NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen Lias, professor of composition in the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music, has once again been commissioned to write a new orchestral work celebrating the centennial of the National Park Service as part of the National Endowment for the Arts "Imagine Your Parks" initiative.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Fans of The 5 Browns still have time to purchase tickets to the popular sibling pianists' holiday concert slated for 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 18, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University.

The 5 Browns will bring their Christmas spirit to Nacogdoches with a program of festive favorites when they perform as part of the SFA College of Fine Arts' 2015-2016 University Series.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Three Stephen F. Austin State University donors will be honored during the 27th annual SFA Gala on Saturday, Dec. 12, in the Grand Ballroom of the Baker Pattillo Student Center.

This year's Gala honorees include Jimmy W. Murphy, the late Marleta Chadwick and The Charles and Lois Marie Bright Foundation.

"My supervisor nominated me, and I honestly didn't expect to get this far," Moore said. "Student teaching has been extremely difficult, but also amazing and wonderful. I'm ecstatic to receive this award."

Each semester this award is presented to recognize students for exemplary performance during student teaching. Student teaching is a requirement by the Texas Education Agency for all candidates seeking educator certification in Texas. Candidates are placed in school for 15 weeks under the supervision of SFA faculty members and the classroom teacher.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Students in the Junior Jacks Give Back program at Stephen F. Austin State University's Charter School collected approximately 12,000 aluminum pull tabs to donate to the Ronald McDonald House in Houston, which will be delivered to the house this week. Proceeds from the recycled pull tabs will help with the house's expenses.

Students enrolled from kindergarten through fifth grade have been participating in this project since August. Jan Wisener, who teaches fifth grade, served as the teacher/sponsor responsible for coordinating the project.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Students in Stephen F. Austin State University's School of Human Sciences participated in the "Dine In" project on Family and Consumer Sciences Day to encourage families to cook and eat together.

Dr. Mary Olle, SFA assistant professor in the School of Human Sciences, supervised the project. Olle's Management in Meal Production classes were divided into 12 "families" and assigned to create themes that encourage families to dine in.

Opportunities to attend fine arts events are plentiful on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus. From concerts and recitals to plays and art exhibitions, there is truly something for every taste and interest in art, music and theatre.

Among the more popular offerings are the free one-night film screenings on the first Friday night (there are occasional exceptions because of holidays) of each month presented by the SFA School of Art and Friends of the Visual Arts at The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The application process for the prestigious 2016 George and Peggy Schmidbauer Young Artist Competition at Stephen F. Austin State University has begun.

It's ok that Lynn Atchison '82 spends every day at work thinking about vacation. As chief financial officer of HomeAway, the world leader in vacation rentals with more than 1 million listings worldwide in almost 200 countries, Atchison's accounting degree from SFA led her to her dream job.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - A special free one-night screening of "Christmas With the Dead" is planned for 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 11, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House, the downtown Nacogdoches art gallery owned by Stephen F. Austin State University.

Directed by T.L. Lankford, "Christmas With the Dead" is a zombie apocalypse film based on a short story by the same name written by Nacogdoches author Joe R. Lansdale. Lansdale's son, Keith, wrote the screenplay.