IMPACT Highlights from 2024-25

Welcome to the dedicated space that features scholarship, creativity, community engagement, and accomplishments of faculty and staff at Trinity University. These entries date from October 2024 through April 2025.

Victoria Aarons, Ph.D. | English received the 2024 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award in Jews and the Arts: Music, Performance, and Visual for the publication of her monograph, Memory Spaces: Visualizing Identity in Jewish Women’s Graphic Narratives.

Vanessa B. Beasley, Ph.D. | Trinity University President has joined College Presidents for Civic Preparedness, a consortium convened by the Institute for Citizens & Scholars, reflecting her dedication to defending free expression, civil discourse, and critical inquiry as essential civic norms. Additionally, the NAICU (National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities) has elected President Beasley as an At-Large Board Member. Each year, the NAICU nominates four individuals to serve a three-year term. The NAICU is focused on student aid, tax policy, and government regulation issues, protecting the independence of private, nonprofit institutions and ensuring that all students have access to higher education.

Chartwells, the Trinity University Police Department, Residential Life, and all of Trinity’s essential staff helped keep our students safe, warm, and fed through this season’s winter weather!

Jane Childers, Ph.D. | Psychology has had two papers with student co-authors accepted recently that examine how children learn verbs in different cultures.

Graham Edwards, Ph.D. | Earth and Environmental Geosciences had his paper, “Uranium-series isotopes as tracers of physical and chemic weathering in glacial sediments from Taylor Valley, Antarctica,” accepted for publication in Chemical Geology.

Eddy Garza | TUPD was honored with the 2024 Larry W. Fultz Memorial Award for Excellence, a prestigious award given annually to an exemplary university police officer.

Andrew Kania, Ph.D. | Philosophy co-published the sixth edition of Writing Philosophy Papers, a book designed to help students master the art of writing philosophy papers. This new edition includes insights and materials Kania developed during his time teaching at Trinity. Kania also published a new essay, “Musical Meaning and Authentic Work-Performance,” in The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism as the culmination of a project he began during his 2022-23 academic leave.

Claudia Kypuros, Ph.D. | Counseling Services and Mar-y-Sol Salinas-McCoy | Office of the Dean of Students co-facilitated the San Antonio Group Psychotherapy Society's 25th annual Al Riester Memorial Ethics Workshop. Their workshop, The Skin You're In: Processing Microaggressions in the Group Context, guided licensed mental and behavioral health practitioners through strategies for recognizing, navigating, and processing microaggressions while incorporating a somatic framework.

Kevin McIntyre, Ph.D. | Psychology has had three papers with student co-authors accepted recently. The papers examine how romantic relationships shape individuals’ self-concepts for better or worse.

Andrew Porter, MFA | English has been longlisted for the 2025 Joyce Carol Oates Prize. This annual award honors a mid-career author of fiction in the midst of a burgeoning career, a distinguished writer who has emerged and is still emerging. Additionally, Porter’s short story "Angelo" was selected by Celeste Ng for the 2025 Best American Short Stories, which is an annual anthology that publishes the 20 best short stories published in a given year.

Katie Ramirez | Center for Experiential Learning and Career Success was honored with the prestigious Southern Association of Colleges and Employers President’s Award.

Lorenzo Sanchez, Ph.D. | Emergency Management obtained the Master Business Continuity Professional (MBCP) certification from DRI International. This is the highest certification level globally in the BC industry, and only a small percentage of professionals have achieved the MBCP. Sanchez was also inducted into the Order of the Sword & Shield (Omicron Sigma Sigma) Academic & Professional Honor Society at the Disaster Recovery Institute annual conference.

Kathryn Vomero Santos, Ph.D. | English was recently on Texas Public Radio’s Fronteras to discuss Volume 2 of The Bard in the Borderlands.

James Shinkle, Ph.D. | Biology received the Texas Association of Advisors for the Health Professions (TAAHP) Lifetime Achievement Award. This award was created to recognize a TAAHP member who has exhibited excellence in health professions advising. Dr. Shinkle has served the health professions community at Trinity University tirelessly and with notable expertise.

Jimmy Smith | Athletics was selected as the head basketball coach of the 2024 USA 3x3 Men’s U23 National Team and led Team USA to win silver in Mongolia.

Jacob Tingle ’95, Ed.D. | Business Administration received the 2025 Sarah Fain Distinguished Service Award from NIRSA (formerly National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association) in recognition of his exceptional impact on the NIRSA Championship Series and collegiate recreation and well-being.

Lauren Turek, Ph.D. | History published an edited volume, The Routledge History of Religion and Politics in the United States since 1775, which brings together essays from 48 scholars from history, religious studies, American studies, sociology, and other disciplines. Turek and her co-editor also contributed a chapter to the volume.

The Trinity University Police Department (TUPD) front-line supervisors, Roberto Lopez, Darin Wilde, Eliseo Sandoval, and Rod Lewis, attended the Texas Police Association’s 161st Law Enforcement Leadership Conference. TUPD also brought the community together in a spirit of unity and collaboration for the National Faith & Blue Weekend.

Rita Urquijo-Ruiz, Ph.D. | Modern Languages and Literatures received the prestigious 2025 Catrióna Rueda Esquibel Recognition Award from the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies (NACCS) for her co-authored book Writing that Matters: A Handbook for Chicanx & Latinx Studies.