Warhawk Weekly 2-13: Homecoming winners; National honors
Sexton, Gaston, Student Veterans Association earn Homecoming honors
AUM’s 2024 Homecoming celebration offered a busy schedule of events, including the annual Chancellor’s Cup competition, bonfire, pep rally and fireworks show, a Casino Night for alumni, and a basketball doubleheader that saw the AUM women extend their winning streak to eight games.
Tyra Sexton took home the crown as AUM’s homecoming queen, while student-athlete Jalen Gaston was voted as king. Other members of the homecoming court included Diyanna Newton, J’Marco Smith, Joshua Gray, Aaliyah Dunklin, Marselis Jones and Tyreanna Causey.
AUM’s Student Veterans Association emerged as the big winners in the Chancellor’s Cup, a weeklong competition in which student organization teams test their skills in a variety of challenges and games. SVA’s Orange team won the $1,000 grand prize, while the AUM SWOT’s “Teen Tyrants” and SVA’s Black team took second and third, respectively.
AUM online programs earn national honors from U.S. News
AUM earned recognition for having one of the nation’s Top 100 online bachelor’s degree programs, according to U.S. News & World Report’s newly released 2024 rankings.
AUM tied for 90th in the category, which included nearly 340 national universities, regional universities and colleges and national liberal arts colleges. It marked an improvement of 39 positions from 2023 and placed AUM third in the state in the category, trailing only Alabama and UAB.
AUM’s online criminal justice master’s degree ranked 69th nationally among its peers.
EEEC hosts 2024 Southeast and Mid-South Joint Regional Conference
AUM’s Experiential Education and Engagement Center (EEEC) will host the 2024 Southeast and Mid-South Joint Regional Conference February 23-25.
The conference’s theme is “Stories for Change” and will feature keynote speaker Derreck Kayongo, the former CEO of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. Kayongo is also a social entrepreneur, founder of the Global Soap Project, and Max Award winner for best innovative entrepreneur.
In 2011, he was recognized as a CNN Hero for his work on the Global Soap Project, a humanitarian aid organization that collects discarded and unused soap from thousands of hotels worldwide, reprocesses it, then distributes it to in-need populations around the world.
A Ugandan refugee, Kayongo took an inspiring path in life that led him to become a successful entrepreneur, CEO, and renowned human rights activist. He will share his visionary ideas for harnessing the power of observation and creative problem solving, applicable to any organization or community. Key factors of his personal and professional success are identified with the memorable acronym S.E.L.F.: Service, Education, Leadership and Faith. He calls upon his dynamic experiences to empower audiences, inspiring an entrepreneur spirit made possible only through creative problem solving.
Currently, Kayongo serves on the board of advisors at Sharing Sacred Spaces, an organization devoted to building local, sustainable interreligious communities working together for peace and civic change.
AUM faculty, staff, and students may attend the conference for free by completing the online registration form.
Theatre AUM students earn top Kennedy Center honors
AUM theatre students recently received top honors at the 2024 Region IV Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF).
KCACTF’s annual festival recognizes top performing students in college and university theatre programs. This year’s event was held Feb. 6-10 in Albany, Georgia.
Tiara Staples. Staples earned first place for Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) Directing Initiative honor, which recognizes one student director from each of KCACTF’s eight regions. Students are invited to participate at the national festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. each April. Tiara has been awarded travel, lodging and per diem expenses, as well as attendance at KCACTF National Festival workshops and performances. In addition, she will receive a one-year associate membership in SDC. AUM student performers in Tiara’s directed scene were Michael James Pritchard and Tara Laurel Little.
Chason Marvin. Marvin received first place for the Institute for Theatre Journalism and Advocacy (ITJA) award. The honor was established to assist in elevating the level of arts criticism, journalism, and advocacy; and to provide writers the opportunity to grow at the same pace as the artists whose work they review, celebrate, and interpret. At the end of all eight regional festivals, four of the eight regional ITJA awardees will be chosen to attend the National Festival in Washington, D.C. following review of the work they created during their regional festival. Watch his published podcast online.
