Sawdust - Articles

COVER STORY

Louis DeLuca ’78 captured the image that captivated the nation

Louis DeLuca ’78 was down to his last lens. The Dallas Morning News photographer’s other two lenses were fogged over and waterlogged from the rain and humidity that rolled over the Texas coast with Hurricane Harvey the previous day. DeLuca, who grew up in LaPorte, traveled from Dallas to Houston to stand on the flooded highway in the city he once considered home and, for five hours, took pictures he hoped would document and elucidate the massive flooding that enveloped a city he still loves. And when the image that would capture the attention of people across the nation unfolded before him, he shot with the only lens he had left

Filmmaking alumnus finds success in Hollywood

Derek Wayne Johnson ’06 has always felt like an underdog. “I’ve always had an affinity for the common man who rises up to become a champion,” he said. “I guess my own life, growing up in the pineywoods of East Texas dreaming of Hollywood success, seemed like a pipe dream to some. But I knew early on that’s what I wanted to achieve.”

DeWitt School of Nursing graduate excels at her profession

Nothing stands in this first-generation college graduate’s way of helping others. The oldest of four children, Nancy Palacios said she decided to become a nurse while attending Seagoville High School.

Alumni help pioneer digital marketing through Austin-based company

Bright blue and yellow accents stretch the length of the Somnio office’s open communal workspace. Hushed conversations hover above the rows of six-person, collaborative desks lined perpendicularly against floor-to-ceiling windows. The office’s innovative atmosphere is reminiscent of the company’s beginnings when three SFA alumni started the digital marketing company at a time when marketing was done almost entirely in print.

CAMPUS NEWS

Campus "Food for Thought" pantry feeds Lumberjacks facing food insecurities

Through the efforts of Hunger Jacks, a student organization working to remove hunger in Nacogdoches and SFA, and the Student Government Association, SFA opened its Food for Thought Food Pantry in January 2015 — only three months after initial meetings regarding the project began.

CAMPUS NEWS

SFA stengthens academic offerings

Academic opportunities at SFA continue to increase as a result of new face-to-face and online degree programs that have been developed in response to initiatives in the university’s strategic plan, “SFA Envisioned.”

ALUMNI AWARDS

Alumni Association honors award winners

The SFA Alumni Association annually bestows its highest honors on individuals who have made outstanding contributions to their professions and community, committed themselves to advancing the values and goals of SFA, and ensured a better quality of life for future generations.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Scholarship recipients named

Gilbert I. “Buddy” Low Scholarship Program celebrates 10 years at SFA, and first Christopher J. Snyder Memorial Scholarship awarded.

VISTA VIEWPOINT

Dr. Adam Peck - Assistant Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs

Leadership is a concept that must be applied in order to be learned. For this reason, service has been a major component of Freshman Leadership Academy, a program designed to teach leadership skills to incoming students. Each year, between 80 and 100 students are accepted into the program that integrates first-year students into our co-curricular experiences.