A consortium of donors has purchased the estate of jazz legend Maynard Ferguson and will bring it to North Texas.

The Ferguson music library will be at the College of Music and the memorabilia, acquired by the Collins-Binkley Foundation, will be housed in a Denton-based museum run by the Foundation. The intent of the consortium is to ensure that the students of the nation’s first jazz program will benefit from the compositions and arrangements, as well as the historic preservation and display of jazz memorabilia.

The Maynard Ferguson Music Library covers Ferguson’s career from the mid-1950s until his death in 2006 and features works by influential composers and arrangers in modern jazz history, including Mike Abene, Slide Hampton, Bill Holman, Willie Maiden, Marty Paich and Don Sebesky. The collection is expected to be delivered to UNT in August.

“The Maynard Ferguson library represents the written music of one of the most amazing and long-lived careers in jazz history,” says Steve Wiest, left, an associate professor of music and interim director of the One O’Clock Lab Band. Learn about Ferguson’s career at www.maynardferguson.com.

The Maynard Ferguson Music Library consists of 400 pieces, including works from the critically acclaimed all-star group The Birdland Dream Band, which performed at New York’s Birdland jazz club; material from “The English Band;” Grammy-nominated music from Conquistador, which included the hit “Gonna Fly Now” from the Rocky movie; recordings of the 1970s; “small big band” work in the 1980s and 90s; the fusion group of the late 1980’s High Voltage, material from the band Big Bop Nouveau; and works from his final Grammy-nominated CD of 2006, “The One and Only.”

More than 80 faculty members will launch UNT’s inaugural One Book, One Community program Aug. 20, when they host discussions about The Bean Trees, a novel by Barbara Kingsolver. The One Book, One Community program is a year-long focus on a theme that is relevant to the university learning community. What is the theme of The Bean Trees?

A. Agricultural economics
B. Cultural differences in the United States
C. Vegetarian cooking
D. Genetically modified plants

The correct answer is B: cultural differences in the United States. The official One Book, One Community theme is American Identity in an Age of Immigration: Beyond the Melting Pot.

The book tells the story of a young woman who heads west from her native Kentucky to a new life in Arizona. She becomes caregiver to an abandoned Native American child, befriends a family of Guatemalan immigrants and finds a job at Jesus Is Lord Used Tires. The narrative deals with fundamental themes of friendship, parent-child relationships and changing American culture. A review in Publisher’s Weekly called it “funny, inspiring,” and “a marvelous affirmation of risk-taking, commitment and everyday miracles.”

To win one of five copies of The Bean Trees, send an e-mail to InHouse, inhouse@unt.edu  with “One Book” in the subject line by 5 p.m. Aug. 22. Winners will be selected at random from all responses.

Freshmen were given a copy of The Bean Trees at orientation, and it will be part of the core curriculum’s required freshman English class. Other classes and programs may incorporate the book and its themes in curriculum.

Faculty and staff are encouraged to read The Bean Trees, and attend campus events that focus on immigration and American identity. Lectures, visiting writer series participants and a conference to discuss immigration are scheduled in 2008-09. The first, on Sept. 23, features Charles Cambridge, a University of Colorado professor and member of the Navajo Tribe.  Read InHouse for news about One Book, One Community events.

Go to http://vpaa.unt.edu/files/OneBook/AboutOneBook.htm to suggest books for the 2009-10 program. Deadline is Sept. 1.

The Bean Trees, published in 1988, was Kingsolver’s first novel. She has written five novels, poetry and essays, and become a champion of sustainable living. Her most recent book is Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, a tale of her family’s year of eating locally. Learn more about Kingsolver, right, at http://www.kingsolver.com/about/about.asp.

(Photo and illustration courtesy of HarperCollins, New York, NY. Cover design by Lisa Desimini.)

The deadline for nominations for UNT’s annual alumni awards is Sept. 1. Awards will be presented at the annual Alumni Awards Dinner, April 17, 2009. Awardees and their nominators will be notified in November.

