The Bush School of Government and Public Service was founded in 1997 by the 41st president, President George H.W. Bush, making this year the 25th anniversary of the school’s establishment. To celebrate, the School presented a series of programs about President Bush and public service, and one of those featured Jean Becker, Chief of Staff for President G.H.W. Bush during his post-presidency years. Not wanting to miss Ms. Becker, some LEAP Ambassadors and LEAP alum Victoria McClendon-Leggett headed to the Bush School.
Jean Becker knows the topic well. She served as Barbara Bush’s Deputy Press Secretary during the White House years (1989-1993) and President Bush’s Chief of Staff from 1994-2019. She wrote the book “The Man I Knew,” which covers her experiences working with President H.W. Bush, sharing several of her favorite stories and memories of him.
She covered the ten life lessons that Bush provided to her, which included the statement, “A successful life must include serving others.”
This, of course, resonated with the SHSU group, because it is similar to the SHSU Motto, which is “The Measure of a Life is its Service.”
As she read off all ten, the mood in the room became a bit more somber, with some even shedding a few tears. The three lessons that most stuck with me were: (1) “Do not be afraid to change your mind,” (2) “Do not be afraid to say you were wrong,” and (3) “Live life with joy.”
Ms. Becker offered a great talk, and she was rewarded with a standing ovation at the end. I have been fortunate to hear her speak a couple of times before, but I somehow never had her sign my book, so I asked that she do so.
She graciously agreed, and was happy to see our SHSU delegation, which she has seen before!
We continued our trip down memory lane of President George H.W. Bush’s presidency by touring his presidential library, which was smaller and a bit more intimate than President Truman’s.
Bush’s career was so long and rich in experiences, it was fascinating to follow. We learned about his service in WWII…
…his career in Congress, his service as Director of the CIA…
…and, of course, his tenure as Vice-President and President. One of the momentous events of his Presidency was the fall of the Berlin Wall and end of the Cold War.
Even less global concerns were interesting. I learned that the same person who designed the family car that he bought also designed Marine One, which I thought was a cool fact.
And we had a chance to see Bush’s baseball glove from college–when he played 1B at Yale and was Captain of the team.
I then had both the opportunity to sit down and hear some words of wisdom from President Bush…
…or at least that’s how I imagined it, as well as sit in the replica of his Oval office, and so did Ashlyn!
During her speech, Ms. Becker spoke on the impact that First Lady Barbara Bush had on her. She even read off an excerpt from the book she wrote, Pearls of Wisdom, sharing Mrs. Bush’s words with everyone. In case you are wondering why the book is titled as it is, it is because Mrs. Bush always wore pearls; it was her signature. She even had a section dedicated to her in the Bush Presidential Library that walked us through her impacts as First Lady.
Unfortunately, we were not able to see the train that transported President H.W. Bush to College Station since it was covered up and potentially undergoing restoration. Although they did have a small replica of the front cabin near the beginning of the Presidential Library. This did not stop us from touring the grounds, since it was Ashlyn’s first time at the Bush School and the Bush Family graves.
As we were leaving, one of the staff from the gift shop informed us that Sully, Bush’s service dog, was inside the presidential library gift shop.
Without thinking twice, all three of us went back through the doors and security to see Sully, we were beyond happy when we were allowed to take a picture with him.
It is not every day that we get to see a presidential dog, much less capture the moment. I was very thrilled to have been able to visit my second presidential library, get a stamp on my presidential library passport, and see Sully.
Our early rise in Wichita, KS was accompanied by a nice and cool breeze! This morning we had a hankering for a more local taste for breakfast, and we were excited to try the homemade pop tarts from the local restaurant, HomeGrown. Sure enough, upon arrival, we had three of their brown sugar pop tarts, which were very tasty!
This time around, Morgan and Yvette ordered zesty yet sweet lemon dishes, Limoncello French Toast and Lemon Ricotta Pancakes.
Ashlyn ordered one of their specialties, the Croissant French Toast.
The seasonal flavors were a nice contrast to my savory Chilaquiles Verde Bowl, which was delicious. It was a great breakfast filled with an assortment of flavors!
If you are ever in Wichita, HomeGrown is a must-try especially if you want a taste of something local!
