Calendar Highlights: April 4, 2013

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Kelsey Reynolds
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photo c/o SMU English

Gilbert Lecture Series: The Department of English presents a lecture on Zimbabwean writer NoViolet Bulawayo by Elizabeth Tshele on Thursday, April 4. Tshele, herself born and raised in Zimbabwe, earned her M.A. from SMU in 2007. She will also read from her new book, We Need New Names, which will be released this summer. The event takes place in DeGolyer Library with a reception at 6 p.m. in the Texana Room and lecture at 6:30 p.m. in the Stanley Marcus Reading Room. It is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required.

Haute culture: On Thursday, April 4, SMU’s Meadows Museum presents “The Art of Fashion,” a lecture by Myra Walker, University of North Texas professor and curator and director of UNT’s Texas Fashion Collection. In 2007 she was guest curator at the Meadows for its blockbuster exhibition Balenciaga and His Legacy: Haute Couture from the Texas Fashion Collection. The lecture coincides with the second annual SMU Fashion Week, a five-day campus event in collaboration with Meadows School of the Arts, the Division of Journalism’s Minor in Fashion Media Program, and the SMU Retail Club. The event is free and open to the public and begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Museum’s Bob and Jean Smith Auditorium.

Ambivalent resistance: The Thinking about Agency Series presents Sherry Ortner, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at UCLA, on “The Case of Gendered Agency” at 3:15 p.m. Friday, April 5. Ortner has done fieldwork with the Sherpas of Nepal and has received numerous grants and fellowships. The lecture takes place in McCord Auditorium, 306 Dallas Hall, and is free and open to the public.

Slavery Symposium: The William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies and The School for Advanced Research present “Uniting The Histories of Slavery in North America and its Borderlands” on Saturday, April 6. The all-day public symposium will bring together specialists in history, anthropology, folklore and psychology to speak on slavery and the areas of the country it affected in the past. Panelists will present their research and results, and a moderator will guide questions and discussion between the panelists and the audience. The event begins at 10 a.m. in McCord Auditorium, 306 Dallas Hall.

Below is an overview of the day:

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SMU prepares for Founders’ Day 2013, Bush Center dedication

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Kathleen Tibbetts

SMU President R. Gerald Turner sent the following information to students, faculty and staff regarding SMU Founders’ Day and the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center:

April 2013 will be a month for history-making at SMU, as the George W. Bush Presidential Center is dedicated.  Although the dedication will bring an unprecedented influx of special visitors to campus, the University will remain open on dedication day, Thursday, April 25, so that the core function of teaching will continue uninterrupted.

CentennialOn SMU’s Founders’ Day, Friday, April 19, students, faculty and staff are invited to a mid-day celebration on the Quad serving as official welcome to the George W. Bush Presidential Center. That afternoon the University will also welcome several hundred SMU alumni and parents to “Inside SMU,” a program of short classes with faculty, and other events.

From Wednesday, April 24, through Friday, April 26, the George W. Bush Presidential Center will be dedicated with a series of events planned by the Bush Foundation. Dedication events are by invitation only, primarily for officials who served in the Bush administration, dignitaries and partners of the Bush Center. However, students, faculty and staff are invited to watch a simulcast of the dedication in McFarlin Auditorium on Thursday, April 25, starting at 9 a.m. for check-in and ending at noon. In addition, as with the groundbreaking of the Bush Center, SMU will erect an outdoor screen for another viewing opportunity.  In the afternoon, several University libraries and the Meadows Museum will hold open houses that students, faculty and staff are welcome to attend. We hope that Bush Center visitors will stroll around the campus to enjoy our welcoming environment and special resources.

The SMU Boulevard Block Party and Lighting of Freedom Hall, April 25, for faculty, staff and students, on the intramural field, starting at 6 p.m., co-sponsored by the Bush Center and the University. This will be a festive, entertainment-filled event with special guests and surprises and will culminate with the lighting of Freedom Hall atop the Bush Center.

