjoying her life in retirement. An art education major, she taught art classes for four years at Dallas ISD before moving to Houston, where she raised her two sons and worked as a substitute teacher.
1971 JOSÉ DODIER JR., Zapata, was elected as vice-chairman to the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board. He has been a member of the board since 2005 and was re-elected to his second two-year term, representing the Gulf Coast and South Texas Plains regions. He is a partner in the Don José Land & Cattle Company in Zapata County, which the Dodier family has been operating for over 80 years. He serves as chairman of the Zapata SWCD and is a member of the board of directors of Workforce Solutions of South Texas.
1971
LOUIS G. POL (’73 M.A.), Waterloo, Nebraska, wrote the book Repurposed: Aging Well Through Humor, Resilience, Reflection, and Curiosity, a series of essays that examines how his life changed during retirement, giving him more time and freedom and a new sense of purpose. Louis, who studied sociology at North Texas, was a marketing professor and dean of the business school for the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He now spends his time writing, painting and traveling.
1972 MARVIN LAMB (M.M.), Norman, Oklahoma, has been inducted into the 2025 class of the Oklahoma Higher Education Heritage Society Hall of Fame. In 2024, he concluded a 50-year career in higher education teaching and administration, the last 27 of which were at the University of Oklahoma. From 1998 to 2005, he served as dean of the Weitzenhoffer College of Fine Arts. He then served as head of music composition programs in the School of Music and conducted the New Music Ensemble. He was appointed a Presidential Professor in 2019 and was named Professor Emeritus in 2025. His orchestral, wind band and chamber music has been performed around the world.
PLAYING HER PART
Michelle Fuller (’90) makes the most of her life in New York City. She oversees cybersecurity governance at New York City Public Schools; works as a background actor for TV, film and commercials; and serves as a volunteer for the American Red Cross in Greater New York.
While she’s appeared on shows such as The Blacklist, she can also be seen at tabling events for the Red Cross, educating visitors on installing smoke alarms and working sheltering assignments to assist survivors of a fire or other emergencies.
“I believe in paying it forward. I’ve been very fortunate in this life, and I now have time. I believe I’m blessed, and for that reason I feel I need to help people where I can.”
Kellie Delka (’11) got to experience the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, from serving as flag bearer for Puerto Rico to living in the Olympic Village. Delka, who was a cheerleader and pole vaulter at UNT and earned a degree in kinesiology, has participated in the sport of skeleton at the last two Winter Olympics.
Q: How did you come to represent Puerto Rico in the skeleton?
A: I had a friend who had met with the Winter Federation at a prior Olympics and he was like, “They’re trying to build their Winter Federation and maybe you should look into it.” In 2018, I talked with the Winter Federation about what their goals were and they were trying to get more representation to build it up. I was like, “I’m down to drop everything and move to the island and live here and represent in the most authentic way I know I can.”
Q: What was it like to be the flag bearer for Puerto Rico at the opening ceremonies?
A: It’s special to be the flag bearer and to be representing Puerto Rico because, being a Caribbean island, winter sports just aren’t a thing for them. I think when kids are watching, it’s like I prove that you can be in places that people tell you that you’re not supposed to be in, right? I want to create these dreams and these hopes for kids. Like, “Oh wow, I never thought about pursuing winter sports, but here she is, she’s doing it. Maybe I can actually pursue that, too.”
— Scott Brown
Listen to Delka’s story on the “Happy Friday, North Texas!” podcast: northtexan.unt.edu/podcast
WORK AND PLAY
Play therapist Ahou Line (’23 Ph.D.) runs on a tight schedule. She works with clients the first three days of the week and fills the latter half with consulting work, speaking engagements, writing, supervising and managing a private practice. One moment, she may be in an online conference with play therapists in Turkey, and the next, she may be working on her book, Working with Parents: A Resource Guide for Play Therapists, a textbook about how to engage with parents and make them a part of the therapeutic process.
Those experiences, combined with her passion for the field, have led to significant achievements. Line is the founder of Parent Partnership Consulting and received a $20,000 Allstate Main Street Grant, which she plans to use to deepen parent engagement.
“My favorite experience is when I hear back from parents months later,” she says, “and they tell me that their child won an award for their behavior or initiated a play date for the first time. It really is a gift!”
