The Emerald raises more than $800,000 in funding

In this episode, join Haley Asbill, TNE writer, as she speaks with Peggy Glenn, director of development, and Baptiste Linet, 2026 winner of The Emerald. Listen in as they discuss the lasting impact of this fundraising gala supporting scholarships, sports, department programs and more.

For more information, visit https://www.nsualumni.com/s/1517/bp20/home.aspx.

For more NSU news, visit nsunews.com.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Hello, welcome to Hawk Talk TE's podcast. This is Haley Asbel, and today I'm sitting down with Peggy Glenn, Director of Development, and Batisse Linet, 2026 winner of the Emerald, who are here to discuss this fundraising gala supporting student scholarships. Thank you both for taking the time to sit with me. Let's find out more about the Emerald. Peggy, if you'll just kind of tell me a little bit about the Emerald, maybe just how would you explain the Emerald to someone who's maybe not familiar with it?

SPEAKER_02 0:32

Sure. So it's actually it was started in 1998. It's taken different forms over the years, but since COVID, we decided to be a little more mission-centric and to focus on student talent. And so we have auditions via video that the students send in around the first of the year. And then the steering committee reviews those, ranks them. We bring in a group for live auditions. And then from that group, we choose five to six performers for the evening. And it started the fundraising part of it started in 2014 under uh President Turner, who wanted to turn it into a fundraising gala and not just a chance for folks to dress up and and congratulate our alumni honorees. Let's make it something bigger and better. And so over the years, we have had various groups come in, like Casey and the Sunshine Band. We've had Winona, several different acts that would come in and entertain, but we thought, you know what, we've got very talented students. So let's turn this into a competition for a one-year scholarship that's in-state tuition and all mandatory fees for uh 30 hours over a year and uh and see what we come up with. And for the past, this is our fifth year doing it in this format, and we've always had wonderful talent to use it as part of this gala. And then the the participants, the people who attend, actually get to vote on who gets the scholarship.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

Yeah, I didn't realize it wasn't always like a student talent showcase, so that that's pretty cool for sure.

SPEAKER_02 2:23

With these uh the past five shows, or actually since it was since 2014 when it became a fundraiser, the NSU Foundation has raised over half a million dollars for student scholarships. And it generally is attended by at least 300 people each year. And this year we had six participants uh who actually performed, six students who performed on stage. And the one that wins the scholarship, the fully one-year scholarship, which this year was Batisse Linnae, but all of the others, just for putting themselves out there, will receive a thousand dollar scholarship. And it's really impressive to see how they have uh just grown in confidence and improved their performance from the time we get their video auditions all the way up to the the night of. They just really turn it on the night of it. It's so cool to watch.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

Yeah, I bet. I'd I've always seen flyers around campus, and I was like, that would be a cool way to earn tuition for a whole year and everything else, but I don't think I could ever do anything like that.

SPEAKER_02 3:34

You know, in the past it's been mostly singing and musicians. This year we had two dancers, two musicians, and two singers. So it was quite a variety, it's the biggest variety we've had. And everyone that I talked to after the show said this was probably one of the best when since we've been doing this format. Just the variety of students and the variety of talent that we had.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

Yeah, that's awesome. So now that we've learned a little bit more about what the Emerald is, let's take a closer look at how the contestants prepared for their moment on the stage. Peggy, can you just kind of tell me a little bit about the preparation process that goes into this one night event? Kind of like how do students prepare from just auditioning to actually being on that stage.

SPEAKER_02 4:16

Right. So a lot of times they will audition via video with a specific song. Then we'll bring them back and ask them to prepare not just that song, but a backup song. And a lot of times we'll end up choosing the backup song for them to perform. And maybe they're more comfortable with it, or maybe it showcases their talents a little bit better. So our steering committee, which is made out of people from the university as well as in the community, they review the videos and then they come out and watch the auditions, the live auditions. And then we do a ranking, and there's lots of discussion and some sometimes a few tears. So if so if you really want someone to make it, and and the rest of the team is like, well, we think there's someone better. It really can be a very interesting thing to watch. But we come up with five to six performers each year. And then we reach out to them, we do a video of them that will be shown before their performance at the event. We also do some studio photos of them, and then we do a coached rehearsal, which is probably one of the best things that we are able to do is just have them do not a full dress rehearsal, but a rehearsal to show them how big the stage is gonna be and how to use it if they're doing, for instance, dancing or if they're singing with a mic without a chord, and just to try to prepare them for what the night is gonna look like. Here's what we're gonna do, and there's gonna be 300 people. And it's always fun to watch the students' reaction when they come in for the dress rehearsal on Saturday morning and just look and see what the whole ballroom looks like.

SPEAKER_00 6:03

It's so big, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 6:06

Matisse was just kind of awestruck when he was up there looking out. He's like, I didn't think it'd be this big.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

Oh yeah, I imagine it probably would be overwhelming for sure.

