Upon his retirement in August, Dr. Kenneth Farrish earned professor emeritus status. Farrish has a distinguished record in teaching, research and service spanning more than 27 years, having received several local and national awards for his effective teaching. He was recognized by the SFA Board of Regents as the 2016-17 Regents Scholar, the highest honor the university can award a faculty member.

Since 2001, Farrish served as director of SFA’s Division of Environmental Science. In that role, he continually reviewed and modified the undergraduate and graduate curriculum to be rigorous and relevant to the profession. He successfully worked to increase the number of scholarships available to environmental science students and advanced the professional development of environmental science students by promoting their interaction with practicing professionals.

The 88th Texas State Legislature passed, and Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law, Senate Bill 17, “Responsibility of Governing Boards Regarding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives,” which amends Texas Education Code 51.5325 effective Jan. 1, 2024.

The University of Texas System will update the guidance as needed. UT System remains committed to supporting its community members who come to our institutions from across the state and around the world and bring a variety of perspectives and experiences.

The guidance is intended to be broad and will not cover every specific situation or nuance that occurs in UT System’s 14 institutions. Institutions should continue to seek legal advice from their institution’s legal office as questions arise.

For more details, visit the UT System SB17 Guidance page.

Hundreds of past, present and future Lumberjacks as well as Nacogdoches community members came to SFA Sept. 15-18 for the university’s centennial in a four-day celebration that began with an awards ceremony and ended with a cake-filled birthday party.

Now, an online repository of photos from the weekend is available for attendees to download and relive centennial moments. It includes folders of images organized by events held throughout the weekend. Additionally, a YouTube playlist has been created to provide a centralized place to view videos from the centennial weekend.

Faculty and staff are welcome to join the annual UT Living Well Fall into Fitness Challenge, Monday, Oct. 2, through Nov. 12. This challenge will provide an opportunity to improve personal fitness habits while helping SFA win the fitness challenge as an institution.

To join, UT Select and UT Care members need to register for the Living Well Program at the program’s website, and complete an assessment. On Oct. 2, join the Fall into Fitness Challenge on the Living Well platform to track your daily progress within the challenge. Earn 200 points after your team logs a combined 1 million total steps over the six-week challenge.

For more information, contact Livia Pierce at employeewellness@sfasu.edu.

The East Texas Research Center is introducing the new Archive Lab and will be hosting workshops, classes and lectures about archival topics.

During the center’s first event, Linda Reynolds, ETRC director, will discuss how to repair, digitize and preserve magnetic tapes such as VHS, cassette tapes, reel-to-reel tapes and Betamax at 4 p.m. Oct. 23 in the Archive Lab.

Due to limited space, you must register prior to the event.

Faculty and staff are encouraged to inform students about a study abroad opportunity in Ghana slated for May 2024. The two-week trip is open to undergraduate and graduate students in any major, and combines academics with exciting sites in Ghana. This three-credit-hour course discusses policy and ethical issues around the globe. Additionally, students will attend classes with instruction from both SFA and Ghanaian professors.

Students can register for this course as part of their spring 2024 schedule. For more information, contact Dr. Kwame Badu Antwi-Boasiako at antwibokb@sfasu.edu, or Dr. Stephanie Washington at stephanie.washington@sfasu.edu.

SFA Gardens will host a fruit research field day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow featuring kiwifruit, muscadine grapes, blueberries, figs, feijoas and other fruits.

Speakers will include Dr. David Creech, director of SFA Gardens; and Dr. Tim Hartmann and Dr. Justin Scheiner, both faculty members in Texas A&M University’s Department of Horticultural Sciences.

Haven’t had a chance to check out the new Lumberjack Learning Commons in Steen Library yet? Then stop by the faculty and staff open house between 2 and 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 3, to see all the renovations as well as enjoy refreshments and giveaways.

The commons includes the Academic Assistance and Resource Center, Center for Teaching and Learning, Office of International Programs, SFA Makerspace and Student Success Center. Plans are also underway to add a sixth component in the coming months: the Professional and Continuing Education Center.

For more information, visit sfasu.edu/llc.

The Living Well platform, powered by Limeade, is designed to help you wherever you are in your well-being journey. The platform provides access to useful tools, wellness resources, benefits, educational content and social support.

Learn more or register on the UT System's Living Well page and download the Limeade ONE app to check on your progress.

The Center for Career and Professional Development is offering several opportunities to help guide students in their professional journey. These events are free and open to all students. Faculty and staff are encouraged to inform students about the events. For more information, visit the CCPD website or contact the CCPD at ccpd@sfasu.edu.

Resume Workshop: Learn about resume creation and tips for success. 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 4, in the Baker Pattillo Student Center Tiered Classroom, Room 2.201.

