UNT Insider: President's newsletter

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Your Team. Your Green. Buy your season tickets now to get pumped for the Mean Green football season.

Straight from Smatresk

Dear Alum,

With summer in full swing, I hope you're enjoying time with your families at backyard barbecues, on vacation or wherever summer takes you.

President Neal Smatresk with freshment in the class of 2019 Here on campus, it's great seeing that students in the Class of 2019 -- #UNT19 as we like to call them on Twitter -- are so excited to participate in orientation. They're registering for classes and getting to know new friends as they prepare to attend UNT -- their first choice university. I made some new friends, too (see the selfie at left).

I'm looking forward to the start of the fall semester when the Mean Green Nation will be back in force cheering our teams to victory -- whatever the Mean Green sport! We'll open our football season Sept. 12 against SMU. Join us and help us turn SMU's Ford Stadium into a sea of green!

As a big supporter of our athletics program, coaches and student-athletes, I'm also excited to watch alumna and UNT Hall of Famer Jalie Mitchell in her first season in the Super Pit as our new women's head basketball coach.

This fall, we're also kicking our 125th anniversary celebrations into high gear -- honoring our 125 years of excellence, traditions and green pride as a campus community. It's the perfect opportunity to start with a bang. During Founder's Week, I'll give my annual State of the University Address Sept. 16 -- the day in 1890 when our first classes met. Also remember to join us for:

Family-friendly fun at Family Weekend Sept. 18-20, which includes the Mean Green vs. Rice home opener at Apogee Stadium Sept. 19 (see how to win tickets below).
Homecoming Week Oct. 5-10, culminating with the Mean Green vs. Portland State game at Apogee Stadium.

I'm looking forward to this milestone year and to celebrating our history, traditions and future as a campus community.

UNT proud,
Neal Smatresk
President
@UNTPrez

The Inside Scoop

Fashion design

Cloth more than just a fabric at UNT

"Faircloth" is a great name for a fashion design program focused on building careers that turn cloth into fashion. A lead $500,000 gift from alum Lisa Troutt and her husband, Kenny, moves the College of Visual Arts and Design closer to its $2.5 million goal of renaming the program in honor of alum and renowned designer Michael Faircloth. Mr. Faircloth and Mrs. Troutt first met as UNT students, and the Troutts are a great example of what can happen when alumni support each other and the arts.

See giving opportunities
for the program »

Student kudos

Gulin "Eva" Gelogullari and Emmanuela Akosua Opoku

Grad students to make impact abroad

Our students continue to stand out from the pack. Gulin "Eva" Gelogullari (left), a master's student in media arts, earned a Rotary Global Grant to study conflict resolution and mediation at Tel Aviv University in Israel during the 2015-16 academic year. Emmanuela Akosua Opoku (right), a doctoral student in philosophy and religion studies, received a Philanthropic Educational Organization International Peace Scholarship to research floods and droughts in Northeast Ghana and their impact on women farmers. Congrats to these two outstanding students.

Read about other UNT
change agents »

UNT libraries

Historic LGBT mementos home at UNT

UNT is now home to a collection of materials from the "Austin 12's" historic, frank conversation about gay rights with then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush (right). In 2000, Charles C. Francis (left) broke the barrier for gay-rights advocates by organizing a meeting with the governor and 11 other gay Republican men and women. It is an honor that 15 years later Mr. Francis has chosen the UNT libraries' LGBT Archive to house the materials from the historic meeting.

Learn more about
the collection »

UNT Top College

Tell Forbes why you love UNT. Share your Mean Green pride using MyTopCollege

Why is UNT #MyTopCollege?

UNT is #MyTopCollege because of our amazing students, faculty and staff. Share your reason on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtags #UNT and #MyTopCollege with @Forbes by July 31 and UNT could be named the magazine's "My Top College" this year. Each year Forbes ranks America's Top Colleges and invites faculty, staff, students and alumni to share why they love their colleges. This is a great opportunity to show your school spirit and show the world how UNT is unique.

Share your pride @UNTPrez
and @UNTsocial »

Shining a green light

The power of travel

When alumna Kristina Blahová (above) went on a scuba diving trip in Egypt, she became interested in sustainable tourism. Now she leads tours in the Galápagos Islands west of Ecuador, and she credits her career to her degree from UNT's master's in sustainable tourism program -- the first of its kind in the U.S. Other UNT alumni also are making their mark in the travel and tourism industry as hotel executives, filmmakers and travel writers. Read about UNT travel pros in The North Texan online.

The Eagles, from left to right, Joe Walsh, Timothy B Schmit, Don Henley and Glenn Frey

Alum honored for rocking to his own beat

I'm a huge Eagles fan and I was excited to learn that this year's Kennedy Center Honors will recognize alum Don Henley and the Eagles for their exemplary lifetime achievement in the performing arts. Known for their signature Southern California sound and memorable lyrics, they're one of the most influential and commercially successful American rock bands. I'll be watching the center's gala ceremony Dec. 29 on CBS to see if we hear some of my favorites like "Desperado" and "Hotel California." This is another great example of UNT creativity in the world! See what's up next for our rock star honoree.

Watch football from the President's Suite

I love Mean Green football and I especially love watching it with alumni and friends. Enter to win two passes to join me in the President's Suite at Apogee Stadium Sept. 19 when we play Rice in our first home game of the season. Email me at president@unt.edu by Aug. 1. Include your T-shirt sizes and mailing address. Buy season tickets.

Fishing for answers in the Gulf of Mexico

Biology researchers Aaron Roberts, Warren Burggren and Dane Crossley (from left) are studying the effects of oil on different fish species from the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative awarded them $2.7 million for their three-year study, which could help future scientists and responders more clearly understand the impact of oil on fish and better prepare for oil spills. Read more about how their research impacts aquatic life.

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Connect with UNT

Office of the President

University of North Texas
Hurley Administration Building, Room 201
Mailing Address:
1155 Union Circle #311425
Denton, Texas 76203-5017
940-565-2108

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