Relive ACU’s ‘Prairie Home Companion’ show

Posted By Ron Hadfield ON February 4, 2012 | Leave a comment »

This is KACU-FM’s 25th year of bringing National Public Radio programming to Abilene and the Big Country, as you’ll read in the upcoming issue of ACU Today magazine.

It’s been quite a run for KACU-FM, which draws heavily on Abilene Christian University and its Department of Journalism and Mass Communication for on-air talent and day-to-day administration of the station. Among highlights have been two of NPR’s top-rated shows traveling here to broadcast their familiar sounds.

The most recent was “From the Top,” a show hosted by acclaimed pianist Christopher O’Reilly and featuring the talents of some of the country’s best young classical musicians. O’Reilly and friends recorded a show Nov. 16, 2010, from Abilene’s First Baptist Church.

But the thrill of KACU-FM’s lifespan thus far was the opportunity Oct. 18, 2008, for Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion” to stage its Saturday night show from Moody Coliseum before an enthusiastic crowd and a worldwide radio audience of more than 4 million listeners. Women from ACU’s A Cappella Chorus performed half a dozen songs with Keillor and gospel singer Jearlyn Steele, including “Just As I Am” and “When Peace Like a River.”

Need a mid-winter treat? Download and enjoy the two-hour performance from the Prairie Home Companion website, which also included Keillor interviewing College of Biblical Studies dean Dr. Jack Reese (’73) about a little Church of Christ history, the host’s tongue-in-cheek profile of ACU’s hometown, and a Guy Noir skit about a fictional “Abilene Secular Humanist University.” No one pokes fun like Keillor, as you’ll surely discover if you are not already a fan of the humorist who spins tales about his fictional hometown of Lake Wobegon, Minn. And no one is exempt from the fun-poking in this show: Texas and some of its most beloved traditions, “khaki-colored” Abilene, music ACU students sing in Chapel, conservative politics, instrumental music and, well, you just have to listen for yourself.

The Moody Coliseum crowd had multiple opportunities to join Keillor in song, from “Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow (Doxology)” to Ernest Tubb’s “Waltz Across Texas” and “Abilene” (the one made famous by country singer George Hamilton IV). After the show, patrons of KACU-FM joined Keillor and the cast, crew and volunteers for dinner next door on the stage of Cullen Auditorium. The memorable gathering featured Keillor leading the group in a number of traditional religious songs and hymns the best-selling author clearly loves to sing. And as he learned, there’s not a better place for some impromptu four-part harmony.

Prairie Dogs to reappear, but not at Scott Field

Posted By Ron Hadfield ON February 1, 2012 | Leave a comment »

One of the best lines about the future of professional baseball in Abilene was from former mayor Dr. Gary McCaleb (’64), who was quoted in our Spring 1995 issue regarding the best reason why a team named the Prairie Dogs could eventually make itself at home here: “Because, whatever happens, a Prairie Dog always comes out on top.”

A press conference is planned for Thursday to formally announce the Prairie Dogs’ reappearance in the summer of 2012, but the team won’t be be playing at Abilene Christian University’s Crutcher Scott Field as it did from 1995-99 as a member of the independent Texas-Louisiana League.

The Prairie Dogs will play home games of their 2012 season at McMurry University’s Walt Driggers Field, which seats 900 fans (about one fourth Scott Field’s capacity). The team will play in the Southern Division of the independent North American Baseball League with the Fort Worth Cats, San Angelo Colts, McAllen Thunder, Edinburg Roadrunners and Rio Grande White Wings.

ACU graduate Scott Kirk (’79) – a teacher at Cooper High School and former Optimist sports editor – is a minority owner of the Prairie Dogs. Majority owners of all teams in the Southern Division are Byron Pierce and former Texas Congressman John Bryant. In the future, the team hopes to find a permanent home that also includes the sale of alcoholic beverages not allowed on Christian university campuses. Some believe profits from beer sales and related advertising are key to the financial success of a minor league baseball team.

Abilene was the home of the popular Blue Sox Baseball Club for a dozen years after World War II, when minor league baseball thrived, especially in Texas. The Blue Sox were an affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers and, later, the Kansas City Athletics, and played on a field built at the intersection of South 14th street and Barrow in south Abilene.

ACU assesses legacy, future of Wildcat athletics

Posted By Ron Hadfield ON January 21, 2012 | Leave a comment »

Over the past few years, the ever-changing landscape of intercollegiate athletics has reshaped traditional rivalries from the biggest to the smallest conferences and leagues in the nation.