— Thomas Rooney
Read more: northtexan.unt.edu/ 2026/ahou-line
1976
DOROTHY LOVE (M.Ed., ’84 Ph.D.), Canyon Lake, has published A Season in Saigon on her imprint Leaning Oaks Press. The novel, set in Saigon in 1968, follows a group of female journalists who covered the war in Vietnam. Dorothy has written 12 historical novels for young readers and contemporary novels for young adults, published at Holiday House and Simon and Schuster. One book, I Remember the Alamo, was used in many Texas school districts’ fourthgrade social studies curriculum. She also wrote seven historical novels for adult readers that were published by Thomas Nelson/HarperCollins. She pursued fiction after a 15-year career in K-12 education and taught briefly at UNT’s College of Education.
1979 HERB WEIS, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, was recognized by Rhode Island College, which opened his collection of papers and work on aging at the James P. Adams Library for academic and public use. Herb wrote the 2016 book, Taking Charge: Collected Stories on Aging Boldly. A collection of columns from The Pawtucket Times and The Woonsocket Call, the book explores a range of aging issues from pop culture to retirement planning to caregiving. Herb received the AARP Rhode Island’s 2003 Vision Award and the American College of Health Care Administrators Journalism award in 1994 and 1999. In 1999, he also won the Distinguished Alumni Award from UNT’s Center for Studies in Aging.
1982 MELORA FERN DAVIS LEISER, Hillsborough, North Carolina, wrote her debut novel, Whistling Women and Crowing Hens. Melora penned the book about a woman
who joins a roadshow in the 1920s after learning her grandmother was a musician in a quintet during that same time period. Melora previously worked as a certified public accountant.
1983 BRET ADAMS, San Antonio, retired in 2023 after 15 years of working at three different state agencies, handling operations/business continuity, risk management and emergency preparedness. He spoke numerous times at the annual Texas State Emergency Management Conference and also at the National Hurricane Conference. He spends time playing guitar and singing at assisted living centers, learning pickleball (a challenge for a former tennis and racquetball player), running 10K and half marathon races and traveling with his person, Robin.
1983 PAULA MCDONALD, Granbury, received the annual Top Commercial Transaction of the Year award from Texas Realtors. Her project involved a historic property that was fully renovated and transformed into a multiple-business portfolio. She also was selected by Texas Realtors to serve as a regional vice president for 2026-2028.
1989 JAY SHELTON, Austin, published Life on the Sidelines of the Southwest Conference, which interviews game officials about their favorite stories from the last 20 years from the college football division. Jay has worked as a graphic designer, creative director and illustrator for the last 30 years.
1995 TRACY CARR, Jackson, Mississippi, edited the book Conversations with Ellen Gilchrist, featuring interviews with the late
GIVING LIGHT
Joshua Florez (’11) is always serving others. First as a Marine who fought in two wars. Then as a physician assistant in cardiac surgery. Now as the founder of Operation Ten Ten, a nonprofit that removes barriers to treatment for Texas veterans who experience post-traumatic stress disorder — which he experienced. The faith-based organization derives its name from the Bible verse, John 10:10, which says, “The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
He says PTSD acts in that same way as the thief. “I feel very fortunate to be alive,” he says. “I don’t want to see a single one of my brothers and sisters who served have to struggle like I did unnecessarily. They’ve already sacrificed for freedom and for their country. They don’t need to give up any more of their life trying to stumble through the dark with PTSD.”
— Jessica DeLeón
Read more: northtexan.unt.edu/ 2026/joshua-florez
CONNECTING WITH FRIENDS
RING OF MEMORIES
The UNT Alumni Association unveiled an 1,800-pound statue last fall of a UNT class ring that was donated by Jostens. Located under the arch of the Gateway Center, the statue is modeled after the traditional gold UNT class ring.
“We’re proud of our long partnership with Jostens and so grateful for their generosity in making this incredible new ring statue possible,” says Brandon Buzbee, vice president for university advancement. “For years, Jostens has helped us celebrate our graduates, and this statue is yet another way for them to feel connected to their alma mater and carry UNT pride with them wherever life takes them.”
Its proximity to the Coliseum, where many UNT commencement ceremonies take place, is sure to elicit plenty of graduation pictures. “My UNT ring is an invisible string,” says Grace Kadia, a pre-law and psychology senior and UNT student alumni ambassador who spoke at the unveiling ceremony. “That string binds us to this place, to one another and to the generations who will come after us. It carries the quiet nights in Willis, the constant laughter spilling from the Union, the connections made in student organizations and the community that pushes us forward.”
