spring 2016 - Wayland Baptist University Alumni Association

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alumni and faculty chose Wayland.
The President’s Pen
Bidding Wayland farewell
I
Dr. Paul Armes
President
Wayland Baptist University
“
...If God calls you
to a task, He has
promised somehow
to equip and
empower you to
accomplish that task
– no matter how
inadequate you may
feel.
“
n this, the last of my Footprints columns as Wayland’s president, permit
me a few personal reflections.
When Duanea and I think about it,
serving as the president and spouse of
a faith-based educational institution is
not something we thought we would ever
do. God called me to full-time Christian
service 50 years ago. After we were
married in 1974, my wife and I embraced
our sense of God’s leading to local church
ministry. We honestly assumed we would
serve as a pastor and wife in a Baptist
congregation for the entirety of our lives.
When San Marcos Baptist Academy
invited Duanea and me to serve as their
president and wife in 1996, we prayed
about the decision for a long time. We
loved the church we were pastoring
– First Baptist Church of Corpus Christi. When we accepted the Academy’s
invitation, it was for us both a personal
calling from the Lord – just like serving as
a local Baptist church pastor and wife for
25 years was also a calling.
Let me confess that some days (not
many!) I kind of wondered if God really
knew what He was doing in calling me to
education administration. I have occasionally felt unworthy of this wonderful
responsibility. In those moments, it has
been helpful for me to remember something my father told me when I was a
freshman in college.
I was struggling with my call to ministry, and my Dad, a longtime pastor himself, said this: “Paul, if God calls you to a
task, He has promised somehow to equip
and empower you to accomplish that
task – no matter how inadequate you may
feel.” That word has given me comfort
again and again both as I have served
as pastor of four Texas Baptist churches
and president to two BGCT educational
institutions.
For Duanea and me, our work at
Wayland has been a wonderful and challenging journey which we would not have
traded for anything else in the world. In
the pilgrimage of our professional life we
have been gifted with two wonderful and
meaningful careers, each of which has
touched us deeply and grown us spiritually.
As I conclude my time at Wayland, I
must thank the people who have been
a part of my administrative team. These
are passionate and gifted individuals who
deserve more credit for any of the accomplishments of the last 15 years than I do:
Dr. Bobby Hall, Executive Vice President and Provost
Dr. Claude Lusk, Vice President Enrollment Management
Dr. Elane Seebo, Vice President External Campuses and Graduate Services
Mrs. Lezlie Hukill, Chief Financial
Officer
Mr. Mike Melcher, Executive Director
University Advancement
A special thanks to my extraordinary
office team:
Mrs. Carolyn Andrews, Executive
Assistant to the President
Mrs. Gracie Duggins, Administrative
Assistant to the President
Most importantly, I want to thank my
life partner and best friend who has stood
shoulder to shoulder with me in every
experience of my life since 1974. Duanea,
your love, prayers, nurture, encouragement, (occasional) loving confrontation
and care mean more to me than I can
ever express. As Robert Browning wrote
in “Rabbi Ben Ezra”:
Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was
made:
Our times are in His hand…
Finally, I want to express my undying
gratitude to the members of the Wayland
Baptist University Board of Trustees.
Thank you for the privilege of serving
Christ at this incredible school. This
university has wonderful days ahead as
it continues to serve the students God
sends our way.
Grace and peace.
FOOTPRINTS, Volume 62, No. 1
Editorial Board
Danny Andrews, BA’72, Publisher
Jonathan Petty, BA’95, MA’09, Editor
Alumni Officers
Tyke Dipprey, BSOE’96 , President
Stacie Hardage, BBA’89 , Vice President
Danny Andrews, BA’72, Director, Alumni Development
Executive Board
Dr. Gary Abercrombie, BS’73
Kevin Carter, BBA’93
Brenda Gonzalez, BA’73
Mike Manchee, BS’94, MEd’97
Richard Miller, BS’87
Danny Murphree, BS’69
Daleyn Schwartz, AAS’85 Caren Smith, BA’92
Yolanda Vera, BA’83
Courtney Williams, BSIS’02
Danny Wrenn, BA’84
Young Alumni Board
Sarah Langston, BSIS’10, M.Ed’13, President
Shaney Brewer, BSIS’10, M.Ed’13, Vice President
Sarah Schmalzried, BBA’12, Treasurer
Beth Hoffman, BBA’10, MBA’12, Secretary
Shanna Donica, MBA’05
L. Parker Francis, BAS’13
James Heliton, BSOE’10
Ashlee Juarez, BSIS’09
Bobby McCloud, BBA’03
Justin Ogden, BM’03
Zane Powers, BA’02
Kristen Reddoch, BA’12
Rodrigo Silva, BBA’12
Amber Smith, BA’07
Judith Weshinksey-Price, MPA’11
FOOTPRINTS is published by the Association of Former
Students at Wayland Baptist University. No outside advertising is accepted. Wayland Baptist University is affiliated with
the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
Wayland Baptist University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on
Colleges to award degrees at the associate, baccalaureate, and
master’s levels. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866
Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Wayland
Baptist University.
Non-profit rate postage paid at Lubbock, Texas 79404.
Telephone (806) 291-3600.
POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to FOOTPRINTS, Wayland Baptist University, 1900 West 7th St.
1291 437, Plainview, TX 79072.
Wayland Baptist University does not discriminate on the
basis of race, color, religion, age, sex or national origin in
administration of its policies, admission policies, scholarships
and loan programs, athletic and other school administration.
Features
2
Dr. Paul Armes retires after 15 years
6
WBU Historian retires after 41 years
20
Alum part of “Miracles from Heaven” story
16
Advancement unveils Impact 2020
Also Inside
24 Why Wayland Features
26 News Briefs
32 Sports Briefs
35 National Diving Champion
38 Thinking Out Loud
39 Class Notes
45 The Back Page
If you have any questions or comments about Footprints,
e-mail Danny Andrews at andrewsd@wbu.edu, or Jonathan Petty at pettyj@wbu.edu,
or write to us in care of the Wayland Alumni Office.
Moving On
Dr. Armes retires after
15 years at Wayland
by JONATHAN PETTY
Director of Communications
Dr.
Paul Armes sits comfortably at the small
conference table in the corner of his thirdfloor office in Gates Hall. The Kenneth Wyatt
original “House Call” hangs above the table.
The grandfather clock, donated to the university in memory of his mother, sings its hourly song.
Dr. Armes is leaving, but not for a few more weeks. There
is still work to be done. Plenty of paperwork is piled on his
desk and his day planner is open and full. The bookshelf
is packed with books and crawling with frogs – a favorite
collectible.
The 12th President of Wayland Baptist University, looks
around his office.
“It’s time,” he says.
Not one to talk about himself or his accomplishments, it’s
difficult for Dr. Armes when he reflects on his time at Wayland, but he knows that time has come to an end and he is
comfortable and secure in that decision.
“Nothing here is in any way pushing us away. No one has
ever encouraged us to do this. Everyone has been extraordinarily gracious and kind in their response to us,” he said.
“But it’s time.”
Dr. Armes will retire effective June 30, leaving behind the
university he has served for the last 15 years. His last official
duty as president will be to conduct graduation ceremonies
on May 7, but he will continue to work through June to accomplish a few personal goals and fulfill some commitments
to which he feels obligated.
Wayland has grown under Armes’ leadership. Since being
named president in 2001, Wayland’s budget has grown from
$25 million to $65 million. Enrollment reached a record high
of 6,834 students in 2012. Davis Hall, Jimmy Dean Hall and
the Laney Student Activities Center all opened. Wayland
developed a Mission Center and began offering courses and
a religion degree in the African nation of Kenya. The School
of Music reached All-Steinway School status. Numerous academic programs have been added to the curriculum, includ-
2 footprints
ing the Doctor of Management
degree that Wayland will begin
teaching later this year.
Knowing, however, that it
took a lot of work from a lot of
people, Armes is slow to take
credit for any of it.
“The thing I would say that
I will always remember about
my 15 years at Wayland is that
I was surrounded by wonderful
folks who worked really hard,”
he said. “And together as a
team, as a family, including the
entire university family, we took
some really positive steps in
really positive directions.”
When looking back, Armes
said it is the people that will always be his fondest memories.
Not just the ones he worked
with, but the ones he came in
contact with throughout the last
15 years.
“I remember early in my
tenure, going to Sierra Vista to
participate in commencement,”
he said. “I was the speaker that
day.”
After the ceremony, Dr.
Armes was approached by a
new graduate named Paula
who asked about the medallion
he wore. The question sparked
a conversation that resulted in
Paula telling him her story. As
a non-traditional student, she
didn’t want to attend Wayland
because she would be required
to take six hours of Biblical
history in order to graduate.
Wayland’s price and schedule,
however, were the best fit for
her so she reluctantly registered
to attend. Little did she expect
the effect those two Bible courses would have on her life.
“She really came to the point
of understanding that what she
considered to be faith in her life
wasn’t,” Armes said. “At the end
of the New Testament class,
[campus dean Jeff Barnes]
prayed with her, and she prayed
to receive Christ.”
As a result of her decision,
she witnessed to her family
and both of her children made
commitments to Christ and her
husband made a recommitment
of his life to Christ. After telling
her story, Paula told Dr. Armes
to never stop requiring those six
hours of Biblical history.
“That’s really who and what
we are,” Armes said. “That is
the unique element of Wayland
that you can’t always find at
other locations and in other
schools.”
Those types of stories are
what have fueled the man who
never expected to work in higher education. He surrendered to
the ministry as a teenager and
never saw his career taking him
out of the pastorate – especially
not into a role in higher education.
“I was not a stellar student in
college,” he said. “I did OK, but
not exceptional.”
That changed when he
entered seminary. Seeing the
proverbial writing on the wall,
Armes understood that to be
a better pastor he should be a
teaching pastor. To that end, he
sought a Ph.D. at Southwestern
Seminary in Fort Worth.
The pastorate eventually
led him to First Baptist Church
in Corpus Christi. While there,
he served on the board for
San Marcos Baptist Academy, a preparatory boarding
school affiliated with the Baptist
General Convention of Texas
and accredited by the Southern Associate of Colleges and
Schools, the same agency that
accredits Wayland.
As the president of San Marcos Academy prepared to retire,
several members of the board
approached Dr. Armes, asking
him to resign so they could
consider him for the president’s
position.
“I did resign,” Armes said.
“I wanted to give them a fair
opportunity to consider me and
I wanted a fair opportunity to
consider the possibility.”
Dr. Armes said he and
his wife, Duanea, loved the
church in Corpus, where they
had served for eight and a
half years, and they were not
looking to leave. As they prayed
about the decision, they did not
feel led to pursue the position at
San Marcos. But the board was
persistent, returning two more
times to talk to him.
“We decided we hadn’t
prayed quite enough about it,”
he said. “As we prayed and
thought and reflected it became
clear to use that it was exactly
what God wanted us to do.”
Dr. Armes accepted the
position and five years later,
he was approached by the
Wayland Board of Trustees
and asked to interview for
the president’s position at the
Wayland campus. At that time,
Dr. Wallace Davis was moving
into a chancellor’s position to
oversee the Wayland system.
The president’s position would
oversee the operations of the
Plainview campus.
footprints 3
Dr. Armes accepted the
position in 2001. A year later,
Davis retired and the Board of
Trustees opted to return to a
system in which the president
oversees the entire Wayland
system. It was in 2002 when
Dr. Armes moved to his corner
office on the third floor.
“In a way, all of this has kind
of been a surprise to me,” he
said. “I never sought to be an
educator. I’m still a pastor at
heart.”
Dr. Armes’ leadership style
was similar to how he would
lead a large congregation, giving some clear direction when
needed, but trying always to
care about the people who are
part of the family.
Looking back on the last 15
years, there are some things
Armes wishes he could have
done differently. He wishes he
could have raised another $50
million for the university and
seen the completion of a new
Flores Bible Building. He also
wishes he would have done
more to celebrate the successes of the university family
throughout the years.
“I’m not sure I’ve always
celebrated the good things that
we have done as a university
-- not me, but the university –
maybe as dramatically or as
significantly as we needed to,”
he said. “I’m just aware of the
fact that everything I have done
has been dynamically linked
to very special people who
have walked beside. Who have
given so much of their lives to
this university. Who have done
superb work that I am proud
4 footprints
of. But there are times as a
university that you ought to
celebrated. When good things
happen, you need to acknowledge those.”
As retirement grows closer, Dr. and Mrs. Armes have
already begun making plans …
and most of those plans revolve
around their five grandchildren.
“I would just like to be a part
of their lives. I would like to be
able to interact with them, and
Duanea would, too,” he said.
“Duanea is such a wonderful
grandmother. She is better at
her job than I am at mine.”
Dr. Armes credits much of
his success to his wife, and he
gets emotional talking about
how their relationship has
grown over the past 15 years.
“The delight of the love that
we have for each other and
the dependence that we have
on each other and on the Lord
in this journey, particularly at
Wayland, has been something
that we have learned and experienced together,” he said. “We
are closer now than we have
ever been. If you had asked if
that would have been possible
25 years ago I would have said
absolutely not. But we have grown
together.”
Dr. Armes said they plan to
travel in retirement, visit the Grand
Canyon and all the national parks
in Utah. But the first planned trip
may be to Germany to visit their
granddaughter … and her parents,
of course. The Armes’ daughter,
Ashley, works with the military and
is currently at a military base in
Germany. Their other daughter,
Sarah, is a nurse in Lubbock.
Along with traveling and grandkids, Dr. Armes hopes to have
the opportunity to preach more
in retirement. He says it is still a
very important part of his calling
to ministry and it is a part that he
hasn’t been able to exercise quite
as much as he would have liked.
As for Wayland, he feels that
the university is on the verge of a
prosperous period. New programs
targeting Texas Department of
Criminal Justice employees and
Dr. Clinton Lowin’s Kaleo project
in religion are just a few of the
areas where Dr. Armes feels the
university has real opportunity to
grow. He also expects Wayland
to remain a beacon for Christian
higher education.
“This is a place where
life-changing conversations
happen,” he said. “Not just about
knowledge, but about the spiritual
dynamic of life. About a person’s
relationship with Christ. About
what God’s plan is for life.
“Those conversations happen
every day in classrooms, the
cafeteria and other locations. I’m
proud of that fact.”
Board names Bobby
Hall next President
by JONATHAN PETTY
Director of Communications
T
he Wayland Baptist University Board of Trustees voted April 28 to name Dr. Bobby Hall the 13th president
of the university.
Dr. Hall presented his vision for the university during a
campus review on Friday, April 22. In it, he expressed a desire
to double the school’s endowment and dramatically increase
enrollment within 10 years. He said development will be a
key component of his presidency as the university continues
to search for ways to help offset the cost to students. He also
said he will focus on enrollment with the virtual campus being
see HALL, page 19
footprints 5
Dr. Estelle Owens, left, works
with her friend and mentor Dr.
Gwin Morris after he hired her to
teach history at Wayland in 1974.
Turn the Page
After 41 years, Dr. Owens ready to write
the next chapter in her personal history
by JONATHAN PETTY
Director of Communications
A
s the saying goes, if you
drop your pen you might
as well drop the course.
The simple reasoning was that in
the time it took to locate and retrieve
the pen, you would have missed too
6 footprints
much material to make it worth your
while to try and catch up.
Covering material quickly has
been a definitive trait of Dr. Estelle
Owens who taught her first college
history class while completing her
doctoral coursework at Auburn. Her
fast-paced style served her well
throughout the years, but it didn’t
necessarily start out that way.
“I had prepped and prepped and
prepped and prepped and I thought,
‘Oh, I have plenty of material here.
This will buy me about two weeks
and I can keep working,’” Owens
said about her first teaching experi-
ence. “Well, I shot through all of that
material in about 15 minutes.”
While her first class didn’t go
quite like she had planned, it was still
a positive experience for the young
doctoral student. It was on that day
that Dr. Owens discovered what she
was going to do with the rest of her
life.
“The very first day, I walked into
class. There were 30 young people
out there all looking anxious and
a little fearful. Before I even had a
chance to introduce myself, what felt
like a very, very bright light shined
right in my eyes and the literal voice
of God said, ‘Pay attention, Owens,
this is what I want you to do,’” she
said.
Dr. Owens has answered God’s
call on her life, teaching history with
a flair for the humorous that made
the subject matter interesting, if not
entertaining. But after 41 years in the
classroom, Dr. Owens is writing the
final chapter of her teaching career
as she retires June 30.
Coming to Wayland
Dr. Owens grew up in Jasper,
TX, nearly 600 miles from Plainview.
Her older sister, Mary, was two years
ahead of her in school, although they
were separated in age by only 13
months. As Mary was approaching
graduation, she began researching
colleges and universities with little
sister’s anxious anticipation.
“We wanted to go to Baylor,” Owens said. “But my parents didn’t have
that kind of money and weren’t going
to have that kind of money because
they had three children (a brother)
in college in four years and that’s a
killer for anybody.”
The music minister at their church
was a Wayland graduate, and one of
their older friends had come to Wayland to try and play basketball for the
Flying Queens.
“She’d come home for visits and
just tell us all about it,” Owens said.
“It sounded really intriguing and one
of the most beautiful things about
Wayland was that it was 600 miles
from home.”
