Howard Payne University is a four-year private university located in Brownwood, Texas.

Currently the university enrolls 1,400 full-time students. Howard Payne is known for the Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom, its Music program and its Christian Studies program. The university is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

HPU founders named the college after Edward Howard Payne, a Missouri resident. Payne, brother in law to John David Robnett, the college's founder, gave the lead monetary gift to start the university.

HPU offers more than 50 majors, minors and pre-professional programs within six schools: Science and Math, Business, Christian Studies, Education, Music and Fine Arts, and Humanities.

Athletic programs include NCAA Division III football, men's and women's soccer, women's volleyball, men's and women's basketball, women's softball, men's baseball, track, and tennis. The HPU mascot is a yellowjacket named "Buzzsaw".

Past presidents[link]

1. Dr. A. J. Emerson 1890 -1893
2. Dr. John D. Robnett 1893- 1896
3. Dr. James H. Grove 1896- 1908
4. Dr. John S. Humphreys (Acting President) 1908-1910
5. Dr. Robert H. Hamilton 1910-1911
6. Dr. John S. Humphreys 1911-1913
7. Dr. James M. Carroll 1913-1914
8. Dr. Anderson E. Baten (Vice President & Acting President) 1915-1917
9. Dr. Judson A. Tolman 1917-1919
10. Dr. L. J. Mims 1919-1922
11. Dr. William R. Hornburg (Vice President & Acting President) 1922-1923
12. Dr. Edgar Godbold 1923-1929
13. Dr. Thomas H. Taylor 1929-1955
14. Dr. Guy D. Newman 1955-1973
15. Dr. Roger Brooks 1973-1979
16. Dr. Charles A. Stewart (Chief Executive officer) 1979-1980
17. Dr. Ralph A. Phelps, Jr. 1980-1985
18. Dr. Don Newbury 1985-1997
19. Dr. Rick Gregory 1997-2002
20. Dr. Russell H. Dilday (Interim President) 2002- 2003^[2]
21. Dr. Lanny Hall 2003-2009
22. Dr. William Ellis 2009–Present

Founding and History[link]

Baptist leaders in Brown County saw a need for a Baptist institution of higher education. At HPU's 1889 founding, sister Baptist school Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas, would not exist until 1891 and many found travel to another sister Baptist school, Baylor University in Waco, Texas unfeasible. Late nineteenth century travelers found travel methods unreliable at best and placed themselves at risk of attack from American Indians of the Comanche tribe native to the area. Texas recorded its last Indian attack in the early twentieth century near Santa Anna, Texas.

Daniel Baker College, a Presbyterian institution, began operation near the time local Baptists founded Howard Payne. Ironically, DBC backers began construction on a piece of land directly behind where Howard Payne's Old Main Hall would stand and eventually moved the foundation to the NE corner of Austin and Coggin Avenues. DBC and Howard Payne merged in 1953 after DBC fell into financial difficulties, and after extensive renovation, DBC's main building became the Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom building in 1969.

After initial financial difficulties related to the 1890s financial panic, Howard Payne joined the system of colleges and universities funded by the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The BGCT operated Howard Payne as a junior college from 1900 until 1914, when it regained four-year status.

Dr. Thomas Taylor took office as university president in 1929 shortly before the stock market crash which began the Great Depression. Taylor kept Howard Payne open when other rural, private colleges failed by challenging faculty members to work without pay and house students in their homes without compensation. At the end of the faculty prayer meeting in which Taylor issued the challenge, most faculty members tore up their contracts and agreed to work without pay until the college began operating in the black.

Taylor's successor, Guy D. Newman, took office in 1955 and before retiring from the post in 1973, created the Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom and built most of the campus buildings still in use today.

In 1974, the BGCT recognized Howard Payne's broad academic scope and approved a name change in the school's charter, from "Howard Payne College" to "Howard Payne University."

In 1984, Old Main Hall, the building symbolic of HPU, burned to the ground during finals week. Although the Brownwood Fire Department headquarters sit across the street from the HPU campus, a prank caller phoned in a false alarm in Bangs, a small town 8 miles from the Brownwood city limits, to which the department responded. Before the crews could return to Brownwood, fire completely consumed the 95-year-old building.

