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Gina Oglesbee, Stephen F. Austin State University interim president, has named Loree McCary interim director of athletics effective March 11, the university announced Monday.

“Loree’s extensive experience and proven leadership within SFA Athletics ideally position her to lead during this vital transition,” Oglesbee said in an email to campus Monday. “We eagerly anticipate Loree’s interim leadership, focusing on continuing our legacy of excellence and community spirit within our athletic programs.”

McCary steps in for Ryan Ivey, who announced Feb. 23 that he was named vice president and director of athletics at Louisiana Tech University. His last day with SFA will be March 10.

“I’d like to thank Gina and the university for their confidence in me leading the Lumberjacks athletic department in this time of transition,” McCary said. “Taking over for Ryan is no small task, and it will definitely be a team effort with all the athletic department staff and coaches. I’m humbled to be given this opportunity. This athletic trainer never really imagined that this would be possible.”

McCary has served as SFA’s senior associate athletics director for administration and senior woman administrator since 2007. Her tenure at SFA began in 1990, when she arrived as an athletics trainer for all women’s sports, but specifically women’s basketball, and has seen increased responsibilities over the years, culminating in her current role. Her 34 years at SFA make her the second-longest tenured employee in SFA’s Department of Athletics.

Previously, McCary served as a graduate assistant at the University of Florida, where she was the athletic trainer for volleyball. The Girard, Kansas, native is a 1988 graduate of Kansas State University, where she served three years as an athletic training student. She earned her master’s degree from the University of Florida in 1990. She is married to Vance McCary, and the couple have two rescued golden retrievers, Berni and Silas.

ABOUT STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY

Stephen F. Austin State University, the newest member of The University of Texas System, began a century ago as a teachers’ college in Texas’ oldest town, Nacogdoches. Today, it has grown into a regional institution comprising six colleges — business, education, fine arts, forestry and agriculture, liberal and applied arts, and sciences and mathematics. Accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, SFA enrolls approximately 11,000 students while providing the academic breadth of a state university with the personalized attention of a private school. The main campus encompasses 421 acres that include 37 academic facilities, nine residence halls, and 68 acres of recreational trails that wind through its six gardens. The university offers more than 80 bachelor’s degrees, more than 40 master’s degrees and four doctoral degrees covering more than 120 areas of study. Learn more at sfasu.edu.

The annual Lifelong Learning Conference, hosted through Stephen F. Austin State University’s Department of Education Studies, is accepting proposals through March 17 and will be held June 28 in SFA’s Janice A. Pattillo Early Childhood Research Center.

This collaborative platform encourages educators to share innovative teaching practices and emerging research in a variety of presentation styles emphasizing this year’s theme of “Inspire! Create! Collaborate!”

“The conference will be a collaborative platform for local educators and SFA alumni to immerse themselves in an engaging learning community that shares innovative teaching practices and emerging research,” said Alyssa Landreneaux, conference committee chair and assessment coordinator in the Department of Education Studies. “This conference seeks to inspire and empower educators and communities to embrace lifelong learning as an integral part of their professional journey and thrive in a rapidly changing world.”

The three broad topics of “Inspire! Create! Collaborate!” allow for creativity in style and content. Conference organizers welcome submissions from a variety of viewpoints, including those of educators, practitioners and educational leaders.

“Our goal is to foster an interactive community that showcases innovative approaches, best practices and research discoveries in education with an emphasis on successful teaching techniques tailored to diverse learners,” said Carrie Wright, conference committee member and Project Raíces director, a grant-funded bilingual education program administered by James I. Perkins College of Education faculty members.

SFA faculty members are encouraged to submit proposals in addition to area educators and SFA alumni. Conference organizers hope the event will offer innovative and engaging sessions that address concerns teachers have across their experience and content areas, specifically calling for presentations related to the Texas Education Agency’s continuing professional education.

The Lifelong Learning Conference is a reimagining of an SFA conference in 2012 named the Lifelong Learner Conference, which was developed by faculty and staff from SFA’s former Department of Elementary Education. Today, the Department of Education Studies houses degree programs to prepare teachers across grades pre-K through 12, as well as all-level special education and deaf and hard of hearing specializations.

“Education is a dynamic field, and staying abreast of relevant research and open to innovation is critical,” said Dr. Nicole Letchworth, conference committee member and assistant professor in the Department of Education Studies. “In today’s classrooms, effective teaching involves more than just delivering information from a textbook to a classroom of students — it requires that teachers are constantly seeking to improve. New teaching methodologies, technological advancements and evolving student needs demand a willingness for all educators to adapt. This conference aims to allow educators to learn about the latest trends, tools and strategies that can transform their classrooms into vibrant learning hubs.”

For more information on the conference, including proposal submission details, visit gosfa.com/lifelong-learning-conference.

