The Yellow JacketFebruary 9, 2017 Howard Payne University . Brownwood, TX Volume 107, Issue 8

There is plenty of buzz sur-rounding various topics in the political world right now, and it’s obviously pretty hard to ignore. From topics like immigration, to protecting the environment, to educa-tion reform, there are plenty of decisions currently being made on our country’s be-half and no shortage of con-troversy along with them.

One topic of debate con-cerns Betsy DeVos, the re-cently confirmed Secretary of Education, and her focus on school privatization, school vouchers, “for-profit” educa-tion, charters, and the like.

In my opinion, our

focus should remain on im-proving public schools.

I am for private schools, in-cluding religious ones. I mean, look where I go to college. What I am not for is the rich

getting richer while the poor get poorer, which often seems to be the result of privatiza-tion efforts in which econom-ically advantaged families get to send their children to their

choice of school while low-socioeconomic status (SES) families have to leave their children in public schools.

I know that vouchers are not only given to the wealthy. There are programs giving vouchers to low-SES fami-lies, and advocates of vouch-ers often claim benefit to low-SES families as a major component of the system. But when more and more people are able to send their children to a specific private school, the schools max-out.

It’s still the poorer students who don’t get a place. For ex-ample, while better-off fami-lies can afford to send their children to choice schools outside of their district, low-er-SES families can’t always

Every edition of theYellow Jacket newspaper

is available online at www.hputx.edu/yellowjacket

InsIde thIs

edItIon Be awed............................2

Awaken your soul by visiting one of our national

parks.

Moot Court.......................3The Moot Court team

earned multiple awards at the national tournament in

Florida.

Unusual Band..................4The Central Texas Commu-nity Band provides a unique opportunity for musicians.

Theatre Time....................5HPU theatre students earn

award at TETA event.

Dogs in chapel.................7Find out how obedient dogs can help deliver a message about our obedience to God.

Religion column...............8If we turn away refugees,

we turn away Jesus..

Black History Month........8A look at the Black History Month Chapel service in

photos.

Clinching a Tie...............10The Lady Jackets are close to hosting the conference

tournament.

Jackets stumble.............11The men’s basketball team

finished 2-3 in its home stand.

The nation’s leadership could dramatically impact the future of public education

Betsy Devos

Education → Page 3

lydia heinrichs

Editor in Chief

Photo by Andria GarzaHoward Payne women’s basketball players, from left, Valarie Matlock, Presley McKethan and Sarahi Castil-lo talk strategy during the Lady Jack-ets’ recent 69-44 win over Sul Ross in Brownwood Coliseum. The Lady Jackets, 11-2 in the American South-west Conference, have clinched at least a tie for the ASC West Division title. If the Lady Jackets win the West, they will host the ASC postseason tournament Feb. 23-25 in the Colise-um. The Lady Jackets play at Con-cordia today (Thursday) and at Mary Hardin-Baylor on Saturday. HPU will finish the regular season Feb. 18 at Sul Ross. See story on Page 10.

Title Talk

Awaken your soul at a national park

From cascading water-falls, to the rugged daunts of jagged cliffs, my heart lies in the extraordinaire that is the national park system.

To date, I have visited 10 of the 58 parks located in the United States. Each one different from the others.

These parks provide people with the opportunity to step away from the hustle and bus-tle of everyday life; to embark on adventures; to create a liv-ing, breathing, un-apprehend-ed bond between flesh and dirt.

I prefer the magic of the mountains. I love the chal-lenge associated with each climb or hike. I love the way the terrain changes around each bend in the stone. It is in the mountains where I am truly captivated by God’s majesty.

There is something about being fully immersed in the seclusion of the wilderness that makes the human heart beat a little faster, a little stron-ger, a little livelier. It awak-ens something in the soul.

Theodore Roosevelt said, “It is an incalculable added pleasure to anyone’s sum of happiness if he or she

grows to know, even slight-ly and imperfectly, how to read and enjoy the wonder-book of nature” (nps.gov).

I could not agree more, Ted-dy. In fact, my time spent in the national parks associated with the Rocky Mountains – Gla-cier, Grand Tetons, Great Sand Dunes, Rocky Mountains, and Yellowstone – has led me to realize just how insignificant I am in the splendor that is our wilderness. God is so great, His work so magnificent, that my presence is dwarfed in the face of His beauty.

It is the preservation of these areas that bridge yester-day to today, and today to to-morrow. They are the grounds upon which our ancestors have endured, upon which our country has been built. To be able to explore such a soil en-riched with precious history is an indescribable experience.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

once said, “There is nothing so American as our national parks…. The fundamental idea behind the parks … is that the country belongs to the people, that it is in process of mak-ing for the enrichment of the lives of all of us” (nps.gov).

Since 1872, the Nation-al Park Service has strived to maintain the ruggedness of the outdoors in its natu-ral form. It is because these lands belong to us, the peo-ple, that it is my passion to share nature’s enchantment with everyone I encounter. I intend to visit each park the United States has to offer, and I hope to find my friends and family along the way.

From right here in the heart of Texas, there are three na-tional parks within practical driving proximity. Tucked away in the New Mexican Chihuahuan Desert, Carlsbad Caverns National Park lies

within six hours of Brown-wood. With over 119 known caves, its rocky formations will leave you awestruck.

