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Gary Hines
Helene Hardy Pierce
Gregory Skannal
groups his senior year. He was president
of Chi Epsilon, the civil engineering honor
society, and vice president of the American
Society of Civil Engineers student chapter,
which had about 250 members in those
days. Holding these positions “taught me
how to prioritize and organize,” he says.
Pierce adds that her involvement in
extracurricular activities “also exposed me
to a much broader group of students much
more rapidly than I would have through my
classroom experience,” another attribute
that comes in handy in the workplace. The
experience was similar for Hines, who is
now vice president of operations for the
Southern Gas Association in Dallas.
“I learned how to deal with diff erent
personalities and manage diff erent needs
within the organization,” he says.
In addition to ASCE and Chi Epsilon,
Hines was involved with the Steel Bridge
Team and the Trap and Skeet Club. Pierce,
meanwhile, served on Student Council
and was a member of Chi Omega
sorority, Sigma Phi Epsilon’s Golden
Hearts and the service organization
Intercollegiate Knights. She also played
and coached intramural volleyball for the
McAnerney Hall women’s team.
In addition to preparing students for
the world of work, extracurricular activities
In addition to preparing students for the world
of work, extracurricular activities help students
“learn how to play nice on the playground of life.”
8 MISSOURI S&T MAGAZINE | SPRING 2011
— Helene Hardy Pierce, EMgt’83
help students “learn how to play nice on
the playground of life,” Pierce says.
“If you don’t learn how to get along,
then you’re just making your life diffi cult.”
In intramurals, for example, “you bring
together diff erent people with diff erent
skills but they all want to participate.”
Being able to work with people from
diff erent backgrounds and with diff erent
skills is essential to career and life success,
she says.
First RollaMo Board
Gregory Skannal, GeoE’85, agrees.
Growing up in a predominantly African
American neighborhood in Kansas City,
Mo., “I didn’t have that much interaction
with Caucasian students,” he says. And
even though he joined an African
American fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha,
Skannal’s involvement in several other
student groups allowed him to interact
with many students from diff erent
backgrounds. He was the only African
American majoring in geological
engineering at that time, and his
participation in the Association of
Engineering Geologists allowed him to
connect with white and international
students, both undergraduate and
graduate. “It also broadened my
understanding of what I could do with a
geological engineering degree,” he says.
While serving as president of Gamma
Alpha Delta, a service organization that
worked with all campus Greek-letter
organizations during Skannal’s years at
Rolla, he became friends with a student
whose fraternity — Kappa Alpha — has
roots in the Confederacy. “That gentleman
and I became good friends during that
time,” says Skannal, who is now manager
of health, safety, security and the