In February
of 1965, Owens’ parents
drove her and
her sister to
Plainview to
visit the campus. Owens
said it didn’t
take long for
them to decide
Wayland was
the school for them. When they
arrived, Gates Hall was sitting atop a
little rise on the Texas Plains, shrouded in a blanket of snow.
“(Mary) looked at me. I looked at
her as we sat there in the back seat
and said, this is the place,” Owens
said. “That was a conviction from
the time I was a sophomore in high
school -- that I was coming to Wayland.”
Life Changing Events
As with many freshmen Dr. Owens began to find herself and find her
voice during her freshman year in
1967. She was not a fan of freshman
orientation, to say the least, and she
wasn’t going to participate in it.
“It was humiliating,” she said. “It
gave people who wanted it a chance
to be incredibly rude. The first time
an upperclassman called me stupid and meant it, I was really taken
aback. Nobody had ever called me
stupid and meant it.”
Dr. Owens decided that she
would not participate in freshman
orientation and refused to be part of
the humiliating, belittling treatment
-- a decision that would cause some
consternation among her fellow
freshmen. Two of her classmates
called her out and berated her for being an embarrassment to the entire
class. They told her she would never
amount to anything and that she
should leave Wayland immediately.
“When I had dried my tears over
that one, it really made me mad,” she
said. “I think that fire in the gut that
they generated without intending to
was a life-altering moment for me.”
Owens won the Outstanding
Freshman Award that year.
That wasn’t the only event that
helped shape Owens’ future, however. The other came in the classroom as she took a zoology course
during her freshman year. Dr. J. Hoyt
Bowers was in charge, and he had
the reputation of really testing his
students.
“He scared the wax out of me and
out of everybody else. The man did
not suffer fools and he would let you
know when you had stepped out of
line in some way,” Owens said. “Dr.
Bowers is one of the finest teachers I
ever had.”
Owens was lucky to have an older
sister who encouraged her to take
copious amounts of notes in Dr. Bowers’ class. Still, as a shy freshman
she “kept a low profile.” But when it
came to the lab practical exam, she
could hide no longer. Owens aced
the exam to the surprise of Bowers
who was used to having only biology
majors ace the practicals. He tried
to talk her into becoming a science
major, but the historian would have
nothing of it.
footprints 7
“That was a great experience for
me because it was the hardest B I
ever earned,” she said. “You come
out of high school just convinced
you are the cock of the walk -- just
pretty darn smart. That first college
class needs to disabuse you of that
idea so that you get into the habit of
studying.”
A habit she has continued
throughout her adult life.
Professor Owens
Dr. Owens was completing her
doctoral coursework at Auburn in
1974, preparing to move into the research and dissertation phase of her
degree program when she was contacted by Dr. Gwin Morris, offering
her a teaching position at Wayland.
Morris, who currently serves
Wayland on the Board of Trustees,
was a history teacher when Owens
was an undergrad. The two quickly
developed a mentor/mentee relationship that blossomed into friendship. A
doctoral students without a job, Owens jumped at the chance to teach
history under Morris.
“If that call had been a button
hook in the well water, it could not
have been clearer,” she said. “And
for 41 years it has been clear.”
Much of her early work load
included teaching in Lubbock with
students who were older than she
was and all carried guns. The Law
Enforcement Education Program
had just been funded by the federal government and Wayland was
offering classes to law enforcement
personnel in the basement of the
courthouse. Not only did every student carry a gun as required by their
department regulations, but they also
seemed to Owens, to be smokers.
“Fortunately for me it was never a
smoking gun,” Owens quipped.
8 footprints
Dr. Estelle Owens (standing) with her late sister, Mary, and brother-in-law, Ken Sharpe.
Still, it was in those early classes
that she discovered the bond that
was built between students and their
professors who cared for them.
Dr. Owens was teaching class
one night and it was “snowing to beat
the band.” As class dismissed, Owens made the slow trek back to Plainview. When she returned to class the
next week, two of her students, who
were Department of Public Safety
officers, mentioned that she lived in a
very nice apartment complex. Owens
discovered that they had followed
her home in the snow storm to make
sure she arrived safely.
“I thought, Wow! That’s pretty
awesome,” she said. “I had students
who were very concerned about me
because they recognized the kid just
off the turnip truck.”
Working with students
Dr. Owens could probably write
a book full of student stories. Many
were wonderful, positive experience.
Some were not. And others could
leave a person scratching her head.
One female student actually
questioned Dr. Owens’ authority as a
professor, saying she had no right to
be teaching a college class because
she was not married. She should be
home, “scrubbing the kitchen floor
and caring for my aged parents.”
When asked if her parents knew
where she was and what she was
doing, Owens responded that they
absolutely knew what she was doing
and they were very proud of her.
“But that was the expectation,”
she said. “What women do is get
married. What men do is make a
living. Women have babies. Women
keep house. Women don’t teach at
the university level.”
The fact is, Owens did have
a special man in her life, but he
“walked off into the sunset with
somebody else,” teaching her a valuable lesson.
“When the great disappointments
come, you man up, you pray it
through or you fold,” she said. “There
are no other choices.”
That student eventually left Wayland, but not before she had shared
her dream of marrying and having
eight children.
Other student stories weren’t
quite so dramatic. Sometimes it
was just about finding the right way
to communicate in order to make a
point. In one particular class, discussing how difficult it was for a
great many people to earn a living in
the American West, Dr. Owens was
trying to find a way to impress upon
students the prevalence of prostitution without offending anyone.
“How do I explain this on a Baptist
campus so they understand it, but it
doesn’t embarrass anybody?” she
asked herself.
She started out by referring to the
many women who made their living
as “princesses of the pavement.”
“About half the class got that …
the little twittering that goes on,”
Owens said.
However, one male student didn’t
seem to follow her nuanced metaphors. So Owens tried another term
that once again fell on deaf ears,
perhaps lost in translation or simply a case of one not having been
exposed to such bawdy, east-Texas
terminology.
“You know, we have a great many
euphemisms for this,” Owens said.
“I went through about 20 phrases. I
finally just gave up and said, ‘It’s a
whorehouse!’”
The student finally understood,
but not before Owens had exhausted
every intent to communicate the idea
in moderately less offensive terminology.
“But on the other hand,” she said,
“it was really good that he had no
clue what that was.”
Spending her retirement
While a book of student stories
would be an interesting endeavor,
Dr. Owens first order of business in
retirement will be a book of another
kind – the Wayland history book. Owens was tasked by the university to
write an official, un-abridged, “wartsand-all” history of the university that
will expose the good, the bad and the
ugly. Much of her early research was
used for the coffee table book, “The
Wayland Century” that was published
in conjunction with the university’s
centennial celebration in 2008. Since
then, the research documents have
been piling up in Owens’ house.
“I think in every room of my
house, except maybe the bathrooms,
I have stuff on this book,” she said. “I
have to get it all shifted into the great
room.”
Owens said she still has holes in
her research and she hopes to plug
those by spending plenty of time at
microfiche readers in various libraries. Her desire to retire and complete
the book was influenced in part by
the death of her sister. Mary Sharpe
retired at the age of 66 with plans of
how she would be spending her free
time. It was only six months later that
she passed away.
“I don’t think I had ever really
come face-to-face with the reality
that none of us knows how long we
are going to be this side of glory,” she
said.
Owens said there will definitely
be some good and some bad in the
history book as the human side of
Wayland led to poor decision in some
instances. But there is plenty of good
as well, as the human spirit brought
Wayland through some very tough
times. For someone who has had a
front-row seat for the past 41 years,
her favorite chapter to write will be
that of Dr. Glenn Barnett, who was
interim president from 1987-89. He
was responsible for saving the university at a very difficult time.
“Dr. Barnett was a literal answer
to prayer … an awful lot of peoples’
prayers,” Owens said.
Not only will Owens focus on
completing the history book, but she
hopes to do some traveling. She
wants to visit Australia and New
Zealand, two places she hasn’t been.
Then she hopes for return trips to
Great Britain.
And she is going to rest. Owens
once said in an interview that was
included in Wayland’s centennial
video, that if you no longer have a
passion for students and a passion
for teaching, then it’s time to “go sell
shoes or something.”
“When you can’t roll out of bed
every morning excited about going
to class and seeing what’s going to
come out of students’ mouths, when
it’s physically difficult to do that, then
it’s time to pack it in before you start
doing damage,” she said.
“I know it’s going to be tough and
I’m going to have some mornings
sitting out on my deck sipping that
second pot of tea thinking, what have
you done? This was a big mistake,”
she said. “Then I’ll start that third pot
and mellow out, and everything will
be fine.”
footprints 9
Closing shop
Turner retiring after 42 years
at the University Store
by DANNY ANDREWS
Director of Alumni Development
W
hen Eddie Turner
turns out the light
in his office at
Wayland’s University Store on
June 30, he’ll have completed
42 years of employment – the
second longest current tenure
on campus.
Director of Sales and Services, he is a 1968 graduate of
Hale Center High School and
received his BA in music in
1972. He served a year as music director at South Plains Baptist Church near Lockney and
then three years at First Baptist
in Groom while in school.
A student worker for manager Clyde Herring in the bookstore at Gates Hall, he served
two years as a missionary
journeyman to Okinawa and
then came back to Wayland
and spent a year as dorm counselor at Brotherhood Hall before
succeeding longtime friend
Danny Murphree as bookstore
manager. Murphree is Director
of Property Management at
Wayland.
A year after the University
Store was opened in McClung
Center in 1981, Turner earned
a Master of Science in Management from Houston Baptist
10 footprints
University. He also did master’s
work at Texas Tech.
In 1978, he married Sue
Hammit of Hale Center, who
graduated from high school
there in 1972 and went on to
play basketball three years for
Baylor University. She is retired
after teaching for 30 years at
Plainview Christian Academy
which the Turners help found in
1985.
The Turners, who recently
completed construction of a
home at Lake Ransom Canyon
east of Lubbock and where
Turner has served as music director at Ransom Canyon Community Church for 18 months,
have two daughters. Erin and
Damon West have two children
and Andi and Justin Knowles
have one child. They all live in
Lubbock.
The girls have enjoyed singing with their father on numerous occasions with Sue accompanying on the piano. Turner
also has sung one of the songs
written for Wayland’s Centennial – “No Small Dreams” – for
every Wayland Ring Ceremony
since 2009.
Regarding his longevity at
Wayland, Turner said, “The
truth is the Lord made it very
evident when I was offered
jobs at other places – including
music ministry opportunities –
that Wayland was where I was
supposed to be. One year I put
money down to buy Our House
Gifts here. Susie was going to
run it for a while until I could
take over. But I didn’t sleep for
three nights because I realized
that’s not what I was supposed
to do. Although my first degree
is in music and I thought I would
serve full-time in churches, I
could tell that also was not what
I was supposed to do.”
However, Turner did serve
as music minister for three
years at First Baptist Lockney
and then 38 years at his home
congregation, First Baptist in
Hale Center.
Turner says hiring and mentoring student workers has been one of
the most rewarding parts of his job,
estimating about 600 students have
worked for him through the years. He
hears from many of them and some
stop by for visits when they’re in town.
“It’s fun to see some of their kids
come through Wayland. I’ve got to get
out of here before the grandkids start
coming,” Turner said with a laugh.
Turner says the University Store –
always beautifully decorated for Christmas – is one of the best kept secrets
in Plainview, offering a wide variety of
gifts and clothing.
“We didn’t really handle gifts the
first 10 years in this building,” he said,
noting that profits from the store help
fund Wayland’s budget.
The campus post office and print
shop also are operated under his supervision and he serves as the university’s purchasing director.
Turner, who has received the Lifetime Service Award, Staff Leadership
and Distinguished Staff awards, has
served as Texas board member as well
as president of the Southwest College
Bookstore Association that encompasses six states and Southwest region
board member for the National Association of College Bookstores. He was
named Certified Collegiate Retailer of
the Year in 2009.
He has been a sponsor of Phi Mu
Alpha music fraternity and Kappa
Kappa Psi band fraternity and served
as backup director for the International
Choir of which he was a member for
four years during his college days. He
also sold tickets at Wayland basketball
games for about 35 years.
“I’ll still lead the music at Ransom
Canyon, piddle with my hobbies of
racquetball, fishing, landscaping and
woodworking and play with the grandkids,” he said of his retirement plans.
Why Wayland?
Kacy Pierce
Junior
Sports Management
Mesquite, Texas
“Wayland was my first choice for
college. I had my degree plan and
knew people who had gone here
and really liked it. I’ll probably stay
and get my master’s here. When I
first came to Wayland for Koinonia
(Welcome Week), they put in you
in a ‘family’ and I felt really loved. The professors and others
really want to see you grow and succeed; you get to know your
professors on a personal basis. Dr. Daniela Derdarian teaches
anatomy and the class was really hard but she would sit down
with a group of us in a circle and explain things to make sure
we got the concepts and not just now to pass the test. I’ve also
really enjoyed being involved in Baptist Student Ministries.”
Calvin McDaniel
Graduating Senior
Graphic Design
Marble Falls, Texas
“Wayland has constantly pushed
me where I’ve been immature or
lacking in areas to be more responsible and people here have
encouraged me along the way in
discouraging times. In order to
make friends, you have to be a
friend so I started to jump out of the shadows my freshman
year by being myself and hanging out with several different
groups. I eventually found my group of friends but met a lot of
new people who want to love you. I’ve been heavily involved in
Baptist Student Ministries and random activities around campus including events Student Activities puts on and by helping
other organizations. What kept me coming back to Wayland
is the people. You can even argue with people and they’ll
still love you through the process. Wayland has helped me
grow up and be grounded and I found a good church home. I
honestly would recommend Wayland because the faculty loves
you and pushes you to strive for excellence. They’ll help you
find scholarships and financial aid and will encourage you and
pray with you.”
footprints 11
A Fond Farewell
Glyndle Feagin set to retire after
24 years in the Wayland classroom
by DANNY ANDREWS
Director of Alumni Development
“I
always felt when I
got to Wayland that it
was the fulfillment of a
lifetime dream,” says Dr. Glyndle Feagin, who will retire in
May after 24 years of teaching
Greek and New Testament.
“God called me to the
ministry when I was 18, but all
the time I’ve been at Wayland I
felt this is what God had been
preparing me for.”
While he was pastoring in
Eufaula, Okla., a former professor encouraged him to pursue a
Doctor of Philosophy degree at
Southern Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
“I always had thought of
myself as a pastor but I began to think and pray about it
and didn’t know if God would
open a door for me. But he did
because I had known Dr. Fred
Meeks (the chair of the religion division) when I pastored
at Fairview Baptist in Durant,
Okla. and he was at First Baptist and I had known Dr. Paul
Sadler when we were at Baylor
and Paul recommended me.”
Born in McKinney, Feagin
graduated from Garland High
School in 1967, received his
BA in religion from Baylor in
1971, his Master of Divinity
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from Southwestern Seminary
in 1975, the Doctor of Ministry
from Phillips University in Enid,
Okla. in 1990 and his PhD in
New Testament from Southern
Seminary in 1993. His dissertation was on “The Irony of the
Kingdom in Mark.”
Feagin says he has “enjoyed teaching Greek more
than I ever imagined. I have the
students who make it through
four semesters so they are kind
of special to me…they’ve kind
of endured me,” he chuckles.
Feagin, who pastored East
Audubon Baptist Church near
Louisville when he was in seminary, estimates he has taught
about 2,500 students in Plainview and in classes at Lubbock,
including a number who have
gone on to become pastors.
He also has served 14
interim pastorates, mostly in the
Plainview area, and is taking
Intentional Interim training to
assist churches in pastoral
transition.
Feagin’s wife, Harriet, is a
retired math teacher. He has
one daughter, Beth Velez of
Lubbock, an educational diagnostician.
He enjoys walking six days
a week following four heart
bypasses in 2008, watching
sports – especially the Baylor
Bears – and is a voracious
reader of scholarly books and
presidential biographies and
reads history for fun.
Due date
Lena Morphis paid
her last WBU bill
by DANNY ANDREWS
Director of Alumni Development
T
he lady who has been paying most of
the bills at Wayland for almost a quarter of a century is retiring May 31.
Lena Morphis will be leaving as Coordinator
of Accounts Payable just
two weeks short of 25 years
at the university.
The native Plainviewan went to school in her
hometown until moving up
the road to Kress the last
semester of her senior year
in 1962.
She worked for Delta
and Pineland Seed Co. for three years before
coming to Wayland. She reconciled bookstore
purchases for a year, then moved to Accounts
Payable.
A member of First Assembly of God, she
has been church treasurer, a nursery worker
and a Sunday school teacher. She’s an avid fan
of Wayland football, basketball and volleyball
games and also enjoys doing needlepoint and is
making quilts for her three grandchildren.
Lena and her husband David, retiring post office supervisor for Wayland, have been married
for 52 years.
They have two children, Kayla Kuykendall of
Canyon and Darren Morphis of Lampasas.
“This has never been a stressful job for me,
except maybe at audit time,” she said with a
laugh. “I’ve enjoyed being in a good atmosphere
where I don’t have to listen to dirty jokes and
bad language from a bunch of truckers as I did
in my former job.”
Why Wayland?
Bailey Stengler
junior
Elementary Education
Chicago
“I was recruited to play soccer
two weeks before pre-season. I fell
in love with the school and all it had
to offer. The School of Education
has prepared me very well for my
desire to teach special education. I
have had several opportunities for
field experience and a lot of opportunities in the classroom. Dr.