Go to http://www.unt.edu/development/alumniawards/index.html for information, nomination forms and photos of the 2008 awards dinner, which celebrated outstanding alumni nominated in 2007. See more photos and information in the Spring issue of The North Texan magazine. Regent Gayle Strange, at left in photo, and President Gretchen M. Bataille present an award to Emily Pulley, center, at the 2008 ceremony. Pulley, who received a master's degree in music, is principal soprano for the Metropolitan Opera, New York.

Here is information about the annual awards.

 • Distinguished Alumna/Alumnus Award is the university's most prestigious award.
It is given to individuals for professional prominence and extraordinary contributions to society which have elevated the reputation of the university.
• Green Glory Award has been presented since 1983 as the university's acknowledgment of individuals, but not necessarily alumni, whose notable efforts have provided the university with a standard of excellence.
• Honorary Alumna/Alumnus Award has been presented since 1978 to recognize individuals who are not alumni and who have exhibited outstanding dedication, service and support to the university.
• Outstanding Alumna/Alumnus Service Award was first presented in 1974 to honor individuals for their exemplary service and loyal support for the university.
• Ulys Knight Spirit Award has been presented since 1975 to an individual or group that has made exceptional efforts to build spirit and support among the university family. The award is named for a 1928 graduate who was a member of the North Texas championship basketball team and was known as "Mr. North Texas."
• President's Citation is presented to individuals for their professional achievements, service and support which have brought distinction to the university.
• Special Awards are given to those who have supported UNT.

Nominations are confidential, and that candidates are unaware of their nomination. The president, deans, and/or advancement officers will contact those selected for recognition.

Nominations of those not selected will be carried forward for another year, and may be updated and renewed by the original or other appropriate nominator for consideration in subsequent years.

Learn more about membership in the UNT alumni association.

Fall convocation, the official and formal beginning of the academic year, will be 7:15 a.m.- 9 a.m. Sept. 9 in the University Union, Silver Eagle Suite.

President Gretchen M. Bataille, right, at last year's convocation, will discuss UNT's successes and achievements during the 2007-08 year, and will identify challenges for 2008-09. Awards for teaching, service and support of UNT’s mission as a student-centered public research university will be announced.

Continental breakfast will be available at 7:15 a.m. The presentation will begin at 7:45 a.m.

Contact Laurea Dunahoe, special events coordinator, Office of the President, at laurea.dunahoe@unt.edu or 940-565-4367.

Many new college freshmen spend their first few days on campus decorating residence hall rooms, buying books, partying and finding their way around campus.

But UNT freshmen will spend part of their first week at more than 80 locations around campus discussing Barbara Kingsolver’s novel The Bean Trees.*

Freshmen will meet in assigned groups of 25 around campus Aug. 20 from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. or from 11 a.m. to noon. UNT faculty members will lead discussion groups, which will launch One Book, One Community, am inaugural program focusing on a chosen theme and a book that reflects it: American Identity in an Age of Immigration: Beyond the Melting Pot.

David Holdeman, chair of the One Book, One Community committee and the Department of English, says The Bean Trees was selected as this year’s book because it focuses on community, economic injustice and cultural differences. The debut novel by Kingsolver, the book relates the experiences of a young woman who moves from her childhood home in rural Kentucky to a new life in Arizona. She befriends a family of Guatemalan immigrants and becomes the caregiver to an abandoned 3-year Cherokee child.

Holdeman said he hopes the discussions will spur students’ interest in attending campus events that follow the theme. Most of the events will be open to all UNT students, staff and faculty members, who will be encouraged to read novel

During the 2008-09 academic year, UNT departments have scheduled events with the themes of immigration and American identity. Wendy K. Wilkins, provost and vice president for academic affairs, says One Book, One Community will “enrich the living and learning environment of our campus. Throughout the year, our students, faculty and staff will have a shared experience through engagement with the same literary work that will be interpreted through events in many of our academic disciplines,” she says.

Five scheduled campus events related to One Book, One Community include:

Sept. 23 -- Charles Cambridge, speaker, College of Public Affairs and Community Service’s fall forum. Cambridge is a member of the Navajo Tribe whose research focuses on the spread of AIDS among American Indian populations and its impact on the cultural traditions of American Indians. Cambridge earned a doctorate in anthropology from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and is a faculty member there.