The success of the inaugural TEDxAustinCollege, “Adding Value to a Changing World,” in September 2016 set the tone for a busy and energetic fall term. Campus members of Alpha Phi Omega national service fraternity proposed the program that would allow students to engage with individuals beyond the local community. College leadership embraced the idea, and… [Read More]

Lemuel Scarbrough Jr. made his first Annual Fund gift to Austin College upon graduation in 1958. The Austin businessman was a faithful donor to the College over the next 50-plus years and remained connected to faculty and staff at his alma mater. Throughout his life, he made substantial gifts to permanently endow scholarships and created… [Read More]

Allison McBee Dawson ’03 was named vice president for Institutional Advancement at Austin College in March 2016, following an extensive national search. She provides leadership and direction for the advancement team, which includes alumni programming, donor services, communications, and all fundraising activities in concert with President Marjorie Hass and the College’s Board of Trustees. Originally… [Read More]

A $300,000, three-year Department of Justice grant awarded in fall 2016 provides full-time personnel and programming to improve prevention and awareness of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking at Austin College. An Executive-in-Residence professorship funded by a grant from the M.B. & Edna Zale Foundation was awarded in December 2015 to enhance the… [Read More]

Three individuals joined the Austin College Board of Trustees in 2016: Greg Almond ’88 Whitewright, Texas Furniture Marketing Group Sally Robinson Nation ’64 Dallas, Texas Nation Foundation Joe T. Sanders II ’00 Austin, Texas Sanders, Bajwa LLP

Shock rocked the Austin College community—twice—during Fall Term 2016, with the sudden deaths of Dr. Jack Pierce, McGaw Chair in Health Sciences and professor of biology, on September 26 and of Dr. Don Rodgers, associate professor of political science, on November 13. Both appear to have died from heart attacks. Pierce had been a member… [Read More]

“I hope by the time I grow up the whole prairie will be restored back to its old healthy ways again.” Children from more than 20 school districts have learned firsthand about the environment in field trips to Austin College’s Sneed Prairie. In October 2016, the program marked a huge milestone: a visit by the… [Read More]

The ancient city of Sicyon lays buried deep under the topsoil on a low plateau near the sea of Corinth. Centuries ago, the city was a major player for the arts and sciences. Today, a quiet village nearby hosts dozens of college students who come from all over the world to excavate its treasures for… [Read More]

Honors Convocation 2016 Homer P. Rainey Awards Ginger Chauncey, associate registrar, and John West, director of Abell Library, received the 2016 Homer P. Rainey Awards in recognition of outstanding achievement and service to the   College. A member of the Office of the Registrar staff since 1975, Ginger works with students from enrollment through graduation and… [Read More]

The May 2016 Commencement address was provided by the Honorable Michael S. Rawlings, mayor of Dallas. Rawlings received an honorary doctorate during the ceremony as did the Reverend Felipe Martínez, who presented the Baccalaureate sermon the previous evening. Martínez, a 1988 alumnus of the College is pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Columbus, Indiana. Also… [Read More]