Frank Lloyd Wright’s: Allen House
Yvette Mendoza
Our next stop was also a local gem, one specifically designed for the prairies of the interior plains of Kansas: the Allen House. Completed in 1918 by Frank Lloyd Wright, the home was stunning! Not only does the home provide a glance back to an earlier time, but the intricate detail and expert craftsmanship are excellent examples of Wright’s works.
While we could listen to facts and history about the house itself for hours on end, it is important to know about the family who commissioned it. Our tour guide, Mary, wove the history of the Allens with facts about the home during our tour. Henry J. Allen was a Wichita native, newspaper editor and publisher, U.S. Senator, and two-term governor of Kansas. When the Allens decided to build a new home, they remembered hearing about a certain architect with quite the reputation. By word of mouth, he and his wife Elise, knew that they must have a Wright home of their own in the city of Wichita!
Since Wright took on designing the Allen’s dream home soon after working on the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, Japan, there is a beautiful incorporation of Japanese techniques within the home.
Wright is known for bringing the exterior and the interior together; the effect of the outside meeting the inside is truly captivating.
The Allen House employs the use of horizontal lines, examples of this can be found in the cantilevers, etched designs, light fixtures, and even the grout between the bricks!
Instead of aligning the bricks with the grout, Wright deeply ranked the grout in and created more horizontal lines in and out of the house. With each home we have seen, it is easy to fall in love with the personality Wright gives the home.
Wright loved to add a poetic nature to everyday items, and with crystalized frozen air (windows) lining the home, it truly does make the home a work of art.
The home is filled with Wrights’ iconic built-in bookshelves, five fireplaces, and a Japanese-style pond, making for quite the property. The living room and dining room are adorned with crystalized frozen air (windows) that contain colors found in nature. The lamps around the home show the Japanese influence and are crafted with mulberry paper to create a softer light (photos were not allowed inside).
Wright implements a technique called compression and release in the living room in which you transition through a small door and low ceiling to a grand living room.
Elise Allen was an art collector herself and had several pieces around the home. Some reflected religious motifs, while others were done in a Japanese fashion; but most interesting to us was the Birger Sandzén lithograph!
We were in awe of the beautiful home and were not ready to leave, but we didn’t leave without snapping a picture in the beautiful garden maintained by seven master gardeners who donate their time to maintain the home’s landscape.
This tour couldn’t have been possible without the excellent staff and our tour guide, Mary, at the Allen West Home.
As a result, we learned more about Frank Lloyd Wright and the Kansans who cared about educating others regarding the legend and art of Frank Lloyd Wright.
Larkspur Bistro & Bar
Jessica Cuevas
Not only was the Frank Lloyd Wright Allen Home an amazing tour but it also helped us pick our lunch destination! Before touring this beautiful home, we had two options in mind that we were struggling to choose between. However, after we saw a Larkspur flower in the garden, we took it as a sign to eat at the local Larkspur Bistro & Bar! How could we not?
Mary, our guide for the Allen Home tour, recommended that we try their Kansas Wedge Salad and, sure enough, that is what Ashlyn and I ordered.
For our appetizers, we had delicious, crafted bread with oil, hummus, and crab cakes. Yvette ordered the Salmon Fettuccini and Morgan the Air Capitol Burger.
Larkspur Bistro & Bar was yet another great local stop on our trip and we love getting the recommendations from locals!
Wichita Art Museum Ashlyn Parker
After lunch, we headed to the Wichita Art Museum. To our surprise, upon entering the museum, we were met by a Dale Chihuly Persian Ceiling!
We thought that we would experience the Persian Ceiling, also known as the Chihuly Bridge, from one viewpoint, but the surprise continued as we made our way to the second floor and were able to walk across the glass work! In the atrium of the museum, another Chihuly piece, titled Confetti Chandelier, is featured with the typical swirls and orbs illuminating the space.
This museum offered many different styles of art including one exhibit that was strategically lit to display the pieces of contemporary artist, Beth Lipman. Her work is most famous for her use of glass still-life compositions. One piece, in particular the Laid Table, uses common pieces of glass such as a bowls, vases, or plates in a unique way beautifully placed around a tabletop. This piece used about 500 separate pieces of glass to create and lots of glue. The glass in her work represents the fragility of human lives and how delicate they really are.
