Top Ten Moments: October 2023
1. Celebrating Our Terry Scholars
It was wonderful to celebrate the nearly 60 TXST students receiving $1.3 million in scholarships this year at the annual Terry Foundation banquet. I spent the evening speaking with the students and hearing their inspiring stories. We’re forever grateful to the Terry Foundation for their generosity to the over 400 TXST students who have received more than $22 million in scholarships over the past 19 years.
2. Bobcats Stepped up for State
Thank you to the 1,475 donors who contributed $1.62 million in 1,899 minutes to support students, academics, athletics, and more during our annual Step up for State campaign. I enjoyed attending the coffee kick-off event under the Arch hosted by the TXST Alumni Association.
3. Wishing Dean Chahin the Best
Dean Jaime Chahin is retiring after a remarkable 36-year career, but we weren’t letting him go without a celebration first! Dr. Chahin is a wonderful and compassionate leader, and everyone at TXST will miss him. The celebration was capped with a performance by our mariachi program students, which he had a huge role in creating.
4. Watching “She Kills Monsters”
As an old Dungeons and Dragons guy myself, Beth and I attended and enjoyed the final showing of “She Kills Monsters” by our Department of Theatre and Dance. What a thoroughly entertaining show with great performances! Congratulations to our students, faculty, and staff on the successful run.
5. A Campus for the Future
The creation of a campus master plan takes many months and involves countless stakeholders. I was inspired watching our campus leaders take the first step in dreaming about the TXST campuses of tomorrow and hearing about how they see the future of TXST.
6. Serving Aces With SM Rattlers
A rowdy TXST crowd and I were fired up to see our volleyball team take down ULM 3-1! We hosted special guests TXST Athletics Director Don Coryell, his daughter, and an excited San Marcos Rattler crowd. To make things even better, I caught the game winner!
7. Insightful Graduate Student Seminar
Special thank you to Gigi Secuban for inviting me to speak at their graduate student seminar! I had fun listening to their thoughtful questions and insightful comments.
8. Celebrating Culture at Sacred Spring
What a remarkable tradition for TXST to host the annual Sacred Spring Powwow at The Meadows Center on Spring Lake. This was my second visit, and it was as incredible as the first. We had a record number of dance competitors and vendors! It was great to meet current Ph.D. student Adam and two future Bobcats from San Antonio.
9. Food and Fun at Round Rock Campus
What a beautiful day for our 2nd annual Round Rock Campus Community Cookout. I loved seeing our faculty, staff, and students all enjoy food, fun, and good conversations. We even brought out the t-shirt cannon!
10. Run To R1 Charge
Many thanks to our Vice President for Research Dr. Shreekanth Mandayam and our Division of Research team for hosting our second annual kickoff for the Run to R1 Presidential Commission at Freeman Ranch! My charge this year: How does TXST build on last year’s success?
BONUS: Empowering First-Generation Students
Beth and I have completely fallen in love with TXST, both its Southwest Texas State past and its TXST present, since we arrived in 2022. Like so many of our fellow Bobcats, we are all-in on helping create TXST’s future. As a first-generation student, I know the life-changing impact that higher education can have on a student’s life. That’s why we’re establishing a new endowed scholarship for first-generation students!
