Everything Nac

Stephen F. Austin State University’s local Beta Gamma Sigma chapter in the Rusche College of Business won the Highest Honors achievement from the BGS board for its Collegiate Chapter Honor Roll.

BGS is an organization with approximately 600 chapters across 190 countries. The program grants awards to active collegiate chapters that demonstrate their membership’s involvement in BGS activities and events.

The recognition is based on a stringent point system that includes service projects, speaker events, leadership and more. There are three levels of achievement: Honors, High Honors and Highest Honors.

Cathy Henderson, Rusche College of Business BGS sponsor, attributes the award recognition to the high organization participation rates of SFA students.

“Collegiate chapters need at least an 85 percent acceptance rate and must participate in many events that equate to earned points,” Henderson said. “We have nearly a 100-percent acceptance rate, and our top students are engaged and eager to be involved. This adds value to our organization and specific projects, but it also earns us points, which leads to the highest designation possible within the BGS organization.”

SFA’s chapter earned points for participation in events that included the Rusche College of Business Passport Program, Toys for Tots, hurricane relief efforts and speaker engagements.

As part of SFA’s Highest Honors achievement, one SFA student will be chosen and receive free registration to represent the university during the annual Global Leadership Summit, which takes place in November 2018.

For more information regarding the BGS, visit betagammasigma.org.

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art and the Friends of the Visual Arts will present a free, one-night screening of “I Am Not Your Negro” at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

Written by James Baldwin, directed by Raoul Peck, and featuring the voice of Samuel L. Jackson, “I Am Not Your Negro” is a journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter, according to information at iamnotyournegrofilm.com.

Master filmmaker Peck envisions the book that Baldwin never finished, “Remember This House.” The result is a radical, up-to-the-minute examination of race in America, using Baldwin’s original words and archival material.

The film questions black representation in Hollywood and beyond. And, ultimately, by confronting the deeper connections between the lives and assassinations of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., this work by Baldwin and Peck “challenges the very definition of what America stands for,” the website states.

“I Am Not Your Negro” was an Academy Award nominee for 2016 Best Documentary Feature. The film is rated PG-13 for violent images, thematic material, strong language and brief nudity.

This screening is part of the School of Art’s monthly Friday Film Series and is sponsored in part by William Arscott, Nacogdoches Film Festival, Karon Gillespie, Mike Mollot, David Kulhavy, Brad Maule, John and Kristen Heath, Galleria Z, Jill Carrington, Jean Stephens, Jim and Mary Neal, Richard Orton, Nacogdoches Junior Forum and Main Street Nacogdoches.

The Cole Art Center is located at 329 E. Main St. For more information, call (936) 468-1131.

Voice faculty members at Stephen F. Austin State University will perform the songs of Ned Rorem in a recital at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 5, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

“Ned Rorem: The Art of Song” will highlight the works of “the most prolific composer of art song since Franz Schubert,” according to Dr. Ron Petti, director of accompanying for the SFA School of Music.

“He has written several hundred songs since the mid 1900s,” Petti said. “His songs are performed throughout the world in concert halls and universities, and many have been recorded as well.”

Rorem is also an author and has written several articles and books on various musical topics.

“I always think vocally,” Rorem writes. “Even when writing for violin or timpani, it’s the vocalist in me trying to get out. Music is, after all, a sung expression, and any composer worthy of the name is intrinsically a singer, whether he allows it or not.”

Recital performers include Petti, piano: Dr. Ric Berry, tenor; Debbie Berry, soprano; Nita Hudson, mezzo soprano; Dr. Garry Leonberger, tenor; Emily Milius, soprano; and Chris Turner, baritone. Milius will also give a short talk to begin the concert.

The recital is part of the School of Music’s Calliope Concert Series. Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.