House’s new play titled “YaYa and the Golden Throne” will be featured Sept. 1-5 at the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival, which has hosted over 3,000 artists during live and virtual events, entertaining and educating art enthusiasts from all over the world.

House wrote the play and is serving as the executive producer of the staged reading of his work. The play, set in Africa in 1901, is about an African princess embarking on a journey to become the queen, and includes a bit of fighting, magic, drama and blood.

Drs. Heather Olson Beal, Chrissy Cross and Lauren Burrow co-edited a special issue for the Peabody Journal of Education, titled “MotherScholaring During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Investigating the Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on MotherScholars."

The special issue features eight research articles, including an introduction co-authored by the trio.

An excerpt from the introduction says, “We believe this issue holds the keys to bringing about disruptive and subversive change to MotherScholaring, academia and our communities. This special issue contributes valuable research to our field about the complex ways in which a pandemic influenced the professional, personal and family lives of MotherScholars and, in particular, calls attention to the ways the pandemic and higher education's responses to it highlight the historical societal and cultural inequities between diverse groups of MotherScholars.”

The Handle, SFA’s virtual student engagement platform, is designed to connect Lumberjacks with leadership experiences and campus programs, helping them make the most out of their college experience. Faculty and staff are invited to join The Handle to connect with students.

Visit The Handle website, click “Forms” and then “Organization Registration,” and select “Campus Department” in the category drop-down menu located under the “About” section.

If you need assistance, email getinvolved@sfasu.edu.

The SFA Alumni Association will honor eight alumni during its awards banquet beginning at 6 p.m. Sept. 23 at The Fredonia Hotel in Nacogdoches.

The SFA Alumni Awards honor individuals who have made outstanding contributions to their professions and the community and who advance the goals and values of SFA.

The award recipients are Charlie Parsons, Matt Russell and Chuck Tomberlain, who each will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award; Devin Greer and Derek and Kayli Head, the Outstanding Young Alumni Award recipients; and Tammy Purser and Brian Tuttle, the recipients of the Lumberjack Pride Award.

SFA's Organization for Women's Leadership and Equity will hold its first general membership meeting of the fall semester from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Sept. 9 in the Wyatt Room of the Steen Library and via Zoom.

Email OWLE at owle@sfasu.edu for the Zoom link. All faculty and staff are invited to attend.

The new Center for Research Advancing Identities and Student Experiences is looking for collaborators. Current efforts are underway for dissemination of a number of studies related to multiracial, rural and Latinx undergraduate students.

If you are a faculty member who would like to collaborate, or if you would like to recommend a student to participate as a research assistant, contact Dr. Pietro A. Sasso, assistant professor of educational leadership and the center’s director, at pietro.sasso@sfasu.edu.

Dr. Sarah Straub, an associate professor in the James I. Perkins College of Education’s Department of Education Studies, was recently awarded a $58,000 grant through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department that will fund a science academy for up to 100 girls in the Nacogdoches Independent School District.

The grant is for the establishment of the East Texas Adventure Girls Environmental Science Academy. Meant for students at McMichael Middle School, the academy will feature two excursions in the fall, to Mission Tejas State Park and Caddo Lake State Park, and two in the spring, to the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center and SFA Gardens. The academy concludes at the end of April with the creation of a native plant garden in Nacogdoches.

Straub put the grant application together with former SFA assistant professors Dr. Tonya Jeffery, now at the University of Houston-Downtown, and Dr. Marisol Diaz, now at Cal Poly Pomona. Straub will administer the grant in coordination with Jeffery and Dr. Summer Koltonski, an assistant professor in the Perkins College of Education.

The SFA Alumni Association is hosting the Lumberjack Glow Party and Dive-In Movie event at Splash Kingdom Timber Falls in Nacogdoches from 7 to 10 p.m. Sept. 10.

The event invites Lumberjacks and their families in Nacogdoches County to engage with the association and meet up with fellow SFA enthusiasts.

The event includes a private party for Lumberjack family and friends, a showing of the movie “The Bad Guys,” discounted admission to the water park, glow items, a DJ, SFA swag and more.

The deadline to register online is Sept. 9 at sfaalumni.com/glowparty.

SFA's Department of Athletics is proud to present SFA faculty and staff with an exclusive discounted ticket rate. Simply provide your SFA email address on the ticket website to unlock the discount.

For inquiries about premium seating options, parking passes or donations to support SFA Athletics, contact Chris Bentley, director of development and ticketing, at (936) 468-5504 or chris.bentley@sfasu.edu.

Football

SFA - 17 vs. Jacksonville State University - 42

Soccer

SFA - 3 vs. Prairie View A&M University - 0

SFA - 0 vs. University of North Texas - 4

Volleyball

SFA - 3 vs. DePaul University - 1

SFA - 3 vs. University of California Irvine - 1

SFA - 3 vs. Southern Methodist University - 1

Barbie just added powerhouse entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker to its Inspiring Women series of dolls.

At the turn of the 20th century, Walker became the first well-documented self-made woman millionaire in American history after creating a line of beauty products specifically designed for Black women. The doll was created in collaboration with A’Lelia Bundles, Walker’s great-great-granddaughter and official biographer.

Read more at simplemost.com.