A special SMU Day at the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. On Monday, April 29, this historic facility will be open just to SMU students, faculty and staff, in advance of the public opening May 1. In addition, while general visitors to the Library and Museum must purchase tickets, admission will remain free for faculty, staff and students with valid campus IDs. It’s just one way that the SMU community is being thanked for our partnership with the Bush Center in supporting its construction, dedication and ongoing operations. Students should watch their e-mail for more information on these opportunities.

Compiled by Sarah Hanan

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University completes property swap with Chi Omega

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Kathleen Tibbetts
SMU Chi Omega House at 3014 Daniel Avenue

The Chi Omega house at 3014 Daniel Avenue will become the property of SMU’s Division of Student Affairs in a swap for University property at 3034 Daniel. The sorority will build its new house at the northeast corner of Daniel and Durham Street. Photo from the SMU Chi Omega website.

SMU has made a property trade with one of its sorority chapters to take effect Monday, April 1, 2013. The Iota Alpha chapter of Chi Omega at SMU will build its new house at 3034 Daniel Avenue, while the current Chi Omega house at 3014 Daniel Avenue will become the property of the Division of Student Affairs.

Chi Omega will begin construction on a new house this year, and its membership wanted to locate the facility closer to the hub of SMU’s sorority activity. In 2012, sorority members began discussions about the exchange with SMU vice presidents Brad Cheves, Development and External Affairs; Chris Regis, Business and Finance, and Lori White, Student Affairs. Cheves helped negotiate the swap.

Later this spring, the sorority will begin abatement and demolition of the SMU Faculty Club building currently located at 3034 Daniel, on the northeast corner of Daniel Avenue and Durham Street. The new Chi Omega house is scheduled to open at its new address in Fall 2014.

The University plans to relocate the Faculty Club to a new visitors’ center, currently in the planning stages. Plans for the facility at 3014 Daniel will be announced at a later date.

The move may have a minimal short-term impact on Faculty Club events such as the Distinguished Luncheons, which are frequently held in larger venues due to high levels of interest. In addition, Faculty Club members will continue to gather in the Faculty/Staff Dining Room in RFoC @ Lee.

In recent years, the Faculty Club has provided office space for Alumni Relations and Engagement and the Faculty Senate. Both offices have moved to the University’s East Campus on North Central Expressway – Alumni Relations to the 6200 Building and the Faculty Senate to the 12th floor of Expressway Tower at 6116 North Central.

The month of March has been devoted to removing and storing all Faculty Club property from the 3034 Daniel house, as well as reusable fixtures ranging from faucets to door handles, says Alison Tweedy, senior director of campus services. “Facility Services will take out anything that can be reused or repurposed,” she says.

The SMU Faculty Club, which is open to both faculty and staff members, was founded in 1921 as a social club for male faculty members. A women’s club was founded in 1928, and the two merged in 1963. Both clubs held their meetings in Atkins Hall (now Clements Hall) until the male club moved to the second floor of McFarlin Auditorium in the 1940s.

As Faculty Senate president in 1972-73, Ruth P. Morgan, who would later become University provost, made it a priority to establish a new home for the Faculty Club. Provost H. Neil McFarland provided the property at 3034 Daniel Avenue, then a sorority house, in 1973. The club was officially chartered in that location on August 6, 1973.

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Sports: Men’s Swimming at 2013 NCAA National Championship

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Kelsey Reynolds

NCAA National Championship: SMU men’s swimming is in Indianapolis March 28-30 for the Division I NCAA National Championship meet. There are around 30 teams competing, and you can follow the Mustangs’ progress online. The women have already competed in their NCAA National Championship, also in Indianapolis, and tied for 24th overall with four swimmers receiving All American honors.

Tennis at home: SMU men’s tennis will play three home matches March 29-31. The Mustangs, who are 4-7 for the year, start the weekend with Marquette at noon Friday, March 29, Oklahoma State at noon Saturday, March 30 and finish against Idaho at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 31. All matches are at the Samuell Grand Tennis Center and are free and open to the public.

