Midterm
Dr. Halligan Profile
This fall, Missouri Western State University welcomes Dr. Halligan to the Golden Griffon Marching Band (GGMB). The students are excited to see what Dr. Halligan brings to the program.
Halligan will be the director of the marching band and will teach percussion to the band students. He has a doctorate in percussion performance and recently served in the Naval Academy Drum and Bugle Corps.
Before the Naval Academy, Halligan attended George Mason University in Virginia to obtain his doctorate. After he graduated, he taught for six years in Virginia before hearing about the position at Missouri Western.
Halligan spoke about how the position opened up at a perfect time.
“I knew eventually I wanted to go back to teaching, but not immediately after. It worked out perfectly. I don’t know exactly if I planned it, but it was just kind of a desire and how my path opened up for my career.”
Dr. Halligan’s students are very excited about the change, new energy and experience he is bringing to the program. Taylor Edwards, a music major and the drum major of the GGMB, has found that marching band has been an easy outlet for new members to make friends. Edwards has already seen the impact Dr. Halligan has on the program.
“Dr. Halligan has been great,” Edwards said. “He’s very outgoing and he really wants to push the ensemble to get out in the community and do some extra performances as well as extra rehearsals so that we look and sound great.”
Halligan spoke about the long days of band camp but praised the leadership of the GGMB and how they set up team activities such as capture the flag, ultimate frisbee and a pool party. Edwards was excited there was team bonding after grueling camp rehearsals.
Coming into a new program can be difficult, but Halligan made it seem effortless. Edwards says it was a wild ride that happened days leading up to the first day of band camp.
“During band camp time he and his wife and their six month old son, Brody, moved to St. Joe and didn’t even have a house yet,” Edwards said. “They arrived on Saturday night to St. Joe and band camp started Sunday morning. He hopped in so quickly and is thankful he was able to transition so quickly.”
Halligan adds that he couldn’t have transitioned so smoothly if it weren’t for the support of the students and staff welcoming him with open arms.
“The students we have are so energetic and enthusiastic and motivating to each other and to myself and it makes it so fun to be out there, especially during our band camp when it’s in the 90’s and humid,” Halligan said. “We’re out there all day long sweating and working really hard, but they’re all very enthusiastic and very motivating.”
CAS Story
The CAS (Center for Academic Support) is one of the hidden gems on the Missouri Western campus. It provides many resources to the students, from help with an English assignment to reviewing math homework.
Susan Garrison is the director and writing coordinator for the CAS. She has been working there for 11 years, the last six of which she has worked as the director. When asked what drew her to Missouri Western, Garrison said the school’s mission and the idea that anyone can be successful in college were appealing.
Garrison talked about what the CAS has to offer for students.
“We provide free tutoring for all Missouri Western State University students,” Garrison said. “We also put on workshops for juniors and seniors wanting to take the graduate record exam. Anything that is helping students academically; that’s what our goal is to help them.”
Devine Kroening is the new administrative assistant for the CAS and has been working there since March of 2022. Kroening talked about how important it is to have a resource like the CAS for students on campus, whether they are struggling academically or not. She talks about how vital it is to instill confidence in students.
“I think it’s really important,” Kroening said. “It helps build academic confidence. You don’t need to be flunking a class to come in. You can just come in and have somewhere to work.”
At the CAS, the tutors are primarily students that attend Missouri Western. Students teaching students is something that the CAS has always done, and Garrison talks about the benefits of current students assisting their peers.
“It’s much more effective for somebody your age to tutor somebody your age,” Garrison said.
“They know what’s going on and oftentimes have had the same professor. It becomes common ground. The tutors have a good sense of what the stressors are in college and how they can help other students.”
Nic Schultz, a senior marketing major at Missouri Western, spoke about the transformative experience the CAS provided him in a short timeframe. Schultz recalled that his first few years at college were overwhelming and a struggle as classes and extracurriculars built up.
“For the first time in my entire life, I was good at math,” Schultz said. “That’s how much the CAS helped me. I failed my first college math class and decided to get a tutor. After the CAS I passed my class with a 102%. That was the highest grade I’ve ever received.”
Garrison encouraged anyone to come to the CAS for a quiet place to study or to get help. One of the newest features of the CAS is on the CAS website, where students can submit a paper online. Tutors will review the writing and get back with corrections within 48 hours.
The CAS is located next to the library and is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Homecoming Preview
Homecoming is right around the corner, and the festivities begin Monday and continue throughout the week. The week is packed full of Griffon festivities and spirit. Missouri Western students look forward to celebrating their school and the plethora of activities and events.