Approximately 40 miles southwest of Carlsbad Cav-erns, the Guadalupe Moun-tains National Park calls Texas its home. This fossil reef pro-vides views unlike any other in the Lone Star State. Guadalupe Peak stands tall as the highest natural point in Texas, mak-ing it the perfect experience to check off your bucket list.

Further south resides Big Bend National Park, home to the entire Chisos mountain range and a vast amount of the Chihuahuan Desert. This ulti-mate Texan landscape makes the seven-hour drive worth it.

I inspire you to find the time to venture towards the grandeur that awaits your ex-ploration. The waters are crys-talline, the air is pure, and the experience is unforgettable.

P A G E 2 F E B R U A R Y 9 , 2 0 1 7

Opinion & News

The 2016-2017 Yellow JackeT

ediTor-in-chiefLydia HeinricHs

assisTanT ediTor

racHeL HugHes

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Page designersLydia HeinricHs,

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ryan MasOn, aiMee OrOzcO, cHeyenne HiLL, JOsiaH HugHes

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The Yellow Jacket is a student publication of Howard Payne Univer-sity. Letters to the editor are welcome. Please send any feedback to yjacket@hputx.edu with “Letter to the Editor”

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News Briefs

CampusThe annual HPU Health Fair is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on March 7, along the Wilson Walk-way. This year’s event will include some famil-iar themes as well as some new attractions. The event is free and open to stu-dents, faculty and staff.

StateThe Big 12 Conference an-nounced Wednesday it will withhold potentially mil-lions of dollars from Bay-lor University until the school can prove that it has implemented reforms in response to its football team’s sexual assault scan-dal that cost head coach Art Briles his job. The confer-ence said it will dock the private Christian univer-sity in Waco 25 percent of its annual payouts “until the proper execution of controls is independently verified.” In 2015-16, the Big 12 generated $304 mil-lion in revenue that was shared by its 10 members.

NationalThe Texas Rangers – the law enforcement group, not the baseball team – are searching for the person who swiped New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s Super Bowl game jersey. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said this week he has called in the Rangers to help Houston police track down Brady’s jersey, which vanished after he led the Patriots to victory Sunday in the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history. The Super Bowl was played in Houston’s NRG Stadium.

Kelsy Bellah

Guest Writer

What’s the Buzz?To submit items and events to this HPU campus calendar, email yjacket@hputx.edu.

Feb 9: Student Led Worship, 9-10 p.m.

Feb 10-11: Women’s Ministry Conference, Logsdon Seminary at HSU in Abilene

Feb 23: Student Led Worship, 9-10 p.m.

Moot Court team takes awards at nationals F E B R U A R Y 9 , 2 0 1 7 P A G E 3

News

by HPU Media Relations

Howard Payne’s Moot Court team brought home sev-eral awards last month from the American Moot Court Association’s National Tour-nament at Stetson College of Law in Gulfport, Florida.

Two HPU teams qualified to compete in the tournament. Caitlin Wood, a December 2016 graduate, and Jackson Spencer, a junior, qualified by advancing to quarterfinals at the Texas A&M Univer-sity School of Law Regional Tournament. Seniors Rebeca Puente and Isaac Sommers qualified by winning the same regional tournament, beating the United States Air Force Academy in the final round.

At the national tourna-ment, Sommers was named the fifth overall speaker out of 786 competitors. The team of Puente and Sommers ad-vanced to out-rounds, plac-ing in the top 16 of 80 teams.

In a competition of writ-ten arguments submitted prior to the tournament, two HPU teams won awards for petitioner briefs. The team of sophomore Bailey

Myler and junior Justin Har-ris placed sixth. Puente and Sommers placed seventh.

Moot Court is a com-petition during which stu-dents participate in the

preparation and arguing of cases in front of judges, de-signed to simulate argument before the United States Supreme Court. The case and allowed resources are

selected beforehand and students must prepare argu-ments for both sides – pe-titioner and respondent.

Moot Court involves ap-pellate cases as opposed to

those at the trial level, which are often called “mock tri-als.” Judges are usually law professors, attorneys from the community and even members of the judiciary. Students are judged on their ability to incorporate case law into their arguments, their oral and written arguments and their presentation style.

Lorianna Kelley, assis-tant professor of govern-ment and Moot Court spon-sor, said she is proud of how HPU’s Moot Court team performed this year.

“Winning awards in both the oral and written compo-nents of the tournament dem-onstrates how well rounded our students are,” Kelley said. “Not only are they well spoken, but they also have the ability to apply complex case law to difficult legal problems.

“HPU has been recog-nized as one of the top 20 teams in the nation, and that is only possible through the hard work and dedication of our team. I look forward to continued success at the spring invitational tourna-ment at Southern Method-ist University this March.”

Courtesy Photo Members of HPU’s Moot Court team recently competed in the American Moot Court Association’s National Tournament. The students include, from left: Jackson Spencer, Isaac Sommers, Rebeca Puente, Bailey Myler and Justin Harris. Not pictured is Caitlin Wood.

From Page 1:Education

afford to, even with vouch-ers, because of costs like transportation. Another startling phenomenon is de facto segregation, in which majority, wealthy families intentionally move their stu-dents away from schools – even choice schools – as minority students come in.