Tara Little. Little was named first runner up for the KCACTF/LORT ASPIRE Leadership Fellows Program, which is designed to cultivate a new generation of artistic and administrative leaders for the American Theater
During the festival, AUM students also participated in stage management, design, and performance events. Students also presented their research and creative works, received external feedback, and participated in experiential opportunities, auditions, and interviews. The conference also featured round table conversations, performances, showcases, new play readings, masterclasses in every discipline, and network opportunities with other students and guest artists.
In addition to mentoring these students, AUM Professor of Theatre Neil David Seibel participated in the Recruiting Fair, auditions and interviews for transfer students. Michael Krek, assistant professor of theatre at AUM, was invited to present a juried conference presentation “The Sustainable Set”.
Women’s basketball team extends winning streak
Allasha Dudley’s long-range 3-pointer with 28 seconds left in the game lifted AUM’s women’s basketball team to a 64-61 road win over West Florida on Monday night and extended the Warhawks’ winning streak to nine games.
AUM improved to 16-7 overall and 14-5 in the Gulf South Conference. The win over West Florida followed a homecoming victory over West Georgia. AUM’s men and women will visit Union Thursday and will travel to Christian Brothers in Nashville, Tenn., this weekend.
In other athletics action, the AUM baseball team will host Georgia Southwestern today at 3 p.m. after winning a weekend home series against Embry-Riddle.
AUM’s softball team, off to a 7-2 start, will open conference play at Valdosta State this weekend. AUM’s men’s and women’s tennis teams, both 2-1, will open conference play at Christian Brothers University this weekend.
Celebrating Black History Month
AUM’s celebration of Black History Month will feature a variety of events, including Trivia Night, Spirit Week, and a Mini Film Series..
Movie screenings will include “Harriet,” “Soul,” “Our Language” and ”Bessie.”
Revisiting Brown v. Board of Education
On Tuesday, Feb. 27, the Department of Political Science and Public Administration will host a screening of the documentary “The Harvest: Integrating Mississippi’s Schools,” followed by a conversation with Alabama Rep. Phillip Ensler and former Montgomery Public Schools Chief Academic Officer Monte Linebarger about public education, racial integration in Alabama and the 70th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. The breakfast event will begin at 8 a.m. in Taylor Center 221.
Show the love for student media
Meet the students behind The Aumnibus and AUMLive campus media organizations at “Love Your News” on Wednesday, Feb. 14, from 3-4 p.m. in the Communications Lab and TV Studio.
Cookies and beverages will be served to students, faculty and staff who drop by the meet and greet. Meet The Aumnibus and AUMLive student journalists, see how the news is made, and come pitch your campus story ideas and events to be covered.
Join Theatre AUM for open auditions
Are you a performer at heart? Theatre AUM is offering you an opportunity to step into the spotlight. If you haven’t yet participated in a Theatre AUM production, come to open auditions on Tuesday, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m. in the Taylor Center Theatre (second floor).
Reciting a prepared monologue is preferred, but not required. Got questions? Email Faith Roberts at [email protected].
Apply for the Graduate Study Merit Scholarship
If you’re a current graduate student who has completed at least nine course hours and possess a GPA of 3.4 or better, you may be eligible to receive the 2024-2025 Graduate Study Merit Scholarship offered by the AUM Alumni Association.
To apply for the scholarship, submit the following documents to [email protected] (include “Scholarship Committee, AUM Alumni Association” in the subject line) by March 15:
- Your graduate GPA
- Two letters of support, preferably from AUM faculty or staff (on AUM official letterhead), emphasizing leadership attributes
- A 250-word essay outlining the applicant’s educational and career objectives, academic honors/civic activities, and how the award will benefit them.
Get updates on campus events
There’s an easy way to keep up with all of the fun events offered on our campus. Enroll in AUM365 and get the 4-1-1 from Curtiss The Warhawk himself. Text curti$$ to 334-398-6025 to receive reminders about upcoming happening.
