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| It's back-to-back-to-back Conference USA championships the Mean Green men's basketball team. |
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| Straight from Smatresk |
Dear UNT supporter,
Our men's basketball team is on fire! For the third consecutive year, the team clinched a Conference USA championship before a home crowd of 8,522 — the fourth biggest crowd in Super Pit history.
The student section was rockin', and the largest crowd since 1980 included notable spectators such as former Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten, country music singer-songwriter Randy Travis, and Babe Laufenberg, a former NFL quarterback, TV news sports director, and Dallas Cowboys Radio Network color analyst. Watch a Conference USA West Division Champs celebration video.
Head Coach Grant McCasland — who recently hit 100 career wins at UNT and was named ESPN's Coach of the Week — has built a gritty, disciplined team, even though all but six players from last year's bracket-busting team graduated or transferred out. Our team knows how to work hard to pull out a win, as evidenced by their 14-game winning streak, and having lost only one game since Thanksgiving break.
When you combine solid individual performances with great coaching, it leads to the electric, winning atmosphere we experienced last weekend. We want to carry that momentum into the 2022 Conference USA Basketball Championships set for March 8-12 at The Ford Center at the Star in Frisco. Tickets are on sale through the UNT Ticket Office, and fans who purchase through North Texas Athletics directly support Mean Green student-athletes. To purchase all-session tickets to the men's and women's basketball tournaments or send students to the game, call the ticket office at 940-565-2527 or visit the Mean Green Athletics ticket page.
Here's hoping the Mean Green continues to bust brackets, cut nets, and celebrate in the confetti before the season ends.
UNT Proud,
Neal Smatresk
President
 @UNTPrez
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| Equity & Diversity Conference |
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UNT's Division of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access will host the 22nd annual Equity & Diversity Conference presented by Fidelity Investments on March 23. Virtual conference registration is only $50 for UNT alumni and open through March 9. In addition to academic and corporate workshop tracks, the conference features keynote speaker Annette Gordon-Reed, a historian at Harvard University, speaking "On Juneteenth: The Essential Story of 'Freedom Day' and Its Importance to American History," and social justice speaker Dr. Stephen John Quaye who will address "What is Racial Battle Fatigue, and What Can We Do to Combat It?" Join us March 23 to discuss IDEAs for Change: History, Hope, and Progress.
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| Register for the Equity & Diversity Conference » |
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| Cookie Fest Contest |
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UNT has rolled out its first-ever cookie contest, seeking recipes from alumni, students, faculty, and staff in three categories: Delicious and Decorative for cookies that taste and look incredible, Simply Delectable for easy-to-make treats that are hard to pass up, and UNTraditional for cookies with a UNT spin, whether it be through decoration, flavor or both. If you're interested in participating, complete your entry form by 11:59 p.m. March 11. The top three finalists in each category will be invited to bake a dozen of their cookies in our campus culinary lab for official judging April 19. All finalists will receive a write-up in the North Texan magazine, special UNT-branded prizes, and bragging rights of course.
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Complete the
Cookie Fest entry form » |
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| Amazon Education Partner |
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UNT has been selected as an education partner for Amazon's Career Choice program, which provides Amazon's hourly employees full tuition to learn new skills for career success, and access to a variety of online and in-person programs. A UNT education will now be available to more than 37,000 Amazon employees in the North Texas region and 70,000 across Texas. With 244 programs to study, we look forward to supporting Amazon's employees as they achieve their academic goals at our Tier One research university.
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Explore UNT's
244 degree programs » |
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| Student team genetically modifies bacteria to mitigate greenhouse gases |
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Eight TAMS students make up the first UNT student group to participate in the iGEM Competition, in which teams from around the world each choose a problem they believe can be solved by synthetic biology. The UNT team is trying to mitigate the environmental impact of nylon production, one of the largest producers of nitrous oxide — which is about 300 times stronger than carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Their idea is to recycle methane gas from the air into nylon, creating a biological process for its sustainable production through chemicals made by bacteria, rather than making it out of fossil fuels. That would also help reduce methane, another significant contributor to global warming. Mentored by Drs. Calvin Henard and Mauricio Antunes, assistant professors of biological sciences, the team members have genetically engineered the bacteria required and are optimistic they can prove it successful in a few months. Check out their video. |
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| UNT faculty experts share their knowledge with media |
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- Our political experts have been busy, weighing in on Tuesday's primaries and what this could mean for Texas in November. Political Science Professor Dr. Kimi King spoke about primary returns with WFAA and KRLD, where Professor Dr. James Meernik joined her for discussion. Dr. Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha, professor of political science, discussed with the Dallas Morning News how a politician's stance on social issues can have long-term impacts, and the ways campaign contributions often lead to victory with the Denton Record-Chronicle.
- Dr. Olga Velikanova, a professor of Russian history, spoke with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about Russia's invasion of Ukraine, providing context about Vladimir Putin as a leader. Political Science Professor Dr. John Ishiyama spoke with WFAA and KLIF about Putin's mental health and motivations for invading Ukraine.
- Yahoo! News picked up a Fort Worth Star-Telegram article about inflation and potential interest rate spikes featuring Dr. Michael Carroll, director of the Economics Research Group.
- Insider Higher Ed interviewed Student Money Management Center Director Paul Goebel about the growing need to provide college students with financial literacy.
- Dr. Nathan Hutson, an assistant professor of public administration who researches transportation and freight delivery, spoke with Spectrum News about supply chain shortages caused by a pandemic, protests, and political unrest.
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| Music alumna named first female vocalist in historic European choir |
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Alumna Natalie Manning ('16) has been named the first female Vicar Choral in Wells Cathedral Choir's more than 1,100-year history. The choir — at the Anglican cathedral in Somerset, England — is considered one of Europe's most prestigious cathedral choirs, and next fall she will sing there for daily services. She'll move from Cambridge, where she finished a master's degree and stayed on as choir administrator for The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge. She found her love for early music at UNT and says she was struck by the array of musical opportunities here. "You could choose to study something so specific from a certain century, a certain part of the world, a certain style and technique," she says, "and UNT would be able to provide you with the highest level of teaching for that specific thing."
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| Meet the dogs of UNT |
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Don't miss this tale of some furry friends on campus who do their part to help keep students safe and happy. Buddy, pictured above, brings new meaning to the words "Lab assistant" as the service animal for junior Jane Zink, who has Type 1 diabetes. The Golden Labrador is able to sense when Jane's blood sugar is low and alert her. Buddy has his own spot in the chemistry lab thanks to instructor Wijayantha Perera, who also helped find his protective equipment. Others featured in the story are K-9 Keegan, who sniffs out explosives for the UNT Police, working with his partner Nick Brauchle; Minnie, who lives in Rawlins Hall with community director Elizabeth Webb; and Ellie, who enjoys campus walks with Julie Townley, community director for Joe Greene Hall. You'll want to watch this pawsome video. |
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