In my mind, it’s a simi-lar concept to ability group-ing, which we have evidence against. When students are grouped based on their aca-demic ability, the higher-achieving students achieve

even higher, but the lower-achieving students get worse – and it’s a cycle. Higher achieving schools and stu-dents are given more funding and resources, which pushes them to achieve even better.

This would be fine if

lower-achieving schools and students were also given re-sources to improve, but they aren’t. They are left with the least-qualified teachers, the least resources, and the least opportunity to succeed.

I’m not suggesting low-SES students are less bright or less capable than high-SES students. Low-SES stu-dents are, however, given fewer opportunities to ad-vance. Then when they don’t perform as well as students who are already achieving high, they aren’t afforded as many resources. Then the students who have the resources get more resources.

Then those high-achieving students with the mountain of resources perform even high-er – and get more resources.

See what I mean?It’s similar with privatiza-

tion. The families who can af-ford to send their students to “better” schools, do, and the families who can’t, leave their children in the public schools that are now suffering.

While I could go on about other aspects of DeVos’s ideology about education, allow me to simply say this: I think we’re in trou-ble if public schools van-ish from our attention and maintenance. Public schools

stand for equitable educa-tion of all students, regard-less of race, socioeconomics, disability, gender, and so on.

I see the appeal of school choice. I see the appeal of a pri-vate education. I see the draw of educating your child in a place that instills like-minded values. But I cannot shake the need for equal opportu-nity. We need public schools.

I invite you to research the issue, fact-check, inform me, confront me, and oppose me. I don’t pretend to know every-thing about this topic, but I’m concerned enough to keep digging. I hope you are too.

Betsy DeVos

‘The Last Jedi’ should be an action-packed journey P A G E 4 F E B R U A R Y 9 , 2 0 1 7

Entertainment

“Star Wars” is one of the most popular and influen-tial movie series ever made. The epic sci-fi tale depicts the journey of the Sky-walker family along with a vast array of companions and heroes as they battle the forces of the Dark Side.

The original trilogy, the good movies, features Luke and Leia Skywalker along with Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2, Obi Wan and Lando Calrissian leading the Rebel Alliance against the in-famous, greatest villain ever, Darth Vader who leads the forces of the evil Galactic Em-pire along with Emperor Pal-patine. Then we have the pre-quels, unfortunately they do exist, depicting young Anakin Skywalker’s tumultuous path to becoming Darth Vader and giving us great creations such as Jar-Jar Binks and midi-chlorians – all respect to “Star Wars” creator George Lucas.

Fortunately, we have seen a quality rebirth of the fran-chise begun with “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens” and furthered with the expansion film “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.”

Now, to keep from getting caught up in the past, let’s take a look at the promising future of “Star Wars.” Just in the past two weeks, the title of the eighth “Star Wars” film has been announced as “The Last Jedi.” This in and of its self can lead the avid fan to a variety of conclusions. Spoiler warning with a quali-fier, you’ve had two years to

see “The Force Awakens.” The entire plot of “The

Force Awakens” is driven by the hunt for Luke Skywalker, with the final shot depicting a stare down between the Jedi and our hero Rey. With mind-fulness of this and taking the title of Episode VIII for what it is worth, we may then be seeing the last of the Jedi. To quote the one and only Darth Vader, “Noooooooo!”

Disney wouldn’t dare get rid of the Jedi, whose light-saber dueling and Force us-ing has fueled the “Star Wars” series to success. Would they?

An alternate theory

created by many fans says that maybe we will see the end of Jedi as we know them, instead seeing the Force-gift-ed Rey become something beyond a Jedi or Sith. This seems like the most probable scenario for the film and the most encouraging theory.

Additionally, the Hollywood Reporter theorized the title of the film could be foreshadow-ing what caused Luke to re-treat into solitude. It is known that Kylo Ren, son of Han and Leia, was training with Luke when he rebelled, attacking other young Jedi padawans. However, we do not know the exact reason Luke chose to leave rather than resist, an action irreconcilable with the character Luke Skywalk-er of the original trilogy.

While running through all the speculation as to what the next film holds, we must remember a few things.

First, Jar-Jar Binks was thought to be a Sith Lord in the months preceding Epi-sode VII’s release. This in-stead turned out to be a valiant, straining attempt to justify a character created for

nothing more than, admit-tedly funny, comic relief.

Second, “The Force Awak-ens” was a near mirror image of “A New Hope.” Nearly all the major plot points of the first Star Wars movie were echoed in the 2015 continu-ation. So we can likely ex-pect some similarities be-tween a considerably drearier movie “The Empire Strikes Back,” the next film sequen-tially, and “The Last Jedi.”

Finally, the last two mov-ies of the franchise were of great quality. “The Force Awakens” is debatably the best film so far in the fran-chise, and while “Rogue One” was a little more divided in re-sponse, it rose far beyond the depths that Star Wars sank to with “Attack of the Clones.”

Fans should expect “The Last Jedi” to be darker in tone compared to the last film, but also a great movie expe-rience and another action-packed journey to “Long ago in a galaxy far, far away…”

Look for it in theaters Dec. 15. I know that’s a long way away. May the Force be with you.

