Everything Nac

A newly bestowed grant from the Corporation of National and Community Service will help Stephen F. Austin State University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs expand outreach initiatives for its upcoming 2020 MLK Day of Service.

The CNCS is a federal agency charged with leading service and volunteering efforts across the U.S. It was tasked with serving as lead national organizer for the federally sanctioned day of service, which first began in 1983.

Last year, more than 500 SFA students participated in the national day of remembrance and service, according to Veronica Beavers, OMA director. Organizers are hopeful both that number and the amount of submitted service projects will grow with the new funding.

“What we hope to see is people enjoying coming together, giving back to the community and celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” said Suzie Esquivel, OMA graduate assistant and event coordinator.

Nacogdoches community members are invited to submit applications for service project assistance. Projects can vary widely but in the past have included painting, cleaning and yardwork.

The OMA also is inviting SFA faculty and staff, as well as community members, to serve as site mentors, who assist with project completion while providing advice on leadership.

Service project and site mentor applications can be found online at sfasu.edu/oma by clicking the “MLK Day of Service” tab. The deadline to submit service projects is Jan. 5.

This year, the OMA is partnering with several local agencies, including Keep Nacogdoches Beautiful and the Solid Foundation Association, an alternative educational experience for at-risk students that specializes in individualized assistance. These partner agencies provide not only a slate of potential service projects but also on-the-ground volunteers and site mentors.

The 2020 MLK Day of Service is scheduled for Jan. 20. Check-in will be at 8:30 a.m. in the Baker Pattillo Student Center with keynote speakers beginning at 9 a.m. Members of SFA’s African Alumni Chapter, including Bob Williams, Gilson Westbrook and Willie Trotty, will serve as guest speakers.

It is recommended that volunteers wear clothes they don’t mind getting dirty and closed-toe shoes.

Volunteers can register online at sfasu.edu/oma or the morning of the event. Organizers strongly recommend students and community members preregister.

For more information, visit sfasu.edu/oma, or email oma@sfasu.edu.

By Christine Broussard, marketing communications coordinator at Stephen F. Austin State University.

Students from Stephen F. Austin State University’s Department of Mass Communication, School of Art, and Department of Management and Marketing recently took part in a competition for the American Advertising Federation in Houston.

Approximately 40 students from SFA took part in the competition, joining groups from the University of Texas, Texas A&M University, the University of Houston and others to form 10 teams.

The client for the competition was 76, a gas station chain with locations across the U.S. Teams were tasked with creating a complete advertising campaign for the client within two days, which they then presented to a panel of three judges. Winners received a crystal trophy and were encouraged to apply for AAF-Houston Education Foundation scholarships, with the added opportunity to continue on to compete in the National Student Advertising Competition in spring 2020.

SFA was well represented in the competition, as the top three teams all contained SFA students, and the winning group included five students from SFA, including Nia Brooks, mass communication junior from Atlanta, Georgia; Misty Boggs and Connor Payne, mass communication seniors from Diboll and Frisco, respectively; Sarah Bone, art junior from Richmond; and Kennedy Jones, marketing major from Houston all received awards during the competition.

Catherine Huh, assistant professor of mass communication; Peter Andrews, professor of art, and Dr. Marlene Kahla, professor of marketing; worked together to guide and support the students in the competition.

In addition to presenting their campaigns to the judges and hearing feedback on their work, the students also were given the opportunity to learn more about the upcoming NSAC competition and hear from a panel of young, successful professionals involved with the AAF in Houston.

By Kevin Meyer, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

As a kindergartener at an elementary school in southeast Houston, Dr. Michara Delaney-Fields fell in love with the world of education and aspired to hold an important position within it one day.

Her dream has since come true several times over, most recently when she was selected to serve as Stephen F. Austin State University’s new assistant dean of the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

“In this role, it is my goal to create a network of caring responses to our diverse student body,” Delaney-Fields said. “This would be enacted by ensuring critical services and programs are accessible to all students, as well as increasing their knowledge of the resources available to them.”

The office houses a number of student service-based areas on campus, including, Counseling Services, Disability Services, Veterans Resource Center and Health Services.

“We want to ensure that we are meeting the students where they are, that we are providing our students with the skills necessary for this global society and equipping them with the ability to be culturally responsive and sensitive through our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.”

Delaney-Fields received a bachelor’s degree in health studies and two master’s degrees, one in health education and the other in human performance and kinesiology, from Texas Southern University. During her formative years in higher education, she saw what was once a passion grow into a future.

“The biggest educational transformation for me was the observation and teachings of my department head as a young professional,” Delaney-Fields said. “I watched her have a daily effect on students and administrators. It was then that I decided my goal, despite previous leanings and plans, was to obtain my doctorate in higher education.”