— Sean Riedel
novelist. Tracy is a former English instructor and librarian who has earned her master’s degree in English from Mississippi State University and master’s degree in library and information studies from the University of Alabama. As a librarian, she oversaw several statewide literary programs, such as updating the Mississippi Literary Map in 2017. She is a board member of the Mississippi Book Festival.
2000 JOHN POCH (Ph.D.), Winona Lake, Indiana, released his newest book of poetry, The Future of Love. John, a professor of English and creative writing at Grace College in Indiana, has written eight books of poems, and his work has been published in Ploughshares and Paris Review
2004
MICHAEL DON FRASER (M.S.), Henderson, Nevada, retired as book and paper conservator at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas after 23 years at UNLV Special Collections and Archives and 40 years in the library profession, earning the title of faculty emeritus. In his years at the Preservation Lab and Special Collections, he helped secure a $75,000 Library Services and Technology Act grant to update specialized equipment. He also received the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Conference of InterMountain Archivists, where he served as president from 2009 to 2010. There he developed a new marketing plan for the organization and helped create the annual CIMA Awards.
2005 ANDREW BRININSTOOL, Grapevine, wrote the true crime book High Desert Blood: The 1980 New Mexico Prison Riot and the Tragedy of the Williams Brothers, about one of the deadliest incidents in the U.S. penal system. Andrew is a National Endowment for the Arts fellow.
2006 PAUL WINGO, Dallas. A lawyer with the personal injury law firm Hamilton Wingo, he was selected for the 2025 Texas Super Lawyers list and the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America, based on his work in significant personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits.
2008 PRESTON HOWELL, Dallas, is the CEO of SouthernPlex, a tech and media company that acquired a strategic equity stake in the e-learning company Visionz Group. It will produce a TV series based on the book Going for It by Paul Salfen. He formerly served as vice president of O3Energy. While at UNT, he was a member of Sigma Nu.
2008 SHADAN KISHI PRICE (’13), Denton, has published Cookbook Club: Plant-Based Recipes for Entertaining. Shadan, who earned bachelor’s degrees in visual arts and hospitality management, owned the first award-winning vegetarian food truck in Denton and created a frozen food product in local grocery stores. She also worked as a kitchen manager at Mean Greens.
2014 MELODY KARLE (M.S.), Le Grande, Oregon, was named dean of library and learning innovation at Eastern Oregon University at the beginning of the 2025-26 school year.
Mean Green Pride
1 SAMUEL HOLSOMBACK (’22) and his wife, Avery, were ready to watch the Mean Green football team play against the University of South Florida Oct. 10 at DATCU Stadium when, 15 minutes before kickoff, Avery’s water broke. They left the stadium and baby Evelyn arrived 20 hours later.
2 THE GAMMA XI CHAPTER of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity celebrated its 73rd year on campus during Homecoming 2025, with members from the present to alumni like Dave Lipscomb (’59), 89 years old. Mike Cox (’74) is the alumni association’s president.
3 MOLLY MCHUGH (’25), an emergency administration and planning major, celebrated her graduation in December with Peanut, a chihuahua/ weiner mix.
4 KYLE (’18) AND LAURINA (’17) YOUMANS took their triplets — Noelle, Leo and Mikey, then 1 ½ years old — to a Mean Green football game last fall. Kyle, a converged broadcast media major, serves as on-air host and reporter for the Dallas Cowboys. Laurina was an event and sport management major while at UNT.
5 EDUARDO ELIZONDO (’23) AND JUSTIN RODRIGUEZ (’21) attended Homecoming last fall with their children, then 8-month-old Emiliana Elizondo and then 4-monthold Isaiah Rodriguez. Moms are Alessandra Elizondo (’23) and Myesha Rodriguez (’21).
CONNECTING WITH FRIENDS
HALL OF FAME CAREER
Terence Reynolds (’81) felt like he was meant to be in the advertising field. As a kid he memorized TV commercials and jingles. He pored through magazines, studying the ads more than the articles.
The advertising art major is chief creative officer for Dallas-based TRG, one of the best-known advertising firms in the world.
Last year, he was inducted into the American Advertising Federation’s Southwest Advertising Hall of Fame for this three-decade career.
“I love what I do for a living, especially when I’m producing video. It compiles my love for the arts — music, storytelling, cinemaphotography — all coming together to make something beautiful,” he says.
She previously worked at the Montana State Library and University of Houston Libraries.