Soccer Saturday: SMU women’s soccer continues its five spring games Saturday, March 30. The women play the Austin Nationals, a professional exhibition team, at 4 p.m. at Westcott Field. The Mustangs have also added players to the 2013 team, recruiting Taylor Barg, Kelsey Gorney, Taylor Jackson, Madison Reisdorf and, most recently, Bari Kesner.

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(All images c/o SMU Athletics) 

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Calendar Highlights: March 27, 2013

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Kelsey Reynolds

Screen shot 2013-03-25 at 1.18.00 PMStanton Sharp Lecture: The Clements Department of History presents “‘The Hispanic Challenge’ and the ‘Mexicanization’ of America” by Neil Foley, SMU’s Robert and Nancy Dedman Chair in History. Foley will focus on the rapid increase in the Hispanic population since the 1980s and the fear Americans hold that Hispanic immigration will be the end of America’s “core Anglo-Protestant culture.” The lecture begins at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 27, in McCord Auditorium, 306 Dallas Hall, with a reception beforehand at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Please contact Mildred Pinkston for more information.

Comini Lecture: Susan Verdi Webster, Jane Williams Mahoney Professor of Art History and Studies at the College of William and Mary, will speak on “The Secret Lives of Buildings in Colonial Quito: People, Processes and Cultural Optics” at 5:30 p.m. Friday, March 29 in the Bob Smith Auditorium, Meadows Museum, Webster will discuss Andean and European perspectives on architectural production in colonial Quito, Ecuador, with the view that the way buildings are perceived within a historical context is based upon who is actually doing the looking. Learn about her unique approach to analyzing and understanding architectural production within colonial contexts at this event.

Happy Good Friday and Easter Weekend!

(Images c/o SMU) 

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SMU prepares for Spring 2013 prospective-student visits

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Kathleen Tibbetts

Students on the Laura Bush Promenade at SMU

Prospective SMU undergraduates from around the nation are visiting the Hilltop throughout March and April 2013. They include visitors in the University’s “Destination SMU” events for accepted prospective students, as well as potential President’s and Hunt Scholars.

“Our students, faculty and staff are an especially important part of this process, sharing firsthand perspectives on academic programs, campus life and opportunities beyond campus,” wrote SMU President R. Gerald Turner in a campuswide e-mail dated Friday, March 22. He reminded faculty, staff and current students to look for visitors carrying the distinctive red SMU drawstring backpacks provided by the University, which make prospective students easy to identify among the campus population.

“As you may know, more than 75 percent of prospective students who visit campus select SMU based on the quality of those visits,” Turner added. “Every point of contact is critical in helping these students gain a sense of the collegiate experience at SMU, whether you are welcoming visitors to your classes or helping them find their way to a campus destination.”

Visitation programs for admitted students continue until the Wednesday, May 1 admission deposit deadline.

> Visit SMU Undergraduate Admission online

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Sports: Women’s weekend, football practice begins

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Kelsey Reynolds

Swimmers start strong: SMU women’s swimming is in Indianapolis March 21-23 for the 2013 NCAA National Championship. After Thursday’s events, the Mustangs are in 18th place out of the 50 teams competing. This week, the women were also recognized for earning Scholar All American Status for the Fall 2012 semester; the team achieved a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.32. The men’s team was also recognized for its 3.09 cumulative G.P.A. You can follow live stats from the championship meet online.

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Rowing spring season: For their second race of the spring season, SMU women’s rowing will travel to Austin for the 2013 Longhorn Invitational. They will race against Texas, Iowa and UCF March 22-24. The races on Friday and Saturday will determine the matchups for Sunday’s finals. The Mustangs won their first race of Spring 2013 and hope to continue that momentum.

Springtime soccer: SMU women’s soccer will kick off their short spring season Saturday, March 23 at 4 p.m. The Mustangs play Louisiana Tech at home. This is the first of five games for Spring 2013, four of which are at Westcott Field. The team is looking to gain valuable experience for Fall 2013. Admission to all spring home games is free and open to the public.