Athletics[link]

The school supports an active athletic program for both men's and women's competition in the NCAA Division III. The school is currently a member of the American Southwest Conference.

National Championship teams[link]

Howard Payne University teams achieved national championship status in 1957 and 1964 in NAIA Cross Country, and in 2007 and 2008 with NCAA Division III Women's Basketball.^[3]

Football[link]

Football began at Howard Payne in 1903. Gwinn Henry was named the first head coach in 1912 and coached for two seasons.^[4] The current coach is Steve Fanara. Fanara is in his third year as a head coach, and previously served as Howard Payne's defensive coordinator.

Campus life[link]

Student organizations[link]

Student elected organizations[link]

Student Government Association

Service/pledging organizations[link]

• Alpha Delta Kappa
• Alpha Psi Omega
• Chi Alpha Omega (women's Christian sorority chartered in 2002; not the male fraternity)
• Delta Chi Rho
• Delta Pi
• Iota Chi Alpha
• Gamma Beta Phi
• International Student Association^{[disambiguation needed ]}
• Kappa Kappa Psi - Zeta Beta
• Sigma Theta Phi
• Sigma Alpha Iota - Lambda Epsilon
• Student Activity Council
• Student Foundation
• Tau Beta Sigma - Delta Upsilon
• Zeta Chi Fraternity

Honorary organizations[link]

Gamma Beta Phi, Sigma Beta Delta

Departmental organizations[link]

Beta Beta Beta, Pi Gamma Mu, SIFE, Social Work Club, Student Speaker Bureau, Athletic Organizations, Cheerleaders, Stingers Drill Team, HPU Yellow Jacket Band Gold Coats Student Foundations Student Ambassadors

Religious organizations[link]

• Baptist Student Ministry
• Fellowship of Christian Athletes
• La Hora Bautista
• Ministerial Alliance

Photo gallery[link]

This section looks like an image gallery. Wikipedia policy discourages galleries of random images of the article subject; please improve or remove the section accordingly, moving freely licensed images to Wikimedia Commons if not already hosted there.

• HPUMabee.jpg

  Mabee University Center

• HPUMemorialTowers.jpg

  Memorial Bell Towers

• 

  Wilson Gate, 2001

• 

  Old Main Memorial Tower, 2001

• 

  Memorial Bell Tower, 2001

• GUYNEWMAN.JPG

  Former President Guy D. Newman, 2007

• JESUSHPU.JPG

  Jesus Statue, 2007

• HPUSIGN.JPG

  Main Sign, 2007

• GUYNIXON-1.jpg

  Former President Guy D. Newman talks to President Richard Nixon, 2007^{[citation needed]}

Notable alumni[link]

• Coffey Anderson, singer
• Cynthia Clawson, who is a multiple Dove Award and Grammy Award winning contemporary Christian music artist.
• Keith Crawford, NFL player.
• Ray Hildebrand, half of the duo of Paul & Paula. Jill Jackson (Paula) also attended Howard Payne but did not graduate.
• Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Barbarian.
• Jim Reese, mayor of Odessa from 1968 to 1974
• George E. "Buddy" West, state representative from Odessa, 1993—2008
• Tres Womack, Award winning Texas music singer/songwriter. Winner: Song of the Year "Gather Round" 2008 Texas Music Awards, also nominated for Album of the Year honors for "Freak Show". Oldest brother of Drew Womack. Graduate and former Head Baseball Coach for Howard Payne University. Nephew of former Howard Payne University President Guy Newman.
• Joe Simpson, American music manager and reality television producer, and the father of Ashlee and Jessica Simpson.^[5]
• James Criner, Current Varsity Football Head Coach for the Castle Hills First Baptist School Eagles, also a former Mr. HPU.

References[link]

External links[link]

	Texas portal
	University portal

Media related to Howard Payne University at Wikimedia Commons

• University website
• University sports website
• History of HPU

Taylor Hall
Born	(1991-11-14) November 14, 1991 (age 20) Calgary, AB, CAN[1]
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position	Left Wing
Shoots	Left
NHL team	Edmonton Oilers
National team	Canada
NHL Draft	1st overall, 2010 Edmonton Oilers
Playing career	2010–present

Taylor Strba Hall^[2] (born November 14, 1991) is a Canadian ice hockey left winger currently playing for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was the first overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Hall has had a highly successful junior career, helping the Windsor Spitfires to two consecutive Memorial Cup championships in 2009 and 2010. He was named Most Valuable Player of the Memorial Cup tournament both years. Hall's agent is former NHL defenceman Bobby Orr. On July 5, 2010, Hall signed his first professional contract with the Edmonton Oilers.