Seth Rainey

Movie Columinst

Every spring at Howard Payne University, residents of central Texas gather to-gether to make music. From seventh-grade students to retirees and professionals to amateurs, all are welcome to participate in the Central Texas Community Band.

The community band meets

at 7:30 p.m. every Mon-day in the Davidson Music Complex. The band is under the direction of Mr. Corey Ash, the director of bands at HPU. However, retired and area band directors will often take the podium to conduct a piece or two during the band’s annual spring concert.

Members of the band range all ages and all lev-els of musical training. A great deal of Brown-wood High School – and

occasionally middle school – students are members, as are several Howard Payne alumni, community members who love music, and retired central Texas musicians.

A large part of the commu-nity band is made up of HPU music majors looking to learn a secondary instrument. For example, Jonathan Strebeck, a percussion major, is learn-ing to play the clarinet in com-munity band. This isn’t a re-quirement for music students,

but many participate in order to further their knowledge in preparation of one-day be-coming music educators.

There are also many HPU music majors who play their primary instru-ment in the band that are just looking for another op-portunity to make music.

Yellow Jacket Band mem-bers who aren’t able to partic-ipate in the symphonic band ensemble – like Olivia Belsh-er who is student teaching

this semester – often opt to participate in the community band in order to continue to peruse their love for music.

This spring the commu-nity band will be presenting its annual concert at 7:30 p.m. on May 4 in Mims Au-ditorium. They will be per-forming various works, in-cluding selections from the Phantom of the Opera.

Central Texas Community BandUnique opportunity available to musicians of all ages and skill levels

Carissa Cromer

Music columnist

Theatre students win third place in FilmFest F E B R U A R Y 9 , 2 0 1 6 P A G E 5

Entertainment & Religion

Three Howard Payne theatre students traveled to Galveston on Jan. 27 to attend the The-atreFest hosted by the Texas Education Theatre Associa-tion. Students and teachers of all ages had the opportunity to attend a multitude of work-shops, and strengthen and build their theatre programs.

It also provided a variety of learning material for high school and college students. At this festival there were many competitions the attendees could enter as well. There was DesignFest, where students and non-students with an af-finity for technical theatre got to show off a design they have made for a certain produc-tion. The finalists got to dis-play their work at TheatreFest, where a winner was chosen.

There was PlayFest, where pretty much anyone with the dream of being a writer could submit a play to TETA. For this competition the plays were split in to age groups and categories for those age groups. The age groups were high school, college, and community members. They were allowed to submit to the categories of a 10-min-ute play and a one act play.

The finalists of these plays were performed at TETA in the form of a stage reading or a small performance. The last and newest competition at TheatreFest was a competition called FilmFest. This competi-tion is similar to an event the theatre program and Alpha Psi Omega put on last month at HPU called “24 Hour Theatre.”

We showed up with our team at 3:30 p.m. on a Thurs-day to sign release forms and to get all the information we would need for our film. How-

ard Payne’s team was titled “Sting Punk” and it consisted of the following members: Nicholas Ewen, Shannon Par-rish, Bryce McWhirter, Gabby McWhirter, and an HPU and APO Alumni, Adam Brewster.

Five other colleges were present, including Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Blinn College, and Texas State Uni-versity. We randomly drew a genre and a prop. HPU got Sci-Fi and a pack of gum. The judges told us that we had until 3:30 p.m. to turn in our film, but there was a catch. All of the filming had to be done on a smartphone and the video had to be three minutes or less.

Luckily, Ewen had a work-shop all about making your own armor so he had the per-fect costume for our film. Sting Punk had decided that they were going to shoot their film on an elevator. It took about three and a half hours to shoot our film and

another two hours to edit it.Sting Punk showed up once

again to the FilmFest room to cover all of their bases and add some last-minute details. Once the film was submitted they were told to go to the IMAX theatre located near the hotel around seven that night. Our film was to be premiered on the biggest screen in Texas.

The high school films were shown first, and then the col-lege films. After all the films had been shown, they watched the top UIL films of the year. Then it finally came time to hear the results of our hard work.

Ewen’s Armor won Howard Payne “Best Costuming,” and the HPU film also took home third place, which came with a $200 cash prize. It was such a cool experience to be a part of the first-ever FilmFest, and our department will be looking for-ward to seeing what other great things the theatre students will do at the future TheatreFests.

Gabby McWhirter

Guest Writer

YJ PhotoNick Ewen, assistant profes-sor of theatre and technical director at HPU, displays his homemade suit of armor for a workshop he does annually at the Texas Educational Theatre Association convention

By HPU Media Relations

Howard Payne Univer-sity’s 10th annual Currie-Strickland Distinguished Lectures in Christian Ethics will feature guest speaker Dr. Roger E. Olson, Foy Valen-tine Professor of Christian Theology and Ethics at Bay-lor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary.

The lectures will take place Feb. 23 and Feb. 24 and are free to the public.

Speaking on the theme “Both-And Ethics: Reconcil-ing Niebuhr and Hauerwas,” Olson will begin his lectures at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 23 and 10 a.m. on Feb. 24 with a question-and-answer session

following each lecture. Both events will be held in the Richard and Wanda Jackson Conference Room of HPU’s Paul and Jane Meyer Faith

and Life Leadership Center.Olson holds degrees from

Rice University, North Ameri-can Baptist Seminary and Open Bible College. He has written numerous articles for such publications as Theology Today, Dialog, Scottish Journal of Theology, Christian Cen-tury and Christianity Today.