Jo Beth DeSoto has really worked with me as my certification
testing is coming up. She works with several of us each week
to study our material. All the teachers want me to succeed.
They push you to be better. Being so far from home, I’ve made
a family at Wayland. The environment is so loving and welcoming and it’s not just my soccer teammates. I didn’t know a soul
when I came but you can be sitting by yourself and someone
will come up and speak to you. I’ve enjoyed being involved in
Fellowship of Christian Athletes. President’s Ambassadors and
Baptist Student Ministries.”
Robert Lopez
Graduating senior
Exercise and Sport Science
El Paso, Texas
“Although I came to play basketball, I really like the environment
at Wayland. I’ve had a couple of
coaches get me out of bed to make
early-morning classes. I guess I
could have gone somewhere else
and maybe played more but I kept
coming back because of my teammates and my coaches. They trust me and know I can help the
team. I’ve tried to go to Fellowship of Christian Athletes meetings as often as I can. Winning the conference tournament
the past two years has been the biggest thrill for me. This is a
good community to live in; everyone is very helpful. It’s a good
place to start your college experience and potentially finish
your degree. Like most of the students at Wayland, I’m not a
Baptist, but I felt very welcomed, very at home here.”
footprints 13
Hall Reaches Curfew
Dean of Students moving on to
focus on other endeavors
by DANNY ANDREWS
Director of Alumni Development
A
s Tom Hall prepares
to retire after two
stints totaling 24
years at Wayland, he is reminded of what a baseball official
told a coach about to bring his
team to Plainview for a tournament: “Hope you’re happy when
you come, hope you’re happy
when you leave.”
Hall, a native of Plainview,
1967 graduate of PHS and
1971 graduate of West Texas
State University, was happy to
come to Wayland in 1981 from
his post as assistant manager
of the Plainview Chamber of
Commerce and happy as he
contemplates taking a new
post coaching girls’ basketball, teaching a Bible class for
freshmen and sophomore boys
and “other duties as should be
assigned,” at Plainview Christian Academy. He coached the
girls’ team this past season.
Hall was coordinator of the
then-year-old McClung University Center and security
coordinator when he joined the
Wayland staff and later was
head of student services and
contacted services such as
food, maintenance, housekeeping and security.
After working at KKYN radio
from 1997-2009, doing an
14 footprints
early-morning radio show with
Brandy Haines, who now works
in the Wayland Business Office,
and serving as the Voice of
Bulldog Sports, he returned to
Wayland as Executive Director
of Student Services and Dean
of Students.
In his role, he has overseen
Student Services, Housing, Student Activities, Health Services,
Baptist Student Ministries,
Tutorial Services, Food Service
and Counseling, Career and
Disability Services. “Student
disciplinary actions also are a
big part of the job,” said Hall.
During his first tour at
Wayland he broadcast Wayland basketball games with his
brother, new Wayland President Dr. Bobby Hall and former
Sports Information Director Ed-
die Owens. On many trips, his
brother sat in the back of a van,
working on his doctorate. They
broadcast the Flying Queens in
two national finals and the Pioneers in one trip to the national
championship game.
While working at the radio
station, Hall broadcast three
state championship games
involving current Flying Queens
coach Alesha Robertson-Ellis.
He also did PHS football, basketball, baseball, softball and
an occasional volleyball match.
After he returned, he continued to do basketball and some
baseball and from 2012-14 was
the play-by-play voice of Wayland football.
Besides enjoying broadcasting basketball, Hall says
his other most enjoyable job at
Wayland was “when I was Director of
Student Services, working with the clubs
and organizations.”
An inductee of the Wayland Athletics Hall of Honor and member of the
hall’s selection committee, he also is a
recipient of the Roy C. McClung Award
for support of athletics. He was named
Plainview’s Man of the Year in 2004 by
the Chamber of Commerce.
Hall and his wife Linda will be married 47 years in September. Mrs. Hall is
a computer teacher at Estacado Middle
School after many years at Ash Sixth
Grade. They have one daughter, Jenny
Rosetta of Baton Rouge, La. She and
her husband, Randy, sports editor of the
Livingston Parish newspaper and contributor to sports websites and internet
audio shows, have two daughters. Mallory is a sophomore at Parkview Baptist
and Darby is a second grader at LaSalle Elementary where Jenny teaches
school. They are members of Istrouma
Baptist Church.
Hall, who has coached the Plainview
Lady Air basketball team in the summers
the past 19 years, serves on the public relations committee of First Baptist
Church.
He enjoys reading fiction, golf, and
watching old movies, especially Westerns.
Remarking on his career at the
university, Hall says, “Wayland has great
people. We all have our problems and
some days are better than others, but I
have worked with outstanding people.”
Athletic Director Rick Cooper, whose
games Hall broadcast when Cooper was
head coach of the Pioneers, commented: “Tom has had such an impact on
broadcasting in this part of the country
and also has made a career of guiding
young people. Wayland has been a better place because of him. We’re going to
miss him.”
Why Wayland?
Preston Rackley
Freshman
Religion
Calallen, Texas
“I came to Wayland on a baseball scholarship. My high school,
Hope Christian, won district for four
years and almost won state twice.
Although my grandparents, Charles
and Valois Davenport (former trustee/adjunct religion professor and
WBU graduate, respectively), have connections to Wayland, I
came not knowing what to expect. But I felt welcomed by students and faculty at Big Weekend and Gold Rush. The School
of Religion has instilled a lot of scripture in me and helped me
know how to read and understand the Bible better. I’d like to
pursue student ministry and maybe work in Canada someday.
I’m impressed how much the university cares about its students and wants them to succeed. I, for sure, would encourage
any high school graduate to come to Wayland.”
Ashley Price
Senior
Intercultural Missions
Pampa, Texas
“I had not heard of Wayland until
attending Big Weekend. There is a
heartfelt atmosphere on campus,
the professors care about you and
will talk to you about class problems
and life problems. I’ve had hands-on
experience in missions. I’ve been
to Kenya three times – once for seven months; I took online
classes and the professors kept me up on my degree plan
while I was there – and once to Myanmar. I’ve also worked
with Muslim women in the Dearborn, Mich. area, using the Bible to teach them English as a Second Language. I want to get
my MBA and then teach women in poverty in the United States
or other countries how to do business. I’ve been involved in
student ministry groups like Diakonia, Apostolos and Kerygma.
I’ve been the student leader for Kerygma working in the barrio
in East Plainview, doing door-to-door evangelism, home visits,
partnering with churches on projects and helping with the
Community Thanksgiving Dinner and a summer fiesta.”
footprints 15
Saying Goodbye
Carolyn Andrews retiring after 15
years in the president’s office
by DANNY ANDREWS
Director of Alumni Development
An e-mail from Robert
Black, then-Director of Church
Music at Wayland, set Carolyn
Andrews on a career-changing
course.
She will be retiring soon as
Executive Assistant to President Dr. Paul Armes.
In 2000, Mrs. Andrews, who
had served for 15 years as Minister to Children and Pre-School
at First Baptist Church-Plainview, felt God was leading her
in a new direction.
Soon after, Black, former
Minister of Music at the church
for 16 years, communicated
with her that applications were
being taken for the position
of assistant to new President
Dr. Paul Armes. “You’ve got to
apply for this job,” wrote Black,
now Minister of Music at First
Baptist-Muleshoe.
Mrs. Andrews had worked
at the church off and on for
about 25 years, first as Secretary to the Minister of Music
and Administration and later as
Receptionist/Secretary to the
Minister of Youth and even a
stint as church financial secretary before assuming her
longest-tenured responsibility.
Her work career also
included time at the law firm
of Day Owen Lyle Voss and
Owen where she worked with
former trustee Frank Day, was
assistant to longtime Wayland
trustee and legal counsel Gene
Owen and worked with current
legal counsel Rudd Owen,
Gene’s son and Frank Day’s
grandson.
Since 2007, Mrs. Andrews
has primarily worked with Wayland’s trustees, preparing board
reports and taking care of other
duties associated with their regular and special meetings and
summer retreat-work sessions.
“Dr. Armes and I hit it off
right away,” Mrs. Andrews
recalled. “When I asked him
later why he hired me, he said,
‘You’re a former Baptist pastor’s
daughter so you’ll know how I
think.” Armes had been a pastor
for 25 years before serving for
five years as president of San
Marcos Baptist Academy.
“Working with Dr. Armes has
been a real pleasure because
of his professionalism and
Don’t miss Homecoming 2016
Homecoming 2016 for Wayland is scheduled Sept. 16-17.
Several outstanding alumni
will be recognized in chapel on
Friday with the Legacy Luncheon to honor graduates of
50 years and longer to follow. A
16 footprints
theater production is scheduled
for Friday and Saturday evenings and a cookout and pep
rally will be held on Friday.
The Athletic Hall of Honor
recognitions are slated for Saturday. The Homecoming Queen
will be recognized on Saturday
afternoon when the Pioneers
host Howard Payne in football.
More details will be included
in the Summer issue of Footprints and will be sent in our
monthly e-letter.
compassionate spirit. Duanea Armes
also has been a good friend and encourager,” said Mrs. Andrews, who twice has
received the University Staff Service
Award.
“I have had the pleasure of working
with Freda Provence (former executive
assistant to five Wayland presidents),
Tommie Quebe, Deb Melcher, Caitlyn
Walker and Gracie Duggins in our offices,” she said.
“Mrs. Andrews has been a wonderful professional assistant,” said Armes.
“She has approached her responsibilities with extraordinary skill and commitment, and always knows how to get
a job done effectively. She has been
guided by a profound sense of loyalty
to Duanea and me. Most of all, Carolyn loves Wayland Baptist University.
The Andrewses will always be special
friends. I honestly believe it would have
been very difficult to do this job as president without her. I am so grateful that
God brought her into life of the Wayland
family.”
A native of Lamesa, she graduated
from Plainview High School in 1968 and
attended Wayland for three semesters
before going to work full time.
Mrs. Andrews is a past president of
Omega Delphin Study Club and served
on the boards of the Hale County Crisis
Center and Hale County Literacy Council, starting the Read First program to
help first graders learn the importance
of reading. She assists in the University
Ministry of First Baptist Church.
She and her husband, Danny, who
serves as Director of Alumni Development, have three children (all Wayland
alumni) – Brandon Andrews of Berwick,
Pa; Kayla Peltoma and husband Craig
of Dallas; and Brad Andrews and wife
Kayla K. of Plainview; and four grandchildren – Karsten, Brylee and Kallie
Andrews of Plainview and Josh Peltoma
of Dallas.
Why Wayland?
Alden Mann
Junior
Exercise and Sport Science
Wimberley, Texas
“I wanted to go to college first to
get a degree and secondly to play
football. Only a few schools believed in me and I made a decision
to prove to anyone who doubted me
that I could be a college player (he
is an All-American linebacker). My
coaches and teachers have believed in me and I’m not one
to back out on a goal. Wayland has a closely-related sports
community and Plainview is also behind me. I wouldn’t think
of transferring. There are a lot of Plainview people with strong
connections and I have been able to build up my credentials
by shadowing Melinda Shiloh, a physical therapist in Lubbock.
I love the small classes – maybe 23 in a class – that allow you
to connect with professors one on one. I have made friends for
a lifetime at Wayland.”
Daniel Capps
Graduating Senior
Molecular Biology
Lovington, N.M.
“When I first started looking at
colleges, I didn’t know anything
about Wayland until I saw their
booth at a college fair and saw they
had a pre-pharmacy program. I applied and it was one of my top two
choices. At Big Weekend, I saw the
faculty and staff really cared about
students and thought it would be easier to learn in a smaller
class environment. Class sizes are manageable so you’re not
just a number or being taught by a graduate assistant. My professors in my major are good friends. I can always call on them
for help. I’ve been a President’s Ambassador, and involved in
the Texas Academy of Science, American Chemical Society
and Pioneer Health Services for pre-health majors to volunteer
at hospitals. I plan to attend the Texas Tech School of Pharmacy starting August and want to work in a pharmacy someday
and eventually own my own pharmacy. There’s a cliché that
Wayland is like a family... and it pretty much is.”
footprints 17
WBU prof earns U.S. Citizenship
by JONATHAN PETTY
Director of Communications
I
n a time when patriotism is
being questioned and political parties are in turmoil,
there is one group of people
who understand what it means
to be a citizen of the United
States of America -- immigrants
who have earned citizenship
status.
Recently, the School of Fine
Arts at Wayland Baptist University celebrated as Associate
Professor of Communication
and Media Studies Dr. Yahui
Zhang returned from Fort Worth
where she participated in a ceremony completing the naturalization process and becoming
an official citizen of the United
States of America.
Zhang said choosing to
become a citizen was very personal and the love and support
showed by her co-workers and
students, who decorated her
office with streamers, balloons
and small United States flags,
was overwhelming.
“This is my adopted country,” Zhang said. “Personally,
to me, although there are a lot
of realities that we still have to
work with, the American ideals
are just so high and lofty that I
strongly identify with them. That
is one of the most important
reasons that I decided to become a naturalized citizen.”
Zhang, originally from Xi’an,
18 footprints
Dr. Yahui Zhang
stands outside her office
door that was
decorated in
celebration of
her earning her
U.S. citizenship.
China, came to the United
States 14 years ago with her
husband to pursue an education.
“I taught English when I was
in China,” she said. “My husband and I knew that the best
universities are in the United
States. He, and myself, really
wanted me to get the highest
degree. That’s why we came to
the United States. This is the
land of opportunity.”
Zhang began the naturalization process in October
of 2015. Her final interview
was held on Feb. 20 with the
swearing in ceremony taking
place on the 25th. At a time
when the country is mired in a
presidential election, Zhang is
hoping she can be registered
in time to vote in the general
election. She said there was a
group at the ceremony handing
out information and guidelines
for completing voter registration. Zhang said it will take her
some time to go through the
packet of information, but she is
looking forward to being able to
vote. In Texas, citizens must be
registered 30 days prior to the
election to be eligible to vote.
“This will be my first time
exercising my right and responsibility as a citizen,” she said.
And while the current campaigns are heating up, she is
not intimidated by the nature of
American politics.
“It is polarized,” she said of
the political situation, “but it’s
still a democratic election process and we have to be grateful
for that.”
HALL
from Page 5
the most logical venue through which to experience dramatic growth.
Dr. Hall has been associated with Wayland
for more than 30 years, serving currently as the
Executive Vice President and Provost, a position he has held since 2008. He has served in
many capacities at Wayland, including assistant
executive vice president, director of institutional
research and effectiveness, director of graduate
services, executive director of university relations, assistant to the president for institutional
advancement, director of public relations, and
director of career planning and placement.
Dr. Hall holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration (1982) and a master’s
degree in management (1985) from Wayland.
He earned his Doctor of Education degree in
higher education administration at Texas Tech
University in 1994. He is also a 2015 graduate of
The Council for Independent Colleges’ Executive
Leadership Academy.
During Hall’s time as Executive VP and
Provost, Wayland has created new degree
programs, developed a comprehensive online
program, established new teaching sites in multiple states, created WBU’s first doctoral program,
implemented a system-wide digital imaging
system, and explored international opportunities
for Wayland in Japan, Mexico, China, and Brazil.
He is also a faculty member in the School of
Business. While a full time faculty member he
earned the rank of professor of business. He
received the university Distinguished Faculty
Service Award and Faculty University Service
Award. He was instrumental in beginning Wayland’s chapter of Students in Free Enterprise
(now Enactus), and he has written, spoken, and
served as a consultant on topics including higher
education administration, institutional effectiveness, economic development, and marketing.
Dr. Hall currently serves as President of the
Plainview Chamber of Commerce. His wife, Laurie, is the director of health services at Wayland.
They have a daughter, Alex, and son, Lucas.
Why Wayland?
Rossanna Ramos
Junior
Spanish
Catano, Puerto Rico
“I was playing volleyball at a junior college
in Florida and my coach
sent an e-mail to Coach
Jim Giacomazzi and
he watched my videos
and recruited me to play
libero. It has been a good experience with my teammates. We connected well. My classes have been
hard but my favorite class is American Literature
and I have gotten a lot of help from my teachers. I
have found Wayland welcoming to an international
student like me but not a lot of food like I’m used to
at home. I’m majoring in Spanish and plan to be a
teacher.”
Keyshawn Hawkins
Sophomore
Pre-Engineering
Denver City, Texas
“I came to Wayland
(following in the footsteps
of his sister, four-time
volleyball All-American
Shahala Hawkins) to
play football. I first heard
about Wayland when
I was on campus for
University Interscholastic League competition when
I was in the eighth grade and really liked it. Coach
(Butch) Henderson and Coach (Anton) Page are
great coaches. As an African-American student, I
have felt very welcomed. I have been involved in
intramurals and have enjoyed getting to know
everybody in small class environments. Football
takes a lot of my time but I’m getting a good education and love playing here and want to graduate
from Wayland.”
footprints 19
“Miracles from Heaven”
features alum’s church
by DANNY ANDREWS
Director of Alumni Development
“P
astor Scott,” one
of the characters
in “Miracles from
Heaven,” a book on the New
York Times Bestseller List and
a popular movie of the same
name, is Wayland graduate Dr.
Scott Sharman, founding pastor
of Alsbury Baptist Church in
Burleson, Texas.
