Alumni College Friday, October 16 1:30 – 5:00 p.m. - Austin College ...

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B O A R D O F T R U S T E E S
C H A I R :
Robert M. Johnson ’53, McLean, Virginia
V I C E C H A I R :
Todd A. Williams ’82, Dallas, Texas
T R U S T E E S :
John Q. Adams, Jr. ’84, Southlake, Texas
M. Steve Jones, Sherman, Texas
Margaret Allison, San Antonio, Texas
Sharon S. King, Richardson, Texas
John M. Andersen ’66, Dallas, Texas
Jeffrey Landsberg ’81, Dallas, Texas
Jerry E. Apple ’60, Irving, Texas
Luan Beaty Mendel ’75, Palo Verdes, California
Lee Dean Ardell ’74, Houston, Texas
Wes Moffett ’82, Dallas, Texas
James D. Baskin III ’75, Austin, Texas
Jo Ann Geurin Pettus, Graham, Texas
Laura Dies Campbell ’73, Austin, Texas
Davis B. Price ’67, Lubbock, Texas
Jacqueline R. Cooper ’73, Oakton, Virginia
Fazlur Rahman, San Angelo, Texas
Linda Morris Elsey, Fort Worth, Texas
Annadele H. Ross ’66, Dallas, Texas
F. R. “Buck” Files ’60, Tyler, Texas
John Serhant, Denison, Texas
Rebecca Moseley Gafford ’72, Dallas, Texas Ann Coit Sporer Smith ’65, Fort Smith, Arkansas
Donald Gibson ’75, Houston, Texas
Caroline Elbert Taylor ’66, Wyalusing, Pennsylvania
Dennis E. Gonier ’83, Fredericksburg, Virginia Jesse R. Thomas ’74, Sherman, Texas
Thomas Hall, Jr. ’78, Colleyville, Texas
Linda Plummer Ward ’78, Nashville, Tennessee
m e e t t h e trustee
Luan Beaty Mendel ’76 has found non-traditional education exciting
since spending her senior year of high school on the road traveling,
performing, and completing her high school studies in the U.S. and
abroad with the musical group Up With People. “My own unconventional
educational experiences taught me what learning could be versus what it
was and is in a more traditional setting,” Mendel said.
After spending her freshman year at a women’s college in Colorado,
Mendel discovered Austin College and its five-year program in education
resulting in a master’s degree. “I was impressed with the outstanding
teacher education program and the availability of independent study and
interdisciplinary studies,” she said. “Class size also was important. I had
benefited tremendously from small student-to-teacher ratios in my year
with Up With People.”
Mendel feels that her professional background in education, her work
with the Latino community in California, and even living in Palos Verdes,
California, bring a different and useful perspective to the board as Austin
College faces changing college demographics and, more recently, the
country’s economic challenges. “I am still passionate about education in
general, and more specifically, because I believe the College continues to
offer a unique educational environment,” she said.
“I think all of us understand that current economic circumstances
necessitate sacrifices at every level, but I also believe that the trustees,
along with Dr. Page and Dr. Hass, are determined to see that the reputation
of the College and the outstanding education we offer is in no way
compromised,” Mendel said. “As difficult as this situation is, we are
learning how to do more with less — always a good lesson.”
On a personal level, Mendel continues to study and learn as a life
philosophy. “Austin College gave me a love of learning that has driven me
to undertake all kinds of projects
from getting my private pilot’s
license to starting a non-profit
organization,” she said. “My latest
venture involves fiction writing,
which has allowed me to pursue the
things I love most — reading,
researching, and writing.”
COURTESY PHOTO
Mary Ann Stell Harris ’70, Fort Worth, Texas
James Hartnett ’79, Dallas, Texas
Charles Hendricks ’61, The Woodlands, Texas
William E. Warren ’74, Plano, Texas
Stanley M. Woodward, Dallas, Texas
Michael G. Wright, Dallas, Texas
Kelly Hiser, Sherman, Texas
Luan Beaty Mendel
Mendel’s yet-unpublished book is Yard Sale, (a term skiers use to describe a bad
fall that leaves gear strewn all over the hill). Set in a small mountain town slated
to become a major ski resort, the book is about two middle-aged people struggling
to deal with dramatic changes in their lives.
June 2009 Austin College Magazine 47