Category: FEATURED NEWS

SMU’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development has welcomed a new member to its leadership team with the appointment of Ryan Cole as its inaugural assistant dean of enrollment management.

Cole was selected following a nationwide search and brings extensive experience in recruitment and admissions. He previously served as assistant dean for recruitment and admission at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, where he led strategic enrollment initiatives and student outreach efforts.

A Houston native, Cole is a proud SMU alumnus, having earned a bachelor’s degree in music education. He also holds a master’s degree in higher education from Simmons and is scheduled to receive his Doctor of Education degree in December. Cole said his academic and professional ties to the University give him a unique perspective as he steps into the new role.

“Having been a student, an alumnus and now a leader at SMU and Simmons, I understand what makes this community special,” Cole said. “That history allows me to connect authentically with prospective students and help them see themselves thriving here.”

Dean ad interim Michael Harris said Cole’s background and enthusiasm make him well suited to lead Simmons’ enrollment efforts.

“Ryan understands what prospective students are looking for when choosing a school,” Harris said. “He brings tremendous energy to this role, and I look forward to seeing his vision take shape. I am confident he will make a significant impact on enrollment at Simmons.”

Cole began his new role Jan. 5. He said he is eager to collaborate across the school to advance Simmons’ mission and growth.

“I look forward to working closely with Simmons faculty and staff to support our enrollment, marketing, communications and alumni engagement efforts,” Cole said. “It’s an exciting time to be part of SMU and Simmons, and I’m honored to help shape what comes next.”

SMU students, faculty and staff gained a deeper awareness of the challenges faced by families and individuals experiencing homelessness during this year’s Cooper Peace and Justice Lecture, Prophets at the Margins: Faith, Housing and the Fight for Dignity.

The event, co-sponsored by the Simmons School of Education and Human Development and SMU’s Office of the Chaplain and Religious Life, featured four faith leaders from local congregations and nonprofit organizations serving people who are unhoused or at risk of losing housing.

Panelists included:

– Rev. Richie Butler, St. Luke Community United Methodist Church and Project Unity
– Bill Holston, Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center
– Heather Mustain, Wilshire Baptist Church
– Wayne Walker, OurCalling

Each speaker shared firsthand accounts of their work and reflected on how compassion, courage and faith inform their response to the growing crisis of homelessness.

Audience members learned that many people in North Texas struggle with basic needs and depend on food pantries and shelters for daily survival — and that it can take just one job loss, illness or deportation for a family to lose its home.

The Cooper Lecture emphasized that faith, justice and housing are deeply interconnected, and that moral courage begins close to home. Through the stories of advocates, pastors and community leaders, listeners came to understand that housing is not merely an economic or political issue, but a sacred one — rooted in dignity and belonging.

The panel revealed that charity alone is not enough; true transformation requires prophetic leadership that challenges systems while offering compassion. Attendees heard that faith communities can serve as catalysts for justice and healing, and that being “prophetic” means showing mercy in action, building relationships, advocating for equitable policy, and affirming that every person deserves not just shelter, but home.

In addition to the panel discussion, attendees viewed a pop-up art exhibit featuring works by SMU professor Willie Baronet, creator of We Are All Homeless, an ongoing art and social project that transforms cardboard signs from people experiencing homelessness into powerful visual statements on dignity and belonging. The exhibit also included Humanizing the Homeless, a series of black-and-white portraits by photographer Leah den Bok.

“It was a joy to collaborate with Simmons and Dr. Robinson-Doyle to reintroduce the Cooper Peace and Justice Lecture at SMU,” said the Rev. Lisa Garvin, SMU chaplain and minister to the university. “This year’s lecture highlighted the importance of charity and justice — caring for our neighbors and working for systems that support abundant life for all.”

Dr. Laura Robinson-Doyle coordinated and emceed the event. “The Cooper Lecture reminded us that the margins were never as distant as we imagined. They have always lived beside us, sometimes within us. Bringing this work into the light showed that being a prophet was never about standing on a mountain shouting truth; it was about standing in the everyday, loving well, noticing the unseen, and moving toward need with mercy. We were all called to be prophets, each of us capable of being the hands and feet of love in a world that often forgets how near our neighbors truly are.”

