Houston Christian University earned top honors in two categories at the 2025 Crystal Awards held May 15. The university took home the winning award in the Advertising Photography category and was selected as a finalist in the Annual Report category. Each year, the Crystal Awards spotlight the individuals, agencies and organizations whose campaigns demonstrate creativity, strategic thinking and measurable success. HCU Creative Director Michael Tims submitted the winning photo, originally featured in the winter issue of The Pillars—HCU’s official news magazine—in a story highlighting HCU’s Grace Hopper scholarship recipients. Tims set out to capture a visually arresting image that would symbolize the integration of technology and identity in modern education. He brought the image to life by projecting lines of code across the face and body of Seth Kamata, a computer programming student and one of HCU’s inaugural Grace Hopper scholarship recipients, to immerse him in his field of study. HCU’s 2024 President’s Annual Report was selected as a finalist.
Eleven students and faculty from East Texas Baptist University’s Teague School of Nursing have returned from a Global Study and Serve trip to Guatemala, where they provided medical care to underserved communities in and around Antigua. The trip, in partnership with International Medical Relief, offered nursing students the opportunity to fulfill course service hours for Nursing as a Ministry while embracing the call to serve others through the love of Christ. Throughout the weeklong experience, students assisted with medical clinics in rural villages, providing preventative care, patient education, and treatment for acute and chronic illnesses. The team served more than 450 patients across multiple locations offering triage, basic hygiene education, prescription medications and vision screenings. In addition to their clinical work, the team immersed themselves in Guatemalan culture, including hiking the Pacaya volcano, exploring markets in Antigua and sampling local cuisine.
Dallas Baptist University has launched its “Stand Firm. Stand Out.” capital campaign, to elevate the growth and impact of the Don and Linda Carter School of Business and a new facility to house the Carter School of Business on DBU’s campus. The campaign aims to raise funds for the new building, along with student scholarships, program development and faculty support. The May 22 launch event welcomed students, faculty, staff, DBU’s board of trustees and various friends of the university. Including the $20 million lead gift announced in November 2024 from Linda Carter, her son, Ron Carter, and her daughter, Christi Carter Urschel, DBU has received more than $40 million to date in pledges and intentions toward the $60 million campaign goal. The Carters’ $20 million gift, the largest gift in DBU history, established the Don and Linda Carter School of Business at DBU. The facility will be approximately 55,000 square feet of education space across five levels—featuring student collaboration rooms, a simulated stock exchange trading floor, a fixed-seat, auditorium style lecture hall for events such as business symposia and guest speakers, a tiered lecture hall for day-to-day classroom use, student collaboration rooms and a faculty and staff suite of offices. The campaign offers naming opportunities, such as engraved bricks and named auditorium seats. These gifts help advance the mission of the Carter School of Business to integrate faith and learning across its undergraduate and graduate programs. Additional naming opportunities are available with a minimum investment of $50,000. Interested donors may contact DBU’s Office of Advancement at (214) 333-5168 or advancement@dbu.edu.
During its regular May meeting, the Baylor University board of regents approved the university’s 2025-26 operating budget, voted on board and committee leadership for the upcoming academic year and elected new at-large regents. They also approved infrastructure-related renovations to the Ferrell Center and two new master’s degree programs. The board approved a $995.8 million university operating budget for 2025-26, an increase of $33 million, or 3.4 percent, from last fiscal year. Regents approved $14.9 million for infrastructure and other renovations to Baylor’s Ferrell Center, which opened in 1988. The project is expected to focus on strategic deferred maintenance, including new building systems such as chillers, A/C units, retractable bleachers and LED fixtures in the main arena. In addition, renovations will provide updates to accommodate better the 10-time national champion Acrobatics and Tumbling program and Baylor Athletics Medicine. The Athletics Medicine Suite will be relocated and updated to include new hydrotherapy pools and coach and staff facilities. Construction is scheduled to begin in August with completion expected in April 2026. The board also approved two new master’s degree programs beginning in fall 2026: a hybrid Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy in the Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences and an online Master of Arts in Social, Nonprofit and Public Leadership in the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work. This program will address complex challenges, such as poverty, within a framework shaped by Christian faith and values.
Access to mental health care in vast West Texas can feel out of reach. Randall Maurer and the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at Hardin-Simmons University are using telehealth to change that. Through a partnership with Region 14 Education Service Center and support from the federal Rural Utilities Services grant, HSU is preparing to deliver mental health services to rural schools starting fall 2025. The initiative includes providing schools with telehealth equipment and building secure connections between counseling interns and students in need. The program also is partnering with a local pain clinic to support individuals managing chronic pain—a population that often experiences both physical and psychological distress. HSU therapist interns will provide both in-person and telehealth services using a research-based protocol developed by the program. At HSU’s on-campus Counseling Center, students already receive real-world experience using secure video technology for session recording and supervision. As the university finalizes its telehealth software and storage procedures, therapist interns soon will be delivering care under close faculty guidance. Training includes instruction in the ethics, procedures and limitations of telehealth across multiple courses.
May graduate Lexi Ewen recently received a bachelor’s degree from Howard Payne University in social work with a minor in cross-cultural ministry. Originally from Idalou, Ewen believes God called her to attend HPU. Social work is her passion, and it has grown over the years. “I love people, and I have a heart for those who are hurting,” she said. “Everyone needs to be shown love and to feel worthy, no matter their culture, background, race, ethnicity or gender.”Ewen’s passion for loving and helping others is based on John 13:14, where Jesus washes his disciples’ feet. She received two awards at the recent academic awards convocation—the Cross-Cultural Ministry Award from the School of Christian Studies, and the Outstanding Bachelor of Social Work Student of the Year award from the Department of Social Work. She plans to enroll in the Master of Social Work program at Angelo State University. Ewen intends to stay in Brownwood with her husband to work in the area as a social worker.
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