Sul Ross State University
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Newsletter February 2007SUL ROSS VICE PRESIDENT HAVENS TO RETIRE MAY 1 Havens will retire after 35 years' service with the State of Texas, including 27 with the Texas State University System and the last 23 at Sul Ross. He joined the Sul Ross staff in 1984 as vice president for Business Affairs and was named to his present position in 1998. While at Sul Ross, Havens has overseen construction projects, which approach $92 million. The bulk of the expenditures have occurred since 1999 and include a new University Center, Pete P. Gallego Multi-Purpose Center and the new residential complex, which opened last fall. Other major projects include renovation of the Graves-Pierce Recreational Sports Center, Warnock Science Building, Wildenthal Library, Centennial School, Turner Range Animal Science Center, Ferguson Hall Academic Center for Excellence and the Museum of the Big Bend. Havens' duties have also included preparation of endowment agreements, which have grown from 28 endowments totaling slightly more than $870,000 in 1984 to 214 endowments valued at over $11,681,500. "The capital improvements and the endowments are two significant numbers that point to Sul Ross' growth," said Havens. He credited Sul Ross graduate and Texas State Rep. Pete P. Gallego for much of the university's facilities growth. "Many of the present facilities are improvements that I don't know if I would even have dreamed of if not for the support of Representative Gallego," he said. He also praised the three presidents he has served under. "I credit Bob Richardson, who brought me out here; Jack Humphries, who kept me, and Vic Morgan, for his continued support. In addition, the people here are second to none. I appreciate the opportunity to have served Sul Ross." "In addition to his work in the construction and renovation areas, Mickey has worked with Athletics, Development, Physical Plant Operations and UDPS. He has been an effective administrator for these areas," said Morgan. Mickey C. Havens, Sul Ross State University vice president for Administrative Services, has announced his retirement effective May 1. "Mickey has provided a lot of continuity to the entire physical facility from maintenance to new construction. He has overseen the planning and construction through one of the most prolific times of expansion at Sul Ross. We were all blessed to have the resources provided by the Texas Legislature through the good work of Representative Gallego and his colleagues," Morgan said. A native of Belton, Havens served in the U.S. Air Force (1967-71), including overseas assignments to Japan, Vietnam and England, after graduation from high school. After his discharge, he enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin, , receiving a Bachelor's of Business Administration degree in 1974. While a student, he worked for the Texas Educational Media Program, and after graduation, served as an assistant state auditor for the State Auditor's Office (1974-80). He was hired as director of finance for the Texas State University System in 1980 before coming to Sul Ross. He became a certified public accountant in 1984 and received a Master's of Business Administration from Sul Ross in 1990. For more information, contact Havens, (432) 837-8076. FORMER LOBO STANDOUT FRYMAN HONORED BY LONE STAR CONFERENCE
Fryman, a four-year letterman for the Lobos from 1963-66, was an All-LSC choice his sophomore, junior and senior seasons at Sul Ross. He was also selected as the conference's most valuable player and a Texas College Player of the Year selection during the 1964-65 campaign. Fryman set almost all scoring and rebounding records at Sul Ross and still holds LSC records. The 1966 graduate was inducted into the Sul Ross Athletic Hall of Honor in 1987. The Lone Star Conference, one of the oldest collegiate athletic conferences in the southwestern United States, is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year with a tribute to its outstanding teams and great sports personalities. An NCAA Division II conference with 15 member institutions in Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas, the LSC was founded on April 25, 1931. The 1931-32 athletic seasons were the first for the league. In October, 75 football standouts were recognized including former Lobo defensive back Alfredo Avila. The Top 75 basketball listing includes 38 men's and 20 women's players along with 17 coaches. Some of the notable names include Eddie Robinson, Guy V. Lewis, Jim Seward, Nick Keith, Bob Schneider, Pete Harris and James Silas. SUL ROSS ALUM STOUT, AUTHOR WILKINSON PLAN BOOK ON ALPINE COWBOYS
Sul Ross State University and Alpine Cowboy alum Doyle Stout has teamed with noted author David Marion Wilkinson to write a book about the Alpine Cowboys, the semi-professional team formed by Herbert H. Kokernot, Jr. The Cowboys were in operation from 1947-58. The historic roster includes a number of former Major Leaguers, led by Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry and 1961 American League batting champion Norm Cash. Stout played for the Cowboys and the Lobos for four seasons. The lefthander from Dallas had set a high school record with 21 strikeouts in the Texas state championships, when he was personally recruited by Kokernot after his graduation in 1952. "I played for Mr. Herbert that first summer and he put me on a four-year baseball scholarship at Sul Ross," Stout noted, "a great arrangement for obtaining a fine education and playing baseball in the summer with some of the world's finest ball players. "I am in the process of