2017 TRISTA EDWARDS (Ph.D.), Hiram, Georgia, released her poetry book, Death Roll, which uses Ocala, a taxedermic alligator-doll hybrid, to explore the loss of a loved one and the arrival of a baby. Since graduating from UNT, she owned and operated the Marvel + Moon candle shop for six years while simultaneously building a career in independent publishing as a developmental editor and acquisitions specialist at the Austin-based hybrid publisher Atmosphere Press — all while actively writing and publishing her own work.
2020 LAUREN KOSZYK (M.M.), Dallas, is an arts administrator who received a scholarship award from the Gena Branscombe Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the revival of music by Canadian-American composer Gena Branscombe. She
served as assistant artistic director for UNT’s CollabFest, the first international conference dedicated exclusively to collaborative piano. She is a pianist who was named a 2023 Top Piano Teacher by Steinway & Sons.
2020 LAURA VOKEY, Carrollton, is on the visual staff with the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps who won the 2025 Drum Corps International World Class Championship. Her focus is in music education with a specialization in the trombone, and she has served as the associate band director at Tidwell Middle School in Roanoke since 2021. Before graduating, she played in the UNT Brass Band, Concert Band, Trombone Choirs, Lab Bands and the Mean Green Brigade.
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FRIENDS WE’LL MISS
basketball beginnings
with wOMEN’S iNtERCOLLEGiAtE BASKEtBALL wRAppiNG up itS 50th SEASON At uNt — DAtiNG FROM 1976 AFtER thE pASSAGE OF titLE iX — wE LOOK BACK ON thE SpORt’S LESS OFFiCiAL BEGiNNiNGS.
The 1921 Yucca called Harriss “perhaps the foremost coach of girls’ athletics in this section of the country.”
Top left: 1918-19 team
top row center
Top middle: Guard Edna Naylor, 1919-20
Bottom left: A workout with Denton High, 1919-20
Other photos: These are from Miss Beulah’s scrapbook at digital.library.unt. edu (type “Beulah Harriss Scrapbook” in the search field).
Club teams existed on campus as early as 1906, but when “Miss Beulah” Harriss became North Texas’ first women’s coach and P.E. instructor in 1914, her women’s basketball teams played intercollegiately and went undefeated for three seasons (1918-1920).
A common opponent was SMU, a team North Texas beat 15-8 on the road in 1918-19 — even though, as the Yucca yearbook noted, “the Methodists had the advantage of playing on an indoor court.” At North Texas, the games were played on dirt. The uniforms also were baggy for modesty’s sake. Harriss later said the bloomers alone required six yards of material for each leg.
However, in 1925, the Texas teachers’ colleges banned intercollegiate athletics for women — believing strenuous activity and competition to be detrimental to their health. Harriss then organized what became the Women’s Recreation Association on campus, providing women with intramural and eventually extramural sports.
Harriss was not one to cut back on activity herself. She was the first woman to serve as an athletic administrator at North Texas, founder of Denton Girl Scouts, founder of the Green Jackets (see page 32) — and a co-founder of the Denton County Teachers Federal Credit Union, now known as DATCU. Retiring in 1960, she was said to have taught more than 15,000 students over her 46-year career. She died in 1977, as women’s basketball was on the rise again.
with Beulah Harriss,
PERSPE CTIVE
MeAN GreeN MeNu
Craving a dash of UNT spirit in your food? These local restaurants will fill you up.
BY JESSICA DELEÓN
mean Green can mean a lot of thinGs — a bit of guacamole, some jalapeños, a hint of mint.
Restaurants in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have concocted dishes inspired by UNT, its alumni and its traditions. Check them out.
the laKehaus, denton the Mean GReen BuRGeR
Rodeo Goat, denton
Mean Joe GReene’s salad
Woolley’s fRozen custaRd,
the Mean GReen concRete The creation features mint syrup
Named after the legendary football player and alum, this salad features mixed greens, applewood smoked bacon, hard-boiled egg, avocado, roma tomatoes, chive goat cheese, crispy jalapeño croutons, avocado ranch dressing — and you can order it with steak. The menu also features meals named after alums Don Henley and Larry McMurtry (’58).
lucKy BReaK
Mean GReen PoPcoRn
This sweet and salty combo puts a green-hued twist on classic
KoModo loco, denton Mean GReen Roll
Features spicy salmon, avocado and cucumber inside, as well as