Career Fair Prep Workshop: Hear from a corporate recruiter to learn how to prepare for a career fair. 5 p.m. Oct. 11 in the Baker Pattillo Student Center Tiered Classroom, Room 2.201.

All Majors Career Fair: Meet with recruiters looking to hire for internships and full-time opportunities. This event is open to any student or alumni looking for networking opportunities. 1 to 4 p.m. Oct. 18 in the Baker Pattillo Student Center Grand Ballroom.

SFA's Health and Wellness Hub will host the fall Wellness Fair from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 4, in the Baker Pattillo Student Center Twilight Ballroom.

The free event, open to all of campus, will provide resources and services from a variety of SFA and Nacogdoches organizations and businesses, including health screenings, product samples, refreshments, educational materials and giveaways. Faculty members are encouraged to inform their students about the event.

For more information, contact Jessica Waguespack, program director for student wellness, at (936) 468-4008.

The new Certified Communicator Program from the Division of University Marketing Communications will show you how to be an effective SFA brand ambassador.

From advertising, photography and videos to web presence and Slate emails, these Zoom modules presented by UMC staff members offer the latest information on how to market your event or service as well as branding updates stemming from SFA’s affiliation with The University of Texas System.

To earn a certificate, you must complete the Foundations module and three other modules of your choice. The trainings are held from 2 to 3 p.m. on Thursdays. Upcoming trainings include:

• Accessibility, today

• Advertising, Oct. 12

• Photo, Oct. 19

• Social Videos, Oct. 26

To register, visit “myTraining” through mySFA and search for "CCP." To submit a marketing request to UMC, visit sfasu.edu/umc. A Zoom link for each module will be emailed to registrants the day of the module session.

The Student Success Center hosted a Back-to-School Bash earlier this month and gave away free school supplies to first-generation students. With the help of Generation Jacks student volunteers, about 250 students received supplies ranging from pens, pencils and markers to highlighters, notebooks, copy paper, scantrons and more. The event was held at the Baker Pattillo Student Center Spirit Lounge.

Women's Golf

SFA's Women's Golf finished seventh in the Huntsville Toyota Bearkat Invitational in Huntsville.

SFA's School of Art and the Friends of the Visual Arts will present a free, one-night screening of “The Good Exorcist,” a 2018 film cowritten by Josh Stifter and Daniel Degnan and directed by Stifter. The screening is at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 6, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House.

In this campy comedy, an eccentric wandering priest adventures to a ranch in Texas to dispel the darkness that has come over a peculiar family. As he digs deeper, the priest soon finds that he may be in over his head, according to imdb.com.

Award-winning pianist Dr. Martin Kesuma will perform works by Nikolai Kapustin, Alberto Ginastera, Manuel de Falla and other varied composers when he presents a solo recital at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5, in Cole Concert Hall.

A native of Jakarta, Indonesia, Kesuma has performed as a solo pianist and chamber musician throughout Indonesia, Canada and the United States. Prior to his recent move back to Texas, he worked as a collaborative pianist and a chamber music instructor at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada. He is currently pursuing a performance certificate degree at Texas State University.

Almost 20 years ago, Cleo House-Keller, director of the SFA's School of Theatre and Dance, performed the role of Boy Willie in August Wilson’s play “The Piano Lesson.” Wilson, a prolific and skillful playwright who would win two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama for his writing, attended one of the performances and autographed House’s script.

House proposed “The Piano Lesson” for this year’s Mainstage Series because he wanted “something special” for the School of Theatre and Dance’s Centennial Season celebrating SFA’s 100 years. He hoped it would be the first Mainstage performance in the all-new Flex Theatre in the newly renovated and expanded Griffith Fine Arts Building, and the theatre season planning committee chose it.

Showings will be at 7:30 p.m. today through Saturday, Sept. 30, and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, in the Flex Theatre.

The Swingin’ Axes and Swingin’ Aces jazz bands will present their fall “Jazz at the Brewery” fundraiser from 7 to 10 p.m. tomorrow at Fredonia Brewery.

The concert continues the jazz bands’ tradition of taking their performance out into the community, according to Dr. JD Salas, director of the Swingin’ Axes jazz ensemble.

The School of Theatre and Dance will host a series of reunions throughout SFA’s centennial year that invites graduates from certain decades to attend weekend celebrations for certain plays and dance concerts.

The upcoming presentation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Piano Lesson” is the first Mainstage production of the 2023-24 season and will host a gathering of theatre students who graduated from SFA in the 1960s and ’70s.

At a 2021 estate sale in Connecticut, photographer Jeff Sedlik discovered a long-lost masterpiece. Purchasing the faded photograph for $2,200 turned out to be a smart investment. The framed print included two long-lost Alfred Stieglitz prints. Now up for auction, the prints are expected to sell for up to $250,000. Read more at My Modern Met.