ABOUT STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY

Stephen F. Austin State University, the newest member of The University of Texas System, began a century ago as a teachers’ college in Texas’ oldest town, Nacogdoches. Today, it has grown into a regional institution comprising six colleges — business, education, fine arts, forestry and agriculture, liberal and applied arts, and sciences and mathematics. Accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, SFA enrolls approximately 11,000 students while providing the academic breadth of a state university with the personalized attention of a private school. The main campus encompasses 421 acres that include 37 academic facilities, nine residence halls, and 68 acres of recreational trails that wind through its six gardens. The university offers more than 80 bachelor’s degrees, more than 40 master’s degrees and four doctoral degrees covering more than 120 areas of study. Learn more at sfasu.edu.

By Parastoo Nikravesh, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University

If you’re looking for fast-paced suspense, wild humor and some ludicrously creative stagecraft, the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre and Dance’s performance of “The 39 Steps” is the ticket for an entertaining experience.

“The 39 Steps,” a play adapted by Patrick Barlow from the novel by John Buchan and the film by Alfred Hitchcock, will be presented Thursday through Sunday, Feb. 29 through March 3, in the Flex Theatre, Griffith Fine Arts Building, on the SFA campus. Directed by Professor Scott Shattuck, the play features a small group of student actors playing dozens of roles to parody the 1935 movie classic.

The play has been described as a “gleefully theatrical riff” on the Hitchcock thriller, so the student actors are actually portraying the members of a 1930s troupe of players who are scrambling to recreate an action-packed movie on a modest stage. Those actors are trying “anything and everything they can come up with,” according to Shattuck, from clambering over each other to play different parts by changing hats to re-using props again and again to create unique locales in more than 30 different scenes. Shattuck described his students as playing enthusiastic amateur thespians who are “in a state of cheerful panic throughout.”

“They’re swinging wildly from one overstated accent to another,” he explained, “changing bits of costumes and wigs whenever possible, reacting to countless sound and lighting effects which are sometimes late or early, miming anything that doesn’t actually show up on stage and hoping against hope for the audience’s indulgence.”

In “The 39 Steps,” a Londoner with a boring life meets an enigmatic woman who says she’s a spy. He agrees to let her hide in his flat, but shadowy heavies put a knife in her back. Soon, both the police and a secretive, nefarious organization are hot on the man’s trail in a manhunt that climaxes in a death-defying finale, according to information from Concord Theatricals. This Tony Award-winning treat is packed with nonstop laughs, zany characters, fast-paced chases, schemes, surprises, suspense and romance.

According to Turner Ring, student sound designer from Dallas, hundreds of sound cues, including music and both realistic and gimmicky effects, are so integral to the action that he has been attending rehearsals almost as if the sounds are yet another character in the show.

“In other shows I have done, there are anywhere from 30 to 50 sound cues that occur,” Ring said. “A cue is any sound played on stage, for instance a telephone ringing or a train horn. However, for ‘The 39 Steps,’ there are going to be more than 200 sound cues, which is far and away the most I have ever done.”

Ring started going to rehearsals as soon as the show was fully blocked, which he explained is very early in the process. “Usually, designers don’t attend rehearsal until weeks later,” he said, “but this has been beneficial for me to not only see how my sound interacts with the actors and show itself, but also so I can fix small issues that come up before they become bigger issues.”

Theatre majors Joshua Harris, Kai Crumley and Anthony Krosecz are among the performers, designated as “clowns” in the script, who portray multiple characters. “I’ve been trying to find a unique physicality for each of my characters,” Harris said. “Since the play relies on over-the-top comedy, this helps me create a solid base for my characters.”

Crumley, a junior from Kingwood, has been creating a distinct voice for each of the different roles she plays. “Each character I play has a different accent – Cockney, Scottish, Irish – that I try to make as distinguishable as possible,” she said. “Finding the register where each accent sits in my voice helps me differentiate age, gender and location for each character. Since the play is set in several different countries, making each accent as clear as possible really helps the audience understand in what location each scene is set.”

Giving a unique mental image to each of his characters has helped Krosecz make them more distinct from one another. “Whenever I think of ‘the milkman’ I go with the most obvious and just think of milk, and try to incorporate that into the character,” the Sugar Land junior said. “This ended up giving him an overbite. Milk made me think of bones, and I thought it’d be funny to show off his pearly whites.”

The students said they appreciate that “The 39 Steps” offers each actor a great deal of opportunity for versatility. “I really appreciate how the script provides us with the challenge and excitement of playing characters of all different nationalities, ages and genders,” Crumley said. This is just one part of what makes it so charming and fun for audiences and cast members alike.”

“I also greatly appreciate the laughs that my castmates and the script continue to give me,” Krosecz added.

The target audience of “The 39 Steps” includes tweens through seniors, but even some younger children (8+) may enjoy it. Drinking, smoking, violence and sexual innuendo are depicted, but all in ways that are cartoonish or benign. Profane language is minimal and mild. There are loud “bang” sounds, flashing lights, stage fog and lighthearted suspense.

“The 39 Steps” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 29 through March 2, and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 2 and 3, in the Flex Theatre. General admission ticket prices are: adult, $15; senior (62+), $10; youth (high school and younger), $8; SFA faculty/staff, $8; non-SFA student, $8; and SFA student, $5. For ticketing information or to purchase tickets, call the Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407, or visit sfasu.edu/boxoffice. For information about the play, call (936) 468-4003 or visit sfasu.edu/theatre-dance.