His recent books include “Reformed and Always Re-forming: The Postconserva-tive Approach to Evangeli-cal Theology,” “The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition and Reform,” “The Mosaic of Christian Belief: Twenty Cen-turies of Unity and Diversity” and “Who Needs Theology?” with Dr. Stanley J. Grenz.

Olson received two awards

for “The Story of Christian Theology” including a Gold Medallion from the Evangeli-cal Christian Publishers Asso-ciation in 1999. In 1993 he and co-author Dr. Grenz received Christianity Today’s award for best book in theology/biblical studies for “20th Cen-tury Theology: God and the World in a Transitional Age.”

A past president of the American Theological So-ciety (Midwest Division), Olson has been the co-chair of the Evangelical Theology Group of the American Acad-emy of Religion for two years. An expert in historical theol-ogy, he is a frequent preacher, teacher and speaker for local churches and organizations.

“We’re looking forward

to Dr. Olson’s discussion of ‘both-and ethics’ and well-known ethicists and theolo-gians Reinhold Niebuhr and Stanley Hauerwas,” said Dr. Donnie Auvenshine dean of HPU’s School of Christian Studies. “Studies of ethics are crucial in today’s society, particularly for Christians. We know Dr. Olson will de-liver thoughtful and timely discussion on the subject.”

Admission is free but res-ervations are requested. For reservations or more informa-tion, contact Howard Payne University’s School of Chris-tian Studies by e-mail at cur-rie-strickland@hputx.edu or by phone at 325-649-8403.

Olson to speak at Currie-Strickland lectures

Dr. Roger E. Olson

Helping those that helped her

If I were to name one thing I was especially passionate about, it would be animals.

In the midst of a crazy, stress-ful life, animals have the abil-ity to be calming and so inno-cent. Every time I am petting a dog, playing with a cat, or even

watching a squirrel run around its little habitat, I feel at peace with nature and with God.

While growing up, I al-ways wanted to be a vet-erinarian. I dreamed about being able to love and help animals daily. Quickly, I real-ized I was not cut out for a job that involved blood and sur-gery, but that desire to work with animals was still there.

When I was 12, I took

another step in that love for animals when I became a veg-etarian after reading about the inhumane way the food processing industry works. I also began to study how the Bible says we should treat animals, specifically in terms of how we use them for food and for medical research.

Recently, I have begun strongly supporting the move-ment to use animals as support

pets. Personally, I have known many people who have strug-gled with mental illnesses that have benefitted greatly by hav-ing a support dog or cat. From helping those who have epi-leptic seizures to soldiers with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), animals provide a re-lief for those who have trouble going through day-to-day life.

In the future, I want to open a non-profit organization that

focuses on rescuing senior dogs from animal shelters, since they are the most likely to be euthanized. I also want to con-tinue advocating for less ani-mal testing and for more regu-lations for companies within the food processing industry.

I plan to dedicate parts of my life to helping ani-mals in the same way that they have helped me.

P A G E 6 F E B R U A R Y 9 , 2 0 1 7

Features

HPU student someday plans to focus on rescuing senior dogs

Courtesy PhotosBrianna Weaver with her dog Peaches, who was 3 months old in 2004 (left), and 12 years old in 2016 (right).

Brianna Weaver

Guest Writer

Dogs allowed in Chapel F E B R U A R Y 9 , 2 0 1 7 P A G E 7

Religion

Hank Hough and his col-league, Lori, spoke in Cha-pel last week with Kingdom Dog Ministries. Students poured into Mims Audito-rium to see “the people with the dogs.” During Chapel, Hough portrayed the love God has for us by using dogs and their masters as examples.

Kingdom Dog Ministries was started by a man (Hough) who loves dogs and God and who asked God, “Let me be more than I am.” He found that as he worked training dogs, the Bible unfolded in front of him.

“Kingdom Dog Minis-tries wasn’t so much started or founded as it was evolved out of the passions God had given me, and His faith-fulness to use me in spite of myself,” Hough said.

The last time Kingdom Dog Ministries counted, which was a long while ago, God had used them to lead 36,000 people to faith in Himself all across the United States.

When asked what the goal of this ministry is, Hough said, “I never had a goal. I loved dogs and God and I wanted to serve. God has built this ministry to be bigger than I am. I could not have done this. This is all the result of God at work.”

Hough and Kingdom Dog Ministries was recently given a 150-acre lot so they are go-ing to build a facility where dogs will be trained to be “Kingdom Dogs,” and peo-ple will be trained to be dog trainers and public speakers.

Asked why he chose dogs for this ministry, Hough said,

“Dogs don’t pretend to be a breed they aren’t. If you send a herding dog into a pond to fetch a duck, he could very well drown because that wasn’t the task he was built for.”

So if you have been gifted with something, you should own it and hone it so you can be who God created you to be.

The idea of Kingdom Dog Ministries started with Hough’s hunting dogs, which were partners. One of these hunting dogs named Prophet was the runt of the litter that nobody wanted. One day,

Hough went out in the back-yard to see Prophet laying stiff in the yard. He went to tell his wife that Prophet had died.

