Torchlite
February 2007For a printable version, click
here.
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| Dennis Parker, center, TLU’s new head football coach, chats with Bill Miller, TLU director of athletics, and Frank Arnold, TLU alumnus and former coach of the Converse Judson High School Rockets, following a press event held in San Antonio on Jan. 26. Learn more about Coach Parker in Scoreboard below. |
TLU Today
Presidential Search announces finalists – Lee Mueller, chair of the Texas Lutheran University Presidential Search Advisory Committee, has announced the three finalists for the TLU presidency:
Dr. Vernon Miles, Dean of the College and Professor of English, Lynchburg College; Lynchburg, Va.;
Dr. Suzanne Shipley, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty; College of Notre Dame of Maryland; Baltimore; and
The Rev. Ann Svennungsen, President of The Fund for Theological Education, Atlanta (to learn about these three,
click here). Campus visits have been scheduled for the three candidates in late January and early February.
“The members of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee are pleased with the quantity and the quality of the applications we received,” said Mueller. “The three candidates we have invited to campus have especially outstanding qualities, skills and experiences that make them worthy of serious consideration for the TLU presidency. We are eager for our students, faculty, staff, regents and other constituents to meet them and to share their opinions about the candidates with the committee.”
Following the candidate visits to campus, the Presidential Search Advisory Committee will make a report to the TLU Board of Regents Executive Committee. The Executive Committee will in turn recommend a candidate to the entire Board of Regents, which is responsible for hiring the TLU President. The next meeting of the Board of Regents will be Feb. 23-24.
Black History Month – “Remembering the Past…Shaping the Future,” the theme of this year’s Black History Month celebration at TLU, will encompass many activities during the month of February.
“The goal for Black History Month at TLU is to involve all students and the Seguin community in celebrating the contributions of African Americans and to provide a focus on the positive history, achievements and contributions to American ideals,” said Dr. Maria Avalos, associate dean of student life and learning. “By better understanding the positive contributions of another ethnic group, all Americans benefit. When we understand one another better, we are that much closer to having positive relationships with one another,” Avalos said.
Members of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, Black Student Union, and D.I.V.E.R.S.E., along with the TLU Division of Student Life and Learning are sponsoring the month-long celebration beginning Feb. 1.
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| Among the photos on exhibit during “Conversations With Katrina: 500 Days After the Deluge” will be “Fence posts in flood waters, Gentilly neighborhood. New Orleans, Sept. 8, 2005.” Photograph ©2005 David Rae Morris. All Rights Reserved. |
TLU to host New Orleans writers, photographers – In the aftermath of the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans artists used words and photography to express their emotions and examine the impact of the storm on their lives. On Feb. 8, TLU will host “Conversations With Katrina: 500 Days After the Deluge,” and a dozen New Orleans writers and photographers will share their stories of the storm. The event, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 5 p.m. with an opening reception and photography exhibit in the Annetta Kraushaar Gallery in the Schuech Fine Arts Center, and continue at 7 p.m. in Jackson Auditorium with a program of panel discussions of the writers and photographers.
Janis Turk, TLU English professor and one of the organizers of “Conversations With Katrina: 500 Days After the Deluge,” divides her time between homes in New Orleans and Seguin. “The artists of New Orleans have used their craft to rebuild internally and work through their feelings following the storm,” Turk said. “This mini-symposium will allow students and the greater community to enter a dialogue with the artists who are sharing their stories, bringing us all to a fuller appreciation of the impact Katrina has had on their lives and work.”
Featured guests include: - Tom Piazza, author of fiction, poetry, essays and the best-selling new book Why New Orleans Matters
- John Biguenet, award-winning author whose weekly columns and personal essays on New Orleans during and after Katrina appeared in the New York Times
- Joshua Clark, writer and editor who covered New Orleans for National Public Radio during the days and weeks following Hurricane Katrina.
- Ride Hamilton, one of the few photojournalists who stayed behind and continued to live within his stranded community in New Orleans.
- David Rae Morris, who has exhibited his post-Katrina photographs in Washington, New Orleans, and throughout the country and whose photographs have been published in Time, Newsweek, USA Today and the New York Times
For more information and a complete list of featured guests,
click here (PDF).
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Scoreboard
Dennis Parker new head football coach – Dennis Parker is returning to his Texas coaching roots as the new head football coach at Texas Lutheran University. Parker, 56, has been named TLU’s 19th football coach.
“I think more than anything I am grateful for the opportunity to coach,” said Parker. “I am humbled to be at a school that has produced Tommy Mueller and Jim Wacker as coaches and to be at a school that has produced players like Mike Washington, Phil Dunne and D.W. Rutledge. I am honored and grateful and excited to work at making this an exciting and meaningful time in the young lives of the TLU players.”
Parker’s first day as TLU head football coach is Feb. 1.
“Dennis Parker has the leadership and coaching abilities to take a program that has a solid foundation, thanks to Tom Mueller, to build on that foundation and to take us to new heights” said Bill Miller, director of athletics at TLU. “Coach Parker is very connected to the Texas high school football coaches. He has been very successful in Texas football, and he is a man with strong character and academic focus. We’re truly excited to welcome Dennis and his family to the TLU community.”
Parker has coached Mesa High School in Mesa, Ariz., for the last three seasons. Parker coached Mesa to a 3-7 record in 2004, a 5-5 mark in 2005 and a 7-4 record in 2006. Parker guided the Jackrabbits to the state playoffs in 2006. For Mesa, the playoff appearance was its first since 2000.
Parker has collegiate coaching experience as the head coach of NCAA Division I University of North Texas. He coached at North Texas for the 1991, 1992 and 1993 seasons. Parker was also an assistant coach at Southeast Missouri State University from 1977 to 1981.
Parker won a state championship at Marshall High School in Marshall, Texas in 1990. Parker took the job at Marshall after serving as the offensive coordinator for Converse Judson on its 1983 state championship team.
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TLU Happenings
Hui-Chy Ying ExhibitThrough Feb. 6
Annetta Kraushaar Gallery
Schuech Fine Arts Center
Recital: Soprano Jennifer Blackwith Sarah Lambert, Mezzo-Soprano7 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 6
Ayers Recital Hall, Schuech Fine Arts Center
Conversations with Katrina:500 Days After the DelugeThursday, Feb. 8
5-6:30 p.m. – Photography Exhibit Opening Reception
Annetta Kraushaar Gallery, Schuech Fine Arts Center
7 p.m. – Panel Discussions of New Orleans
Writers and Photographers
Jackson Auditorium
Front Row with Craig Biggioand Verne Lundquist (sold out)6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 13
Minute Maid Park
Houston
Art Faculty ExhibitFeb. 22-April 1
3:30-6 p.m., Jan. 18 – Opening Reception
Annetta Kraushaar Gallery, Schuech Fine Arts Center
XpressFest.07The 7th Annual Festival of Student Productions7:30 p.m., Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 22-24
3 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 25
Wupperman Little Theatre, Schuech Fine Arts Center
Vienna Choir Boys(tickets may be available at door)
7:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 23
Jackson Auditorium
TLU Band Concert7:30 p.m., Friday, March 2
Jackson Auditorium
For more information on these and other TLU events, to update your contact information, or to receive e-mail notification of
Torchlite, please e-mail
alumni@tlu.edu, or call 830-372-8026.
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