Like many institutions in NCAA Division I, II, III and the NAIA, Abilene Christian University also has taken the opportunity to study its athletics programs. For the past 18 months, an assessment process has been underway to help determine what might be best for the Wildcats’ future. ACU is a current member of and an annual powerhouse in NCAA Division II and the Lone Star Conference (LSC) – the latter an affiliation unchanged for 38 years.

The LSC has experienced its share of instability in recent years. In 2011, five universities from Oklahoma left to join other Division II conferences, which forced the remaining LSC institutions to scramble to replace games and matches on its schedules for this school year.

Locally, McMurry University (1,472 students) is moving in Fall 2012 from non-scholarship NCAA Division III to Division II, where scholarships can be awarded. Hardin-Simmons University (2,435 students), which remains a member of the Division III American Southwest Conference, is standing pat. In San Angelo, LSC member and longtime ACU rival Angelo State University (7,084 students) recently announced it had finished a similar assessment and chosen to remain in the LSC and Division II because of funding issues and its own concerns about being competitive in Division I.

With an enrollment of about 4,600, ACU is the smallest institution in the LSC, yet most of its teams have been dominant in the sports in which they compete. Abilene Christian is the only university in NCAA Division II to be ranked in the top 15 in each of the 16 Learfield Directors’ Cup final standings, which annually recognize the best overall sports programs in the nation.

Although one of the only constants in athletics affiliations seems to be change itself, the Wildcats have been, historically, one of the more stay-put members in the Texas intercollegiate sports landscape. That strategy has paid off, making ACU a place “Where Champions Are Made,” which it like to say and has numbers to back it up. In the NCAA, only UCLA, Stanford, USC and swimming powerhouse Kenyon College have won more national team championships than ACU. Overall, the Wildcats have won 64 national team titles, 160 LSC team titles, and their student-athletes have received twice as many prestigious NCAA Post-Graduate scholarships as ACU’s closest LSC competitor, and more than all but a handful of the largest Division I universities in Texas.

Abilene Christian has fielded intercollegiate sports teams for 92 years. It was part of the Texas Conference from 1919-62 and a founding member of the Southland Conference (SLC) in 1963. It was a member of the SLC for 10 years, leaving for LSC and NAIA status prior to the 1973-74 academic year. ACU was a College Division member for most of its history before joining the NAIA in 1973 and NCAA Division II in 1981.

Founding members of the Southland in 1972 were ACU, Arkansas State University, Lamar University, The University of Texas-Arlington, and Trinity University. This fall, only one of those, Lamar, will remain in the conference. Most of the 11 football-playing SLC institutions have enrollments much larger than ACU. Two of them – Stephen F. Austin State University and Sam Houston State University – are former LSC members.

In football, the Southland competes at NCAA Division I FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) level, as do universities in the Ivy League such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton. Examples of other FCS members are North Dakota State University (Missouri Valley Conference), Villanova University (Colonial Athletic Association), Stony Brook University (Big South Conference), Grambling State University (Southwestern Athletic Conference) and Bucknell University (Patriot League).

ACU president Dr. Phil Schubert (’91) provided an update today in an email message to faculty and staff:

“… as part of our ongoing assessment of what might be best for the future of ACU athletics, I was invited to visit Thursday with officials from the Southland Conference (SLC). I was joined by Jared Mosley, athletics director, and Phil Boone, vice president for advancement, in sharing information about ACU with presidents of universities represented by the SLC, which is a conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. This discussion was the next step in ACU’s evaluation process and did not constitute an invitation for Abilene Christian to join the SLC. And even if it had, we are not ready to make a decision on this issue. We had an excellent discussion and gained valuable insight to help with our ongoing assessment. I will continue to keep you informed as we move forward in this process.”

The SLC is losing Texas State, Texas-San Antonio and Texas-Arlington to other conferences, and has recently decided to add Houston Baptist and Oral Roberts universities. Any decision ACU might make to move to Division I is dependent upon a Division I conference inviting it to be a member, and the SLC is the one option that makes the most sense because of travel issues (its members next fall will be in Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma). But the SLC has to first decide if it wants ACU, and Abilene Christian must determine what change, if any, is in its best interest.

One of ACU’s primary considerations is financial, chiefly because of the cost of additional scholarships required to compete in Division I. Schubert has told faculty and staff that additional funding for such a change in athletics affiliation will have to come from fans and/or friends outside the university, rather than be absorbed by ACU’s annual operating budget. ACU facilities are sufficient for SLC competition, although the university makes no secret of its longtime wish for an on-campus football stadium rather than Shotwell Stadium, which is owned by the Abilene Independent School District.