After she went out to look, she came in and told Hough that Prophet was still barely breathing so they took him to the veterinarian. The vet said Prophet might live through the night if he stayed with the vet. Hough’s wife said, “If he is go-ing to die tonight, he is going to die at home in my arms.”

So they took Prophet home and bundled him up to make him more comfortable.

Prophet made it through the night and has become one of the best-trained Kingdom Dogs. Prophet even helped Hough begin Kingdom Dog Ministries.

“In the story of David and Goliath, God didn’t use a big-ger giant to kill Goliath. He used a little shepherd boy. Why? So that everyone would know who was really respon-sible. God sometimes uses small characters like Prophet or myself to show everyone who reigns,” Hough said.

I asked Hough if he could say anything to college stu-dents, what it would be. “Take notice of the things you say you’re going to or should do

over and over again but you never do. Also, we should all adopt an ‘it’s not about me’ mentality,” he said.

“And that if they could understand how much God loves them, they wouldn’t focus so much on ‘the rules,’ or the things they do or say they do just because they think they’re supposed to,” Hough continued. “The dogs don’t obey because they want to. They obey because I love them so immensely. So in re-turn, my unconditional love for them makes them love me more and makes them want to obey my commands.

“This is how we should be, too.”

Hank Hough’s Kingdom Dog Ministries shares message on obedience

emily selman

Staff Writer

Photos by HPU Media RelationsHank Hough and his Kingdom Dog Ministries dogs gave a message about obedience to God during the Feb. 1 Chapel service.

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Religion

If we turn away refugees, we turn away Jesus

I’m a second generation Cambodian American. My mother came here after liv-ing in a refugee camp for four years in Thailand. Be-fore then, she and her fam-ily lived in a concentra-tion camp for four years under the dictator Pol Pot.

The refugee narrative is part of who I am. When I hear about millions of people being displaced from their homes, I hear the same story as my mother told me as I’ve grown up. This isn’t meant to be po-litical in anyway, but with all that has been going on, it is imperative that we bring out this issue because it gets to the core of who I am as a second generation refugee, and more-over, as a follower of Christ.

It deeply saddens me that

there are so many profess-ing believers who are against allowing refugees into our country. If my mother wouldn’t have come here with willing servants helping her find stability after a tragic life in Cambodia, I wouldn’t be here writing this column.

Matthew 25: 34-46 says, “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; na-ked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righ-teous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?

And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these broth-ers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not in-vite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not vis-it Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did

not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

By turning away refu-gees, we are turning Je-sus Christ himself away.

This is something that can-not be compromised. It’s explicitly clear in scripture that we are to help the least of these. We are to welcome them into our homes. We are to clothe and feed them.

If we don’t, we reject Jesus. Moreover, we are supposed to love our neighbors. Jesus even takes this a step further and says we are to love our enemies. Our enemies be-ing even Islamic terrorists.

I understand the concern for national security, but even if we are letting terrorists into our country, the gospel

of Jesus demands that we be willing to give our lives for Christ’s sake. Many often talk of those missionaries who go into areas with intense per-secution, but are not willing to lay down their lives them-selves. By doing this, we are putting our safety above our obedience of Christ’s words.

As someone who comes from a family of refugees, I urge any and all Christians to take action. People allowed my family to come to this country without any ques-tions. They never questioned if they might be “communists.”

Now because of that, I feel like it’s my duty to speak out and to serve those who have come into this country just as my mother did. Pray for the refugees. Give a voice to the voiceless. Find opportunities to serve them. Find opportuni-ties to show them the sacrifi-cial love of Jesus Christ for the gospel of Christ demands it.

Daniel Harris

Religion Columnist

Black History Month Chapel

Photos by Cheyenne Hill and Lydia Heinrichs

A peek at the student handbook 50 years ago

The following is an excerpt from FOR HOWARD PAYNE MY ALL: 125 YEARS OF CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDU-CATION AND SERVICE 1889-2015, AN ENCYLCOPEDIA, by Dr. Robert G. Mangrum.

Today we investigate the student handbook for How-ard Payne College for the 1966-67 academic year.

A copy of the handbook was issued to each student enrolled and inside the front cover, the student was to enter their cam-pus address as well as their chapel seat number. Chapel attendance was required of ev-eryone in the student body. It was checked by hand by stu-dent workers and each student had an assigned seat in Mims.

The new students were instructed to report to their assigned dorm when they arrived in September. The col-lege had three dorms: Veda Hodge Hall for women and Jennings and Taylor for men.

The standard welcome let-ter from the student body president, Grayson Wetzel, was on Page 5. On the next page a brief explanation of HPC’s student government was found. The purpose for

the student government was “to facilitate efficient self-government, to establish and maintain good administrative relations and encourage a feel-ing of individual responsibility for the institution.” A student elected to the Senate not only received a “high honor [but it carried with it as well a] re-sponsibility, since election . . . signifies that a person is in-telligent, popular, and depend-able, and that he is capable of handling with fairness, the many problems which arise throughout the school year.”

Referring to the regulations found in the handbook, the Senate observed “these regu-lations are lenient enough to allow for individual differenc-es and personal freedom, but strict enough to insure that ev-eryone has equal privileges.”