We came across works by artists we have seen in other museums on our trip. There was an Andy Warhol lithograph depicting scenes of Jackie Kennedy as a remembrance of her husband John F. Kennedy after he was shot. The painting is in typical Warhol fashion as it is divided into four squares, with the image in each square exemplifying a different emotion.
The Carlene and Lee Banks Rotunda Gallery contained 19th-century oil paintings, and everyone tried their hand at guessing the artists. Morgan probably did the best of all of us, an outcome that might have been helped by the fact that Thomas Moran was among the artists in the mix.
But we all saw works by familiar names: Frederic Remington, Roy Lichtenstein, and Louise Nevelson, for examples.
We also saw two artists we weren’t fully familiar with, but which we would become familiar with over the course of the trip: John Steuart Currey…
…and Birger Sandzen.
We enjoyed getting to see a variety of different themes, styles of paintings, and sculptures throughout this museum.
It never ceases to amaze me what these talented people can do with a paintbrush or glass.
Mental Health Courts
Morgan Robertson
Across the nation, new and more specialized methods of trying cases are arising. Today, there are 150 mental health courts in the United States that are completely independent of drug courts, municipal courts, and other courts to which nonviolent offenders with mental health illnesses are assigned.
Leading this cause in her home state of Ohio is former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Stratton.
Sworn into the Ohio Supreme Court in 1996, Justice Stratton made great strides advocating for mental illness. Justice Stratton helped form the Supreme Court of Ohio Advisory Committee on Mental Illness and the Courts, and is a co-founder of the Judges’ Leadership Initiative.
Joining Justice Stratton on the panel were mental health professionals: Kimberly Nelson, the Regional Administrator for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration serving Region 7, which includes Kansas, Megan Quattlebaum, Director for the CSG Justice Center, Wenhan “Chris” Cheok, the Mental Health Program Manager for Sedgwick County COMCARE, and Flor Alvarado, a Mental Health Court Clinician/ Sedgwick County Offender Assessment Program (SCOAP) & TT Team lead for Sedgwick County COMCARE. Kansan State Senator Pat Pettey led the discussion and prompted some interesting questions.
The Stepping Up Initiative, which we had previously heard about in an earlier sessions, is one of the leading efforts addressing the public health crisis in county jails across Ohio. “Stepping Up is a national effort to break the cycle of jail being the de facto mental health hospital,” are the words of the Ohioans who are working on the Ohio Project.
Ms. Quattlebaum explained how offenders with mental health illnesses are currently prosecuted and processed through the system. Offenders are either tried like any other case in the court that follows the offense, or they are placed in a hospital for forensic treatments. Conversely, mental health courts will use competency restoration for offenders who are not fit for court after three, six, or twelve months of restoration. Depending on the individual, they will either be released or processed through the system and tried at the Mental Health Court.
The need for mental health courts is more prevalent than ever. These courts with their justices and treatment facilities will further help everyone involved, providing the defendants/accused with the help and resources they require.
After the panel discussion was over, Jessica spoke with Justice Stratton about her work and her career, and we were all fortunate to snap a quick selfie with her!
State Dinner at the Midwest Council of State Governments Annual Conference
At many of the Council of State Government regional conferences, the organizations host a “State Dinner” on the final evening, and this was true for the Midwest. This is a big event for LEAP Ambassadors–often their first such experience–and it was made even more fortunate by the presence of two CSG staff members at our table and some entertaining musical performers with the Aerotones Big Band, featuring Jaslyn Alexander on lead vocals.
Throughout the evening, Aerotunes played songs through the decades, often jumping 50+ years in the process. We soon grew to love the range of the music styles and genres and despite the variety in sounds, dancers kept on dancing!
We were first greeted by Senator McGinn, who not only introduced the posting of the color guard…
…and the invocation…
…but also introduced some humor into the proceedings, setting a light tone to a lively evening!
At first, there weren’t a lot of takers on the dance scene.
But when the Ambassadors got on the floor, they soon had the opportunity to learn new dances (or just be led through the dances in some cases). Kansas Representative Mark Schreiber was a particularly generous dance instructor…
…and with some real dancing going on, the dance floor soon came alive!
We hate to say who is the best dancer in the group, but we are really glad we brought Ashlyn.