Early life[link]

Hall was born in Calgary, Alberta, he is the son of Steve Hall and Kim Strba. His father was a former Canadian Football League player for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Toronto Argonauts and Ottawa Rough Riders in the mid-1980s, after which he was a member of the Canadian national bobsleigh team.^[3] His mother introduced him to organized hockey at the age of five while his father maintained a backyard rink every winter which Hall and his friends practiced on relentlessly.^[4] His family moved to Kingston, Ontario, in 2005,^[4] where he attended high school at Frontenac Secondary School.^{[citation needed]}

Playing career[link]

Minor[link]

Hall started playing minor hockey in Calgary, Alberta.^[5] When he was 13, his family moved to Kingston, Ontario, where he continued to play.^[6] Hall captured a Bantam AAA Calgary city championship with the North East Canucks during the 2004–05 season.^[5] In 2005–06 and 2006–07 Hall played Bantam and Minor Midget hockey for the Greater Kingston Predators of the ODMHA league. Hall was named to the ODMHA Midget AAA All-Star team.^[5] After the season, Hall was the second overall choice in the 2007 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Priority Selection by the Windsor Spitfires.^[5][7] Ryan O'Reilly was selected first overall ahead of Hall by the Erie Otters.^[7]

Junior[link]

Hall with the Spitfires

Hall made his OHL debut in 2007–08, scoring a team-high 45 goals and adding 39 assists for 84 points,^[8] which was third in team scoring.^[5] In March, he was named OHL player of the week twice (March 3 and March 10).^[5] He was named OHL and CHL Rookie of the Year after the season.^[5]

During the 2008–09 OHL season, Hall was selected to represent the OHL in the ADT Canada-Russia Challenge.^[5] He scored 38 goals and added 52 assists to finish with 90 points.^[8] Windsor had a successful season on the ice, capturing the OHL Championship as well as the Memorial Cup. During the OHL playoffs, Hall scored 16 goals and added 20 assists^[8] while being awarded the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as Playoff MVP.^[5][9] He scored the game winning overtime goal in the fifth and deciding game of the OHL Finals against the Brampton Battalion to clinch the title.^[10] At the 2009 Memorial Cup, Hall recorded 8 points in 6 games, as the Spitfires defeated the Kelowna Rockets4–1 in the final.^[11] After the tournament, Hall was awarded the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as Tournament MVP and was named to the Tournament All-Star Team along with his teammate Ryan Ellis.^[5][11]

Though the odds of him playing in Russia were remote, Hall was drafted 89th overall by the Kontinental Hockey League's Ak Bars Kazan on June 1, 2009. He was one of three Canadian junior players (all from the OHL) taken in the 2009 KHL Draft, which begins selecting players a year younger than the NHL does.^[12] Hall was an early favourite to be the top pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft since entering the junior ranks. He was praised early in his junior career on Hockey Night in Canada by commentator Don Cherry during his "Coach's Corner" segment.^[13] He was also featured in a July 2008 issue of Sports Illustrated, profiling young athletes poised to star in their sports.^[14]

Hall finished the 2009–10 OHL season tied for first place in the OHL with Tyler Seguin with 106 points (40 goals and 66 assists) to win the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy alongside Seguin.^[15][16] Hall was instrumental in the Spitfires' 2010 J. Ross Robertson Cup championship, recording a playoff-leading 35 points in 19 post-season games. His teammate, Adam Henrique, won the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award, scoring 20 goals.

In May 2010, Hall helped lead the Windsor Spitfires to their second straight Memorial Cup. With the victory, Hall was awarded his second straight Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as tournament MVP, the first player in its history to repeat as a winner, the Ed Chynoweth Trophy as Memorial Cup scoring leader, and a spot on the tournament All-Star team for the second straight year.

