Waco Today magazine—a publication of the Waco Tribune-Herald—named Jeremy Everett, founding executive director of the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, as its Person of the Year. In September, Everett participated in the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. Under his leadership, the Baylor Collaborative worked in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, McLane Global and PepsiCo to provide 40 million meals to low-income schoolchildren in 43 states during the COVID pandemic through the Emergency Meals to You program. The program grew out of a pilot program of the Texas Hunger Initiative in summer 2019 to deliver food boxes to the homes of students in rural Texas. In 2014, Everett was appointed by the U.S. Congress to serve on the National Commission on Hunger.
Wayland Baptist University received a three-year $120,000 grant from the Robert Welch Foundation, a renewal and expansion of the Welch Summer Research Program. The grant provides $40,000 per year to fund undergraduate chemistry research, said Robert Moore, professor of chemistry and program director. A program of the Kenneth L. Maddox School of Mathematics and Sciences, 59 Wayland students have participated in the Welch Summer Research Program for one to three years since 2005. “Almost 90 percent of those who have participated and graduated have continued into science or related careers,” Moore said. “More than half have already earned advanced degrees.”
East Texas Baptist University participated in its seventh annual Operation Christmas Child, an outreach program organized by Samaritan’s Purse. Students, staff and faculty filled more than 300 shoeboxes with small toys, school supplies and other items sent to children ages 2 to 14 around the world as a Christmas gift and a tangible reminder of God’s love for them. During national collection week, all of ETBU’s 23 athletic teams gathered to fill boxes and pray for the children who will receive them. “Operation Christmas Child is a very easy way to bless a child from another country with a gift that not only brightens their day but gives them the good news of Jesus Christ,” said Lisa Seeley, director of the Great Commission Program and director of global education at ETBU.
A $1 million continuation gift from Holly Frost and Kathaleen Wall for the Grace Hopper Scholarship will benefit students pursuing STEM-related degrees at Houston Christian University, formerly known as Houston Baptist University. In 2019, Frost and Wall donated $2 million to enable the university to provide $500,000 annually to be disbursed for scholarships for students pursuing degrees in the STEM field in honor of Rear Admiral Grace M. Hopper. Recipients who are awarded the scholarship must demonstrate persistence, technical knowledge, and selfless service in pursuit of STEM-related degrees.
Dallas Baptist University presented both the Russell H. Perry Free Enterprise Award and the Tom Landry Leadership Award to David B. Walls, president and CEO of Austin Industries. Walls serves as a trustee of Baylor Scott & White Health Care System, as well as in leadership roles on other professional and civic organizations. Walls, who earned his undergraduate degree in construction technology from the University of Houston and a master’s degree in building construction from Texas A&M University, holds a Ph.D. in leadership from DBU. He and his wife Jana are members of First Baptist Church in Rockwall. “Dr. Walls is an incredible businessman, generous philanthropist, and civic leader, but most importantly, he is a Christ-centered servant leader who puts God first,” DBU President Adam C. Wrightsaid. “He loves his family and has been a wonderful blessing to us at DBU.”
The multi-year “go green” initiative of the Wayland Baptist University Enactus student team continues to grow with the recent installation of a sixth water bottle filling station. The Enactus group has been instrumental in installing five stations on campus and one off-campus at the local YMCA. They collect data on the number of plastic bottles they help save from entry into the waste cycle, as well as how many gallons of clean water are provided to the students. “The goal is to help provide clean drinking water without increasing plastic waste. In doing our research we found that Plainview has a higher-than-average amount of plastic waste,” said Jackson Kent, a student from Houston and president of the Wayland Enactus chapter. Enactus is an international organization that fosters entrepreneurial action among college students. “We are geared toward helping students gain experience with entrepreneurship, but also with serving and giving back to the community,” Kent said.
Vic Shealy has resigned after nine seasons as head football coach and 10 years at Houston Christian University, formerly Houston Baptist University. Shealy was the longest-tenured head coach in the Southland Conference, after being named the Huskies first-ever football coach in April of 2012. He led the team through a developmental season in 2013 and then nine official seasons from 2014 to 2022. “We will always be grateful to Vic Shealy for his historic contributions to HCU athletics and especially to our football program,” President Robert Sloan said. “He will forever be known as the founding coach of HCU football. Vic is a man of great integrity, and we wish God’s blessings on him and his wife Holly. He has been not only a good colleague, but a great friend.” The university immediately will begin a search for Shealy’s successor. Long-time assistant coach, Roger Hinshaw, the only remaining member of the original coaching staff, will serve as interim head coach.
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