?Press Release …
Early in the fall semester, Emma Reed joined seven other Howard Payne University who are in the D. Newman Honors Academy to attend the 2018 Texas Tribune Festival held in September 27-29 and later she was a delegate along with six HPU students to the United Model Nations in Seattle. {{more: continue …}}?Reed is a senior Honors Academy and family studies major from Kennedale. She was a 2015 graduate of Kennedale High School.?
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The festival, of which the Hatton W. Sumners Foundation is a sponsor, is an event hosted by the Texas Tribune intended to allow attendees to learn about various areas of politics and policy, as well as issues affecting Texas and the United States.
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Among the more than 300 speakers at the conference were former Secretary of State John Kerry, U.S. Representatives Will Hurd (R-Texas) and Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Christine Todd Whitman. During the three-day conference, sessions on domestic and international issues were held featuring speakers of divergent experiences.
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?Events like the Texas Tribune Festival put our Sumners Scholars in front of leading politicians and policymakers on different sides of lots of different issues. They enjoy this unique access alongside equally civic-minded students from other institutions,? said Dr. Matthew McNiece, director of Guy D. Newman Honors Academy and associate professor of history and government. ?This helps our Sumners Scholars more deeply engage in the world around them, which in turn helps better prepare them for a life of Christ-like service and good citizenship.?
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?The Tribune Fest is great because you can choose what sessions to attend and really tailor the event to your interests, so that you can learn as much as possible,? Reed said. ?You also often have the opportunity to meet accomplished individuals in their respective fields. For example, Jessica Catlett and I were able to meet a former ????department head in the Department of Health and Human Services.?
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The Hatton W. Sumners Foundation is a nonprofit organization that seeks to increase public understanding of the benefits of individual freedom and of civic and personal responsibility.
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As members of the Sumners organization, HPU students also attend leadership seminars at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas and lectures hosted in conjunction with the Institute for Policy Innovation. Through the Academy?s partnership with the Sumners Foundation, student members are provided with a stipend issued during four semesters of their undergraduate studies.
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Delegate to Model United Nation …?
Later in the fall semester, Reed served has head delegate for a team of fellow HPU students who attended the Northwest Model United Nations Conference in Seattle. The team of HPU students brought home three awards and was named one of the top four teams among the more than 45 universities and 681 students from around the world represented at the conference.
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This was the second time for Reed to attend the unique conference. Last year she served as head delegate for the HPU team that earned second place for overall team performance.
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Model United Nations takes current world issues and asks students, who represent various countries as delegates, to try to solve them through diplomatic means. Students learn the art of diplomacy through caucusing, writing position papers and presenting in formal settings, all while following the model of the United Nations.
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?Awards went to approximately 5 percent of the teams at the conference, yet our team of seven out of the 681 at the conference brought home three,? said Dr. David Claborn, professor of government and Model UN adviser. ?An average team of 20 may nab one award, generally. Yet our team came home with three times the metal.??
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Founded in 1889, Howard Payne University is a Christ-centered academic community dedicated to excellence by developing and equipping the whole person for intellectual inquiry, personal and professional integrity, and service to God and humanity.?Located in
Brownwood, Texas, HPU offers a full array of undergraduate programs and a
limited number of graduate programs in a traditional residential academic
community. The university also offers selected undergraduate and graduate
course work by electronic means and at extension centers in El Paso, Texas, and
New Braunfels, Texas. HPU maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio, which
contributes to the university?s reputation of being ?a place where everybody is
somebody.??