Stephen F. Austin State University announced Friday that athletics director Ryan Ivey has been named Louisiana Tech’s vice president and director of athletics. He joins the Ruston, Louisiana, university with more than 18 years of experience in intercollegiate athletics.

“I am so grateful for my time here at Stephen F. Austin,” Ivey said. “The people here are astounding and have a deep passion for SFA. I am proud of the work and successes that we have achieved over the last six years, and I look forward to watching SFA continue to grow and have success. Great things are coming!”

Ivey has served as SFA athletics director since July 2018.

“We extend our deepest gratitude to Ryan for his commitment and contributions to SFA athletics,” Interim President Gina Oglesbee said in an announcement to campus Friday. “Please join me in wishing him all the best in his new role.”

During his tenure, he led the department through a conference transition, raised private support, including securing the four largest single gifts in the department’s history, increased ticket sales by 18%, and completed more than $30 million in facility improvements.

“Ryan brings the experience, leadership, and understanding of intercollegiate athletics that we were looking for,” LA Tech President Jim Henderson said. “As an athletics director for more than a decade, he is fully aware of the expectations this role carries. We could not be more excited to welcome him and his family to Ruston to lead our Bulldogs and Lady Techsters into a new era of competitive excellence.”

Ivey, a graduate of The University of Memphis, has also served as athletics director at Austin Peay State University and Texas A&M University-Commerce. No stranger to Louisiana, prior to his most recent roles, he spent nearly six years at McNeese State University. Ivey will officially take the helm at Tech next month.

Ivey was selected following a national search that attracted dozens of well-qualified applicants.

“The ever-changing landscape of collegiate athletics demands a nimble leader committed to not only reacting to the whims of business and policy but one committed to proactively positioning the department for success,” Henderson continued. “Ryan is fully prepared for the task of advancing Louisiana Tech athletics along with our coaches, support staff, and most importantly, our more than 350 student athletes.”

ABOUT STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY

Stephen F. Austin State University, the newest member of The University of Texas System, began a century ago as a teachers’ college in Texas’ oldest town, Nacogdoches. Today, it has grown into a regional institution comprising six colleges — business, education, fine arts, forestry and agriculture, liberal and applied arts, and sciences and mathematics. Accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, SFA enrolls approximately 11,000 students while providing the academic breadth of a state university with the personalized attention of a private school. The main campus encompasses 421 acres that include 37 academic facilities, nine residence halls, and 68 acres of recreational trails that wind through its six gardens. The university offers more than 80 bachelor’s degrees, more than 40 master’s degrees and four doctoral degrees covering more than 120 areas of study. Learn more at sfasu.edu.

“Longleaf,” a multimedia work that tells the story of the now-endangered native longleaf pine forest of East Texas, will premiere at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 7, in Cole Concert Hall, Wright Music Building, on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus.

Commissioned by Houston-based new music ensemble Loop38 and created by Dr. Ben Morris, assistant professor of composition at SFA, “Longleaf” traces the history of the longleaf tree and the timber industry in East Texas with video projections, historical photographs, natural soundscapes and music, raising awareness about the ecological importance of native forests and their reliance on prescribed fire, according to Morris.

“When you look deeper into the history of the pine forests of East Texas, there’s a rich tapestry of different people engaging with the landscape,” he said. “The original pine forest habitat of the area, the longleaf pine, is a fascinating fire-adapted tree that relies on frequent burns, both natural and manmade, to keep the landscape open. In this piece, I wanted to capture that unique pine savannah landscape through sound and visuals, recording immersive multi-channel audio of the fauna, flora and weather events you might hear there. The musicians in the ensemble interact with this soundscape throughout the work.”

The project was funded in part by an SFA Fine Arts Faculty Excellence Grant and includes collaborations with the Nature Conservancy, the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture and SFA students. The project also received support from the Mid-America Arts Alliance, Texas Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Loop38 will conduct a residency at SFA working with student musicians. Their premiere performance of “Longleaf” will be accompanied by a recording session, several outreach events such as masterclasses, a panel discussion featuring a question-and-answer session with longleaf expert Shawn Benedict, and a walking tour of Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary, a remaining stand of longleaf pine near Kountze.

“I want to engage the local community through this piece,” Morris said. “Shawn Benedict, who works at the Nature Conservancy, will be present for a Q-and-A session after the premiere of the work. As a manager of Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary, he provides insight into how prescribed fires work to rejuvenate the landscape.

“Having a professional ensemble, Loop38, present on campus will be a great opportunity for the students to engage with working musicians,” he added. “The group will read through student compositions and give a composition studio class about running an ensemble and working with composers. I hope to inspire students with interdisciplinary projects that bring in experts from many areas and encourage them to collaborate with individuals outside their field.”

Cole Concert Hall is located in the Wright Music Building, 2210 Alumni Drive. Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. To purchase tickets, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit sfasu.edu/boxoffice. For additional information, contact the SFA School of Music at (936) 468-4602.

For more information about the Nature Conservancy/Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary, visit https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/roy-e-larsen-sandyland-sanctuary/. For more information about Loop38, visit https://www.loop38.org/.