Everything Nac

In celebration of the passage of the 19th Amendment, the bells of Griffith Fine Arts Building on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus will ring 19 times shortly after noon on Wednesday, Aug. 26, to commemorate the U.S. Constitution article that guaranteed women the right to vote.

The 19th Amendment states the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. It was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, ratified on Aug. 18 then certified on Aug. 26 of 1920, formally adding it to the U.S. Constitution and providing suffrage to all citizens.

Starting in fall 2018, a group of local interested people – Nineteenth Amendment Celebration, or NAC – began meeting to plan events for 2020 to commemorate the passage of the amendment, according to Dr. Dana Cooper, professor of history at SFA. The onset of COVID-19 changed those plans.

“The Nineteenth Amendment Celebration group had such good intentions for 2020,” Cooper said. Among the events were readings, symposiums, exhibitions, living histories and more.

According to Cooper, the fight for the right to vote was a long struggle that officially began in 1848 with the Seneca Falls convention, which was attended by some 300 men and women. During the conference, Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote the Declaration of Sentiments, which outlined the rationale for women’s suffrage and was based upon the Declaration of Independence. Stanton’s document was signed by 100 people, including 68 women and 32 men.

“This is typically considered the formal beginning of the fight for suffrage in the United States,” Cooper said.

Numerous battles ensued in the courts and at the state level, and many women attained suffrage in specific states before the amendment was ratified at the federal level. Texas voted to ratify the 19th Amendment on June 28, 1919, making it the first southern state to do so.

“As one of the original events planned by NAC to commemorate this moment in history, the ringing of the bells on Aug. 26 will honor the long fight – by so many and for so long,” Cooper said. “Different people of different backgrounds, perspectives and races fought for decades to provide equality at the polls and the opportunity to partake in democracy, a process that is arguably more important than ever.”

Plans are underway to move some of the planned commemoration events to Zoom so that the celebration can continue on campus and within the community, regardless of the restrictions imposed by social distancing, according to Dr. Linda Levitt, professor of communication studies at SFA.

“We want to find ways to continue our celebration despite the need to change our context,” she said.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s Sound Recording Technology program has caught the eye of Audinate, the global leader of professional digital audio networking, for SRT’s cutting-edge use of Audinate’s Dante platform.

Audinate showcased SFA’s use of Dante in a recent industry article touting the platform’s innovative capabilities. The article has been picked up and distributed by multiple media outlets and read by thousands of industry professionals.

SRT director James Adams, assistant professor in SFA’s School of Music and director of the SRT program, has been integrating Audinate’s Dante across multiple studios and stages on the SFA campus for the past two years. Recruited out of Los Angeles to come to SFA in 2016, Adams said he reconnected in 2018 with West Coast studios he knew there, and that’s when the conversion began.

“I was looking for a high-quality and cost-effective replacement to a piece of audio equipment in our studio,” Adams said. “Through my research and discussions with colleagues in the industry, I became aware of a product that satisfied my then-immediate needs while offering modular expansion abilities for the future: Focusrite Red Net equipment (a Dante enable product). That is how it all began. The Red Net products satisfied our needs at the time and opened up a world of possibilities that we were not aware of. Fast forward to today, and we are continuing to discover new, innovative ways to deliver instruction, operate productions and record music.”

The Audinate article defined Dante as “the de facto standard for digital audio networking, and distributes hundreds of uncompressed, multi-channel digital audio via standard Ethernet networks, with near-zero latency and perfect synchronization.” Dante allows audio, control and all other data to coexist effectively on the same network.

During the campus integration of Dante, Adams not only wanted to enhance university technology, he also wanted to heighten instructional offerings at SFA, a goal that was initially achieved through a large-scale test with one of the university’s major jazz productions.

“The traditional workflow for the performance was your standard front-of-house endeavor,” Adams was quoted in the Audinate article. “It worked, but it wasn’t flexible, and it wouldn’t allow us to get additional technologies or students involved.” By converting to a Dante-backed audio-over-IP system, Adams was able to significantly alter the workflow so multiple students were actively engaging with the production – allowing for more hands-on educational components and a more robust digital production, the article explained.

In addition to the publicity being a feather in SRT’s cap, the article is proving to be a great recruiting tool, said Adams, who has recently become a Dante Certification Instructor. Beginning in the spring, SRT will incorporate Dante certification into the curriculum and will begin certifying students. Knowing how to incorporate Dante capabilities into studios will give SFA SRT graduates an edge in the job market, Adams added.

“Students already learn Dante to operate our studio, and now we will be able to get them formal certifications,” Adams said. “With this, students’ employment qualifications in our industry are further elevated. I hope that they can see our level of dedication to overcoming traditional technological barriers to deliver an elevated educational experience.”

Student response to Dante has been enthusiastic, according to Adams.

“They think it is magic, and to be honest, it is,” he said. “Proper operation of the technology requires specialized training. Once students make it over the initial phase of intimidation – there are a lot of buttons and it can be overwhelming when first wrapping your head around it – they all have the ‘Ah Ha!’ moment.”

The Audinate article further demonstrates to prospective employers that SFA’s SRT program is at the forefront of recording arts technology and education.

“Knowledge of networked audio is growing in demand among employers in the music and production industries,” Adams said. “If potential employers read this article, they will learn that our students are gaining very advanced, in-depth experience with Dante operations and music production.”