The lecture took place Oct. 23 in Frances Anne Moody Hall at SMU.

Dr. Mag Gabbert, clinical assistant professor in Simmons’ Department of Human-Centered Interdisciplinary Studies (HCIS) and Dallas Poet Laureate, has launched the city’s first Sidewalk Poetry Project.

Gabbert, who was named poet laureate for the City of Dallas in April 2024, was also selected as one of the American Academy of Poets’ 2025 Poet Laureate Fellows. The academy announced in August it was awarding $1.1 million to 23 fellows across the United States. The fellowships recognize poets for literary excellence and support projects that engage communities through the power of poetry.

Gabbert’s Sidewalk Poetry Project is a poetry-centered public art installation in which poems written by Dallas residents will be stamped into freshly poured sidewalks in 28 locations across the city. She worked with the City of Dallas’ Office of Arts and Culture to create a website that houses an informational video, instructions for residents to submit their work for consideration, and educational resources.

Gabbert says the creative initiative aims to transform everyday walks around the city into opportunities for reflection, imagination, and connection. In a recent KERA News story, Gabbert noted that poetry has the power to “help us grieve and celebrate, navigate nuance and complexity, and overcome failures of imagination.”

Simmons is proud that Gabbert is not only inspiring the students she teaches but is also enriching the cultural and artistic life of Dallas.

Interested poets have until 5 p.m. on November 7 to submit a poem for the project at https://dallasculture.org/sidewalks-poetry-project/. Entrants whose poems are selected will receive a $150 honorarium.

See the KERA story at https://t.co/NZCWxuarbg

Friday, September 12, 2025, will go down as a day in SMU history that will not soon be forgotten.  Simmons School of Education and Human Development joined in the celebration of the inauguration of the university’s 11^thPresident Jay Hartzell in a big way.

The lawn in front of Annette Simmons Hall and Harold Simmons Hall was awash in colorful balloons, games, people and activities like Puppy Yoga that brought more than a hundred people out to join in the fun. Simmons’ inauguration celebration also served as a fun team building event for faculty, staff and students as well as a way to welcome visitors from around the campus.

Students attending the inauguration day event at Simmons said it was a great way to feed into the buzz about the growing Mustang Momentum at the university.

In his inaugural remarks at Moody Coliseum, Hartzell said this is SMU’s moment to reimagine what is possible and “to dramatically accelerate our academic, research and athletic ascent.”    Simmons Dean ad interim Michael Harris said, “We at Simmons already lead the way at SMU in research and are anxious to be part of a trajectory that accelerates our work even more.”

Harris added, “President Hartzell has Simmons’ full support as he leads SMU into the next chapter.”

Topics such as Child Marriage in Africa: Examining the Legal, Cultural, and Socioeconomic Realities Through the Power of Storytelling, as well as Islam, Healthcare, and Hesitation: Physician Trust Among Muslim Women in DFW are just two of the research projects presented by five SMU Scholars at the annual McNair Scholars Conference held this year at UCLA.

The McNair Scholars at SMU is part of the College Access program in Simmons and is designed to help students understand how to best pursue a graduate degree.  College Access Director Dr. LaChelle Cunningham says the program is especially helpful to first-generation college students and others who might not otherwise have the opportunity to pursue research.  She says it prepares them by helping them learn how to do and present their research, connects them with faculty mentors, and it gives them the opportunity to travel to other universities across the country to visit potential graduate schools.

McNair Scholar Tosin Ilesanmi says the program has helped her tremendously. “I now know how to approach research from a different perspective. Now I’m very confident moving forward applying for grad school.”

Cunningham says the SMU McNair program is very successful. “We see them entering grad programs, getting exciting fellowships.  We have students who are now attorneys and others who very close to reaching their goal of getting their Ph.D.”

During the 2025 conference trip, the McNair Scholars toured the UCLA campus and research facilities, met faculty and current students, and received information regarding funding and the application processes for graduate school.

In addition to visiting college campuses, students are given the opportunity to explore the local communities to feel more comfortable about possibly living in the area during the time it would take to earn their degree.