Around the State: ETBU receives grant for Dean Center

East Texas Baptist University received a $500,000 grant from the Dean Foundation to create the William B. Dean Center for Language and Literacy Development. The Dean Center encompasses an expansion of ETBU’s downtown campus learning center at the Marshall Grand for the new Master of Science in speech-language pathology program and the enhancement of the university’s student-focused learning support services program. “In honor of the late William B. Dean, M.D., noted pediatrician and pioneer in the field of learning challenges and dyslexia, and founder of the Dean Learning Center, East Texas Baptist University seeks to recognize and build upon Dr. Dean’s legacy as an esteemed medical leader and advocate for children with learning differences,” ETBU President J. Blair Blackburnsaid. “ETBU’s Dean Center for Language and Literacy Development will pay tribute to Dr. Dean’s influential impact in people’s lives through his pedagogical and technical innovations for the learning challenged and through his community service engagement and life contributions.” The Dean Center for Language and Literacy Development will be an approximately 4,000-square-foot learning space on the 7th floor of ETBU’s Marshall Grand. The Dean Center will include a clinic reception area, instructional classroom space, treatment clinic with a closed-circuit camera system and observation space, and auditory assessment labs, allowing supervisors and faculty to monitor therapy sessions in real-time. The new academic space will include a small kitchen lab equipped with a refrigerator, microwave, cabinets and sink to properly store and manipulate food for swallowing and feeding therapy.

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor will remember the 2,977 Americans who lost their lives during terrorist attacks 20 years ago and honor local Bell County first responders during Patriot Day events on Sept. 11. Events include a 4 p.m. showcase on King Street in Belton featuring firetrucks and K-9 police units. Prior to a 6 p.m. football game in which UMHB faces East Texas Baptist University, first responders will be recognized, and UMHB’s One Voice will sing the national anthem, followed immediately by a flyover from Fort Hood. Local first responders and active-duty military personnel will be granted free admission to the game. The UMHB chapter of Young Conservatives of Texas will plant a flag in front of Luther Memorial on the campus in honor of all the Americans killed on 9/11. The on-campus memorial will be on display throughout the day. “As a university, it is our privilege to honor local first responders alongside those brave men and women who lost their lives on this day 20 years ago,” UMHB President Randy O’Rearsaid. “It’s hard to believe that 20 years has passed, but we are blessed to live in this great nation and hope that, in some small way, our campus events will memorialize this important day in our country’s history.”

Howard Payne University will host the Stinger Spectacular—an event that combines Homecoming, Yellow Jacket Preview and Family Weekend—on Oct. 1-2. Yellow Jacket Preview will offer prospective students the opportunity to meet faculty and staff, tour the campus and learn about student life at HPU. Friday events include a Family Weekend dinner at 5 p.m., an alumni banquet at 5:45 p.m. and Cobbler on the Campus, featuring musical entertainment by Austin Upchurch from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Saturday events include an alumni breakfast at 8 a.m. and the Stinger Spectacular Parade beginning at 10 a.m., a family barbecue at 11:30 a.m. Saturday afternoon sports events include women’s soccer, men’s soccer and football games. The weekend also features performances of “Cinderella,” a concert by the HPU alumni choir, an exhibition featuring the HPU marching band and an alumni art exhibit. To see a detailed schedule of events or to register, click here.

Ralph Douglas West, founding senior pastor of the Church Without Walls in Houston, challenged students during chapel services at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor to put their trust in God. West urged students to allow God to direct their paths. “Knowledge can give you direction; wisdom can fulfill the destination,” West said. “Make sure to program your life’s GPS to get you where God wants you to go.”

The Christian church in the United States faces a “cultural tsunami” and a “rising tide of opposition” unprecedented in American history, cultural observer and Christian apologist Jim Denison told a chapel audience at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Denison, the founder and chief vision officer of the Denison Forum, explained unseen underwater earthquakes cause tsunamis. He identified four “earthquakes” that have triggered the tsunami in American culture—the denial of biblical truth, the denial of biblical morality, the idea that Christians are oppressors and the rise of radical secularism. He challenged students to begin every day by surrendering to the Holy Spirit, engage the culture, build commonality with non-Christians, lead people to Jesus and leave the results to God.

Buckner Westminster Place senior living community named Crystal Muniz as executive director, effective Sept. 7. A 25-year veteran of the senior living industry, Muniz most recently served as the health care administrator for Baptist Retirement Community in San Angelo, also operated by Buckner Retirement Services. Earlier this year, Westminster Place celebrated its 25th anniversary, which is the same amount of time Muniz has served seniors. Prior to her role as the health care administrator for Baptist Retirement Community’s Sagecrest Alzheimer’s Care Center, her senior living experience included business office manager, human resources and certified nursing assistant. Muniz earned her bachelor’s degree from Abilene Christian University and her long-term care administration certificate from Tarrant County Community College.