“This technology is being adopted throughout the music industry because of its cost efficiency, reliability, and flexible, ease of use,” he added. “Our students are being trained in the operations of Dante and similar technologies which further expands their marketable skills.”

For more information about the Sound Recording Technology program at SFA, contact Adams at adamsjf@sfasu.edu.

“Shining Light and Joy in our Community,” a service project by the Beta Upsilon chapter of the Phi Upsilon Omicron national honor society for family and consumer sciences at Stephen F. Austin State University, received the 2020 National Professional Project Award from Phi Upsilon Omicron’s national council.

The award, which includes a plaque, a certificate and $150, recognizes projects that promote academic excellence while enhancing the leadership skills and professional knowledge needed to serve individuals, families and the community.

One of 53 active Phi Upsilon Omicron collegiate chapters nationally, the Beta Upsilon chapter was established at SFA in 1973 and has approximately 50 members who are students in SFA’s School of Human Sciences.

For their annual service project, members conducted activities to raise awareness about the number of Nacogdoches children living in poverty.

These activities included a nap mat donation to elementary schools in the Nacogdoches Independent School District, an underwear and sock drive for school-age children and a resource fair with the theme “A Roadshow to a Brighter Future.”

The service project involved collaboration with NISD social workers, City of Nacogdoches officials, the Nacogdoches Farmer’s Market and local businesses and churches. Working with these different groups across the community helps prepare SFA human sciences students for their careers.

“It took an enormous amount of time and effort to take this project from planning to implementation to evaluation, so the feeling of our hard work paying off and recognition on a national level is indescribable,” said Tracie Estepp, a graduate student in human sciences from Georgetown who was vice president of the Beta Upsilon chapter during the service project. “This is validation that we made a positive impact on the community.”

Sierra Smith of McKinney, who recently graduated from SFA with a bachelor’s degree in hospitality administration, was chapter president during the service project.

“I’m overjoyed we won first place at nationals, but to me, we won every time we were able to help our community,” Smith said. “In my eyes, that was the greatest achievement we could have accomplished — knowing I was able to help the community that took me in with open arms four years ago.”

With help from Walmart, the Beta Upsilon chapter was able to donate 30 nap mats to NISD elementary schools. Lumberjack Harley-Davidson, M&S Pharmacy and Tipton Ford, along with several departments on the SFA campus, helped the honor society collect 813 pairs of socks and 588 pairs of underwear for NISD children in need. And local businesses and churches helped the chapter raise $1,105 in Walmart gift cards, which social workers use to help families on an individual, case-by-case basis when other community, nonfinancial resources have been exhausted.

“We are so lucky SFA is part of such a fantastic community full of businesses and organizations willing to form partnerships with student organizations,” Estepp said. “That allowed us to gain invaluable experience; we could not have done this without them. I cannot wait to see the plaque hanging at SFA!”

Like other student organizations, the chapter faced some challenges to completing its service project when COVID-19 hit in the spring, but Phi Upsilon Omicron members “were able to turn around and make the most of something during this pandemic,” Smith said.

Originally, members were planning to make “Take What You Need” boards that provided words of encouragement to students attending NISD middle and elementary schools. When schools shut down, the encouraging notes were delivered at NISD meal pickups and went to any school-age child attending NISD schools. NISD’s National Honor Society and SFA student organizations assisted the Beta Upsilon chapter in writing nearly 900 notecards.

“I can’t express how proud I am of our members,” Smith said. “I’m proud I was able to be part of this wonderful organization and part of this amazing project.”

In 2019, the Beta Upsilon chapter’s service project earned second place at the national level, said Dr. Jennifer Newquist, assistant professor in SFA’s School of Human Sciences and a faculty advisor for the chapter. That project involved assisting the Family Crisis Center of East Texas, Nacogdoches’ Helping Other People Eat food pantry and Godtel Ministries.

“Winning first place with our professional project shows how hard the members of our honor society work year after year to serve the community that helps them prepare for their future careers,” Newquist said.

Dr. Donna Fickes, clinical instructor in SFA’s School of Human Sciences and another faculty advisor for the chapter, also is grateful for the recognition.

“I am so excited to see our SFA human sciences students recognized for the positive influences they have on individuals, families and the community,” Fickes said. “These students are truly transforming their learning experience in preparation for bright futures ahead.”

For more information on the Beta Upsilon chapter of the Phi Upsilon Omicron national honor society for family and consumer sciences, contact Newquist at newquistjl@sfasu.edu.

By Jo Gilmore, marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

A traveling exhibition of local photographer Richard Orton’s images of the Upshaw family of Nacogdoches County, currently showing in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House, will be on display through Saturday, Aug. 22.

The photographs, which have been featured in an exhibition that’s been traveling across Texas for the past three years, are the focus of Orton’s book, “The Upshaws of County Line: An American Family,” which is a documentation of the County Line community’s history through photographs and oral histories of the families who lived there.

“The Upshaws of County Line: An American Family” is the winner of Ottis Locke Best Coffee Table Book Award from the East Texas Historical Association. The more than 50 duotone photographs and text convey the contemporary experience of growing up in a “freedom colony.”

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cole Art Center patrons will be required to wear a mask, practice social distancing, comply with designated entrance and exit routes and follow all other CDC guidelines, including maximum capacity restrictions. Larger groups can be accommodated by appointment.

The Cole Art Center is located at 329 E. Main St. in downtown Nacogdoches. Gallery hours are 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

For information, call the art center at (936) 468-6557.