Everything Nac

Emily Rhoades, a voice student in the Music Preparatory Division of the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music, was recognized as an outstanding performer at the 2013 Texas State Solo-Ensemble Vocal Solo Contest.

Of the approximately 95,000 students participating in the regional University Interscholastic League music contests and the 24,000 musicians who performed at TSSEC, only 305 students earned the distinguished honor of being recognized as an outstanding performer, according to Richard Floyd, UIL state director of music.

“Awards of this nature do not come easily and reflect the efforts of many individuals,” Floyd wrote in his letter of congratulations to Rhoades. “Your parents, school and teachers are to be commended for their contribution to your success. I encourage you to share this honor with them.

“At the same time, remember that you alone through your own talent, dedication and hard work made this accomplishment a reality,” he wrote.

Rhoades, 17, who is the daughter of Stephen and Amy Rhoades, is a student at Lufkin High School. Her voice teacher is Deborah Dalton, associate professor of voice and opera at SFA.

A painting by Stephen F. Austin State University benefactor Frank S. Aikman recently was donated to the institution by the daughter of one of Aikman’s friends, the late Kenneth Kennedy, an SFA alumnus and retired U.S. Army brigadier general.

Susan Kennedy, who made the gift to SFA in late June, said the artwork is one of three paintings by Aikman that have been in her family for as long as she can remember. She knew Aikman as “Uncle Frank” and said the paintings traveled the world with her parents, who counted them among their prized possessions.

Both of her parents were graduates of SFA, along with her uncle, Dr. Joseph Kennedy. One of the university’s most famous alumni, Joseph Kennedy co-discovered the element plutonium. SFA’s Kennedy Auditorium is named in his honor.

“I have a lot of family ties to SFA, and this is the place where my parents met, so I am thrilled that the painting will now belong to the university where it will be respected and cared for just as they would if they were still here,” Kennedy, a Houston accountant, said during the presentation.

“I grew up hearing stories about Uncle Frank and his importance to SFA, and so it is very meaningful to me to be able to bring the painting back home, so to speak.”

Kennedy said she was encouraged to donate the painting to SFA by another family friend, Peggy Wright, former SFA regent and longtime supporter of the university. The painting depicts a tree-lined waterfront with mountains and fall foliage in the background.

Trey Turner, SFA major gift officer, said it has not yet been determined where the painting will be hung, but it will be displayed in a place of honor at the university.

“Frank Aikman has strong historical ties to our institution, and so we are very grateful that Ms. Kennedy brought this painting to us,” Turner said. “We have assured her that it will be very well taken care of at SFA.”

Aikman was born in 1862, and, in 1913, he purchased controlling interest in a popular hair tonic called Mahdeen. Considered SFA’s first great benefactor, Aikman donated $12,000 in 1924 for the college’s gymnasium, which was later named for him. The gymnasium no longer exists, but the street that runs behind the Austin Building still carries the Aikman name.

While on campus recently, Kennedy also donated two pieces of her father’s memorabilia to the East Texas Research Center at Steen Library, including a folder of SFA class notes dated 1937 and a journal he later kept at West Point in which he wrote considerably about his time in Nacogdoches.