To that end, Delaney-Fields was successful, going on to receive a doctoral degree in educational leadership from Prairie View A&M University.

For more than 11 years, Delaney-Fields has served in various capacities as an educator, advisor and mentor. She began her professional career as a teacher in the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District, teaching in the K-12 public school system for two years before transitioning to higher education.

“I have formed an unbreakable bond with this career,” Delaney-Fields said. “Although it is challenging, it is far more rewarding. I fell in love with being able to connect with students, faculty, staff and others in ways that enhance, develop and encourage a positive experience. Education has always been my passion, but it is humbling when it becomes your purpose.”

In 2017, Delaney-Fields and her family, moved to Albany, Georgia, where she served as interim dean of students, interim vice president for student affairs, and assistant vice president for student affairs and student engagement at Albany State University. This also is where she met her husband, John Fields Jr., SFA’s new chief of police.

“Dr. Fields comes to us with Texas roots and senior-level leadership in the field of student affairs,” said Dr. Adam Peck, SFA’s dean of student affairs. “We had an impressive field of candidates, but she really stood out among this group. In addition to her remarkable qualifications, she also has the personal qualities that are going to assist her in our mission.”

Creation of the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion officially puts a name to a long-held university mission that considers the student body’s ethnic, ability-centered, racial and background diversity first in all ways possible.

“This can include students who are in crisis, struggling with counseling issues, injured on or off campus, or who are part of our underrepresented populations,” Delaney-Fields said. “The intent of this position is to foster an open and welcoming environment where our students, faculty and staff of all backgrounds can learn, work and serve while embracing all human differences and building on the commonalities.”

SFA’s Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion is a revamped version of the university’s former Office of Student Support Services. As part of the office’s internal restructuring, it now houses the Office of Multicultural Affairs and no longer includes the direct responsibility of coordinating Title IX office operations.

However, regardless of the name’s alteration, “equity, diversity and inclusion have always been a part of the mission of areas like Disability Services, community standards, Counseling Services and other areas this position oversees,” Peck said.

“Though Dr. Fields has only been at SFA a short time, we’ve already had broad conversations about our short- and long-term goals for this position,” Peck added. “Our first priority is to help her meet and interact with as many members of our community as possible. Ultimately, our ‘north star’ is to make the experiences of all of our students better. We want to play a role in attracting diverse students, faculty and staff and ensuring that they feel well supported at SFA.”

Delaney-Fields is glad to be back in her home state and says she is already in love with Nacogdoches’ friendly community. She also is excited to help shape the restructured office in campus-wide, positive ways.

“Diversity is a call toward action,” Delaney-Fields said. “To enact diversity, we must be inclusive. To be inclusive, we must be equitable. Diversity and inclusion should not make a majority of our students feel intruded upon or a minority of our students feel neglected. It should be natural and business as usual. This position will create this network of caring responses for all of our students through the SFA Way, which highlights the five principles of respect, caring, responsibility, unity and integrity.”

By Christine Broussard, marketing communications coordinator at Stephen F. Austin State University.

Mariachi Los Leñadores, a student-run organization and ensemble at Stephen F. Austin State University, will present “Una Noche De Serenatas” at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 11, in the Music Recital Hall in Wright Music Building on the SFA campus.

“One of the traditions in the Mexican culture is to serenade a loved one with a mariachi,” said Dr. J.D. Salas, associate professor of tuba in the SFA School of Music. “This recital will serve as a serenade to the SFA and Nacogdoches communities following the group’s fall semester of rehearsals and performances.”

Los Leñadores will perform several well-known mariachi favorites, such as “Amor Eterno,” “Volver” and “Hermoso Cariño,” in addition to other traditional mariachi favorites.

The group was formed during the fall of 2018 by senior music education major Danny Chavera Jr. Originally from Dilley, Chavera drew from his own experiences performing in high school, where almost every school in predominantly Hispanic areas had a mariachi ensemble as part of the music education experience. The SFA group consists of student musicians on trumpet, guitar and violin, accompanied by the traditional mariachi string instruments, including the vihuela and guitarron.

Los Leñadores has performed at several local and area events, such as the Nacogdoches Dia de los Muertos Fiesta, the Texas State Forest Festival in Lufkin, and the Nacogdoches Multicultural Festival.

The concert is free to attend; donations will be accepted. The group has been fundraising to purchase instruments that will remain with the SFA student ensemble as its members graduate. Most recently, enough funds were raised to purchase a guitarron. Future fundraising will aid in purchasing mariachi uniforms.

For more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.