Sharman came to Wayland
solely on the recommendation
of his pastor at Hoffmantown
Baptist Church in Albuquerque.
“My first visit to the campus was
the day I moved into McDonald Hall,” he says. He majored
in sociology and minored in
religion, graduating in 1978.
He founded the suburban Fort
Worth church 21 years ago.
“Miracles from Heaven” is
based on the story of Annabelle
Beam who suffered from pseudo-obstruction motility disorder,
a severe intestinal disease, but
was healed after falling into the
rotted-out core of a tree in 2008
at age nine.
Anna – as she prefers to be
called – is the middle daughter
of Kevin and Christy Beam who
have been members of Sharman’s church for several years.
The family, which includes sisters Abby and Adelynn, lives in
a rural area between Burleson
and Alvarado where Beam is a
veterinarian and also runs cat-
20 footprints
Pastor Scott Sharman
stands by the tree
featured in the
movie “Miracles from
Heaven.” Sharman
is founding pastor
of Alsbury Baptist
Church in Burleson.
tle. His wife is a homemaker.
At age 5, Anna began to
suffer severe abdominal pains
and had emergency surgery
at Cook Children’s Hospital in
Fort Worth. She was referred to
Dr. Samuel Nurko, a world-renowned surgeon at Children’s
Hospital in Boston. She was put
on 10 different medications and
had a feeding tube in her nose
but the doctor said there was
no cure, only treatment options.
“She would go to Boston
about every six weeks and have
to stay two or three weeks,”
said Sharman.
One windy day when she
was nine, she and her older
sister were climbing a big cottonwood tree in their backyard
when one of the limbs began
to crack. They scooted back
toward the trunk and Anna fell
about 30 feet down the core of
the tree.
Paramedics were called
and had to get a tall ladder to
see down into the trunk. After
several hours, they were able
to hoist the child out by a rope
tied around her waist. She was
airflighted to Cook Children’s
Hospital but had no internal
injuries or broken bones, just a
few scrapes.
As Sharman relates, “A few
days later the family was going
out of town and Annabelle (as
he calls her) told her mom,
‘I’m going to be OK.’ Her mom
asked, ‘What do you mean?’
and she said, ‘When I was in
the tree, I went to heaven.’
Christy had no idea what to do
with that.
“But when Annabelle was
taken to appointments, she
quit asking for pain medication
and her stomach, which had
been distended due to medication, was back to normal. After
several weeks, they took her
off all medication and she was
never sick again,” Sharman
continued.
“She is very matter of fact
that she died and went to heaven. She said she didn’t want
to go back but God told her
she needed to go and added,
‘You’re going to be OK.’”
Sharman said the family
spoke about the incident in
church but Anna only talks
about it if asked. He added,
“The family was not parading
this story around.”
Sharman says the book,
written about a year ago and
which mentions his church by
name and refers to him as Dr.
Scott Sharman rather than
“Pastor Scott,” is better than the
movie, with which Sony Pictures took expected liberties for
dramatic effect.
However, Sharman says,
“I was very pleased with the
movie. They took about four
years of life and whittled it down
to two hours. They show Kevin
and Christy pretty overwhelmed
about their daughter’s illness
and arguing about it. They never argued.
“They show Christy losing
her faith and questioning God.
She never questioned; she was
rock solid in the whole journey.
A couple of ladies tell her that
her daughter’s illness may be
her fault because of unconfessed sin and others said if
she just had enough faith, God
Annabelle Beam, left, stands with her
mother Christy. Annabelle is the subject
of the movie “Miracles from Heaven.”
They are members of WBU alum Scott
Sharman’s church in Burleson.
would make Annabelle well.
That never happened in our
church though someone else
may have said that,” Sharman
explained.
“Kevin is a strong ‘fix-it guy’
who was an All-American quarterback at Hardin-Simmons and
is in their Athletic Hall of Fame.
He struggled watching his
daughter being so sick. But the
Beams were always in church,
teaching Sunday school the
whole time.”
Sharman said his character – “a bald-headed guy older
than me (John Carroll Lynch)
who plays in ‘The Walking
Dead’” – gets 3 to 5 minutes in
the movie. “I never did visit with
him, but the guy who plays the
father (Martin Henderson) spent
a weekend getting a feel for our
church and Kevin’s vet clinic.”
While praising the cinematography of “Miracles from
Heaven” as “right up there with
‘War Room’ (another popular
Christian-based film), Sharman
said Alsbury is “never men-
tioned by name and is depicted
as an old traditional church,
kind of like the Methodist
church I grew up in.”
Sharman and his staff were
invited to the world premiere
of the movie in Dallas and his
church booked a theater for
opening weekend, selling out
all 298 seats, and also had a
book-signing event for Mrs.
Beam. He said proceeds from
the book will help the family pay
enormous medical bills.
Sharman said the Beam
family “has never wanted to
come across as capitalizing on
Annabelle’s story or pushing
an agenda. They just told the
story as it happened. A lot of
people prayed for that little girl
for a long time. Dr. Nurko, a
very compassionate man who
treated her, told Annabelle’s
parents, ‘Your daughter is well,
her motility is gone and this is
not something kids typically get
well from.’”
Anna is now a seventh grader in nearby Joshua and “full of
life,” Sharman says.
Kevin Beam trimmed up
the branches on the tree into
which his daughter fell but left
the trunk. “He just couldn’t cut it
down, and carved a cross into
the side of it,” said Sharman.
Acknowledging that some
people are still skeptical of the
story, Sharman said, “I would
probably be skeptical, too, if I
didn’t know the family. Annabelle Beam was as sick as any
child I have ever seen and she
is well today after falling into
that tree. Like the man healed
by Jesus said, ‘All I know is
once I was blind but now I can
see.’”
footprints 21
Impact 2020
Advancement team kicks off capital
campaign for a better campus
W
ayland Baptist
University officials
are excited to kick
off the Impact 2020 capital campaign that focuses on providing
students with a safe and comfortable learning environment.
The Offices of Advancement
will be working on the campaign
that was officially unveiled at
the annual Evening with the
President on April 16.
Over the next five years, the
university will seek to raise $14
million to apply toward updating facilities and providing a
comfortable, safe and secure
university where students can
learn and grow both professionally and personally. This campaign is designed to improve
student facilities and study
areas, including infrastructure
like plumbing, air conditioning
and overall safety.
“This may not be the most
glamorous capital campaign,”
said Executive Director of Advancement Mike Melcher, “but it
is certainly one that will impact
thousands of lives.”
Campaign objectives include
• Remodeling parts of Gates
Hall, including restrooms
and preparing unused
22 footprints
One provision in the Impact 2020 campaign is to raise enough money to name
the School of Mathematics and Sciences after renowned surgeon and Wayland
alum Dr. Kenneth Mattox, pictured here with his wife, June. Dr. Mattox is Chief of
Staff at Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston.
space for offices
• Renovating the Moody
Science Building
• Renovating three women’s
residence halls to make
the structures more energy
efficient, update HVAC sys-
tems and replace shower
facilities
• Repairing or replacing the
“concrete prairie,” the concrete expanse between the
library, science building and
university center
• Construction of a new
weight room for student
athletes
• Repairing roofs on the
Plainview, Amarillo and San
Antonio campuses
• Replacing the main sewer
line
• Repairing parking lots
The renovation of the science building comes with an
initiative to name the School
of Mathematics and Sciences
after Dr. Kenneth Mattox, a
1960 graduate of Wayland who
serves as the Chief of Staff and
Ben Taub General Hospital in
Houston.
Dr. Mattox has received
numerous recognitions and
awards throughout the years.
He is a distinguished Service
Professor of the Micheal E. DeBakey Department of Surgery
at Baylor College of Medicine.
He has been a visiting professor or consultant at more than
800 medical schools, hospitals
or health care systems. He is
a member of 30 professional
organizations, is past president
of the American Association for
the Surgery of Trauma, secretary-treasurer of the DeBakey
International Surgical Society,
past president of the Houston
Surgical Society and the Texas
Surgical Society. He has been
listed in Best Doctors in America and Best Doctors in Houston. He has received several
distinguished surgeon awards.
He has written more than 15
books, 600 scientific articles
and “about 1,000 abstracts,”
and has a ground-breaking
surgical procedure named after
him.
While the Impact 2020 campaign does not directly include
the construction of a new Bible
building, it does incorporate
most of what was included in
the previous capital campaign
initiative that stalled with the
waning economy several years
ago. University officials said,
however, that the Bible building
and the School of Religion and
Philosophy remain as a future
goal. Impact 2020 simply shifts
priority focus to those areas
that are in need of immediate
attention.
For more information about
Impact 2020, contact the Offices of Advancement at 806-2913425.
footprints 23
Why Wayland?
Science degree led Burgess
to career in physical therapy
by DANNY ANDREWS
Director of Alumni Development
N
athan Burgess
already had a clear
career choice when
he came from nearby Hale
Center to enroll at Wayland in
the late 1990s.
A Bachelor of Science
degree in biology in 2001
launched him toward a career
in physical therapy – a subject
he now teaches as Assistant
Program Director of the Doctor
of Physical Therapy program
at the Texas Tech University
Health Sciences Center in
Lubbock.
Burgess, who received his
master’s from Texas Tech in
2004 and will earn his Doctor
of Science in Physical Therapy
next spring, has been on the
full-time faculty since 2009. He
specializes in neuro rehabilitation, working with people who
have experienced conditions
such as spinal cord injuries,
head injuries, stroke, Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis.
“It’s a very broad field. We’re
helping people learn to function
again – just moving in bed,
walking and re-learning basic
skills in many cases. Patients
are dealing with permanent
life changes. They have lost
24 footprints
Erin, Noah and Nathan Burgess
their ‘normal’ and we’re helping
them create a new normal, how
to function with the physical
abilities they have,” explained
Burgess who is a Neurologic
Certified Specialist through the
American Physical Therapy
Association.
Burgess previously served
as Chair of Admissions and
Director of Clinical Education
for the school, which has 12
full-time faculty.
The entry-level Doctor of
Physical Therapy is a threeyear program encompassing
100 graduate hours through
its teaching sites in Lubbock,
Amarillo and Odessa and 36
weeks of full-time clinical internship which occur in locations throughout Texas and the
United States. Burgess did his
clinical internships in Amarillo,
Lubbock, Lockney and Norman,
Okla.
“It’s our mission to service
the western half of Texas,” said
Burgess, who noted the school
presently has about 210 students in the Doctor of Physical
Therapy program. “We get
400-500 applications a year;
we have students from everywhere, even internationally.
“Specifically, I am developing future healthcare providers,
mentoring them from students
to health professionals.
“Wayland did a good job of
preparing me in those areas,”
Burgess said. “Also, it was beneficial to have the faith focus
Wayland provided. It helped me
grow as an individual. College
is a very formative period in
your life and having friends and
faculty of the same spiritual
mindset was helpful.”
Burgess and his wife Erin,
a Texas Tech graduate and
homemaker, have a 5-year-old
son, Noah, and are expecting
another son in October.
He is the son Gene and
Debbie Burgess of Hale Center.
His mother works in Financial
Aid at Wayland. His sister,
Lindsay Burgess, who has two
degrees from Wayland, works
in Admissions for the Wayland
campus in Lubbock.
Why Wayland?
Brent Knox is living his dream
by DANNY ANDREWS
Director of Alumni Development
A
former welder who
dabbled with the idea
of college several
times is living his dream as a
44-year-old, first-year kindergarten teacher.
Brent Knox, who was born
in Lockney and graduated from
Plainview High School in 1989,
worked with his father, Danny,
at D&J Company, manufacturing tillage equipment in Plainview.
“I first thought about going
to college to get certified in
welding but my dad said I didn’t
really need to do that to work
for him,” Knox related. “About
10 years later, I thought I might
study business management,
but I didn’t do so well in high
school so I didn’t think I had a
chance of making it in college.”
A couple of years after marrying the former Tammy Bradford, who teaches history in
Kress, about 12 miles north of
Plainview, she suggested that
“if I was going to make a career
change, now is the time,” Knox
said. A friend, Shelly Walker,
who was teaching at Edgemere
Elementary at the time, also encouraged Knox to go to college.
He enrolled at Wayland
in 2009, continuing to work
Brent Knox
with his father as his schedule
allowed. The semester before
he began student teaching, he
went to work at 4 in the morning
so he could get in eight hours
on the job, then took afternoon
and evening classes.
“I’d rush home to get my
homework done, go to bed and
start all over the next day. Mike
Laas at Plainview Tire, next to
my dad’s business, encouraged
me quite a bit. When I was
thinking of laying out a semester, he told me, ‘You can wake
up with a degree or wake up
without one. It’s your choice.’
That inspired me to push
through,” Knox recalled.
Knox said all of his teachers
at Wayland were very supportive, especially those in the
School of Education.
“I had him for all of his
elementary education classes,” said Linda Murphree, who
taught for Wayland after leaving
Plainview ISD. “We hit it off in
his introduction to elementary
education class. He was a little
rough around the edges at first,
but really blossomed into a
teacher who loved kids.”
Knox landed a job at Edgemere Elementary, where he is
one of only two men on staff,
and as he nears the end of his
first year, he reflects, “It’s been
an experience and I’ve learned
a lot. Five- and six-year-olds
can teach you a lot of things
you don’t even want to know.
They don’t have a filter at all,”
he said with a laugh.
“I love standing in the hallway and telling them, ‘Good
morning’ and picking on students in all the grades.”
Teaching reading, writing, math, social studies and
science, Knox says he enjoys
having a set structure each day
and eventually hopes to teach
writing to fourth graders. “I had
never done much writing but
when I was student teaching
that really clicked. I didn’t realize I liked writing so much.”
Looking back on his college
experience, Knox says, “When
I first started, I didn’t see how
I could ever finish. But when
I walked across the stage I
couldn’t believe I was already
done. I was the first Knox to get
a college degree.”
footprints 25
Why Wayland?
Alums team up in Missouri
WBU graduates Randall Stotts, Greg Griffin working together
to lead congregation at First Baptist Church of Blue Springs
by DANNY ANDREWS
Director of Alumni Development
T
wo alumni who graduated
two years apart are now
leaders on the ministerial
team of a growing church near Kansas City, Mo.
Randall Stotts, a 1985 religion
major, and Greg Griffin, who received his BA with a major in religion
and minor in philosophy in 1983,
now serve as lead pastor and adult
ministry pastor, respectively, at First
Baptist Church of Blue Springs.
The church, which primarily
serves residents of Lees Summit,
Independence and Blue Springs
with a combined population of about
258,000, recently purchased the
facility of Tri-Cities Ministries that
includes a large auditorium, classrooms (the ministry also operated a
school), gymnasium and fellowship
area with a commercial-sized kitchen.
“Tri-Cities was having some financial difficulties and knew we were
planning to building a new church.
In fact, we had bought property on
the south end of Blue Springs and
were supposed to start building this
year. We were able to save a ton of
money by purchasing their property,”
Griffin explained. “It was a win-win
for both of us. We got about 30,000
more square feet than we planned to
build and we had no gymnasium in
our plans.”
Blue Springs also has a campus
in Grain Valley, which began meet-
26 footprints
Greg Griffin (left) and Randall Stotts
ing two years ago in an elementary
school about five miles away. Attendance at the two churches averages
1,400 to 1,600 each Sunday.
Griffin, a pastor’s son who attended three high schools in four years
before coming to Wayland from San
Antonio, is in charge of the church’s
life groups as well as the men’s ministry and also personally disciples six
men each week.
Thankful for the influence of Wayland religion professors Gary Manning, John Mitchell, Ronnie Littlejohn,
Ivyloy Bishop and Fred Howard,
Griffin served as youth minister at
Calvary Baptist in Tulia and then at
First Baptist in Olton.
“I began to doubt whether I was
really called to ministry so I worked
as an admissions counselor at Wayland for two years but got a confirmation when Travis Hart (a 1968
Wayland graduate who had been
pastor in Olton, then moved to FBC
Plainview) asked me to be Minister of
Single Adults and Recreation at First
Baptist in Plainview,” Griffin related.
Although he took courses at
Southwestern Baptist Theological
Seminary’s extension center in Lubbock, Griffin never got a seminary
degree. Stotts, a native of Tahoka,
graduated from Midwestern Seminary in Kansas City.
In 1991, Stotts, Student Pastor
at FBC Blue Springs at the time,
recommended Griffin to First Baptist
Church in Raytown, Mo. as Single
Adult Pastor, a post he held for 11 ½
years. In January of 2003, he joined
a ministry called Character That
Counts and began giving leadership
to a ministry under the CTC umbrella
called Teaching God’s Infinite Wisdom (TGIW). TGIW currently has
120-150 men from several denominations in Bible study each week at
their Lees Summit locations.
He also produces a quarterly
newsletter for Character That Counts
which was started by Rod Handley, a
former vice president of Fellowship of
Christian Athletes. “Rod was born in
Lockney (15 miles east of Plainview)
and still has family there but grew up
in Washington,” Griffin said.
Six or seven years ago, Griffin
began attending First Baptist-Blue
Springs to which Stotts had returned
as pastor after serving at Hoffmantown Baptist Church in Albuquerque,
N.M. and helping found Sagebrush,
now a megachurch in that city.