attempting to assist David [Wilkinson] by helping to develop the story and find the former ball players, coaches, friends and associates that were involved with that magic time frame of 1947-58," he added. Wilkinson, writer-in-residence at Sul Ross, has written a number of books, most recently, "One Ranger," a memoir he co-authored with retired Texas Ranger Joaquin Jackson of Alpine. Stout, who earned a bachelor's degree from Sul Ross in 1956 and a master's degree the following year, has developed two websites: www.alpinecowboysbaseballassociation.org offers a bit of history and sign-in sheets. http://www.alpinecowboysbaseball.blogspot.com/. is "a more interactive forum for discussion of anything that might be important to the quest of finding more information on the Cowboys and participants. "The principal purpose for both sites is to try and reach out and find former players or supporters and to get their inputs," according to Stout. He indicated that "David sees a terrific story in the Alpine Cowboys, the wealth, the passion for the sport and the need to tell the story of Herbert Kokernot, Jr., the owner and founder, the Cowboys and the fine million-dollar baseball stadium that he built. There was no historian for the Cowboys, no repository for pictures and articles and even the old trophies have been misplaced or stolen. "We have two needs. The first one is to capture the years with stories, events, photos and identify all of the coaches and players that we can," he wrote. "The second event is to find support in eventually rehabilitating the park in conjunction with the recent plan of President Vic Morgan...who has proposed a rehab program for the stadium." Wilkinson noted that the setting for the book will be 1955, the same year that "Giant" was being filmed in Marfa. He added that while "Giant" depicted the ideal Texas rancher in Bick Benedict (played by Rock Hudson), "the real thing was just 26 miles away." "There will never be another Herbert Kokernot, a man who had so much fun, strictly for good," Wilkinson said. "I think it's [project] an epic Texas novel on the scale of 'Giant,' but it's so much better because it's true. It has to do with a culture that's gone. Mr. Kokernot was a real-life Texas giant who represented the best of West Texans." Stout, who divides his time between Dallas and the Philippines, seeks names, information and stories from former players and their families. "First of all I need to find the players and coaches that are still with us, but in the event the good Lord has called them, I would like to talk to the families, the wives and children of the players and coaches." His Dallas address is: 3829 Azure Lane, Addison, TX 75001; (972) 247-8239; in the Philippines, 17C Shang Grand Tower, Makati, Philippines. Email addresses are doylestout@yahoo.com or doyle.stout@gmail.com.
Dinner will be held at the Kings Inn Restaurant. Dr. Morgan will be stopping in Kingsville Feb. 16 en route to the South Texas Golf Tournament, scheduled Feb. 17 at the Meadow Creek Golf Course in Mission. For more information, contact Roy Cantu, (361) 455-5834. SUL ROSS FACULTY, STUDENTS' QUAIL STUDIES PUBLISHED IN NEW BOOK A Sul Ross professor and three former students contributed three chapters to a new book on Texas quail studies. Dr. Louis Harveson, chair and associate professor of the Department of Natural Resource Management, authored or co-authored two chapters in "Texas Quails: Ecology and Management," edited by Leonard Brennan and published by Texas A&M University Press. The 25-chapter publication features research from quail experts across the state. Harveson contributed "Quails on the Trans-Pecos." In addition, he worked with three former students, Froylan Hernandez, Ty Allen and Shawn Whitley, to co-author "Montezuma Quail Ecology and Life History." D. A. Holdermann and J.M. Mueller also contributed. For more information, contact Harveson, (432) 837-8488 or lharveson@sulross.edu. Bobbie E. McDaniel, a 25-year employee of Sul Ross (1972-1997), passed away Friday, Jan. 27 due to illness. She was 75. McDaniel's Sul Ross tenure extended across the terms of five presidents. She worked in the Office of Physical Education and Athletics, serving under directors Paul Pierce, Richard Slaughter and Chet Sample. She was known to numerous Sul Ross students, staff and faculty members as a friend, confidant, and advisor. McDaniel was honored for her outstanding service to the Athletic Department in June, 1986, when she was awarded the first Bar-SR-Bar Employee Excellence Award to be given at Sul Ross. She was inducted into the Sul Ross Athletic Hall of Honor in 1998. Survivors include her daughter, Kellie Powell, director of the Sul Ross Law Enforcement Academy, her husband, Lt. Andrew Powell of the University Department of Public Safety; granddaughters Hailey and Rylie; and a sister, Billie Morgan of Odessa. She was preceded in death by her husband, Jack, who she married in 1950; and her mother, Grace Richards. |
Former Sul Ross State University men's basketball standout Jack Fryman was recently honored as one of the top all-time basketball players by the Lone Star Conference as the LSC celebrated it's 75th Anniversary this year.
Numerous articles have been written about storied Kokernot Field, the oft-proclaimed "Best Little Ballpark in Texas." For the first time, a book is planned on the park's most notable team, the Alpine Cowboys, told by the men who wore the uniforms, as well as family members and associates.
Roy Cantu, '72, invites all alumni in the Kingsville and South Texas areas to join Sul Ross President R. Vic Morgan for dinner in Kingsville on Friday, Feb. 16.