We were pleased with how nice everyone was, and we were grateful for the new friends we made.
Each semester, the LEAP Center invites faculty, staff, and students to the LEAP Center, where visitors can win some prizes…
…learn more about the LEAP Center, and sign up for events that might interest them. And, of course, have ice cream.
This year, we had a smattering of staff and faculty, and a healthy dose of students–all of whom we hope will join us for future events!
LEAP stands for Law, Engagement, And Politics, but it’s really “engagement” that we put the most focus on. The University, however, thinks we are basically a law and politics center, so we have some marketing and education to do! Our events take us to art museums, places to study the environment, theatres of all sorts, many volunteering venues, and, activities of our own devising. Our goal is to form lasting partnerships for the good of the community…
…and the immediate and long-term benefit of the students who participate.
This fall, we have a number of activities for people interested in all sorts of activities:
Law: Mock Law Class (Sept 21), Mock LSAT (Oct 8), PLS Meetings International Affairs: China, North Korea, & Taiwan (Sept 14), Chinese Dissident Teng Biao (Oct 5) Volunteerism: Oakwood Cemetery (Sept 10), Scare on the Square (Oct 29), Boys & Girls Club (Nov 5) Speakers: Texas Tribune Festival in Austin (September 21-25) Conferences: Popular Culture Association, New Orleans (October 12-16) Internships/Experiential Learning: City Fellows, Sam Houston Austin Internship Program Our Programs: Beyond Bars–Oct 4, 11, 18, 25
So, while students came and competed for prizes…
…we chatted with them, updating them about our activities, and hoping more students will get involved in the great activities we offer every semester!
The LEAP Ambassadors would like to thank Amari Gallien, Ashlyn Parker, and Anastasia Rose Aquino for their help at the Ice-Cream Social!
A week or so into the semester, we kicked off our first Pre-Law Society meeting of the semester. Featured this meeting was Judge David Moorman, who came to the Pre-Law society at SHSU to impart his knowledge and experiences as a judge and former attorney to SHSU’s pre-law students.
And for this meeting, Yvette Mendoza stepped in as moderator, leading the “interview” with Judge Moorman.
Dr. Yawn initiated the meeting, getting the new members informed about what Pre-Law society has to offer and the returning members refreshed on what they can get out of the organization.
Professor Yawn also introduced Judge Moorman, giving a bit of his background and his prior assistance to the Pre-Law Society. Judge Moorman, with prompting from Yvette, then discussed his career as an attorney, and his work as a judge. He noted that he was unopposed when he ran for Judge, but Yawn pointed out that this isn’t as easy as it sounds. It involves building a coalition, gaining early support, and attending a lot of events.
During the questioning that was hosted after the formal presentation, one student, David Farrington, asked a question: “What is the greatest difficulty you faced as a judge? ” Judge Moorman mentioned a number of challenges, but he also recounted some of the humorous challenges he’s faced, noting, “Sometimes, keeping a straight face is the hardest thing to do.”
Moorman was also asked about how he had passed through law school and the Bar exam. While noting that he went to school many years ago, he and Yawn discussed the changes in how law schools treat incoming students. While the attrition rate for law schools in the 1970s could reach 50 percent, by the 1990s most law schools had a different approach, and only admitted students they thought had a chance of success and also found ways to promote that success.
This comforted most in the audience.
With an interesting speaker, a capable moderator, and almost 50 people in attendance, it was a good way to begin the semester. We appreciate Judge Moorman’s willingness to spend time with us, his insight, and we hope to see everyone next month at another entertaining and educational meeting!
With the legislative session coming around the corner, the Walker County Republican Women invited Senator Charles Schwertner, who represents district 5, to speak at their meeting to provide an update on the upcoming legislative session and other developments in the state and district.
Following some preliminary business, with President Lunsford and Judge Sorensen…
…Senator Schwertner discussed border security, public schools, and other issues of the day.
Aside from discussing issues at a state government level and what we are doing to resolve them, the members and I learned more about Senator Schwertner. He is a practicing orthopedic surgeon, and his wife is currently a physician who is also a 3L at UT Austin. Interestingly, their three sons are also attorneys.