“Randall came back to Blue
Springs about 10 years ago when
the church was in dire straits. It
was running only about 350-400 in
attendance and has more than quadrupled in size. When we joined, the
church just felt like home and I got
engaged in ministry. They liked what
I was doing in ministering to men and
asked me to come on staff on a halftime basis.
“Randall is an excellent preacher,
teacher and leader,” Griffin added.
Looking back on his Wayland
experience, Griffin recalled, “I graduated from high school in a class of
600 and probably didn’t know five
of them. But my whole life changed
when I showed up at Wayland. I
came out of my shell and got very
involved in a lot of areas. I even ran
track one year.
“I was involved with the Baptist Student Ministries when David
Kemmerling was director. I began to
realize potential I didn’t know was
there. Literally hours after Wichita
Falls had a terrible tornado, I went
with several other students to take
a couple of van loads of stuff to help
people down there. I saw there were
many ministry opportunities.
“Also, Dave Sylvester, the student
minister at First Baptist, took several
of us under his wing and started discipling us. That’s my deepest passion to disciple men and help them
become disciple makers.”
Griffin has been on mission to
Venezuela and would like to go to
London where Blue Springs has
placed a current staff member and
his family as long-term missionaries,
hoping they are the first of many the
church can put on the mission field.
“They are working with Hindus,
Muslims, Jews and Christians from
many countries,” Griffin said.
He and his wife Sharon, who has
an associate’s degree from Wayland
and is assistant to the Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education in the Lees Summit district, have
a son, Kyle of Springfield, Mo., and
daughter, Kayla House of Topeka,
and five grandchildren ranging from
two months to 3 years.
Stotts and his wife, Donna, a
native of Post who was a secretary
at First Baptist-Plainview and now
teaches high school biology, have
two children. Ashley Kennedy is a
missionary in Capetown, South Africa, with her husband, Jason. They
have four children. Son Brooks is a
seminary student and youth pastor.
“My experience at Wayland was
about relationships,” related Stotts,
who served at First Baptist in Lockney and First Baptist in Hereford
before moving to Missouri.
“Dr. Manning, Dr. Bishop, (longtime staff member) Joe Provence
and others began shaping doctrine
and theology for us. Even today, I still
have notes that I refer to, at times,
from classes taken at Wayland from
those disciple makers in my life.
“Our passion for people who live
their lives away from Jesus began
at Wayland and First Baptist Church
of Plainview. It was modeled for me
as the normal Christian life and even
today ‘we are not ashamed of the
Gospel’ as it continues to give life
to my family and those who do not
know Jesus.
“God used individuals to teach me
how to know Jesus and continue to
fall in love with Him while at Wayland. Jay Kelly, Johnny Castro, Kenny Dickenson and Ricky Cavitt were
great mentors for me during that time
by watching them and simply copying
what they did in their relationship with
Jesus. At that time, when they were
young men, they had an enormous
passion for Jesus that I had never
witnessed. I learned so much from
those guys.
“I will always be indebted to
Stacey Conner (now pastor of First
Baptist Muleshoe) who befriended
Donna and me and was a constant
source of encouragement to follow
Jesus. He exhibited a love for Jesus
that was so contagious and compelling for me,” Stotts continued.
“It really has all been about God
and Him drawing people to Himself.
Donna and I were very much beneficiaries of people taking serious II
Timothy 2 and teaching us how to
know Jesus and make him known.
We both are who we are, in large
part, to Wayland and those who were
following hard after Christ and loving
us during those days.
“One of the greatest gifts in our
lives has been our relationship with
Greg and Sharon Griffin. Donna and
I love doing life with them. To be able
to work with an intimate friend of so
many years has been a gift that only
God could give. He is an incredible
leader of people and a true disciple
maker. They might be the greatest
gift that Wayland has given to us
over the years.
“(Evangelist/teacher/Wayland
alum) Bruce Ammons is another
close friend. His ministry in our lives
has been invaluable. Even though
time and distance separates much
of these relationships, I still carry
their investment in our lives and they
shape our ministry even today.
“God is doing a great work around
us. It is very humbling to watch
Him draw people to Himself and to
allow us to be part of it... it is the
‘abundant life’ that is only found in
Christ. Because of Scripture that was
opened to us while at Wayland, we
have pursued a life that has been full
of risk-taking for God’s glory and the
salvation of many.” Stotts said.
footprints 27
Why Wayland?
Rebekah Crowe choosing to live
her dream as a Wayland professor
D
uring the four years I spent
on the Plainview campus
while earning my bachelor’s degree,
I spent as much time as possible with
my history professors – sitting in their
offices and discussing class, the profession of history, graduate school,
and life in general.
I wanted to be one of them so
badly I could hardly wait to graduate
and get moving! When I did cross
the stage to receive my diploma from
Wayland’s then-new president, Dr.
Paul Armes, he told me to go get my
education and come home.
Twelve years later, I returned to
Plainview to interview for my dream
job – a member of the Wayland faculty. Even though I’d been gone for
over a decade, I immediately felt at
home on campus and with the faculty
and staff of the School of Behavioral
and Social Sciences.
Of course, it didn’t hurt that many
of the faces that greeted me were
familiar and oh, so dear. After being
offered, and accepting, the position
as assistant professor of history, I
traveled to the third floor of Gates
Hall to pick out my office.
I cannot even express the joy and
satisfaction that flooded my soul as
I realized that I’d met my goal. I’d
come home. The following August, I
moved to Plainview, along with the
husband, son, cat, and two graduate
degrees I’d collected along the way.
Here are just a few of the reasons
why I teach at Wayland:
I just fit at Wayland. I felt that the
28 footprints
first time I stepped on campus, as a
15-year-old visiting her older sister,
and I’ve never felt any other way. To
misquote a song from a few years
ago, Wayland “feels like home to
me.” I want to help young people,
whether they come from a similar
background to
mine or something
entirely different,
find that fit -- and
that family -- for
themselves.
I have fantastic memories of
Wayland. These
Crowe
memories include
falling in love with
a dark-eyed giant, Ryan Crowe, from
East Texas. We are so thrilled to be
raising our 5-year-old son, Wes, in
the shadow of the same buildings
that harbored our young dreams. I
also made friends at Wayland that
continue to be tremendously important in my life. Many of those friends
were peers, but some of them were/
are faculty and staff at Wayland who
kept up with me through all my travels WITHOUT the benefit of social
media. I want to be that professor
that students remember and return to
visit. I want to stay in touch with graduates when they leave, continuing to
care about and pray for their lives.
I received an outstanding education at Wayland. When I left, fresh
diploma in hand, I was prepared for
graduate school and, more importantly, for life, thanks to the lessons
I’d learned in and out of the classroom at Wayland. I am so honored
to now be a part of that opportunity
for our current and future students.
I want to provide Wayland students
with the BEST education I can, but
also be a safe, loving presence that
students can trust and confide in
when life gets rocky and tough decisions need to be made.
Wayland and the world have
changed since my undergraduate
days. I see great opportunity in the
new reality faced by Christian higher
education in general and Wayland in
particular and want to be involved in
the discussion about how to maintain Wayland’s historic purpose and
Christian distinction while adjusting
to the present situation.
Wayland is in a time of transition.
Both the dean of my school, the
incomparable Dr. Estelle Owens, and
the president of our university, Dr.
Paul Armes, are retiring at the end of
June. While I will greatly miss having
these two wise individuals around on
a daily basis, I am also excited to see
what the future holds for Wayland
and committed to being a part of that
future.
(Dr. Crowe also has served on the
Young Alumni Board and has written
alumni profiles for a monthly e-mailed
alumni newsletter. She and her
husband Ryan, teach a young adult
Sunday school class at First Baptist
Church-Plainview.)
News in Brief
Dr. Wayland’s
granddaughter
dies at 91
Mary Joyce Dean
Adams, 91, granddaughter of Wayland founder
Dr. J.H. Wayland and his
wife Sarah, passed away
Sunday, April 3, 2016, in
Glen Rose.
Mrs. Adams was born
July 12,
1924, in
Plainview
to Ernest
“Bull”
and
Mabel
Wayland
Adams.
Adams
She was
delivered
by her grandfather, a longtime Plainview physician.
She worked for 50
years, mostly for the
federal government. Mary
owned and helped build
a private airport in Austin
called The Bird’s Nest,
which is now Austin Executive Airport.
From 1979 to 1999,
she faithfully cared for her
mother, who lived at home
and reached the age of
109. She was very involved
in church, political and
community activities.
According to her obituary, Mrs. Adams “enjoyed
her yard, flowers, First
Baptist Church, mission
trips, helping with youth
camp and Bible School
and sharing the truth of
her Heavenly Father. So
many people from so many
generations have been
inspired and blessed and
prayed for by her. To her
dying day she was praying
for and blessing others.”
Survivors include: her
much loved former brotherin-law, Rudy Meyers and
companion, Beverly Rainbolt; nieces, Suzanne Adams Carter and husband,
David and children: Tralissa Carter Griffin, BA’86,
and husband David, BA’84;
Jennifer Carter Ralston,
BA’89, and husband,
James; Amy Carter Myers.
BA’94 and husband, Jay,
BA’96; Cynthia Adams Armour and husband, Liebert
(deceased) and children:
Phillip Armour and wife,
Mindy, Deborah Armour,
Beth Armour Armstrong
and husband, Chris; nephew, Sandy (W.G.) Adams
(deceased) and wife, Sharon and children: Loretta
Adams, Sandra Adams
Whitfield and husband,
Moose, Ernest Adams,
Wayland G. Adams, III
and Chelsae Hay; greatgreat-nieces and nephews,
cousins and a host of close
loving friends.
Memorials can be sent
to Missions at First Baptist Church-Glen Rose or
Wayland Baptist University,
1900 W. Seventh, CMB
1295, Plainview, TX 79072
WBU gets grant
for youth program
Wayland Baptist
University has received a
$600,000 grant from Lilly
The Wayland Enactus team won its Regional Competition in Dallas
on April 4 and will represent the School of Business at the National
Championships in St. Louis on May 15-18. Team members are: (front,
from left) Virginia Norwood, Kesley Gittens, Enactus Sponsor Dr.
Barry Evans, Myra Franco, Isabel Morales and Chelsa Ball (back)
Anthony Minjares, Keaton Vawter, Enactus President Cody Lindberg,
and Jedediah Hedlund.
Endowment Inc.’s High
School Youth Theology
Institutes initiative to help
fund Kaleo, a program
designed to foster Christian leadership among high
school juniors and seniors.
Designed by Wayland’s
Associate Dean of the
School of Religion and Philosophy, Dr. Clinton Lowin,
the Kaleo program’s goal is
to “transform lives through
discovery, discernment and
affirmation of God’s call for
Christian leadership in the
lives of junior and senior
high school students.”
“This grant is one of
the most exciting things
that has happened to the
School of Religion and
Philosophy in our history,”
said Dr. Paul Sadler, Dean
of the School of Religion.
“It has tremendous potential to influence the lives
of Christian young people,
and it also gives churches
and Wayland an opportunity to form very productive
partnerships.”
Lowin said he had been
in discussion with leaders
at the Baptist General
Convention of Texas and
other organizations who
expressed a growing
interest in trying to find a
way to help more students
consider the call of God on
their lives, not only preparing them for service to the
church, but also within their
communities.
Funded by the Lilly
Endowment grant, Lowin
was able to design an immersion program through
which Wayland partners
with local churches, Camp
Eagle and Student International to provide students
with an experience that
focuses on the heart, head
and hands to foster the call
to kingdom work.
footprints 29
News in Brief
School of Music
hires new faculty
The School of Music
has announced the hiring
of two new faculty members who will strengthen
the university’s choir and
band programs.
Dr. Steven Weber, who
spent the
past 24
years as
Director
of Choral
Activities at
Amarillo
College,
Weber
has been
named
Director
of Choir
and
Professor
of Choral
Education.
Weber
Rowles
earned
his
doctorate from Arizona
State University in 1992.
He also holds master’s
degrees from ASU as well
as The Catholic University
of America, and a bachelor’s degree from Lebanon
Valley College.
Carl Rowles has been
named Director of Bands
and Assistant Professor
of Instrumental Education. Rowles is serving as
the interim director of the
Monmouth College Wind
Ensemble while completing
his Doctor of Musical Arts
30 footprints
degree at the University
of Iowa. He is on course
to complete his degree
in May. Rowles holds a
master’s degree from
Tennessee Technological
University and a bachelor’s
from Simpson College.
Trustees approve
General Studies
Wayland Baptist University has developed a
new Bachelor of General
Studies degree that will be
offered in the fall of 2016.
The Bachelor of General Studies provides opportunities for students who
are interested in combining
a liberal arts background
with some degree of concentration.
Students will take
Wayland’s general core
then choose two concentrations with an option for
a third. Concentrations are
available in art, business
administration, communication, education, environmental science, environmental studies, exercise
and sport science, graphic
design, history, justice
administration, media
communication, political
science, psychology, sociology and theatre.
Family endows
scholarship
The family and friends
of Ken and the late Mary
Owens Sharpe gathered in
February to dedicate a new
scholarship in their name.
The Owens and Sharpe families gathered for the dedication of the
Ken and Mary Owens Sharpe Endowed Scholarship to benefit a future
teacher in the social sciences. Pictured are (from left) Dr. Estelle
Owens, Mary’s sister; Amanda and Jake Owens (a nephew) and son
Jack; Dr. Paul Armes, WBU President; and Ken Sharpe.
The Ken and Mary
Owens Sharpe Endowed
Scholarship will provide
scholarships for students
studying to become teachers in the social sciences
and servant-leaders.
Ken dedicated his life to
the justice system, serving
for 42 years as a court reporter for the state of Oklahoma. Mary, the sister of
Wayland history professorDr. Estelle Owens, spent
40 years as the pastor’s
secretary at Village Baptist
Church.
Born in Buna, Texas, Mary graduated from
Jasper High School
and earned a degree in
elementary education
from Wayland in 1969.
She taught fifth grade at
College Hill Elementary in
Plainview before marrying
Ken in 1973 and moving to
Oklahoma City.
Superintendent
program online
Wayland is starting an
online program for educators interested in obtaining
a superintendent certification. Delivered completely online, this program
provides certification for
prospective superintendent
candidates while allowing
working administrators the
freedom to complete the
program without disrupting
their daily responsibilities.
The certification program will cover five specialized classes: school
plant and facilities; leadership and the change process; school improvement
and educational reform;
politics, governance and
finance of education;
and the superintendent
practicum. The program
is designed for practicing
administrators.
News in Brief
For more information,
call 806-742-9516 or email
tim.powers@wbu.edu.
History program
recognized
Wayland’s Master of
Arts in History program has
been recognized among
the “10 Most Affordable
Online History Master’s
Degrees 2016” by BestMastersDegrees.com.
Wayland placed sixth on
the list.
Best Masters Degrees
put together a comprehensive list of universities
offering master’s degrees
in history online and then
determined the cost of
attending based on tuition
and fees. The group also
looked at Wayland’s flexibility in offering a handful
of core courses as well as
numerous topics of study
from American history to
Biblical history, and more.
Science students
earn awards
Three students from the
School of Mathematics and
Sciences at Wayland were
awarded for their presentations at the Texas Academy of Science meeting in
Junction in March.
Lauryn Bruggink, a
senior from Oak Creek,
Colo., won second place
Overall Undergraduate
Research Presentation
and the Terrestrial Ecology Section Award for the
best presentation in that
section. Bruggink’s presentation was entitled “Winter
Habitat Use of Longspurs
(Calcarius spp.) and Other
Winter Grassland Birds
in hale and Floyd County,
Texas.”
Jake Brozek, a senior
from Bovina, and Mayra
Herrera-Gonzales, a junior
from Plainview, won the
best presentation award in
the Neuroscience Section
for their work entitled, “Salt
Addiction is Mediated by
Encephalic Vasopressin.”
More than 100 presentations were given by
research students from
across the state.
Boyer inducted
into Hall of Fame
Dr. Richard Boyer, professor of business and social sciences for Wayland
Baptist
University’s
online
programs,
has been
selected
for inducBoyer
tion into
the Army
Officer Candidate School
(OCS) Hall of Fame. The
ceremony was held on
April 26 in Columbus, GA.
The OCS Hall of Fame
is intended to honor graduates of the OCS who have
distinguished themselves
in military or civilian pursuits. Captain Boyer was
commissioned a Military
Intelligence Officer upon
graduation from the OCS.
Boyer left active duty in
1967 and continued to
serve as a reserve officer.
His final assignment came
in 1971 as a military intelligence evaluator for the
First U.S. Army Evaluation
Team.
Dr. Boyer distinguished
himself for induction into
the Hall of Fame as an
attorney, judge, state
representative and senator,
party chairman, educator and civic leader. After
graduating law school in
1972, he achieved distinction as an attorney
and was included in “Best
Lawyers in America.” Upon
his election to the New
Hampshire State Senate
he was dubbed as one of
the “fastest rising political
stars.” His preeminence as
a national political leader
was enhanced with his
election as Chairman of
the State’s Democratic
Party and underlined by his
inclusion in New Hampshire Notables as one of
the decade’s significant
leaders.
In 1992 Dr. Boyer left
the courtroom for academia, serving as law
school dean, dean of
education for a private
college, and president of a
private university. In 2001
Dr. Boyer joined Wayland
where he is in his 15th
year having achieved the
rank of professor.
