Texas Tidbits

History awards presented. The Texas Baptist Historical Society honored several writers of church history at its fall gathering, held in conjunction with the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting in Amarillo. Four writers received recognition for a church history for a congregation with membership under 500—J.W. Griffith and R.L. Vaughn for A History of Smyrna Baptist Church: 135 Years in Three Southern Rusk County Communities and Geneva Davis and Kimberly Taylor for Knobbs Springs Baptist Church: A History 1860–2010. Ron Ellison received an award for his unpublished manuscript, "How Did Richard E. Morris Affect Part of East Texas at the End of the Nineteenth Century?" In the category for general Texas Baptist and associational histories, Paul Stripling was honored for his work, Turning Points in the History of the Waco Regional Baptist Association. The society's meeting also included a presentation by Jennifer Hawks, a student at Baylor University's Truett Theological Seminary, on "Mary Hill Davis: A 20th Century Leader with a 21st Century Vision."

HBU joins Southland Conference. Houston Baptist University has accepted an invitation to join the Southland Conference beginning with the 2013-2014 academic year. HBU officially will become the eleventh member of the Southland July 1, 2013, joining Lamar, Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, McNeese State, Southeastern Louisiana, Nicholls State, Northwestern State, Central Arkansas and Oral Roberts universities. The HBU Huskies will add football to their current lineup of sports and begin Southland Conference play in 2014.

Baylor accounting students top CPA tests. Graduate students in Baylor University's accounting program ranked No. 6 in the nation for overall pass rate among first-time candidates of the 2010 Uniform Certified Public Accountant exam released by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, with 86.6 percent passing. On individual sections, Baylor ranked No. 5 in the nation on the auditing section with a pass rate of 81 percent, No. 3 in the nation on the financial accounting and reporting section with a pass rate of 90 percent, and No. 7 in the nation on the regulation section with a pass rate of 77.3 percent. Graduate students also achieved the highest overall pass rate in Texas and the highest average score in Texas, a score of 81.1.

Music scholarship established at HSU. Family and friends of Lawson Hager established an endowed scholarship at Hardin-Simmons University to honor his 38-year teaching career at the university, including his service as dean of the School of Music and director of the HSU Cowboy Band. The scholarship is available to students majoring in music, with first preference given to a French horn principal and second priority to any brass principal. Recipients must participate in both band and orchestra and maintain a 2.5 overall GPA with a 3.0 GPA in music to qualify for the scholarship.