In addition to the Senate, there was an Association of Women Students Women’s Board of Affairs. Composed of all women students on campus, the purpose was to “promote intellectual, so-cial, and religious welfare of women students, to deepen the sense of self-responsi-bility, and to promote loy-alty to all college activities.”

The handbook then provided information, related in an ear-lier column, of the traditions of the college. “Co-ediquette” was found on Page 13. This section detailed things one

needed to know about dining and partying. Under the sub-heading “dining” one finds: “Go to the table neatly attired and clean. For Sunday dinner (noon) all students will wear ‘Sunday Attire,’ men in coats, women in heels. For formal dinners the women will wear ‘After Five’ dresses and the men will wear dark suits. Such dinners will be held at intervals through the year and will be an-nounced prior to [the event.]”

The subheading “Partying” detailed the proper way to compose a receiving line: “the hostess, the guest of honor, and perhaps the hostesses’ mother and father make up the receiv-ing line. At college, the faculty sponsor or chaperon and the deans, or other official stu-dent hosts or hostesses make up the line. The girl precedes

her date down the line and in-troduces herself and then her date. Every student should shake hands with those in the receiving line. Conversation in the receiving line is one of in-troductions. Be sincere in your greetings. Do not hold up the line, but do not walk hurriedly if there is no one behind you. Be courteous to chaperons.”

The Democracy in Action program, begun in 1956, was explained on Page 14. De-scribed as a “voluntary student study about government in a free society, designed to stim-ulate a faith and responsibility which will lead to positive ac-tion to preserve and strengthen the principles of freedom. The aims . . . are carried forth in study groups which meet once each week during the regular sessions to study and discuss

the principles which underlie our American democracy, and those ideologies which threat-en the rights of individual. A DIA Forum will be held on the third Thursday of each month in Todd Hall.” The climax of the year’s study was a week of programs and speakers.

Campus organizations were under the direction of the dean of students. “Going to class, preparing for those classes, is only a part of your college life. Many of the activities on cam-pus are planned and projected through these organizations.”

Besides the Senate and classes, other active organiza-tions on campus in the fall of 1966 were: Alpha Beta Sigma (business), Beta Gamma Pi (science), Phi Epsilon Mu (physical education), Phys-ics Club, Pi Chi (journal-ism), Spanish Club, Student Education Association, and Sigma Tau Delta (English).

In addition, other organi-zations included: Alpha Chi (scholarship), Alpha Lambda Delta (freshmen with 2.5 GPA or higher), Cap and Gown (se-nior women’s honor society), Kappa Delta Pi Society (edu-cation), Phi Eta Delta (fresh-men with 2.5 or higher), Pi Kappa Delta (forensics), Theta Alpha Phi (drama), Blue Key (leadership organization for junior and senior men), and the Sigma Iota chapter of Sigma Tau Delta (English).

F E B R U A R Y 9 , 2 0 1 7 P A G E 9

Features

Dr. Robert Mangrum

university historian

HPU Alumni Association eliminates annual duesby HPU Media Relations

In an effort to further bolster the close-knit com-munity of Howard Payne University alumni, the uni-versity’s Alumni Association has eliminated annual dues. All HPU alumni and “alumni

by choice” may take part in the Association at no cost.

Alumni with at least 24 credit hours at HPU have been automatically deemed members of the Association. Individuals who did not at-tend HPU or former students with fewer than 24 credit hours may become alumni by

choice by contacting HPU’s Office of Alumni Relations.

“Members of the Alumni Association have been so loy-al to their alma mater by vol-unteering, attending regional events, engaging in the lives of students and giving back fi-nancially,” said Stephen Sulli-van ’11 and MBA ’14, director

of development and alumni re-lations. “We’re excited to give back to them by offering this membership free of charge.”

Alumni Association mem-bers are invited and encour-aged to take part in fun events each year. A list of events is maintained at www.hputx.edu/alumni.

To declare yourself an HPU alumnus/alumna by choice, or to learn more about the benefits of an HPU Alumni Association membership, contact the Office of Alum-ni Relations at alumni@hputx.edu or 325-649-8044.

Lady Jackets clinch tie for ASC West

The Howard Payne women’s basketball team snuck by rival Hardin-Simmons in Satur-day’s Senior Day game 75-68.

With the win, the Lady Jackets clinched a least a share of the American South-west Conference West Divi-sion title. The West winner will host the ASC postsea-son tournament Feb. 23-25.

HPU senior Sarahi Cas-tillo put up a career high 27 points, complimented by 11 rebounds, marking her 11th double-double of the season.

Castillo was named ASC West Division Player of the Week for her performances

against Hardin-Simmons on Saturday and McMurry on Feb. 2. The senior forward scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against McMurry.

Other HPU standouts against Hardin-Simmons were Micah Cisneroz with 14 points, Jada Evans with 8, and Sabrina Ochoa with 7. Seniors Cisneroz and Ochoa both played their final games in the Coliseum as well.

What was a back and forth game for most of the first half, the Lady Jackets took control early in the sec-ond half by burying three straight 3-point shots. Har-din-Simmons answered by hitting a few of their own, but HPU never looked back.

