Most students take Winter Break to enjoy time away from school and excess amounts of homework. Rarely are they seen hidden behind stacks of books in the library, trekking through South Dallas or pouring over online articles.
However, a select group of students spent their six weeks of freedom researching ways to improve South Dallas in hopes of earning a spot in SMU’s Robert Stewart Hyer Society.
Dinner was served to students, their parents, professors and administrators Sunday night in the Cox School of Business’ Ernst and Young Gallery.
The 13 new junior and senior members were inducted into the university’s most prestigious academic honor society for having at least a 3.85 cumulative grade point average and a minimum of 36 credit hours in conjunction with demonstrating exceptional academic qualities.
The society’s selection committee includes one professor from each undergraduate school at SMU as well as they Hyer Society chair. In November, eligible students were given en essay prompt, along with a resumé and three teacher recommendations. Inductees were announced in January.
Erin Elliott, a junior English major, with minors in elementary education and cinema studies, was one of two juniors selected for the University Achievement Award for her essay describing a 26-mile trek though Dallas. Elliott’s list of extracurricular activities includes involvement in the Wesley Foundation, Mustang Corral and the SMU-in-Oxford study abroad program.
“I decided to embark on a prayer walk through Dallas,” explained Elliott. “[The] route took us from the Ledbetter Dart Station to Richardson, and totaled over twenty miles. We stopped every hour for about ten minutes to reflect upon what we were seeing around us, and to pray for the people living in the South Dallas communities. It was truly an eye-opening experience for three SMU students to get out of the Highland Park bubble and into the parts of Dallas that are too often overlooked. It was absolutely one of my most beautiful, meaningful memories of my college experience thus far.”
Larry James, the President and CEO of Central Dallas Ministries delivered a speech about the importance of working to improve South Dallas, rather than investing all of one’s time and money into expanding North Dallas. Touching on several key points that were addressed by students present at the dinner, James agreed that without the help of SMU students, South Dallas would continue to hold a negative connotation in peoples’ minds.
“I was really inspired and touched by the words of Larry James for exhibiting such passion for improving Dallas,” said Elliott. I enjoyed that each dining table was comprised of both students and faculty, so that we could get to know some of the important faces behind the Society. It seemed clear that the professors and staff were interested in really getting to know the students and their families.”
Other students to be recognized were junior Brittany Raetzman for receiving the University Achievement Award and seniors Peter McCaffrey and Tiffany Griffen for the University Award for Outstanding Scholar.
“It means a great deal to me to be recognized by the Hyer Society,” said Elliott. “The thing I appreciate the most about the Society is its rich legacy. I feel like I am a part of something that is really ingrained in the history of the university.”
