Every faculty and staff member and student in the SFA School of Music who interacts with Francisco Morales Font remarks on how friendly he always is and what a positive attitude he always has. His positive personality is infectious among the campus music community, and people can't help feeling happier when interacting with him, students and colleagues say.

And if you ask Morales — Paco to all who know him best — why and how he keeps such a positive, friendly attitude, he’s quick to reply: “My positivity is because SFA has given me the greatest opportunity of my life, and it’s here that I feel very happy and grateful.”

The Division of Student Affairs recognized three staff members for their efforts this year at its awards banquet May 11.

Pictured, from left to right, Janie Poskey, business coordinator for Orientation and Transition Programs and Student Engagement, won the Unsung Hero Award; Heather Howell, director of advancement services, won the Dr. Steve Westbrook Award; and Michael Onuchovsky, coordinator of Student Engagement, won the Rising Star Award.

Sasso published a recent study about sorority women and alcohol use titled “Brunch So Hard: Liquid Bonding and Unspoken Rules of Feminine Hegemony Through Alcohol Use Among National Panhellenic Conference Sorority Women” in the Journal of Sorority and Fraternity Life Research and Practice.

In this study, the researchers identify the nuanced ways in which National Panhellenic Conference sorority women use alcohol to transmit gendered norms and reinforce hegemony through feminist "empowerment" discourses. They used poststructural feminism to identify systemic relationships with alcohol and fraternity men.

Mendoza was recently featured in a Moneygeek article on advice for first-time or newer cash back cardholders.

She discussed mistakes people make with credit cards, specifically rewards programs.

Pannell recently published an article in School Leadership Review titled "Exploration of the Relationships Between Principal Preparation Program Admission Requirements and Program Performance."

The study found significant relationships between both sections of GRE scores and candidate performance on the principal licensure test. These findings come as many of our nation’s programs have eliminated the GRE and other standardized assessments as a requirement for admission.

The SFA Board of Regents accepted the May 31 retirement of President Steve Westbrook and named Gina Oglesbee, vice president for finance and administration, as interim president beginning June 1. Oglesbee will serve as interim president until a new president is named. She will not be a candidate for the permanent position.

“The SFA community has worked with Gina for almost 20 years,” said SFA Board of Regents Chair Karen Gantt. “She has a deep knowledge of the university’s business operations, finances, culture and traditions, and she is an ideal candidate to lead SFA in its transition to The University of Texas System. Officials from the UT System have also had an opportunity to work with Gina during the past several months and independently expressed their excitement about the possibility of her appointment as interim president.”

During a one-day special-called meeting, the SFA Board of Regents selected Kirksey Architecture to create a new forestry, agriculture and interdisciplinary facility and promoted Piero Fenci, professor of art, to professor emeritus.

Join us as we welcome prospective Lumberjacks and their guests to campus during Showcase Saturday June 24. Shifts are available between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Volunteer opportunities include greeting guests, giving directions to session locations, setting up or tearing down session locations, and answering questions about our SFA and Nacogdoches communities.

Find more information and complete the sign-up form. Volunteer sign-ups will close at 5 p.m. June 21. Email questions to Courtney Burns, assistant director of first year initiatives for the Office of Admissions, at brantoncr@sfasu.edu.

The May edition of the Employee Assistance Program newsletter has been released. It and all previous monthly editions can be found at the EAP webpage by clicking the “Newsletters” link in the bottom left gray box.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. With the weather getting warmer, it's a great time to focus on your emotional well-being. The SFA Employee Wellness program's Wellness Release Time is one of the benefits to full-time employees to participate in voluntary physical exercise. Whether you take part in activities offered at the Student Recreation Center or just walk around the campus, your sense of well-being can experience a boost.

Find tips to help create more moments of peace, strengthen your mental health and more in this month's EAP newsletter.

SFA Gardens will host a houseplant and succulent summer sale from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 8 at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center greenhouse, located at 2900 Raguet St.

The sale will feature succulents, cacti and houseplants of various varieties, plus a small assortment of a few other plant types. This sale will be a much smaller event than the SFA Gardens semi-annual plant sales and will offer a specific selection of plants intended for indoor or special care.

The SFASU Foundation announced its Faculty Achievement Award recipients for 2023. Dr. Deb Scott, professor in the School of Music, was presented the Faculty Achievement Award for research and creativity, and Dr. Jeremy Stovall, professor in the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, was presented the Faculty Achievement Award for teaching.

As an expression of its support for excellence in teaching, the SFASU Foundation board of trustees established these two awards in 1994 to honor outstanding faculty members each year in recognition of innovation and/or excellence in teaching, research and creative activity.

