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!
The Smith-Hutson is a wonderful program, one made possible by the generosity of the “Smith-Hutson” partnership. This generous donation is funding 162 SHSU students–as well as students from other Universities–a full ride. The students receive these scholarships if they meet certain qualifications–it is a need-based scholarship with a thorough application–and are selected following an extensive interview process. The result is impressive in terms of both the students and what they accomplish.
The LEAP Ambassador President, Jessica Cuevas, is also Secretary for the Smith-Hutson Scholars Council.
The Smith-Hutson program is administered by Chris Garcia, who served as MC for the evening.
With 310 people on hand, numerous speakers, food to be served, a PowerPoint with photos of Smith-Hutson activities rolling, and a two-hour time limit, Chris had his hands full. He introduced three Smith-Hutson alumni…
…who spoke movingly about the way that the scholarship program affected their lives.
President White also spoke, communicating words of encouragement to the students and many, many thanks to the donor.
Jerry Hutson also spoke, providing much detail about the program, its broad purposes, and the impressive number of Smith-Hutson scholars who had graduated, who made the Dean’s List, and whose lives were changed by the program.
And the students themselves spoke briefly. The President of the SHS Council (Sandy Schoeneberg), for example, read out the name of (1) every officer, (2) every team, group, and subgroup leader, and (3) the different “houses” of the Smith-Hutson group.
This is a large group, perhaps as many as 40 students, some of whom are shown below.
The final speaker of the night was Provost Stephenson, who promised to make his comments “short and sweet, like Chris…”–to much laughter. The Provost emphasized the role that supporting one another can play in all of their success, while also drawing on the University culture of providing just that type of care.
On those words of encouragement, the night ended for the guests, while Smith-Hutson scholars took cohort photos, took photos with some stragglers…
…and helped tidy up after the event–armed anew with models of generosity and with the spirit of gratitude.
This summer was a bit busier than usual, with my job, LEAP activities and volunteerism, and an LSAT Prep Course occupying my time. But I still found time to spend time with family, and I still managed to explore and learn in the process!
Let me take you along the journey of my summer trip right as we wrap up our summer. My family and I went to the beautiful island of Puerto Rico, where my mother’s side of the family is from.
I had the opportunity to not only visit my family, but immerse myself in nature, learn more about my culture, eat fantastic food, and, most importantly, relax.
Here are some of my favorite things I was able to do in Puerto Rico that I recommend for anyone interested in interesting adventures.
First, hike through the beautiful El Yunque National Forest. You will fall in love with vibrant green palm trees and the touches of pink from our native flower, the hibiscus. Here, some trails will take you to the highest peak with breathtaking views. As I climbed to the top, I stumbled upon iguanas left and right. It was an excellent way to experience the island’s nature, but make sure you bring a rain jacket!
While getting a good exercise and learning more about the history of Puerto Rico, I walked through Castillo de San Felipe del Morro, a fort located at the Northwestern point of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. Its construction began in 1539 when the Spaniards governed Puerto Rico, and this fort was used to defend against naval attack.
You can’t forget Puerto Rico’s excellent food, such as tostones (fried plantains), pernil (pork), rice and beans, and various desserts! My favorite restaurant in Puerto Rico has to be the Zimple Restaurant and Bar. They had a variety of seafood. I fell in love with Paella Marinera, which has octopus and shrimp on top of perfectly seasoned rice.
Lastly, you can’t miss the beautiful palm trees stretching across the ocean shore! Puerto Rico is a lovely island that I’d recommend adding to your destinations list.
If it’s summer, the Alley Theatre is offering one of their “Summer Chills” programs, and this year’s production was “Clue,” a play that is based on both the 1985 film and the board game. The result was a madcap hour and a half of hilarity, made even more enjoyable by the fact that many LEAP Ambassador alumni joined us for the festivities.
At least two of the students had never seen a live play, so this was new for them. But even those who had seen live theatre were unlikely to have seen a play of this sort: it was frenetic, screwball, a surreal in equal measure–think the Marx Brothers starring in an Agatha Christie play.
The play began with a minimal set, but the spareness of the set permitted quick transformations, allowing the audience to experience a library, a billiard room, a lounge, and a study.
Of course, the sets contained secret doors, a dangerous chandelier, and lights that flickered in a storm. It was, after all, a dark and stormy night…
And, of course, there was the well-known characters: Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard, Miss Scarlet, Mrs. Peacock, Mr. Green, and Mrs. White–each with a mysterious past. Ms. White, for example, seem to marry men who wound up dead. When asked how many husbands she had, she responded, “My own? Or other women’s husbands?”
Along with these typical characters, there was Wadsworth (the butler), Yvette (the maid), and an equally hapless cook and singing telegram singer. And, of course, Mr. Body, who died not once, but twice. There was also a police officer, an “unexpected police officer,” a “backup police officer,” and a driver of a broken-down car. Put these together, along with numerous corpses, and you have quite enough of a murder mystery.
But the mystery was secondary: the primary action was the comedy. Yvette was a prancing, jiggling exhibitionist; Colonel Mustard was painfully, comically slow; Mrs. Peacock was an elderly tippler; Mr. Green was delightfully clumsy; and yet it was Wadsworth that was the star of the show.
Collectively, they went through slow motion reenactments of deaths; performed live-action imaginings of alternative universes; and Wadsworth completed a one-man reenactment of the entire play in about four minutes.. And all of this happened while the cast drew upon “And Then There Were None,” the “Clue” Board Game (at one point, using the board as a map to the “house”), borrowed Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” from “Modern Times,” while also parodying “Gone with the Wind” and “Casablanca”–as in, “Of all the board games, in all the world, he has to walk in to mine.”
To extend the Casablanca theme, it was an afternoon that continued beautiful friendships. Bianca Saldierna (SHSU 18), Will Phillips (SHSU 13), Deanna Youngblood (SHSU 13), and Brian Aldaco (SHSU 18)–along with some significant others–joined us for the fun and caught up on old times.
The LEAP Ambassadors would like to thank all the LEAP and Junior Fellows alumni who helped develop a wonderful program and continue to support SHSU and LEAP! Additional notes: Dr. Robert Donahoo, Professor of English and Drama at SHSU, wrote a wonderful review of the play here, and Melissa Pritchett, who played “Yvette,” is an SHSU alum!
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!”
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 