Daniel Brown
earns doctorate
Daniel Brown, who
has worked at Wayland
for eight years, recently
received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the
University of Memphis.
Brown earned a Bachelor of Music from the
University of Alabama-Birmingham and a Master of
Music from the University
of Alabama and an associate’s degree from Wallace
State Community College
in Hanceville, Ala.
He
currently
is Director of the
BASBCM
(Bachelor
of Applied
Science
Brown
and
Bachelor
of Christian Ministry) Office
after serving as a recruiter
in the Admissions Office,
then an evaluator, Office
Manager and Coordinator
of Operations for BASBCM.
He was instrumental in
designing the scholarship
program being offered to
correctional employees,
their spouse and dependent children in the Texas
prison system.
Brown and his wife, Dr.
Kimberly Brown, Director of
Vocal Studies at Wayland,
have two children – Hannah, 4, and Luke, 2.
footprints 31
Sports Briefs
Women’s track
wins NAIA title
Brian Whitlock said it
might have been the best
day in the history of Wayland Baptist athletics, and
the Pioneer track and field
teams – as usual – were a
huge part of it.
On a day when the
men’s and women’s
basketball teams both
played for conference
championships, a pitcher
threw the sixth no-hitter in
WBU baseball history, and
swimmers and wrestlers
represented well at national competitions, it was
another national title by the
women’s track and field
team – and another second
for the men – that was the
cherry on top of it all!
“It’s a special day,”
Whitlock said.
Led by Most Valuable
Performer Rochene Smith,
32 footprints
the WBU women pulled
out of a four-team chase
to finish in first place at the
NAIA Indoor Track & Field
National Championships,
scoring 72 points. Doane,
Neb., was second with
61½, followed by defending champion Indiana Tech
with 61 and Siena Heights,
Mich., with 59½.
It’s the sixth indoor
national title – and first
since 2009 – for Wayland’s
women, who also have
won three outdoor crowns,
including last year. Wayland placed third at indoors
in 2015.
Basketball teams
rank in final poll
The Wayland Baptist Flying Queens were
ranked 17th – their highest
final ranking in a dozen
years – and the Pioneers
were the equivalent of 29th
in the NAIA Division I Basketball Coaches’ Postseason Top 25 polls.
Both WBU teams
dropped in the rankings
after first-round exits in
their respective national
tournaments.
The Queens went from
11th to 17th, which is their
best postseason ranking
since the 2003-04 team
finished 14th. Third-year
coach Alesha Robertson-Ellis’s team went 25-5,
the program’s most victories in a season since the
1998-99 team went 28-6
and advanced to the second round of the national
tournament. The Queens
also won their first-ever
Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season and
second-ever tournament
championship.
The Pioneers, under
first-year coach Ty Harrel-
son, finished the equivalent
of 29th in the men’s poll.
Harrelson’s team finished
with a 21-12 record,
repeated as SAC Tournament champions, and
earned an automatic bid to
the national tournament.
Players named
scholar athletes
Four Wayland Baptist basketball players –
Stephanie Afunugo for the
Flying Queens and Ruben
Lopez, Thiago Randazzo
and Maurice Redmond for
the Pioneers – have been
named 2016 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes.
In order to be nominated by an institution’s head
coach or sports information
director, a student-athlete
must maintain a minimum
grade point average of 3.5
on a 4.0 scale and must
have achieved at least
Sports Briefs
Afunugo
Lopez
Randazzo
Redmond
junior
academic
status.
It’s the
second
year for
Afunugo,
a senior
sports
medicine
and rehabilitation
major
from
Plano, to
receive
the NAIA
Scholar-Athlete
honor.
She led
the No.
11 Flying
Queens
in scoring (12.8
ppg) and
steals
(53) and
was
second in
rebounds
(6.9) this
season
when she
joined
the program’s
1,000-point club, ending
her career with 1,206
points to rank 26th. She
earned All-Sooner Athletic
Conference honors the
past three seasons, including first team this year.
Lopez, Randazzo and
Redmond are all juniors.
A 5-8 guard, Lopez
averaged 2.12 points and
collected 20 assists, 13
rebounds and nine steals
while appearing in 25
games. He hit 13-of-32
3-pointers (41 percent).
Lopez is a fitness management major from El Paso.
Randazzo, a 6-foot-5
business marketing/management major from Brasilia, Brazil, appeared in only
three games this season,
averaging 8.3 points and
4.7 rebounds, before
suffering a season-ending
injury.
A 6-3 business major
from Channelview, Texas,
Redmond was second
on the team in scoring
(15.5 ppg) and total steals
(57) and was the leading rebounder (6.5). He
shot 53 percent from the
field, including 50-of-140
3-pointers, and 86-of-113
(76 percent) free throws.
Redmond was named
All-SAC honorable mention and made the All-SAC
Tournament team.
Mensah working
toward Olympics
Wayland Baptist
redshirt wrestler Tamyra
Mensah narrowly lost in
her semifinal match at the
1st Olympic Games World
Qualifying Tournament in
Mongolia in April, denying
her a spot in the 2016
Olympic Games…but with
one shot left.
Mensah recently won
Mensah
the U.S. Olympic Trials in
Iowa but still needs to qualify her weight (69 kg/152
lbs.) for the United States
at the Olympics to be held
later this year in Rio de Janeiro. After failing to qualify
her weight for the U.S. at
the Pan American Qualifier
in Frisco in March, Mensah
was hoping to get the job
done at the Buyant-Uhaa
Sports Arena in Mongolia,
where the top two finishers
advance to the Olympics.
She easily won her
opening-round match over
Kaur Navjot, India’s fivetime World Team member,
10-0, before taking on Gozal Zutova of Azerbaijan in
the quarterfinals. Mensah
won that, 10-7.
That advanced Mensah
into the semifinal against
Ilana Kratysh of Israel, with
the winner advancing to
the final and earning a spot
in the Olympics.
Mensah took an early
2-0 lead with a single-leg
takedown right out of the
gate and led it 3-2 after the
first round.
A headlock for Kratysh
put Mensah down 6-3 with
two minutes left. It appeared Mensah recorded a
takedown, but it was ruled
a slip and no points were
awarded. Mensah picked
up one step-out point with
28 seconds left, and she
managed to pick up one
more but ultimately fell to
the Israeli, 6-5.
A tweet by USA Wrestling stated: “Cannot
believe they took away
her takedown late in the
match. Wow.”
The redshirt junior
from Katy, Texas, who
represents Titan Mercury
Wrestling Club of California, has one more crack at
qualifying during the World
Olympic Qualifying Tournament to be held May 6-8 in
Istanbul, Turkey.
Wayland fourth in
Learfield Cup
At the conclusion of the
winter standings, Wayland
Baptist finds itself in fourth
place out of 172 schools in
the NAIA Learfield Directors’ Cup. WBU stood
second after the first set
of winter standings before
points were awarded for
men’s and women’s basketball.
The Learfield Directors’
footprints 33
Sports Briefs
Cup awards points based
on schools’ national finishes in up to 12 sports – six
women’s and six men’s.
Wayland finished an
all-time best fourth in the
competition last season.
Golfers second,
Harp honored
Wayland overcame
Texas Wesleyan to finish
in second place, and three
Pioneers finished in the top
10 individually – including
Player of the Year Andrew
Williamson
– at the
Sooner
Athletic
Conference
Men’s
Harp
Golf
Championships played at Waterchase Golf Club in Fort
Worth.
After turning in rounds
of 286 and 290, the
second-ranked Pioneers
shot a final round 283 to
overtake seventh-ranked
Texas Wesleyan (290-283288—861) by two shots.
Williamson, a sophomore from South Africa,
wound up in third place
after shooting his second
consecutive 3-under 69.
Williamson scrambled for
seven birdies and four
bogeys and shot 3-under
33 on the back-nine. Combined with his first-round
34 footprints
72, Williamson – last year’s
SAC Freshman of the Year
when he tied for 13th place
– turned in a 6-under 210,
seven shots out of second
place.
Junior Steven Diack,
who opened with a 72 and
a 76, shot a 68 on day two,
and finished in seventh
place out of 58 golfers.
Senior Ian Ansett tied
for eighth place (69-7673—218), a shot in front of
sophomore George Scanlon. Freshman Dean Martin
tied for 16th.
Wayland Baptist University coach Tom Harp
was named Sooner Athletic
Conference Coach of the
Year.
Women’s golfer
second in SAC
Wayland Baptist shot a
314 on the second day to
move past Texas Wesleyan
and finish in second place
at the Sooner Athletic
Conference Women’s Golf
Championships held at
Waterchase Golf Club in
Fort Worth.
Fifth-ranked Oklahoma
City took the title by 26
shots, shooting rounds
of 299 and 305 for a 604
total.
Marina Gallegos, a
sophomore from Spain,
tied for third place overall,.
WBU junior Natalia
Ugalde tied for seventh in
the 42-golfer field.
WBU senior Hannah
Duvall, the defending
champion, tied for 11th
place. Ashley Zang was
alone in 17th while sophomore Kodee Rhodes was
27th.
Baseball team
riding success
With one Sooner
Athletic Conference series
with Mid-America Christian
remaining at press time,
the Pioneer baseball team
stood 38-14, just two wins
away from becoming the
sixth team in school history
to win 40 or more games.
Milestones this season
have been a sweep of former SAC archrival Lubbock
Christian by scores of 8-5,
10-8 and 4-3 and two wins
over perennial powerhouse
Oklahoma City on the road.
Coach Brad Bass
passed the 600-win milestone at Wayland in his
21st season at the helm.
OCU hosts the SAC
Tournament May 6-9. The
winner automatically qualifies as one of 45 teams for
the NAIA National Championship Opening Round,
while non-automatic qualifiers must gain entry with an
at-large bid.
Greg Feris to join
NACDA Hall
Dr. Greg Feris, director
of athletics at Wayland
from 1990-2014, will be
inducted into the National
Association of College
Directors of Athletics Hall
of Fame.
Induction ceremonies
will be from 12:45-2:15
p.m. June 14 at the Hilton
Anatole in Dallas.
When Feris started at
Wayland, the university
only offered six sports:
basketball, cross country, and
track and
field for
men and
women.
Today,
Wayland
has 21
Feris
sports
programs
– adding golf, soccer, wrestling, and swimming and
diving for men and women
as well as volleyball, baseball, football and cheer and
dance. The student-athlete
population has exploded
from approximately 75
when Feris took over to
today’s total close to 500.
Feris started the Wayland Athletics Hall of Honor
in 1991 and was inducted
in 2009. He also created
the Harley Redin Coaching
Award.
He was inducted into
the NAIA Hall of Fame
in 2007 and was named
Under Armour Athletics
Director of the Year three
times.
Feris and his wife,
Glenda, live in Nemo, near
Glen Rose.
Sports Briefs
Veliz is Wayland’s first
Sophomore
claims national
title in diving
by JONATHAN PETTY
Director of Communications
W
inning a title was
nothing new for
Genesis Veliz –
she had done it before. What
was new was winning a national title for Wayland’s 3-year-old
diving program. Veliz competed
at the NAIA Swimming and
Diving National Championships
in Columbus, GA, in March,
winning the title in the 1-meter
competition.
Veliz, a sophomore from
Venezuela, started diving when
she was 15 years old. It was
a natural progression for a
girl who had been involved in
gymnastics and tumbling since
she was 3.
“My mom saw me all the
time in my house, doing balls
and rolls and handstands, and
she was crazy with me,” said
Veliz in her heavy Venezuelan
accent. The 21-year-old has
been speaking English for only
two years. “She would go to the
club and ask if I can start with
gymnastics.”
Veliz switched from gymnastics to diving when she was 15
years old. The only difference,
she said, was remembering to
enter the water head first.
Genesis Veliz, a sophomore from Venezuela, is Wayland’s first-ever national champion diver. Veliz won the 1-meter NAIA diving
competition in March.
“Everything in gymnastics is
your leg. Everything,” she said.
Veliz adapted rather quickly
and won national championships a year later. She has won
Venezuelan nationals in the
1-meter, 2-meter and 10-meter
platform, and she qualified for
the diving World Cup in 2012.
Her current goal is to make
the 2020 Venezuelan Olympic
team.
The diminutive diver came
to the United States in 2014
to dive for Oklahoma Baptist
University. She transferred to
Wayland a year later when she
couldn’t secure a financial aid
package that would keep her
at OBU. Wayland offered her a
scholarship.
“For international students,
the money is so helpful,” she
said.
Veliz said the move to the
United States has been a bit of
a culture shock. In Venezuela,
she lived near the capital city
of Caracas. She was used to
the big city atmosphere with big
see CHAMP, page 45
footprints 35
Baptist Student Ministries
Remain in Christ and great
things will happen
“I
Donnie Brown
Director
Baptist Student Ministries
“
My command
is this: Love each
other as I have
loved you.
Greater love has
no one than this:
to lay down one’s
life for one’s
friends.
“
John 15:12-13
36 footprints
am the true vine, and my Father
is the gardener. He cuts off every
branch in me that bears no fruit,
while every branch that does bear fruit he
prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
You are already clean because of the
word I have spoken to you. Remain in me,
as I also remain in you. No branch can
bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the
vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you
remain in me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches.
If you remain in me and I in you, you will
bear much fruit; apart from me you can
do nothing. If you do not remain in me,
you are like a branch that is thrown away
and withers; such branches are picked up,
thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you,
ask whatever you wish, and it will be done
for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that
you bear much fruit, showing yourselves
to be my disciples.” John 15: 1-8
This semester we have focused on
the Gospel of John, in particular John
15: 1-17. Our Leadership Team has
memorized this passage and focused
on remaining in Christ and allowing Him
to produce fruit in our lives. We have
stressed ways to remain in Christ by
personal Bible study, church involvement,
Sabbath rest, scripture memory, prayer
and other spiritual disciplines. John 15:7
states that if we remain in Him, and His
word remains in us, we can ask whatever
we wish and it will be done for us. One
thing we continue to pray for is our lost
friends and classmates to come to Christ.
This semester we saw seven of them put
their faith in Christ. That brings the total
profession of faith among Wayland students to 14 for the year. We praise God
for these and continue to disciple them
and ask for more new believers. God also
answered our prayers through our Disciple Now teams. They served in five different churches. They saw nine teenagers
give their lives to Christ and encouraged
hundreds of teenagers to continue to live
for Jesus.
During Spring Break, we took 37
to South Padre to participate in Beach
Reach. We have been doing Beach
Reach for several years, but this year’s
was by far the best. We took the largest
group that we have ever taken. We joined
about 800 other students from across Texas and worked together to advance the
Kingdom of God. A total 154 people gave
their life to Christ and our students were
able to lead eight of those to faith. It was
a tremendous experience and great honor
to see God answer our prayers.
On June 11-25, 2016, we will have a
team of 20 athletes in Kenai and Soldotna, Alaska, sharing the love of Christ using sports camps. We will be conducting
football and volleyball the first week and
basketball and soccer the second week.
We will have the privilege to share Christ
with more than 200 kids and their parents.
Please join us in praying for a harvest.
Alaska is a very beautiful place but very
dark spiritually.
God is at work on our campus. I am
amazed every day that I get to partner
with God and with you in reaching college
students for Christ. Thank you for your
partnership in the Gospel and please
continue to pray that we continue to make
disciples who make disciples.
Wayland Mission Center
Movemental!
T
he work of the Wayland Mission
Center—in Plainview, in the
cities of Detroit and Dearborn,
in the state of Texas, and in the world—is
best described as part of a greater undertaking of followers of Jesus Christ—as
movemental. The legacy of past generations, encapsulated by the mission greats
of Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong, is
now seen in students from different generations, learning and practicing evangelism
and incarnational ministry in all of these
locations. Let’s examine exactly how this
is happening.
Our three mission groups—Apostolos,
Kerygma, and Diakonia—are discovering and meeting needs of divergent
populations. Apostolos, now in its eighth
year, has grown to mentor students from
Plainview High School, Plainview Christian
High School, Estacado Middle School, and
Coronado Middle School. Students from
these four schools gather each Thursday
for tutoring, life-coaching, games, food,
and fellowship, and are motivated to stay
in school and identify and develop their
God-given intelligence, talents, and skills.
The second mission organization,
Kerygma, is working to proclaim the Good
News of Jesus Christ through the annual
Spring Fiesta, held at the Broadway Street
Park in Plainview. This city-wide, local outreach is designed to present the Gospel
in word and deed, through proclamation,
games, food, crafts, and fund.
The third mission organization, Diakonia, ministers weekly to the offenders at
the Formby Unit east of Plainview. Following the missional command of Jesus to
visit those in prison, this group of students
engages local churches to provide ministry
to the 1,600+ offenders at the unit.
The fifth annual mission to the cities
of Detroit and Dearborn, Michigan, rendered at least 54 decisions for Jesus
Christ, through door-to-door evangelism,
neighborhood clean-up, and for the first
time, clean water distribution in the city of
Flint. Reverend Doctor Robert Coverson,
pastor of the Meditation Missionary Baptist
Church in Detroit, expressed his appreciation for the Wayland Mission Center team
thus, “I just wanted to take a moment and
thank you again for the fabulous manner
in which you and your team blessed our
church family a few weeks ago. We are
still reaping benefits from it. Since your
visit, we have had thirteen people join our
church, and nine as baptismal candidates.
Keep up the good work and we pray for
you always.”