Impatient Wildcat fans who want to see their teams competing at the next NCAA level only want to know when the move will take place. However, the best answer is: “Wait and see.” Schubert and other university leaders, and the Board of Trustees, are still evaluating ACU’s options and committed to due diligence.

A story in Friday’s Abilene Reporter-News provided a good look at the issues. Watch this blog and acusports.com for upcoming news as well.

ACU lands Apple Distinguished Program honor

Posted By Ron Hadfield ON January 19, 2012 | Leave a comment »

Abilene Christian University’s award-winning mobile-learning initiative has helped the university land another honor as an Apple Distinguished Program, it was announced yesterday. ACU is one of 49 programs across the nation – and only nine among colleges and universities – to be recognized as a center of educational excellence and leadership.

Dr. William Rankin, director of academic innovation and associate professor of English, had this to say about the Apple recognition:

The mobile-learning initiative, ACU Connected, has helped the university become known around the world as a thought-leader and source of valuable information to help guide educators discover the advantages of integrating technology into the classroom – wherever the classroom might be and however it is defined in the future.

Three individuals at ACU are already recognized as Apple Distinguished Educators (ADE): Rankin; George Saltsman (’90), executive director of innovation in learning and educational technology; and Dr. Kyle Dickson (’93), director of the Learning Studio and associate professor of English. Rankin was named an ADE in 2009 and in 2010, was added to the ADE Board of Directors. Saltsman and Dickson were named ADEs in 2011. The ADE designation means Apple considers them educational innovators who share ideas and best practices with others.

Rankin, Saltsman and Dickson are three of several ACU faculty and staff who are asked to make presentations on mobile learning around the world each year. Last October, Rankin was in the United Arab Emirates to present during TEDx Dubai at the Dubai World Trade Center. His presentation, “Building Small: Considering the Architectures of Learning,” received rave reviews.

ACU’s 2010-11 Mobile-Learning Report provides insights into the university’s fourth year of innovative learning experiences with the help of Apple products such as the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, consulting relationships with leading independent software and educational solution providers, and research into the future of digital textbooks with partners such as Cambridge University Press and Alcatel-Lucent’s Bell Labs.

Last February, more than 550 educators, technologists, administrators and policy-makers were on campus in Abilene for Connected Summit, one of the most popular international conferences on mobile learning. Keynote speakers included Karen Cator, director of educational technology for the U.S. Department of Education, and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

ACU Remembers: Sam Sparks

Posted By Ron Hadfield ON December 30, 2011 | 1 Comment »

Samuel Robert Sparks, 83, a longtime trustee of Abilene Christian University, died Dec. 28 in Harlingen, Texas. Born Christmas Eve in 1928, the Haleyville, Ala., native was a successful businessman and community leader in South Texas who was known for his generosity and leadership. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Dec. 31 at the 8th and Harrison Church of Christ in Harlingen, near his hometown of Santa Rosa.

He was chairman of the B&P Bridge Company which was given a permit in 1928 to operate a bridge in Progreso, Texas, spanning the Rio Grande River and the border between the United States and Mexico. Sparks was president and CEO of the Progreso International Bridge, one of the busiest border crossings in Texas.

He was president of the Santa Rosa Kiwanis Club and Rio Farms Inc. (an agricultural research facility); chairman of the Harlingen Area Chamber of Commerce; former chair of the Advisory Committee to the Texas A&M University System’s “Target 2002” project and Rio Farms of Monte Alto; and director of the San Antonio branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, First National Bank of Harlingen, and the Valley Farm Bureau.

Sparks was a member of ACU’s Board of Trustees from 1970-99 and its Senior Board from 1999-2006. He also served on boards of the Salvation Army, Valley Baptist Medical Center, Golden Palms Retirement and Health Center, Sunny Glen Children’s Home, Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers Inc., Texas Vegetable Seed Improvement Association, Valley Acres Irrigation District, South Texas ISD, and Santa Rosa ISD.

In 1965, he was runner-up for the Outstanding Young Farmer of Texas award. A strong advocate of the Boy Scouts of America, he was presented with its Silver Beaver Award in 2000.

Survivors include a sister, Ella Katherine May; Seanne, his wife of 63 years; two daughters, Elizabeth (Sparks ’72) Johnson and Karen (Sparks ’74) Guenther; two sons, Bobby Sparks (’76) and John Sparks; nine grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren.