The lunch also provided the LEAP Ambassadors a chance to do a “pre-interview” of sorts for the Sam Houston Austin Internship Program. On hand were Senator Schwertner’s Chief of Staff Drew Graham, Deputy Chief of Staff Leah Clark, and District Representative Kassie Fleming, each of whom took the time to explain how their office at the Capitol operates and each staff member’s role. They emphasized the importance of having a flexible political mindset and always being a team player.
Getting to learn more of the inner workings of a legislative office during the session was very informative, and having the opportunity to learn more about the politics in our district was very helpful!
With the start of the semester around the corner, the LEAP Ambassadors celebrated their favorite professor’s birthday by viewing the SHSU Art Department’s new exhibit, “The Light from a Star” and by enjoying cupcakes from the local bakery, Two Blondes and A Bakery. The exhibit included works from Charles Pebworth, Jimmy H. Barker, Harry Ahysen, Stanley E. Lea, May Schow, and Kenneth Zonker, all of whom taught at SHSU–and, of course, produced some wonderful art.
We were welcomed into the room by a large Stanley E. Lea collage but not nearly as big as the one featured on the north wall of the first floor.
Both of these collages featured orange prominently, perhaps as a nod to Lea’s almost three decades of teaching at SHSU. His work can also be found locally in the GPAC as well as the Wynne Home Arts Center.
The exhibit was a collection of artwork created with different media, but I loved the vibrant watercolors utilized in the 1989 untitled painting of trees by Harry Ahysen, which we had trouble photographing.
This painting was unique since both Professor Yawn and Ms. Stephanie mentioned that it was quite different than anything they had previously seen by Ahysen. Yvette’s favorite was number seven in the exhibit, Lake Travis, by Harry Ahysen in 1984. It was a beautiful painting with a lot of blues and greens to capture the beauty of the lake, sky, the surrounding city, and landscape.
Although it had a darker theme than the prior watercolor painting and the Lake Travis painting, all of the ambassadors found another Ahysen nature art piece interesting.
Ahysen was a quick worker, and his work sold well throughout his lifetime. In 1980, he was designated by the Texas Legislature as the State Artist of Texas, and his work can be found in various campus locations and at City Hall in Huntsville.
Morgan’s attention was drawn to an art piece done by May Schow that resembled colors and techniques used by French symbolist painter Paul Gauguin, albeit with some American Regionalist overtones.
Schow was a real find for us, because even Professor Yawn and Ms. Stephanie were not familiar with her work, but we were all intrigued and wanted to see more.
In the adjacent room, the exhibit continued, and upon entering there were paintings by Jimmy H. Barker. These were done with pencil and or charcoal on paper and therefore had a much darker theme which the ravens within added to. As well as the weather outside since it was cloudy and raining, I did like untitled number 18 in the exhibit by Barker that had not only the birds but also trees around them.
Barker passed away six years ago, after a long career at SHSU and of community involvement.
Outside the exhibit, there was a small lounge area that featured the James Surls Through It All, which is a woodcut print on paper.
It was very different yet like his sculptures since it repeated his motif of blades throughout the print. Surls is one of our favorites, and we were fortunate to meet him at least year’s distinguished alumni gala…
…and to have seen his work across the country…
There was also a Charles Pebworth, like the ones we have seen before, with what appeared to be bronze and copper–or, perhaps, a stainless steel with a bronzish patina. It was not in the exhibit proper, but is on, we presume, permanent display on the first floor.
Pebworth’s work can be found around the country and, locally, it can be found in the First National Bank, the Wynne Home, the Gaertner Performing Arts Center, and the Newton Gresham Library. We also visited this piece in the Hyatt in downtown Houston.
We also enjoyed seeing some of Charles Jones’s works around the first floor, woodcuts done in his usual style of famous individuals from the art and literary worlds.
We visited the gallery the Friday before school begins–move-in day–but the exhibit is up until August 27, so we encourage everyone to stop by next week, enjoy the beautiful art work, and experience part of SHSU’s artistic legacy.
On behalf of the LEAP Ambassadors, we would like to thank the Art Department for letting us view this exhibit today and to wish Professor Yawn a “Happy Birthday!”
On Monday evening The LEAP Ambassadors headed south towards Houston to attend yet another amazing World Affairs Council event, this one featuring former Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper. From June 2019 to November 2020, Esper served as Secretary of Defense under the Trump administration–during what he concedes were highly unusual times. WAC Director Maryanne Maldonado led off the evening…
Mr. O’Malley began by asking a question about Esper’s hero: George C. Marshall.