Summer mission opportunities include
the first trip to the island nations of the
Netherlands Antilles. The WMC will take
10 mission volunteers to work alongside
local congregations in Aruba and Curaçao.
We will be partnering with Pastor
Jason Smith and members of the College
Heights Baptist Church to do mission
in Harlingen and Brownsville. Wayland
students will engage in Vacation Bible
School, sports camp, and church building
construction.
Our annual trip to Kenya will take place
in late June and early July. We will work
in Limuru, Kakamega, and Bungoma,
alongside Wayland Kenya graduates in
those cities.
Our fourth trip of the summer will be to
Macedonia, Kosova, and Greece. A team
of 27 will be working in Skopje, Gllumova, and Shuto-Orizari, with churches and
Christians of Macedonian, Albanian, Romany, and Serbian backgrounds. The final
component of this trip will be to trace the
route of the Apostle Paul on his second
missionary journey through Greece.
The movement is underway! Movemental.
Dr. Richard Shaw
Director
Wayland Mission Center
2016 Mission Trips
n
Netherlands Antilles,
an island nation off
the coast of Venezuela
n
Harlingen and
Brownsville
n
Kenya
n
Macedonia and
Kosova
All of the Wayland
Mission Center’s
global missions are
open to all WBU
students and
others committed to
sharing the love of
Jesus Christ.
If interested,
contact Dr. Rick Shaw
at shawr@wbu.edu.
footprints 37
Thinking Out Loud
Retirement, fundraising
and student success
I
Danny Andrews
Director of Alumni
Development
“
With a com-
bined 185 years
of service, all of
(the retirees) have
enriched this
university in many
and unique ways
and will be greatly
missed.
38 footprints
“
have recently felt as if I were back
at The Plainview Herald after writing a lot of stories for this edition
of Footprints.
I told several people I was afraid I’d
get carpel tunnel syndrome just from
writing retirement stories.
Hank Williams Jr.’s “All My Rowdy
Friends Have Settled Down” has been
swirling through my cranial Ipod as I
contemplate the departure of some
dear friends – President Dr. Paul
Armes, Dean of the School of Social
and Behavioral Sciences Dr. Estelle
Owens, Dean of Students Tom Hall,
University Store Manager Eddie Turner,
religion professor Dr. Glyndle Feagin,
and Coordinator of Accounts Payable
Lena Morphis.
Come to think of it, none of them are
very rowdy but they are some of the
best people I know. Of course, I’ll see
one of the retirees pretty often – my
wife, Carolyn, who has been Dr. Armes’
assistant his entire 15 years at Wayland.
With a combined 185 years of
service, all of them have enriched this
university in many and unique ways
and will be greatly missed.
Congratulations to Dr. Bobby Hall
on his selection as 13th president of
Wayland. We pray God’s blessings as
he continues his long legacy of service
to this University.
****
Elsewhere in this issue, you can
read about “Impact 20/20,” a capital
campaign for several much-needed
campus improvements.
It’s pretty sobering to me that all
buildings but the Laney Center, Jimmy
Dean Hall and Davis Women’s Dorm
are 35 years and older – many of them
quite a bit older.
There’s nothing fancy in this $14
million campaign, just a lot of areas that
need replacing, remodeling or updating.
We’re simply asking all Wayland
alumni, faculty, staff and friends to
prayerfully consider what you can do
within your family budget – perhaps giving more by spreading your gift out over
three to five years, if necessary.
A total of $28 a month – about the
cost of two people eating out these
days – over three years is $1,004.
That’s a pretty nice gift that a lot of
alums can make – maybe through a
monthly credit card debit. Some can do
much more, some can’t hit that mark
but all can do something. And all gifts
are appreciated.
It’s time to “pay it forward” and provide better facilities for a new generation of students.
I’m on board and hope you will be,
too. We look forward to hearing from
you.
****
It’s been a terrific year for our athletic teams and many individuals as well
but our recent Recognition Chapel was
a great reminder of how many of our
students excel in the classroom in all
disciplines.
Many are doing significant research
and projects, individually and collaboratively, presenting papers and devotedly
preparing for their future endeavors by
giving their very best academically.
We salute each of them for carrying
high the torch of educational excellence.
Blessings on each of you. Have a
great summer.
Classnotes
In Loving
Memory
Christian love and sympathy is
extended to the family and friends
of these members of the Wayland
family.
Trustees/Faculty
Staff/Friends
DR. JOHN ‘JACK’ GIBSON, former professor of
speech at Wayland in the
1960s, died Dec. 28, 2015, in
Lubbock, at age 87. A U.S. Air
Force veteran, he was a former
announcer for the Armed
Forces Radio Network and
later worked at KFYO radio
and KCBD-TV in Lubbock.
He also taught radio, television
and speech at Texas Tech and
the University of Texas at Arlington. He and his late wife,
Ceclia, were married for more
than 60 years. Surviving are a
son, a daughter, a half-brother
and three grandchildren.
Fidelia Ann Henderson, mother of Wayland football coach
BUTCH HENDERSON,
died Feb. 4, 2016, in Artesia,
N.M. at age 84. She was a supportive wife to her late husband of more than 60 years,
Lenard “L.G.” Henderson,
who coached in Dalhart, Alice,
San Antonio and Artesia,
N.M. In recent years, they had
been volunteer campground
hosts near Creede, Colo. In
addition to Butch and his wife
Karen, other survivors are
another son, a daughter, seven
grandchildren, including JODI
HENDERSON DOURIS,
BA’02, and eight great-grandchildren. (hendersonr@wbu.
edu)
Diana Graham Jones, sister of
DEB MELCHER, former
assistant in the President’
Office and the University
Store, and sister-in-law of
MIKE MELCHER, Executive Director of University
Advancement, died April
19, 2016, in Olton, Texas at
age 53. Also surviving are
her husband, Maurice; a son,
GRAHAM JONES, EX’15,
her parents, three other sisters
and a brother.
Edna Louise Provence Laine,
82, sister of Alumni Director
Emeritus JOE PROVENCE
and sister-in-law of former Executive Assistant
to the President FREDA
PROVENCE, died April 13,
2016, in Plainview at age 82.
A graduate of the University of Mary Hardin Baylor,
she taught in Chicago, Fort
Worth, Arlington, Waco, and
Carlsbad, N.M. After the death
of her husband, Maj. Arthur
J. Laine, she traveled across
country in an RV by herself
for the next 22 years. Also surviving are a sister, three aunts
and a nephew.
Dolores Sepeda, mother
of RANDEE SEPEDA,
BSOE’94, MBA’10, Coordinator of General Accounts at
Wayland, died Dec. 30, 2015,
in Plainview, at age 63. Also
surviving are her husband
of 41 years, Abel, a son, two
other daughters, six brothers,
three sisters and seven grandchildren. (sepedar@wbu.edu)
Ruth Kincaid, mother-inlaw of DR. CHARLES
STARNES, Associate Dean
of the School of Business,
died Jan. 3, 2016, in Plainview
at age 94. She was a “Rosie
the Riveter” during World War
II, working in Grand Prairie,
Texas, building P-51 Mustangs
and B-24 bombers. She also
is survived by two daughters,
including Susie Starnes, two
sons, five grandchildren and
four great-grandchildren.
(starnesc@wbu.edu)
PEGGY WALL, who served
as a trustee from 2006-14, died
Dec. 23, 2015, in Plainview, at
age 81. She and her husband
of 61 years, TC, owned and
operated High Plains Concrete
since 1969. They have an endowed scholarship at Wayland
and were honored in 2014 by
the Association of Former
Students with the Distinguished Benefactor Award
and also received the Keeper
of the Flame honor for gifts
exceeding $100,000. Also
surviving are two sons, two
daughters, eight grandchildren
and five great-grandchildren.
MELBA JO ROBERTS
WILLIS, AA’45, who
worked in the Office of
Public Relations and Student
Recruitment for 24 years,
died April 19, 2016, in Bryan,
Texas, at age 89. Surviving are
her husband, DON WILLIS, BS’67, two daughters,
JANABETH SPRADLING,
EX’78 and her husband,
RAY SPRADLING, BA’77,
and JERILYN CRAWLEY,
BA’80 and husband Chris and
four grandchildren.
1940s
JOE ROBERT APPLING,
EX’48, died Jan. 7, 2016, in
Crosbyton, Texas, at age 86.
A veteran of the U.S. Army,
he farmed in the Crosbyton
area for many years. Surviving
are his wife of 55 years, Jean,
two sons, a daughter, a sister,
six grandchildren and two
great-grandchildren.
footprints 39
KENNETH W. NEILL,
EX’40 died Dec. 23, 2015, in
Friona, Texas, at age 93. He
played on the Wayland Jackrabbit football team in 1940
and was honorary captain for
a game when WBU restarted
football in 2012. A U.S. Army
Air Corps veteran, he farmed
in Friona for many years. Surviving are two daughters, two
sons, 10 grandchildren and 10
great-grandchildren.
BONNIE MAE CUPP
REID, EX’48, died Jan. 29,
2016 in Los Angeles, Calif., at
age 86. She taught in several
small schools in West Texas
before moving to California
in the 1950 and taught in San
Francisco for about 40 years.
She is survived by her husband
of 67 years, Wallace Reid, and
two sisters, including FAYE
CUPP SMITH, EX’52,
of Sundown, Texas, and
brother-in-law, REV. GLEN
C. SMITH, EX’52. (Smiths:
922 Texas Ave., Sundown, TX
79372)
MILDRED VIRGINIA
SAGER RENFROW, EX’54,
died Jan. 25, 2016, in Bonham,
Texas, at age 87. For 56 years
she served alongside her late
pastor husband, Ralph Wayne
Renfrow, and also worked at
Falls Creek Baptist Assembly
in Davis, Okla. Surviving are
two sons, a brother, a sister,
three grandchildren and seven
great-grandchildren.
1950s
GEORGE ARTHUR,
BA’59, died Nov. 21, 2014,
in Houston at age 82 from a
rare form of cancer. A U.S.
40 footprints
Army veteran, he was a former
missionary to Southeast Asia,
and also served as Director of
Missions in Stoddard County,
Mo. and Montgomery County,
Md. After retirement, he and
his wife Gwen spent eight
years traveling and doing
volunteer construction of
churches and working in SBC
camps in Florida, Texas, New
Mexico, Arizona, California,
Virginia and Jamaica. Surviving are his wife, two sons,
three daughters, four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
MYRTLE LEE BROWN
CHAPMAN, EX’52, died
Feb. 17, 2016, in El Reno,
Okla., at age 83. A Flying
Queen for two seasons, she
taught Home Economics in
El Reno for 18 years and was
named State Teacher of the
Year in 1977. The El Reno
Chamber of Commerce
named her Volunteer of the
Year for 2003 for her many
community activities. Surviving are two sons, a sister, seven
grandchildren, a step-grandchild, nine great-grandchildren
and one great-great-grandchild. Memorials are suggested
to the Myrtle and Charles
Chapman Endowed Scholarship to benefit a Flying Queen
at 1900 W. Seventh, CMB
1295, Plainview, TX 79072.
BILL HAMILTON,
BA’52, died Dec. 24, 2015
in Houston, at age 88. A
U.S. Navy veteran, he was a
part-time music director at
many churches. He served as
music and education director
at Long Point Baptist Church
in Houston for 14 years and
then was property director of
First Baptist Church-Houston and founded a chaplain
ministry at the Memorial City
Hospital where he served until
his retirement in 1992. He
was a past president of the
Singing Men of Texas and was
very active in mission work.
His wife of 63 years, Opal, is
deceased. Surviving are a son,
a daughter, a brother, BOB
HAMILTON, BA’52, and
three grandchildren and six
great-grandchildren.
VELMA JUSTINE BRYANT MONTGOMERY,
BA’50, died March 27, 2016,
in Lubbock at age 87. She
taught school for more than
30 years and also was an
Avon dealer. Surviving are
a daughter, two stepsons,
four grandchildren and six
great-grandchildren.
REV. ALFRED TENNYSON ROYER, BS’50, died
Jan. 31, 2016, in Knoxville,
Tenn. at age 90. He pastored
for more than 43 years,
including Glenwood Baptist
and Grace Baptist Churches
in Knoxville, First Baptist
Church in Shelbyville, Tenn.,
and Palm Springs Baptist
Church in West Palm Beach,
Fla. He is survived by wife
of 69 years, THEO LANE
ROYER, who served as
registrar and also taught
classes at Wayland, two sons,
two brothers, a sister and four
grandchildren.
ARNOLD CARL TAPP,
EX’56, died Jan. 2, 2016 in
Hollywood, Fla., at age 80. He
was a U.S. Army veteran. He is
survived by his wife Marianna
and two daughters.
VIOLA MARIE WALES
UPTON, BS’53, died Jan.
14, 2016, in Canyon Lake,
Texas, at age 84. She was one
of the first Amateur Athletic
Union All-Americans for the
Flying Queens. As a senior,
she became the first female to
be named Wayland’s Athlete
of the Year. She taught for 36
years, the final 27 in the Anaheim, Calif. School District.
She was named Southern California Basketball Coach of the
Year in 1980, and received the
Merit Award for Distinguished
Service from the Southern
California Interscholastic
Basketball Coaches Association in 1992. She served as a
missionary and coach for the
national men’s and women’s
basketball teams of the Comores Islands in 1998 in the
Indian Ocean Island Games.
Surviving are two daughters,
three grandchildren and one
great-grandson.
G. LA MOYNE HARRIS
WIGINTON, EX’53, died
Nov. 9, 2015, in Norman,
Okla., at age 82. A member
of the International Choir at
Wayland, she was a pastor’s
wife and church worker for
many years in California,
Oklahoma, Texas and the
Hawaiian Islands. She and her
husband were missionaries
to Korea. She also was a substitute teacher in California.
Surviving are her husband of
62 years, Travis, three sons,
four daughters, a brother, a
sister, and six grandchildren.
1960s
SANDRA BROWN, EX’66,
died March 30, 2016, in
Mabank, Texas, at age 77. She
worked for more than 10 years
as an administrative assistant
with Hale County Appraisal
District. Surviving are her
husband, Hylton, a son, a
daughter, a brother and four
grandchildren.
JERRY MACK HODGES,
BS’61, died March 9, 2016,
in Fallbrook, Calif. at age 78.
He had been in the electrical
business in Plainview and later
in credit card services. Surviving are his wife of 57 years,
Mardula, three daughters, and
four grandchildren.
DA STILLWELL CURRY,
EX’79, died Nov. 23, 2015
in Lubbock at age 82. Her
late husband Bill pastored
churches in Texas and New
Mexico. She worked for Home
Interiors for many years. Also
surviving are another son, two
sisters, seven grandchildren
and 17 great-grandchildren.
DOUGLAS DARRELL
HALE, BA’71, died Nov.
17, 2014, in Amarillo at age
65. He worked as a baker for
United Supermarkets, taught
high school English and history for 10 years and drove for
Panhandle Transit for nearly
20 years. Survivors include
his mother, two sisters, and a
brother.
JAMES L. WILLIAMS,
BA’63, died Jan 24, 2016 in
McKinney, Texas, at age 82.
Through 55 years of ministry,
he pastored in Lelia Lake,
Ector and Era, Texas; Terral,
Okla.; Omaha, Neb. and Great
Bend, Hutchinson, and Mount
Hope, Kan. He had been associate minister of FBC-Gainesville, Texas. He also served a
number of years as Director
of Associational Missions in
Central Kansas. Surviving are
his wife of almost 61 years,
Jean; two daughters, a son, a
sister, seven grandchildren and
16 great-grandchildren.
PAM SPENCER, BS’74,
died March 19, 2016, in Canadian, Texas, at age 63. She
taught Social Studies at Canadian High School from 197698 and then was Instructional
Technology Director until her
death. She was named Canadian Woman of the Year in
1988 for her many school and
civic activities. She has been
recognized statewide for her
work in organizing a special
curriculum for the American
Cultures and Crafts program.
Surviving are her father and
four sisters.
1970s
Alice Curry Shivers, mother of
EDDY CURRY, BS’75 , DR.
DANNY CURRY, BA’77,
and LARRY CURRY, EX’79,
and mother-in-law of DEE
ANN ADKINS CURRY,
BA’75 , ALICIA HAVENS
CURRY, BA’77 and AMAN-
1980s
LESLIE EUGENE
‘GENE’ STRICKLAND,
BS’85, died Dec. 12, 2015, in
Casselberry, Fla., at age 58.
A former Pioneer basketball
player, he was retired from the
U.S. Marine Corps as a major
before working for Home-
land Security and later was a
Realtor. Surviving are his wife
of 33 years, Teri Dawn, four
daughters, a son, his mother,
two brothers and three grandchildren. (1048 Crystal Bowl
Circle, Casselberry, FL 32707)
2000s
ROBBLYN ‘ROBBIE’
GENTRY, BSOE’07 from
the Lubbock campus, died
Dec. 23, 2015, in Lubbock at
age 54. She was a Multimedia
Instructional Designer at the
Texas Tech Health Science
Center. She is survived by two
sons, a daughter, her mother
and one grandson.
DON SHANE ROBINSON, EX’01, died March
25, 2016, in Plainview at age
77. After a career in agriculture, he received his teacher
certification from Wayland
and taught math at Plainview
High School, South Plains
College and a charter school in
Lubbock. He was a U.S. Army
veteran. Surviving are his
wife Patricia, a son, stepson,
daughter, two sisters and four
grandchildren.
