FUN TIMES

GRACE HARGIS CARTER (’87)

A go-getter since she was a child, Grace Hargis Carter was very active at North Texas. In fact she chaired 16 university-wide committees.

“I was so overbooked as a student, it was actually crazy,” she says. “But I loved it.”

Carter became the frst female elected president of what was then called the Student Association. During that time, the organization oversaw a $5 million budget and the university was transitioning names from North Texas State University to the University of North Texas.

“We were a close-knit group of students who wanted to make the university a really fun place,” she says.

She kept in touch with the late Joe Stewart (’71 Ed.D.), who was dean of students and vice president of student afairs and mentored her through the process. She recently caught up with former classmates at a lunch.

After graduation, she used her radio, TV and flm degree to go into broadcasting. For 14 years, she anchored newscasts in Amarillo, Wichita, Orlando and Philadelphia, winning an Emmy Award for her series on health issues faced by Desert Storm veterans in Orlando. Now living in Houston, she works in TV production — ranging from TV commercials to corporate videos and is a real estate investor. She says her involvement at UNT prepared her for her career, from learning from her mistakes to fghting nerves.

“Taking leadership positions at a young age is really important,” she says.

—Jessica DeLeón

Better Than He Found It

ERIC ROMAN (’96, ’99 M.S.)

Eric Roman champions change through leadership.

Inspired by his father, who served in the Odessa Police Department for more than 30 years as one of the frst African American police ofcers hired there, Roman always knew he wanted to continue his father’s legacy in law enforcement as a police ofcer or lawyer.

Roman chose UNT for its top-tier criminal justice program. After participating in several student organizations, he became the frst Hispanic president of the Student Government Association and was infuential in bringing new food options to campus and helping develop the UNT Multicultural Center.

Roman’s infuence did not stop there.

One day in 1996, he found a pledge book with racial epithets near a campus fraternity. That drove him to spearhead a campus-wide march that fall that drew 150 students.

“I always have made it a point to lead via the tenet of servant leadership. I tried to leave my position better than how I received it,” Roman says.

After graduating, he went on to work for the Dallas Police Department, where he has served in several units, including SWAT and gang narcotics, for 20 years.

Roman believes his experiences on campus helped him attain the career he has today as a major in the department.

“I look forward to this last chapter in the career and a rewarding retirement,” he says.

Shelby Bahnick