President Stacie bought the meeting to order promptly at 11:59 followed with David Hartman offering a prayer. He advised us that our former member and friend David Gately has been moved to Hospice. We need to keep him and his family in our prayers.
David Spencer then led us in the pledge and a sing along round of Row Row Your Boat. That was followed by the third verse of ROTRY and a shaking of many hands.
Noros brought the boss of his house DeeAnn with him. I guess he paid for her lunch. Carol Murray introduced Sam Pak as her guest and Bob Hampton introduced Dr Lee, superintendent of WFISD and a potential new member. Maybe Sam could be encouraged to join as well Carol.
Josh reported that John Deason is showing substantial progress but has hit a bump in the road as he now has pneumonia. Get well soon John.
Shirley Craft reminded us that November 9 we will host a special Veterans Day program. If you plan to bring a guest or guests, please let Tina know.
Cara Sauceda then introduced Alice Grisham as our youth of the month. She is an eighth-grade student and a fifth-year member of the central club. Lance presented her with the award as he was the interviewer. She was accompanied by her father, sister, and Barbara Green the unit director of the central club. She is interested in becoming a nurse and should be a good candidate for MSU’s nursing program.
Cara bragged of participating in white cane day to support Lighthouse for the Blind. Noros thanked MSU for hosting the Fantasy of Lights which is beginning to be set up. Will had to brag again about his son who made another touchdown after intercepting a pass by the opposing team again.
Josh introduced Dr. Stacia Haynie the new president of MSU (#13). She has two degrees from MSU and her PHD from North Texas in Denton. Before that Dr. Haynie attended school in Henrietta and worked on her grandfather’s farm in Charlie. She then found her way to LSU and spent most of her professional life there as a professor and in administration, including traveling all over the world. She was in the process of retiring when the search committee for MSU contacted her and ended up offering the job as president over three others. She says she feels like she has come full circle a has come home.
She then gave an overview of the enrollment which totals 4,439 currently with the retention rate of 63% which is below the state average. The good news is the number of grad students is up, but undergraduate numbers are down. Projections for Texas are for enrollment to be flat to down for the foreseeable future. In addition, state funding has gone down, forcing tuition and fees to go up. Dr Haynie and her husband have created a scholarship fund honoring her parents. Additionally, she and her staff have set several goals to help with the enrollment and with the experience as well as working with various community organizations including SAFB to help all involved.
In closing she said she is extremely excited to be here and is very much looking forward to the future. MSU is a true hidden gem for those who are not familiar with it. It does offer an excellent education for anyone wanting one.
Noros then led us in loud Go Mustangs yell before we adjourned with the four-way test.