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Season 2013 preparation: SMU football kicks off spring practice Monday, March 25. The Mustangs will hold 15 sessions to help prepare for the 2013 season. All practices are closed to the public except for the final spring practice on Saturday, April 20, in conjunction with SMU Founders’ Day Weekend. The practice and fan fair events start at 9 a.m. at Pettus Field.

This week the Mustangs added Hal Mumme to the football coaching staff as an assistant coach and passing game coordinator starting in the 2013 season. Known as the innovator of the “Air Raid” offense, Mumme joins SMU after four seasons as head coach at McMurry University in Abilene. During his college years, he played football at New Mexico Military Institute and Tarleton State University.

(Photos c/o SMU Athletics) 

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SMU’s DeGolyer Library celebrates Joe Coomer’s life in letters

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Kathleen Tibbetts
Author Joe Coomer, SMU '81

Award-winning author and SMU alumnus Joe Coomer will be celebrated in a retrospective exhibition running through May 24 at SMU’s DeGolyer Library.

The career and achievements of acclaimed author and SMU alumnus Joe Coomer is celebrated in a retrospective exhibition running through Friday, May 24, 2013 in SMU’s DeGolyer Library.

“Joe Coomer: A Life in Letters” explores Coomer’s creative process using handwritten drafts, manuscripts, galleys, letters, first editions, translations and other materials drawn from the literary archive he recently donated to DeGolyer Library.

The gift of more than 20 boxes of materials includes essays and stories, tests, a transcript and other papers from Coomer’s time as an undergraduate in SMU’s creative writing program. He graduated in 1981.

Known for his graceful prose and memorable characters, Coomer has published eight works of fiction, two non-fiction books and one collection of poetry. His writing has been praised by The Boston Globe as “fresh and authentic” and as “compelling” and a “genuine pleasure” by The New York Times.

The Decatur Road: A Novel of the Appalachian Hill Country by Joe Coomer

A 30th-anniversary edition of Joe Coomer’s debut novel, ‘The Decatur Road: A Novel of the Appalachian Hill Country,’ has been published by SMU’s DeGolyer Library. Coomer graduated from the University in 1981.

“Joe Coomer is one of the great voices to emerge from SMU’s English department and creative writing program,” says Russell L. Martin III ’78, ’86, DeGolyer director. “We are honored and delighted to have his papers, where they will join our growing collection of the archives of other contemporary writers. It is also fitting, during SMU’s centennial, that we recognize our own.”

A 30th-anniversary edition of Coomer’s debut novel, The Decatur Road: A Novel of the Appalachian Hill Country, will be published by DeGolyer Library in conjunction with the exhibit. He will sign copies and talk about his work at a reception and lecture Thursday, April 18 as part of the SMU Founders’ Day weekend. The event will begin at 6 p.m. at the library and will be free and open to the public.

First published in 1983, the book won the Jesse A. Jones Award for Best Work of Fiction from the Texas Institute of Arts and Letters in 1984. He started writing the book as an SMU student.

“I wrote three of the short segments for an independent study with Marsh [Terry]. He liked them, so after I graduated, I wrote 55 more,” Coomer says.

Terry ’53, ’54, who retired in 2007 as the E. A. Lilly Professor of English, founded the creative writing program and the SMU Literary Festival and became Coomer’s mentor and friend.

“Joe Coomer transferred into SMU and came to my office in Dallas Hall and asked, ‘Are you the writing teacher?’ I nodded my head and did my best, and Joe turned out to be the leader of our nationally celebrated SMU Literary Festival. John Updike and Raymond Carver heard him read at the festival and were impressed,” Terry recalls.

> Read the full story from SMU News

 

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SMU celebrates a decade of Relay for Life April 12, 2013

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Kelsey Reynolds

Relay For Life come back to the Boulevard for its 10th year on Friday, April 12, 2013. This year’s event theme, “Cheers to 100 Years of More Birthdays,” recognizes the centennials being celebrated by both SMU and the American Cancer Society. Together they will celebrate the lives saved during those 100 years and set a goal to finish the fight and find a cure in the next 100 years.

