Ring Ceremony Attracts 170 Participants

Approximately 170 students are expected to be the first recipients of the Sam Houston State University official ring at the Inaugural Official Ring Ceremony on Thursday (April 22), at 6 p.m. beneath the south-side portico of Austin Hall.

Alumnus and second vice president of the Alumni Association board of directors George Miles said the official ring committee is pleased with the number of students who have taken interest in the event.

“For a first time event we really didn’t know what to expect,” Miles said. “The students have been very responsive about purchasing the ring. There has been a high percentage of purchases for the eligible students, so we’ve been very pleased about that.”

Alumni who traded in their rings for the official ring, or purchased a new one, will also be allowed to participate in the ceremony this year.

The ring ceremony was established to create a new tradition, for those who purchase the official ring. The revisiting of old traditions and the creation of new traditions has been an initiative fostered by university president James F. Gaertner.

“One of our main goals when we were planning the ceremony was to make it a ceremony unlike anything that any of us have gone through before,” Miles said. “We wanted it to be a memorable event for the students, the parents, the guests, the faculty, the administration, the alumni, everybody that participates in that ceremony we want them to walk away and say, ‘Wow, that was impressive.’”

The official ring was unveiled during the 2003 homecoming festivities and was designed by a committee comprised of student representatives, alumni, and university administrators and faculty.

“The goal of the committee was to develop a distinctive design that would reflect pride in Sam Houston State University, would be easily identifiable, and would stand the test of time,” said Beth Miles, Alumni Association member. “The official ring has been created as an everlasting symbol of our esteem for the university and our bond with each other.”

The design comprises, on one side of the ring, a representation of Sam Houston, the year of the student’s graduation and “1879,” the year Sam Houston Normal Institute was established to educate and train teachers.

Many years after a period of teaching school in 1812, Gen. Sam Houston remarked that in teaching he had “experienced a higher feeling of dignity and self-satisfaction than from any office or honor.”

Austin Hall is depicted on the opposite side, with a bit of the “footprint” of Old Main near its steps.

Jack W. Humphries, a former SHSU vice president and Sul Ross State University president, added a more contemporary perspective in his 1986 speech at Austin Hall’s re-dedication: “Today, resplendent, elegant, revitalized, Austin Hall faces the future. The burden of its mission is weighty. Its dedication is to what education can do for the improvement of the human condition. Its commitment is to learning and how it may change lives.”

The crest includes a background star symbolizing the State of Texas, and a raised “SH,” the official university logo adopted in 2001.

Students participating in the ceremony should check in on the north (Old Main) side of Austin Hall at 5 p.m. A reception will immediately follow the ceremony inside Austin Hall, and in case of rain, the event will be moved to the Lowman Student Center Ballroom.

For more information, call the Alumni Association at 936.294.1841.

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SHSU Media Contact: Jennifer Gauntt
April 20, 2004
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