2010s
JERRY WAYNE DAVIS,
EX’15, died March 20, 2016
in a one-car rollover near
Fort Sumner, N.M. Davis, 26,
and several other Texas Tech
students were returning from a
mission trip to San Diego, Calif. They were part of the Texas Tech Navigators, a Christian
student organization and had
spent their spring break in
San Diego working with the
homeless. Surviving are his
wife, Maggie; four daughters,
his father, mother, a sister and
a paternal grandfather.
DAVID CARL LADD,
MEd’12 from the Lubbock
campus, died Dec. 29, 2015,
in Lubbock, at age 52. He was
a teacher at Bean Elementary
School. He is survived by his
mother, two daughters and
eight grandchildren.
AMANDA RACHELLE
WALKER, BAS’14 from
the Lubbock campus, died
March 6, 2016, in Lubbock,
at age 39. She was employed
by Westminster Presbyterian
Church for 20 years. At the
time of her death, she was
employed by Agape Child Development Center. Survivors
include her father, stepmother,
two brothers, a sister, and a
grandmother.
Faculty/Staff
DR. RICHARD FOUNTAIN, Associate Professor
of Collaborative Piano, and
.and his wife, Sarah, an adjunct
teacher in School of Business,
welcomed son David Alan on
March 11, 2016, in Lubbock.
He weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces. He joins Phoebe, 7, and
Timothy, 4 1/2.
footprints 41
1950s
LEDALE MEEKS ROLLINS, BA’53, has retired after
50 years of service as organist
of First Baptist Church in
Marshville, N.C. She continues to serve as a substitute
organist, pianist for a group
of senior singers and piano
soloist for several local assisted
living homes. She also sings in
the Wingate United Methodist
Church Choir. She has three
children, seven grandchildren
and one great-granddaughter.
(2912 Meadow Creek Lane,
Monroe, NC. 28110)
1970s
MIKE BALLEW, BA’70, is
Operations Manager for the
Arapahoe County Department of Human Services
in Littleton, Colo. “I work
in the Children, Youth, and
Families division and my
main duties are to monitor
contracts between the county
and various foster homes or
facilities where youths may
be placed and to process payments to entities that provide
services to them,” Mike writes.
“Although, I previously retired
from practicing law and from
the real estate world, I think
another retirement may not be
too far away, but I’m having
a great time.” His wife, Pat,
is retired from the State of
Colorado Human Services
Department. They have lived
in Aurora since 1987. (20957
42 footprints
E. Eastman Ave., Aurora, CO
80013; mikeballew@mikeballew.com)
The Chicks of ‘76 began their
friendship 44 years ago at
Wayland Baptist College as
freshmen. Since graduation
in 1976, they have gathered
at least once a year across the
country in each other’s homes.
They have been in each
other’s weddings, celebrating
birthdays, attending children’s
graduations and weddings,
parents’ funerals and recently,
Gayla’s husband’s funeral
in February. Most of the
gatherings consisted of a long
weekend filled with girlfriend
time, lots of laughter, reminiscing, photo shoots for their
yearly calendar, scrapbooking
and prayer. Last summer they
gathered in Denver for the
Women of Faith Conference.
They keep their friendship
close through constant contact
and sharing prayer requests.
Praying for one another has
been their greatest friendship
gift and blessing. The Chicks
are looking forward to gathering at WBU for their 40th Reunion Sept. 16-17. DONNA
CUMIFORD STEWART
and her husband BOBBY
JACK STEWART, Ex ‘70,
live in Clovis, N.M. They
have three children and two
grandchildren. (donnajack@
suddenlink.net); GAYLA
HARBER WIEST lives in
Lakewood, Colo. She has one
child and two grandchildren.
(gwiiest2waylon@gmail.com);
JUDY TAYLOR CROW and
her husband Leonard live in
Gladewater, Texas and have
two children and two grandchildren. (judy.crow54@gmail.
com); VALERIE WRIGHT
RITCHIE and her husband Bob live in Cleburne,
Texas and have two children.
(bobvalerietx@gmail.com);
RHONDA BERGSTROM
HOLTZ and her husband
Tom live in St. Charles, Mo.,
they have two children and
three grandchildren. (rhonda.
col.4.6@earthlink.net)
VALERIE GOODWIN-COLBERT, BA’79,
a former Flying Queen, was
inducted into the California
Community College Women’s
Basketball Hall of Fame in
March in Pleasanton, Calif. After three years as head coach at
the University of Oklahoma,
she coached at Southwestern
College in Chula Vista for
25 years and is in their hall
of fame. She served twice as
president of the state coaches
association and the junior
college/community college
national representative to the
national organization board
of directors of the Women’s
Basketball Coaches Association. She served as the chair
for the All-American selection
committee for six years and
the national coach of the year
award for four years. (256 Red
Deer Road, Franktown, Colo.
80116)
1980s
SHERRIE COLE KING,
BA’87, MBA’95, is excited
that her daughter, Mackenzie
Browning, is graduating from
Wayland on May 7 with a BS
in psychology and a minor
in justice administration.
Mackenzie plans to work on
her master’s in counseling at
Wayland. Abby King, the older
daughter of Sherrie and her
husband, Harold, a contractor
and county commissioner, will
graduate in May from Lamar
University in Beaumont with
her master’s in nutritional
science and dietetics. Says
Sherrie, “We are so proud of
these girls. We would love for
our WBU friends to come to
Plainview to visit!”
TOM TILLMAN, BM’88,
is new Music and Worship
Lead for the Baptist General
Convention of Texas, assisting
churches with their needs
concerning music and worship. He has been Music and
Worship Pastor at FBC-Conroe the past 22 years. Before
moving to Conroe, he worked
in music-related positions at
FBC-Dayton, FBC-Olton, Ret-
ta Baptist Church in Burleson,
FBC-Earth, Emmanuel Baptist
Church in Shawnee, Okla.
and FBC-Albuquerque, N.M.
He and his wife, Marcia, an
attorney, have two daughters
currently in college – Sarah at
UT-Austin and Julia at Texas
A&M. “I was in International
Choir (Student Conductor my
senior year), Spirit of America
and Rejoice. I also had my
first anthem published with
Word Music (“We Worship
You”) while at Wayland,” Tom
writes. (tom.tillman@texasbaptists.org)
1990s
LORI SCHOCHLER
COCKREL, BSOE’91, is
the wife of the new pastor of
Pleasant Hills Rives Baptist
Church in Troy, Tenn. She and
her husband Truitt bought a
home in Troy and says “we
love it and our new church
family.” Oldest son, Justin,
22, will graduate in May from
Trevecca Nazarene University
in Nashville with a major in
English-creative writing and
youngest son, Nicholas, 20, is
a sophomore at Carson-Newman University in Jefferson
City, Tenn. and will be going
on a mission trip to Africa this
summer. (1223 Rabbit Creek
Road, Troy, TN 38260)
PAULA MESSENGER
SMITH, BA’90, is a director
with Pampered Chef and a
homemaker. Her husband,
Brian, is Director of Communications for the Evangelical
Presbyterian Church with
headquarters in Michigan but
the Smiths will be moving
this summer to Orlando, Fla.
where the EPC headquarters
is permanently locating. They
have a daughter, Laurence,
a seventh grader, and a son,
Cohen, a fourth grader. (41791
Singh Drive., Canton, MI
48188; paulasmith32@yahoo.
com)
of Parkview Baptist Church in
San Saba. He has been Pastor
of Counseling and Care at
Leon Springs Baptist Church
in San Antonio. His ministry
experience includes serving
as a hospital chaplain, biblical
counselor and Christian educator.
JEREMY STAMP, BSOE’97
and MA’00 from the San
Antonio campus, and his wife,
Kettisha, welcomed their first
child, Delilah Aurora, last
Feb. 17. Jeremy, who has an
M.ED from DePaul and MBA
from Webster University, is a
stay-at-home dad and Kettisha
has been Director of Student
Services at Universal Technical Institute in Lisle, Ill. for
19 years. They live in Crystal
Lake, Ill. (jeremystamp@
hotmail.com)
KYLE BUEERMANN,
BA’05 from the Virtual Campus, became the new pastor
of First Baptist Church in
Alamogordo, N.M. on March
6. The Lubbock native has
been senior pastor of First
Baptist Church in Clayton,
N.M. for about three years. He
and his wife MICHELLE
BUEERMANN, BS’05,
have two children, Noah and
Hailey. Kyle also has a Master
of Divinity from Rockbridge
Seminary in Springfield, Mo.
and is working on a doctorate
in ministry from Rockbridge.
2000s
ANDY BARCLAY, MCM’07
and MAC’13 from the San
Antonio campus, is new pastor
DONALD CRISTAN,
MBA’02 from the Lubbock
campus, has been promoted
to senior vice president at
First United Bank in Lubbock
where he also is information
security officer. He has been
with the bank since April 2013
and has 15 years of banking
experience.
JASON DANIELS, BA’04, is
Youth Minister at First Baptist
Church of Friona, Texas. His
wife, SHANNA JAMESON DANIELS, BSIS’02,
is a Reading Interventionist
at Friona Elementary. They
have three children, Reagan,
10, Jameson, 8, and Owen, 4.
(danielsshanna@yahoo.com)
CHANCE McMILLAN,
BS’06, and his wife KELSEY
McMILLAN, EX’04, welcomed their third son, Lane
Thomas, on June 6, 2015,
in Lubbock. He weighed
8 pounds, 10 ounces and
measured 21 inches long. His
brothers are Grayson Beau,
7, and Cameron Brooks,
3. Grandparents include
Tommy and Susan McMillan
of Plainview. Tommy is an
assistant baseball coach for the
Pioneers, for which Chance
played. Chance is a farmer and
Kelsey is a Licensed Massage
Therapist. (Kelsey@gmail.
com)
CODY MIKEL RENSHAW, BSOE 02, moved
in February to Minot, N.D.,
accepting a position as a
Cashier/Stocker for Envision
Xpress Base Supply Store
at Minot Air Force Base.
Cody writes: “I deeply regret
loosing contact with all of my
Wayland friends and would
footprints 43
like to hear from them again.”
(cmrenshaw@hotmail.com)
STEPHANIE SHAW,
BS’05, Flying Queen second
team All-American in 2005,
coached Claremore, Okla. to
the Oklahoma Class 5A state
title game in March, losing to
Woodward, 50-41. A Plainview
High all-stater, she formerly
was head coach at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. She scored 1,002 points in
three seasons with the Queens.
employed as a federal civil
servant at Randolph Air Force
Base Texas, where he is the
Air Force Personnel Center
Agency Records Manager.
He is a 30-year veteran of
the United States Air Force,
where he obtained the highest
enlisted grade of Chief Master
Sergeant. He and his wife of
33 years, Mary, pastor River of
Life Christian Ministry in San
Antonio. They have one son,
Tyrone, who lives in Minneapolis, Minn.
2010s
DR. MICHAEL J.
SPRINGS, BSOE’00 from
the San Antonio campus,
received a Doctor of Ministry
in 2004, with a 4.0 grade
point average, specializing in
Christian Leadership, from
Freedom Bible College and
Seminary in Siloam Springs,
Ark. This past October he
obtained his Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration, with a specialization
in Organizational Leadership
from Northcentral University
in Prescott Valley, Ariz. He
graduated with honors as a
member of the Golden Key
International Honor Society
and Delta Mu Delta Honor Society with a 4.0 grade
point average. Dr. Springs is
44 footprints
Happy Birthday
Dr. Samuel T. Ola Akande, BA’62, shown with his wife of 59 years,
Comfort, recently was honored on his 90th birthday with a worship
service and reception in Ibadan, Nigeria. A longtime pastor and
author, he served as General Secretary of the Nigerian Baptist Convention and was a candidate for president of the country. Akande
was honored as Wayland’s Outstanding Alumni in 1995 and his son,
Dr. Benjamin Akande, former Chair of the School of Business at
Wayland and now president of Westminster College in Fulton, Mo.,
received the same honor in 2008.
able to grow in my faith, build
life-long friendships and learn
a lot on the basketball court
from Coach Matt Garnett.”
(david.e.cone@biola.edu)
DAVID CONE, BA’13,
married Emily Cleary, a former nursing student at Biola
University in La Mirada, Calif.
where he attended before
coming to Wayland to play
basketball. He is assistant
men’s basketball coach at Biola
and is working on a master’s
degree in coaching and athletic
administration. They live in
Tustin and Emily works at
Hoag Hospital in Newport
Beach. David writes: “My time
at Wayland (2011-2013) was
very endearing to me. I was
TORI HUDDLESTON,
BA’15, is new special projects
assistant for the City of
Plainview. She is responsible
for assisting with the Main
Street program as well as the
Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and the Fair Theater. Her
duties include event organization, social media and other
outreach programs, and event/
marketing research. (thuddleston@plainviewtx.org)
RYAN SCOTT, BAS’11 from
Lubbock campus, has been
promoted to banking officer at
First United Bank in Lubbock.
Scott has been with the bank
since January 2013 and has
eight years of banking experience. He is a First United
Bank compliance specialist
and BSA officer.
STEVEN E. THOMAS,
BAS’16 from the Virtual Campus, is the First Sergeant for
the 10th Air Support Operations Squadron stationed out
of Fort Riley Army Installation in Kansas. He is a 20-year
Air Force veteran and moves
to Ramstein, Germany later
this year. He had a 3.7 GPA in
completing requirements for a
Bachelor of Applied Science
in Transportation. He and his
wife, Melissa, have three sons,
Connor, 16; Avery, 11, and
Cael, 5. (steven.thomas.19@
us.af.mil)
Welcome to
Why Wayland?
The Back Page
Alums offer testimonials about WBU
“I am more than elated to be a
part of Wayland Baptist University. Moreover, I am appreciative of
the dedication the faculty and staff
extend to every student without reservation, keeping the student’s best
interest at the forefront. Wayland
Baptist has given me the necessary
academic skills and foundation required in an effort to ensure survival
in today’s society and beyond. Many
thanks for the opportunity and experience!”
Eddie C. Peoples Jr
Retired Air Force
Cibolo, Texas
“After high school, I decided not
to attend college because I thought it
would be difficult for me. My friends
made it sound so hard that I decided
I just wanted to take the easy way
out and work. I had my first child
when I was 23. I tried entering a
community college but, with work
and a newborn, it was difficult so I
quit school. I didn’t even finish my
first semester.
“Years later, with a second
child and owning two businesses, I
thought about getting a degree but
was steered against it. I remarried in
2009 and my husband encouraged
me to go to college. He gave me part
of his post 911 GI Bill. And here I was
46 years old and just starting college.
My family was so encouraging, telling
me to do it. They had faith in me that
I was a very smart woman and they
knew I could do it.
“Well, here we are at the final
stages of my college adventure. It
has paid off and I knew that with faith
in God and my family, everything I
had always wanted has become a
reality. Wayland has paved the way
toward earning my BAS in business.
Everyone is so great and helpful.
God bless you all.”
Selma S. Bravo-Rodriguez
BAS candidate/2016
San Antonio, Texas.
“I am serving as the Director of
Engineering at Peoples Telephone in
Quitman, Texas. I enjoy the people
I work with and our wide variety of
customers. The employment opportunities and promotions I have experienced would not have been possible
without the education I received from
WBU! “
David E. Parks
BAS’16
CHAMP
shopping malls and such.
She also was near the
beach.
“When I came to OBU,
Shawnee, I thought, ‘What
is this?’ When I came to
Wayland, it was the same
thing,” she said with a grin.
“But that’s OK. I am focusing on my studies and my
classes and everything.”
Veliz admits learning a
from Page 35
new language is one of the
hardest things she has had
to do – especially in West
Texas where so many
people speak her native
Spanish.
“if you know someone
who speaks Spanish, you
speak Spanish all the
time because you feel
confident,” said Veliz, who
admitted that she spent
much of her time when
she first got to the U.S. just
shaking and nodding her
head because she didn’t
understand anything anyone was saying to her.
Now, with a solid grasp
of English, she is focusing
on her studies with the
hopes becoming a doctor
who works with athletes.
She is majoring in sport
science and plans to apply
to medical school when
she has completed her
undergraduate degree.
And in the midst of her academic pursuits, Veliz still
practices her swimming
and diving every day.
Afterall, for an athlete,
the 2020 Olympics are just
around the corner.
footprints 45
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U.S. Postage
PAID
1900 West Seventh Street, CMB 1291
Plainview, Texas 79072-6998
Address Service Requested
Craftsman
Printers, Inc.
Stay in touch
with Wayland!
The Association of
Former Students of
Wayland Baptist
University
n Call us at
806-291-3603
Quite a Pair
Helen and Mark Pair, Dr. Gary Belshaw and Dr. Richard Fountain
celebrate on the occasion of Mr. Pair’s 100th Wayland piano recital.
On April 26, in Harral Auditorium, Mr. Pair performed a varied
romantic program with works by Schumann, Brahms, Rachmaninoff,
Grieg, Debussy, Ravel, Chopin, and Liszt. Mr. Pair performed on the
rebuilt Steinway Model D piano that he has loved though the 50 years
he has been performing and teaching at Wayland Baptist University.
n Contact us by
e-mail at
andrewsd@wbu.edu
or pettyj@wbu.edu
for Class Notes,
address changes,
other information