Alexis Shipley, a sorority member, talked about how much she is looking forward to a week with a lot of student involvement planned. She also spoke about how homecoming is a time when everyone comes together for a common purpose.
“I am most excited for not only spending time with my sorority sisters but also getting to spend time with everyone else on campus,” Shipley said. “I’m just ready to celebrate and to attend all the events they have planned for us.”
Arusha Razi, a Missouri Western student, mentioned bingo night, one of the many activities planned for homecoming week. She explained the school is hosting the event following the success of the bingo night that happened during the first week of classes when students arrived in August.
“We will be having a bingo night because it was such a big hit during the first week of school,” Razi said. “The Griffon Activities Program will be putting on the event.”
Razi gave a quick overview of some of the activities and events that will occur in the upcoming week.
“We are also going to have an intramural flag football game between faculty and students,” Razi said. “There will be ten faculty members versus ten students. It’ll be really fun. We are also doing an awareness day on Thursday with the Center for Service as we will be doing a campus beautification. We will be walking around campus cleaning up and then I’m pretty sure that the dean of students will draw a gift card so all students that participate in that.”
Among the many activities, there are more exciting ones to come. Razi spoke about the highlight of the week: the Greatest Showman circus, which will perform on campus.
“Thursday night we will be having a little circus with the people from the Greatest Showman,” Razi said. “They will be performing in Fulkerson and I think it’ll be really fun because they are just amazing.”
This year, Griffon students went to downtown St. Joseph and decorated the storefronts of small businesses for the upcoming homecoming parade. Shipley explained how she has always enjoyed the event.
“I’m mostly looking forward to the parade,” Shipley said. “My hometown has a huge parade every homecoming and it’s always something I have looked forward to, and I’m ready to bring that same excitement to homecoming at my college.”
Sam Taylor is a football player at Missouri Western and talked about the homecoming activities and what he is looking forward to the most.
“The movie night and the food truck event I am really excited to go to,” Taylor said. “I know the food truck will have some great food. I also think watching the flag football game against faculty and students will be fun to watch them go at it.”
Students are encouraged to show their appreciation and Griffon spirit this week for homecoming.
Decorating Competition
Homecoming week is full of fun activities for the students, and this year, Missouri Western staff participated in the campus-wide decorating competition. The school has not held the competition since COVID-19, and the campus was eager to participate.
Michelle Diaz, a library staff member, spoke about the process and inspiration behind their theme: the 1970s.
“It was just a really great time to reminisce about the 1970s and to work collaboratively with my coworkers,” Diaz said. “People brought anything from toys when they were little kids and memorabilia. It’s just for fun. We hope that students laugh about it, you know, it’s just real light-hearted.”
The library went above and beyond and printed out a yearbook page from Missouri Western displaying the very first football practice in the 1970s. Amanda Kindling worked on the decorations for the Admissions Office department. She spoke about her theme and how she incorporated Max the Griffon, the Missouri Western mascot.
“I think my favorite part is seeing people’s reaction to our door decorations,” Kindling said. “This is my very first year at Missouri Western. I’ve been here since December, and we used to do this all the time at my last job, and it’s something I’ve always enjoyed. It’s fun and competitive.”
Every department got creative with the homecoming theme “Blast From the Past.” Everyone had a different take on what that meant to them, and for Kindling, it meant putting Max the Griffon back in time through various times in history.
“We went off the theme for homecoming, which was Blast From the Past, and we tried to do something that most people wouldn’t do,” Kindling said. “We have Max the Griff holding a camera as he’s in a time machine. We wanted to make it look like he went back in time and took a bunch of pictures of himself with his polaroid.”
Emily Ludwig organized the competition and spoke about its purpose and how it brings people together.
“My favorite part of the decorating competition is seeing the faculty and staff get involved in homecoming,” Ludwig said. “This is just as an exciting time for us as it is for students, and it gives everyone an opportunity to have some fun. The decorating competition has not occurred since homecoming 2019.”
Since it was a competition, Emily Ludwig had judges in place to go around and look at the decorations of the participating departments and decide the winner. In 2019, the Admissions office took the win. Ludwig spoke about the judging and meaning of the competition.
“Judges are recruited by the Chair of the Employee Engagement Committee from the Staff Association (which is me this year),” she said. “Individuals recruited will come from different areas of campus and are a mix of both faculty and staff. The offices who enter the competition are judged on three categories: the reflection of the homecoming theme (Blast From the Past), creativity, and Griffon spirit.”