The Lady Jackets still sit atop the ASC West stand-ings with an 11-2 record and

will next face Concordia University at 5 p.m. today in Cedar Park. The Univer-sity of Mary Hardin Baylor Lady Crusaders, sitting at 7-5 in conference, have to win out to force a tie with HPU in the West standings. The Lady Jackets would also have to drop all three of their remaining games against two teams with winning records in Concordia and UMHB, and also Sul Ross State, which is under the .500 mark, for the West to end in a tie.

Live stats and video for the remaining three games will be made available on HPUSports.com. Fans may also follow along on Twitter @HPUwbsk and on Instagram @HPUs-ports for in-game updates, interactive content and more.

P A G E 1 0 F E B R U A R Y 9 , 2 0 1 7

Sports

Photos by Josiah Hughes Above: Sarahi Castillo (32) is honored prior to her final home game Saturday at the Coliseum.Right: Sabrina Ochoa (12) is recognized Saturday on Howard Payne’s Senior Day.

chad anders

sports columnist

After a good team win 70-66 against McMurry on Feb. 2 – a win in which the Howard Payne got off to a slow start to begin the game and were trailing big early – the bigger question was how the Yellow Jackets would finish their five-game home stand on Sat-urday against Hardin-Simmons.

Entering the Saturday game against Hardin-Simmons, the Jack-ets were in second place in the American Southwest Conference West Division and needed a win to gain momentum moving forward. At the start of the game, Hardin-Sim-mons caught fire from deep and took a 20-4 lead. The Jackets got as close as 20-10, but the Cowboys kept hit-ting their shots and quickly regained the momentum with a 30-15 lead.

In the closing minutes of the first half, the Jackets fought and climbed their way back into the game with a 30-24 deficit on a 3-pointer by Rickey Guillory.

Hardin-Simmons converted a couple of HPU turnovers into points, shot 50 percent from 3-point range, and held the Jackets to 9-for-30 shooting from the field to take a 43-27 lead into halftime.

HPU guard Khyce Randall started the second half strong and fought hard to cut the Hardin-Simmons lead to 61-50 in the third quarter. At that point, the Cowboys be-gan to penetrate the Jackets’ de-fense and get to the foul line. The Jackets made one last run at the Cowboys, getting within 75-65 with 5:22 remaining in the game.

For the rest of the game, the teams traded baskets, and Hardin-Simmons had an answer for ev-ery run the Jackets made. The Yel-low Jacket ended up losing 89-75.

Randall scored 20 points to lead the Jackets while De’Marcus Hurd added 13 points and J Bailey had 12 points and eight rebounds.

The Jackets finished their five-game home stand with a 2-3 record.

With the loss, the Jackets fell into a third-place tie in the ASC West with Sul Ross – each with 8-5 con-ference records. The top four teams from each division qualify for the

ASC postseason tournament Feb. 23-25 at the home of the East Di-vision winner.The Jackets play at Concordia today (Thursday) and at Mary Hardin-Baylor on Sat-urday. HPU will finish the regu-lar season at Sul Ross on Feb. 18.

F E B R U A R Y 9 , 2 0 1 7 P A G E 1 1

Sports

HPU SPORTS UPDATE

Women’s BasketballRecord:14-8, 11-2 in ASC

Jan. 28: HPU 69, Sul Ross 44Feb. 2: HPU 72, McMurry 59Feb. 4: HPU 75, HSU 68Feb. 9: HPU at Concordia, 5:30 p.m.Feb. 11: HPU at UMHB, 1 p.m.Feb. 18: HPU at Sul Ross, 1 p.m.

Men’s BasketballRecord: 12-9, 8-5 in ASC

Jan. 28: Sul Ross 77, HPU 73Feb. 2: HPU 70, McMurry 66Feb. 4: HSU 89, HPU 75Feb. 9: HPU at Concordia, 7:30 p.m.Feb. 11: HPU at UMHB, 3 p.m.Feb. 18: HPU at Sul Ross, 3 p.m.

Bailey voted Hero of Week

HPU’s J Bailey was voted D3 (NCAA Division III) Men’s Basketball Hero of the Week for Jan. 22-28. The se-nior forward earned the award after he had nine points, 11 rebounds and a career-high eight blocks in the Yel-low Jackets’ 75-70 win Jan. 19 over Mary Hardin-Baylor.

SoftballRecord:2-3, 0-0 in ASC

Jan. 31: HPU 2, Austin College 0Jan. 31: HPU 12, Austin College 7Feb. 3: Schreiner 7, HPU 0Feb. 3: Schreiner 9, HPU 4Feb. 7: Huston-Tillotson 12, HPU 10Feb. 10: Ozarks at HPU (dh), 1 p.m.Feb. 11: Ozarks at HPU, 11 a.m.

BaseballRecord: 0-0, 0-0 in ASC

Feb. 10: HPU at Schreiner, 2 p.m.Feb. 11: HPU at Schreiner (dh), 12 p.m.Feb. 17: HPU at Sul Ross (dh), 4 p.m.Feb. 18: HPU at Sul Ross (dh), 1 p.m.

Jackets hanging onto third place in West

Photos by Josiah HughesJ Bailey (middle) is recognized on Howard Payne’s Senior Day on Saturday.

Donovan Jenkins (middle) is recognized before his final home game Saturday.

Darius Edwards

Staff Writer

P A G E 1 2 F E B R U A R Y 9 , 2 0 1 7

Sports

SoftballOpenerPhotos by Andria Garza