ACU Remembers: Dr. Keith Justice

Posted By Ron Hadfield ON December 28, 2011 | Leave a comment »

Ninety-one-year-old Dr. John Keith Justice, who was professor of agronomy at Abilene Christian University for 35 years, died Christmas day in Abilene. A memorial service will be held Dec. 29 at 3 p.m. at Graham Street Church of Christ.

Justice was born Aug. 26, 1920, in Martinsville and reared on his family’s small farm in Nacogdoches County of East Texas. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Stephen F. Austin State University in 1942, two degrees from Texas A&M University (bachelor’s in agricultural education in 1948 and master’s in agronomy in 1949), and a Ph.D. in soil science from Utah State University in 1961.

He was principal of Black Jack School in Attoyac, Texas, from 1942-43 and married Vera Brough in 1943, before serving three years (1943-46) in the Navy during World War II. He taught one year at Texas A&M before joining the ACU faculty in 1950.

Justice was reknowned for his academic expertise in agronomy, having served as president, vice president and director of the National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture, which presented him with a Distinguished Educators Award. In 1961, he became ACU’s first recipient of a Piper Professor award from the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation, the same year he received the Trustees Award as Abilene Christian’s top professor. He served as chair of the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences from 1961-80.

He and Vera planned to be vocational missionaries in their retirement years. Justice was never far away from ministry work, having served as a part-time preacher for rural congregations such as Midway, Navasota, Putnam, Herndon Chapel and Hawley. While in graduate school, he helped start a congregation in Logan, Utah, and returned there on several occasions to preach after retirement in May 1985. He and Vera lived in Guatemala from 1987-92, where he preached in Spanish and assisted local farmers. When they returned to Abilene, they began working with Spanish-speaking members of Graham Street Church of Christ.

Among survivors are Vera (M.S. ’80), his wife of 68 years; four sons, John (’67), Jimmy (’69), David (’72) and Dale (’73); and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Collums succeeds Thomsen as head coach

Posted By Ron Hadfield ON December 23, 2011 | Leave a comment »

If Chris Thomsen was the architect of ACU’s resurgence as a small college football power the last seven seasons, Ken Collums was the engineer behind the high-powered, record-setting offense that made its success possible.

Today, the Wildcats’ offensive mastermind was named to succeed Thomsen (M.Ed. ’00) as the 19th head coach in ACU history.

Thomsen was hired Dec. 16 as offensive backs coach at Arizona State University, opening the door for Collums to take the lead of a program that has become the new pacesetter in the Lone Star Conference and one of the top performers in NCAA Division II.

Collums has directed the offensive fortunes of Central Arkansas (2000-04) and ACU (2005-12), tutoring standout players at ACU such as quarterbacks Billy Malone and Mitchell Gale and showcasing the talents of future pros Bernard Scott, Johnny Knox, Clyde Gates, Raymond Radway, Tony Washington and Trevis Turner.

The Wildcats have won two of the past four LSC titles, and are one of only four universities to qualify for the NCAA Division II playoffs each of the last six years. Others are North Alabama, Albany State (Ga.) and Northwest Missouri State.

Thomsen hired as coach at Arizona State

Posted By Ron Hadfield ON December 16, 2011 | Leave a comment »

Chris Thomsen (’00 M.Ed.), head coach and architect of Abilene Christian University’s revival in recent years as a small college football power, has been hired as offensive backs coach at Arizona State University, the Pac-12 Conference school announced today.

Thomsen joins new head coach Todd Graham’s staff in Tempe; Graham recently was hired by ASU after one year as head coach at the University of Pittsburgh. ASU plays Boise State University on Dec. 22 in the Maaco Bowl in Las Vegas, Ariz.

ACU athletics director Jared Mosley (’99) named Thomsen’s longtime offensive coordinator, Ken Collums, as interim head coach while a national search begins and high school recruiting continues. Collums has directed some of the most prolific offensive teams and players in NCAA history while also coaching the Wildcats’ record-setting quarterbacks.

Thomsen’s team finished the 2011 season 8-3 overall and 7-1 in the Lone Star Conference, and lost 52-49 to Washburn University in the first round of the national playoffs. ACU is one of only four universities to qualify for the NCAA Division II playoffs each of the last six years. Others are North Alabama, Albany State (Ga.) and Northwest Missouri State.

