Hunt
ASL chair to be recognized for her achievements before retirement.
By Katya Harmel
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
Every spring the fine arts department hosts the Red Carpet Awards for theater, speech and dance students. Performance awards are given and scholarship recipients are announced during the event.
“Stars are Bright,” the awards ceremony, will take place at 6 p.m. May 3 in the auditorium of McAllister Fine Arts Center. A sit-down dinner will precede the event at 5 p.m in McAllister.
The ceremony and dinner will be provided by President Robert Vela, and both are open to anyone wanting to attend. Tickets for admission are available until 4 p.m. April 30 in Room 105 in McAllister.
Fine arts Chair Jeff Hunt said the ceremony is the best opportunity for everyone to come together and look back on the year.
“We say goodbye to our graduates and prepare new students for the next year,” he said. “It’s an end-of-year morale-booster. It’s like our Oscars. We laugh, and we cry.”
Theater Coordinator Paula Rodriguez said the ceremony recognizes the hard work of the department.
“It’s less of an awards ceremony; it’s more of a celebration — a celebration of good work and brave choices,” she said.
Theater students are nominated to receive awards by Rodriguez and theater Instructors Ronald “Ronnie” Watson and Charles Falcon. Theater students then vote for the recipients of each award.
Theater awards will be given for best actor, best actress, best supporting actress, most outstanding technician and outstanding stage manager.
Hunt said two or three awards will be granted to students selected by the directors for standing out and making the season’s productions successful.
The 2017-18 productions were “The Diary of Anne Frank,” “Bug” and “The Government Inspector.”
The speech program will recognize top public speakers and oral interpreters. The dance program will award best choreographer, best performer and best dancer, he said.
Department awards will be given to faculty who have demonstrated exemplary performance as instructors. Hunt said this year’s Lillian R. Moody Award will be given to Lauri Metcalf, chair of the American Sign Language and interpreter training program.
The award is named after the wife of the former president of San Antonio Union Junior College, Wayland P. Moody.
Hunt said the college chose to name the award after Lillian Moody because, every year after the Red Carpet Awards, she invited students and faculty to her home for a gathering.
The award is meant to represent the dedication faculty have for this college and students, he said.
Hunt said Metcalf is retiring this year after 25 years, and the fine arts department wants to recognize her achievements.
Sign language was once a program within the fine arts department. Metcalf helped transform the program into its own department, Hunt said. She also provided interpreters for plays and events hosted by the fine arts department.
Hunt explained he hopes the event resonates with students and shows them they are more than just a number.
“It gives them a chance to see how much they mean to us as educators,” he said. “They are more than just a Banner ID to us. We will always be here for them; SAC is always their home.”
Attendees should dress semiformal for the event.
For more information, contact Hunt at 210-486-0255.