Hall was ranked as the top North American prospect by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau (CSB) in its 2009–10 midterm rankings.^[17] In the CSB's final rankings, he was overtaken by Tyler Seguin as the top ranked North American prospect.^[18] He has cited New York Islanders forward and 2009 NHL Entry Draft first overall pick, John Tavares, as a role model, both on and off the ice.^[19]

Professional[link]

Shortly after being selected first overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Hall signed his first professional contract. The contract pays Hall the entry level maximum of $900,000 with the possibility of an additional $2.85 million in performance bonuses.^[20] This is the highest rookie contract in Oilers history.

Taylor Hall has been given permission to wear the jersey number 4 which had belonged to former Oilers' player, Kevin Lowe, now serving as the president of hockey operations, who, before Hall, had been the only Oiler to ever wear the number 4 in its NHL history.^[21]

Hall made his NHL debut on October 7, 2010, as the Oilers defeated arch-rivals, the Calgary Flames at Rexall Place. Hall's first NHL point, an assist, came in his second game, against the Florida Panthers on October 10, 2010, Shawn Horcoff redirected Hall's shot in front of the net. His first NHL goal came on October 28, 2010, against Steve Mason of the Columbus Blue Jackets and his former coach with the Windsor Spitfires, Bob Boughner.

Hall came in second place to Michael Grabner in the fastest skater, in the 2011 NHL All-Star Game SuperSkills Competition.

Hall got his first NHL hat-trick and natural hat-trick against the Atlanta Thrashers on February 19, 2011. With the Oilers down two goals, Hall scored 3 consecutive power play goals in a span of 12:53 to win the game by a score of 5-3. ^[22]

On March 3, 2011, Hall recorded his first career Gordie Howe hat trick on a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Hall scored a goal against Steve Mason, assisted on a goal by Jordan Eberle, and fought with Derek Dorsett, in a 4-2 win. The fight with Dorsett, however, ended his rookie season early as Hall suffered a high ankle sprain at the end of the fight. Hall finished his rookie season scoring 22 goals and 20 assists in 65 games.

Hall recorded his second career NHL hat-trick in a 9-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks after going 9 games without a goal.

On January 17, 2012, Hall was sliced by teammate Corey Potter's skate before a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets during warmup, resulting in a deep cut to his face that required 30 stitches to close.^[23]

It was announced that Hall would need major shoulder surgery and would need 5 to 6 months to recover, ending his successful sophomore year. ^[24] Despite missing 21 games, Hall was still tied for fifth for power play goals.

International play[link]

Medal record
Taylor Hall
Competitor for Canada
Ice hockey
IIHF World U20 Championship
Silver	2010 Canada
Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament
Gold	2008 Slovakia
IIHF World U18 Championships
Gold	2008 Russia
Competitor for  Ontario
World U-17 Hockey Challenge
Gold	2008 Canada

Hall represented Canada at the 2008 IIHF World U18 Championships in Kazan, Russia as one of five 16-year-olds. He was fifth in tournament scoring, with nine points in seven games, helping Canada to a gold medal. He returned to Canada's under-18 team to earn a second gold medal at the 2008 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in Slovakia as an alternate captain to Matt Duchene.^[25]

Hall made Canada's national junior team for the 2010 World Junior Championships in Saskatchewan. He was the lone draft-eligible player selected to the final roster.^[26] Hall scored a hat-trick against Slovakia, in a game Canada ended up winning 8–2. After the championships, Hall finished tied for third overall in scoring with his Canadian teammate and Alex Pietrangelo along with American, Jerry D'Amigo. He ended up with 6 goals and 6 assists (12 points) in 6 games.

Hall was invited to Hockey Canada's summer evaluation camp for the 2011 World Junior Tournament, but declined to participate, choosing instead to focus on making the Oilers' roster for the upcoming season. According to Hockey Canada policy, Hall would have been ineligible to participate in the tournament even if he was available.^[27]

Career statistics[link]

International

Year	Team	Event	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	Team result
2008	Canada	WJC-U18	7	4	5	9	4
2010	Canada	WJC	6	6	6	12	0
Junior totals			13	10	11	21	4

Awards and honours[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Taylor Hall

• Taylor Hall's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• OHL Player Profile