Remember to log your service hours for the "100,000 service hours for 100 years" centennial competition.

To mark SFA’s first 100 years, university students, faculty, staff and alumni are holding a friendly competition to see which group can complete the most service hours between now and SFA’s Founders Day, Sept. 18.

The goal is for all four groups to earn a total of 100,000 service hours by that date. If they don’t reach that goal, the competition will be extended to the end of the fall 2023 semester.

For more information, visit the centennial website.

SFA Gardens will host the monthly Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series at 7 p.m. June 8 in the Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center.

Jim Berry, owner and president of J Berry Nursery in Grand Saline, will present “Looking back and looking forward: Our recipe for introducing new plants that make a difference."

SFA recently became a recognized member of Tree Campus Higher Education, and as a symbol of this distinction, students and faculty members from the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture presented an Arbor Day banner to the SFA Board of Regents during their meeting in April.

Tree Campus Higher Education is an Arbor Day Foundation program that recognizes colleges and universities for promoting healthy trees and engaging faculty, students and staff in conservation efforts. Since 2008, the program has strived to establish and support thriving community forests across the country.

As a newly recognized campus, SFA joins over 400 universities in the U.S. in planting thousands of trees each year. In 2022, SFA students, faculty, staff and administrators contributed 950 volunteer hours planting, mulching, pruning and evaluating tree care and health on campus.

The Office of Multicultural Affairs plans to continue its Diversity and Inclusion Certification Program for SFA faculty and staff this fall. The program features a variety of sessions for faculty and staff to choose from to enhance their understanding of diversity, inclusion and social justice.

OMA would like to expand the program by adding more facilitators. As a facilitator, you will be asked to present on a topic that aligns with the OMA's mission and vision and is beneficial to faculty and staff.

If you are interested in being a workshop facilitator, fill out this form or contact Dr. Veronica Beavers at vbeavers@sfasu.edu with questions.

SFA’s Health and Wellness Hub is relocating to the third floor of the Rusk Building through May 31 while HVAC repairs are made to its current location at the corner of East College and Raguet streets.

The Hub asks faculty and staff to let students know that all services except for the Family Crisis Center of East Texas and Lumberjack Food Pantry will be available.

For more information, visit The Hub's temporary relocation webpage.

SFA’s Employee Assistance Program offers employees exclusive savings on a full line of goods and services, including trips, automobiles and home goods.

To access savings, visit the EAP website, click “Log in now” on the left side of the page, enter “SFA” in both login fields, search “discounts” in the search bar, and then click "Discount Center."

This year's Student Activities Association Summer Movie Series will have three showings of different movies each week starting May 30. Faculty, staff, students and community members are encouraged to attend showings at 2 and 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and at 2 p.m. on Wednesdays.

Tickets are $5. View a full list of showings and obtain more information by calling Student Engagement's campus programming unit at (936) 468-6292.

SFA Gardens will host its first Spectacular Science Saturday workshop from 9 a.m. to noon June 17 at the Brundrett Conservation Education Building.

Families with school-aged children are invited to join Dr. Alan Sowards, environmental education program director, in an exploration of science through activities, demonstrations and games designed to involve parents in the science learning experience. The seminar is designed for children in first through fifth grades, who must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Baseball

SFA - 9 vs. Lamar University - 2

Softball

SFA - 6 vs. The University of Texas at Arlington - 5

SFA - 3 vs. Grand Canyon University - 14

SFA - 7 vs. California Baptist University - 6

SFA - 2 vs. Utah Tech University - 0

SFA - 9 vs. Seattle University - 10

Track and Field

Several men's and women's team members placed at the Western Athletic Conference Track and Field Championships.

The School of Art opened registration for its 2023 summer art camps.

The SFA Art Academies are offered for older students as well as elementary age students, according to Dr. Maggie Leysath, professor of art education.

The two-week Elementary Art Academy begins June 5 and concludes June 16 with an art exhibition.

The Secondary Art Academy, which runs June 26-30, is for students entering seventh through 12th grades in the 2023-24 school year.

Art lovers can view winning entries in the 288th Texas National Competition and Exhibition through June 30 at The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

Greenville, South Carolina, artist Aldo Muzzarelli is the first place winner in SFA’s 2023 juried show for his mixed media piece “Extemporaneous Menina Picking Up Prejudices I.”

Second place went to Graham, Washington, artist Kimberly Balla for oil metallic pigment on panel titled “On the Edge of a Dream.”

Eric Sweeney, artist from Garland, earned third place for the digital print “M.E. Moses.”

Sure, castles are nice -- the way they combine defense and dwelling. But they look kind of hard to clean.

Still, CNN takes you on a tour of some of the most beautiful castles in the world.