February 2007 - Austin College

PHOTO BY JACQUELINE ARMSTRONGAustin College Names Heidi EllisVice President of Business AffairsHeidi Ellis assumed duties as the College’s vice president of BusinessAffairs in January, taking over after the retirement of GeorgeRowland, who served 38 years at the College. Prior to thisappointment, Ellis served as vice president of financial services atNorth Central Texas College(NCTC) in Gainesville, Texas,where she worked for 15 years.Previously, Ellis worked in thebusiness sector of industry andowned her own business.Ellis earned bachelor andmaster’s degrees in audit andfinancial accounting from theHeidi EllisUniversity of North Texas. Inaddition, she completed a degree in business administration fromSoutheastern Oklahoma State University and completed the CollegeBusiness Management Institute at the University of Kentucky.Service Station Launches JanServeMost students on campus during January Term have a bit morerelaxed schedule. Service Station board members decided to capitalizeon student availability with JanServe, a new program forvolunteering in the community. Students’ increased availability alsomeshed with community youth organization’s needs.The Jan 17 afternoon of volunteering involved 62 AustinCollege students, some leading after-school programs at the RosaHill Community Center; Glennie O. Hamm Center; Girls, Inc.; andthe Boys and Girls Club. Student volunteers also organized donationsat the North Texas Youth Connection and painted the interior of themost recent Habitat for Humanity project of the Austin College andGrayson County Habitat chapters.Melanie Oelfke, coordinator of volunteer services, said the newprogram takes advantage of the less hectic schedule of January Termand also reintroduces the Service Station and the idea of service tofreshmen. “They are so bombarded with new information in the fall,”she said. “By January, they can start to think more about service tothe local communityand other means ofcampus involvement.”COURTESY PHOTOFire Damages Craig HallFire broke out in Craig Hall on Sunday evening, Jan. 14, causingapproximately $750,000 in damage. Craig Hall houses the musicand art departments of the College. An ice storm had knocked outpower on campus and when power was restored, it caused a fire in amechanical closet, fire officials said. The fire was confined to the roofand the northeast corner of the building, occupied by the MusicDepartment. No one was injured in the fire.Workers began almost immediately to clear, clean, and repairthe damage caused by fire, smoke, and water. The building was openfor general use bythe start of thespring semester,with a few rehearsalrooms remainingunder repair.Craig Hall’s roof is covered following the fire.Music Evening Honors MozartFor Homecoming 2006, Mosher Professor of Music Ricky Duhaimeassembled an orchestra made up of current students Katy Hampton’07, John Holley ’07, Jennifer Jeng ’07, Sarah Powell ’09, andDavid Savage ’07, alumni Paul Wells ’81, Anne Anderson ’82,Chris Michaelsen ’83, and Ty Hinze ’01, who joined professionalcolleagues for a concert sponsored by Sherman’s Community Series.“An Evening of Mozart with Friends” featured threemasterworks from the great composer in celebration of his 250thbirth year. Other College performers included adjunct facultymembers Sylvia Rivers as soprano soloist and Cathy Richardson asconcertmaster; department accompanist Masako Narikawa as pianosoloist; and Austin College first lady Anna Laura Page as organist.PHOTO BY JACQUELINE ARMSTRONGPHOTO BY ARYA REJAEEStudents take on community projects for theinaugural JanServe program.Chris Michaelsen, Paul Wells, Ty Hinze, John Holley, Jennifer Jeng,Anne Anderson, Katy Hampton, and Sarah Powell await the concert.AUSTIN COLLEGE MAGAZINE 9