SMU student and Relay for Life Director of Communications Taylor Lack says she relays because “come this October, I will be 13 years cancer-free. I look forward to celebrating many more healthy birthdays in my life.”

Friday activities kick off at 5 p.m., with the opening ceremony scheduled for 6 p.m., including both a survivors and caregivers lap at 6:30 p.m. The traditional luminaria ceremony is at 9 p.m., in which lanterns are lit in memory or honor of a person with cancer. (Luminarias can be purchased prior to the event.) Each is personalized with a name, photo, message or drawing. A Fight Back ceremony at midnight recognizes the emotional commitment the fight against cancer entails, not only for the patients but also loved ones and communities.

The 24-hour relay comes to a close at 5 a.m. It’s a time to celebrate and remember the commitment participants made to continue the fight all year long.

There will be a survivors’ dinner on Thursday, Mar. 21, as well as during the event. The dinner is at Gordon Biersch, and survivors on campus can contact Alex Philipson for more information.

In addition to remembering and honoring the fight against cancer, Relay for Life helps to raise money for the American Cancer Society. “It is thanks to the selfless work of ACS, and the money raised by events like Relay, that cancer patients are surviving and thriving,” Lack says.

Last year SMU RFL raised $140,000; this year’s goal is $158,000. The SMU group has raised $55,753.42 thus far. The 2012-13 Relay for Life Board is the top fund-raising team with $21,823.01; Kappa Alpha Theta follows with $10,240 and Pi Beta Phi rounds out the top three teams with $7,325 raised. For more information on creating a team, contact Katie Schaible. The final team meeting is March 26, 2013.

Relay for Life began in Tacoma, Washington due to the initiative of one man, Dr. Gordy Klatt. In May 1985, he ran a track for 24 hours and with the support of his friends, family and the community raised $27,000. Relay for Life is now the largest nonprofit activity in the world; it takes place in more than 20 countries and has raised more than $4 billion to fight cancer.

For more information or to donate to the cause visit the Relay for Life site or SMU RFL Facebook.

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Calendar Highlights: March 20, 2013

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Kelsey Reynolds

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French Film Festival: SMU’s 17th Annual French Film Festival runs through Tuesday, April 9 with six films, all in French with English subtitles. All will be shown on the big screen in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater. The schedule for March is as follows:

  • March 20: The Women on the 6th Floor
  • March 23: Nobody Else But You
  • March 26: Mr. Lazhar

All showings begin at 7 p.m. and are free and open to the public. The festival is sponsored by the SMU French Club – visit their page for more information and the full festival schedule. 

More than a photo: Photographer Deana Lawson will be at SMU Wednesday, March 20 for the Meadows Division of Art Lecture Series. Lawson refers to the subjects in her photos as her family even though there is no blood relation; her work focuses on “the psychological, personal, political and historical experiences that are implicated through the body.” Lawson received her M.F.A. from Rhode Island School of Design and currently lives in New York. The lecture is at 6:30 p.m. in the Greer Garson Screening Room, Owen Arts Center.

A night in Vietnam: Multicultural Student Affairs invites you to to celebrate, “A Night in Vietnam” Saturday, March 23. The evening will include traditional Vietnamese food, desserts and games. There will also be a dance performance by the Vietnamese Student Association. The celebration begins at 8 p.m. in the Varsity, Hughes-Trigg Student Center, and is free and open to the public.

Collaborative Concert: The Meadows Concert Choir, Meadows Chorale and Diva Dolce  will perform a benefit concert together at 8 p.m. Sunday, March 24in Caruth Auditorium. The concert is titled “I Dreamed of Rain” after the song by Jan Garrett, symbolizing hope and forgiveness in the midst of troubled times. There is no cost to get in – instead, the ensembles are asking attendees to make a donation to the North Texas Food Bank. Donations can be made in person or online.

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