During Thomsen’s seven-year tenure, the Wildcats were 51-21, won ACU’s first two Lone Star Conference championships in 30 years, and became known as a consistent source of future talent for the National Football League. In March 2011, 17 NFL teams sent scouts to Abilene to evaluate wide receiver Clyde Gates, who was later drafted in the fourth round by the Miami Dolphins, along with wide receiver Raymond Radway and offensive linemen Trevis Turner. Radway was signed by the Dallas Cowboys and Turner by the Pittsburgh Steelers, both as free agents.

Christmas generosity wraps up holiday service

Posted By Ron Hadfield ON December 16, 2011 | Leave a comment »

Santa Claus took to the streets in Abilene’s poorest neighborhoods this week with a band of help that included ACU students, faculty, staff and alumni.

The ACU family joined hundreds of members of the local community to deliver toys and gifts during Love & Care Ministries’ annual Christmas on the Street, an effort to share the joy of Christmas with Abilenians in need.

Caitlin McKnight, a freshman communication disorders major from Pittsburg, Kan., was one of the volunteers.  “It was an awesome experience. To see kids’ faces when they got handed a wrapped present or a brand new bike was truly amazing,” she said. “Your heart hurts for the families who can’t afford to get gifts for Christmas, but seeing their thankful faces makes you realize that God provides for everyone.”

McKnight experienced a special moment while delivering gifts to a woman who was raising six of her grandchildren as well as her own children.

“She had a baby on her hip, a 3-year-old holding her hand, two 6-year-olds following them, and then a 10-year-old and two 12-year-olds helping out with carrying the gifts,” McKnight said. “Seeing the joy on those kids’ faces and seeing the grateful look on the woman’s face made me so thankful that I got to be a part of this experience.”

“Christmas on the Street” was the final activity for Abilene Christian’s 2011 Season of Caring, a month-long campaign to provide holiday meals, clothing, toys and more to Abilene’s less fortunate. Several of the activities were done in partnership with Love & Care Ministries, which offers a year-round ministry to the homeless and poor.

During the 2011 Season of Caring, the ACU community:

  • Provided 65 Thanksgiving food boxes to 57 families in the Taylor Elementary School neighborhood;
  • Donated coats, blankets, sleeping bags, clothing and food for Mission Thanksgiving, sponsored annually by Love & Care Ministries;
  • Gave toys and clothing to 60 low-income children through the Adopt-an-Angel project;
  • Donated 750 toys for “Christmas on the Street”; and
  • Provided about 80 free portraits through the Family Portrait Event.

“It is good to see generous, warm hearts give to the needs of people we don’t even know,” said Nancy Coburn, director of service learning and volunteer resources in ACU’s Center for Christian Service and Leadership.

McKnight agreed: “There is no better way to show God’s love than to give to others.”

EEM celebrates 50 years of missions work

Posted By Ron Hadfield ON December 7, 2011 | Leave a comment »

An excellent feature story in the Christian Chronicle reports that 2011 is the 50th anniversary of Eastern European Mission, the highly successful evangelism project energized in 1961 when seven couples from Abilene Christian University moved to Vienna, Austria.

A Sept. 8, 1961, story in the Abilene Reporter-News said the group planned “to conduct extensive personal work programs; to prepare cottage meeting filmstrips and slides in the German language; to print tracts, Bible class materials and other supplies in the German language; to hold tent meetings continually in various strategic points; to arrange daily classses for children; to organize summer youth campus; [and] to establish a school for training native preachers.”

Three decades later, the fall of the Soviet Union formally opened doors for these and other Church of Christ missionaries to expand upon the heart of the ministry they were once forbidden to do in Eastern Europe: openly produce and distribute Bibles.

Today, Lynn Camp (’59) is president of EEM. He and his wife, Barbara (Flynt ’59) Camp, were part of that original team of ACU alumni who bravely moved to a part of the world where the only usable Bible was a smuggled one.

Others on the team included Rex Earnhart (’59), Marion (Walton ’60) Earnhart, Gayle Hensley (’59), Gwen (McDermett ’59) Hensley Cole, Frank McCutchan (’59), Millie (Sumerlin ’63) McCutchan Liebchen, Bob Stewart (’59), Nyla (Shackelford ’59) Stewart, Roy Long (’59), Mariana (McGinty ’59) Long, Tom Turner (’59) and Sandra (Strahan ’64) Turner.

This photo, supplied by Mariana Long, now an ACU advancement officer, was shot in December 1961 in the Camps’ home. “Bob and Ruth Hare, and their three girls, who had been in Vienna several years before we arrived, also were in the photo,” she says.

Most members of the group recently participated in a reunion Nov. 19 in Dallas, accompanied by children and grandchildren.