Esper was born in Marshall’s hometown, and during his time at West Point, Esper studied Marshall the man and military strategist. Marshall was known widely for his characteristics of honor and integrity, which Esper tries to live by.
Right off the bat, it was clear that Esper would not shy away from the harder topics. The first question was based on working with President Trump and the atmosphere in the Capitol.
Esper acknowledged the difficulties, noting that while some of the media reports were exaggerated, he and other Cabinet officials had to do a lot of “managing up”: that is, managing their supervisor, to ensure that actions detrimental to the United States weren’t turned into policy.
Ronan and Esper then explored different parts of American military experience in recent years, including turmoil in North Korea, the strategic prioritization of Afghanistan, and domestic protests surrounding the George Floyd protests.
Presidential focus for the past 20 years, irrespective of party, has been on Afghanistan. As Secretary of Defense, Esper identified bring some sort of conclusion to the Afghani war as a priority, but he identified numerous steps he would have taken to avoid the catastrophic pullout that the US undertook a year or so ago.
More recently, Esper was confronted with a (quite literally) trigger-happy Chief of State during the protests surrounding the George Floyd killing. Esper clearly doesn’t relish the government’s frequent turn to the military to solve things outside their wheelhouse: they weren’t, for example, the best choice to call on during COVID, and they weren’t designed to quell domestic unrest–and they definitely weren’t going to “shoot protestors,” as the President had purportedly inquired about.
While Esper was often critical of Trump, he also noted that some of the criticism was overblown. He noted that some of Trump’s unconventional tactics ended up effective, and he noted that some of Trump’s policies have been followed by Biden.
The evening was concluded with a few more thoughts from Esper, particularly his thanks to those who serve, and his hope that military service would be less frequently invoked–but, when invoked, more widely participated in by the general public.
The semester hasn’t yet begun, but that makes this the perfect time to get some pre-semester work, activities, and learning in. With that in mind, we partnered with the Freshman Leadership Program, and we undertook a tour of Huntsville and SHSU.
Although we’ve been on a few tours of Huntsville and we know the community pretty well, we wanted to learn some new things, and we wanted to be on hand should any of the FLP students want a student’s perspective on things.
Our tour itinerary involved: (1) a trip to Arnaud’s Food Truck court, (2) the avenues, (3) Eastham Thomason Park, (4) Sam Houston’s grave, (5) the District Attorney’s office, (6) downtown area, the Richard Haas murals and the Old Town Theatre, and (7) the prison, and (8) Austin Hall.
We began with designer lemonades from Arnaud’s, and the general consensus is that we would be returning!
With an idea of encouraging students to shop local, the many offerings of Arnaud’s food trucks opened up a variety of culinary options to students.
The FLP students seemed intrigued by the Dan Phillips’ homes, and several were even already familiar with the Boot and Cowboy Hat homes. Downtown, we learned more of the Richard Haas murals, with a lesson on how the architecture of the DA’s office…
…was used to help craft the design of the Smither Building’s art murals. Haas repeated the arch motif, used paint to mimic the color of the bricks, and through trompe l’oeil managed to recreate some of the relief elements on the DA’s office. And, of course, all this was done while visually celebrating Sam Houston’s history in Huntsville.
We also had a chance to see Haas’s work at the Old Town Theatre, where Morgan also works, and where all the LEAP Ambassadors have volunteered.
We even got to go in the theatre and learn about their programs!
And as a sort of bookend, we discussed Sam’s Table–another of the LEAP Ambassador’s favorite restaurants–with the incoming freshmen.
In the last leg of the tour, we learned more about TDCJ and the Huntsville Unit, including the difference between “Death Row” and the Execution Chamber, which are different entities in different locations. We also discussed a different prison issue: bats. Driving past the TDCJ warehouse (which is filled with bats) and the “Bat Houses” (which are not filled with bats).
And with a final drive around the University and Austin Hall–the oldest educational building west of the Mississippi–we and the FLP returned to our cars, dorms, and other retreats to prepare ourselves for the new semester.
We returned with a lot more knowledge and the community than we left with!
Center for Law, Engagement, and Politics 