SPEAKER_02 6:17

It is, and it's beautifully, you know, it's kind of low light, and there's lots of green lights, and then there's a huge video board behind the performers that we use throughout the night and to enhance the performance. And so it's it really is pretty impressive, the production quality that goes into this with our production team, Creative Minds, who we've been working with for probably 15 years. We know each other very well and we know what we each want, and so it's a very fun creative process. They actually come to the um coach rehearsals and film the performances, and then you use part of that throughout the show.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

Yeah, that's really cool. I mean, you would think, you know, it takes a lot of work to go into that, but I really like how you describe the process of working with the other individuals. And so, Batisse, will you tell me a little bit about yourself? You know, you're from France, so just tell me a little bit about why you came to NSU and why you wanted to enter this competition.

SPEAKER_00 7:15

First of all, I came to NSU to play tennis. I got a scholarship for tennis. When the coach called me, I was really into it. Coach was really into it, so I think he made me come to NSU. And I like the fact that it's not a big city, everybody knows everybody. I mean, I don't know everybody in the campus, but I know a lot of people. And it's nice to like see each other every day. I mean, I saw the flyer, and I said like free scholarship and superb experience, so I didn't know it was that big, so I was kind of like let's just test it, and if I don't win, I don't win. It's gonna be a good experience. So yeah, just saw the flyer and enter the competition.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

So I noticed that you played the piano, so just tell me a little bit about how you got into that and if you performed a song, what song did you do?

SPEAKER_00 8:05

It was like three years ago. There was a piano in the house for many years, and nobody played it. So I was like, somebody gotta play it one day, and I wanted to play it and test it if I would like it, because you know when sometimes you try an instrument and you don't even like it. So I really enjoyed learning and I learned the song on YouTube, and it was complicated at the first time with the coordination of the fingers and everything, but I was kinda into it, and I played Medellin from Sofian Pamarc, a French composer who played during the opening of the Olympic Games in Paris. Yeah, that's kind of like why I chose this song.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

Yeah, that's awesome. I also have a piano as just collecting dust at my house, so props to you for actually learning how to play it. So just tell me a little bit about what the rehearsal process was like for you and what you felt like being on that stage and what was just going through your mind.

SPEAKER_00 9:06

It was so big. Like when I entered, I didn't know it was in the casino at first. I thought it was in a big room, but I didn't really know how fancy it was. And it was so well prepared, it was really professional. And like with the smoke, the lights, there was so many people around it and working in the shadow, and I really want to thank them because they did the whole of the work, and that's because of them the night went really well. And yeah, it was like working up the stage. I saw the tables, like I didn't even count it, it was so many. And at the start, um, the piano when I touched the keys, it was like a five-second delay with the mic, uh, with the sound coming out of it, so we fixed that and everything. And yeah, it was really professional. I really liked it.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

Yeah, so just tell me a little bit about what you were feeling whenever they announced you as the winner.

SPEAKER_00 9:56

It was crazy. I the whole team went crazy, and some um It scared me. I was so scared. I was like, what's happening? And yeah, I was super happy and also like a little bit sad for the other contestant because we talked a lot during the day, and I learned the life of every contestant, and I really liked the show of what they do. So yeah, I was happy and sad at the same time. More than happy, but yeah, it was crazy. I couldn't believe it. And I think I can't believe it either, like now.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

Yeah, I imagine it would be hard for sure. Like getting to know those other contestants and then like you're happy for yourself, but feel bad for them at the same time for sure. Well, now that we know a little bit more about the contestants' experience, let's dive deeper into the emerald's impact on students. So NSU was recently gifted a $17 million donation last semester. Peggy, would you tell me a little bit about how this donation affected the Emerald this year?

SPEAKER_02 10:50

Sure. So we did get $17 million, just literally out of the blue. We had no idea we were even on the radar of a foundation called Guild Giving. And it's run by Mackenzie Scott, one of the founders of Amazon.com. And so we were one of the Oklahoma institutions. There were several other state colleges, community colleges, and then regional colleges that received similar gifts. And we were talking to our steering committee, and they said this is really an opportunity to see if we can raise the bar on what we've been able to actually secure during these events in the past. And they also said, you know, what if we open it up to any designation that anyone wants to donate to, if it's sports, if it's an academic program, if it's a specific scholarship, because many of the people who attend have their own scholarships. And again, that was really an effort by the steering committee to say, here's what we think people would respond to. And so Chrissy Nemo, who is the past president of the NNSU Foundation and an attorney for the Cherokee Nation businesses, she and I visited with the president and brought up this idea. And at first we had it capped at $50,000 because we looked at the past year's giving and that was more than what we had ever made. And we thought, oh, that should be sufficient. But then we started hearing from people saying, you know, I think that I might make a pretty good sized gift. And we didn't want to just have one particular designation get all of the matching funds. So I went to the president at my meeting with him last week and I said, look, I'm hearing things about some pretty big gifts that might be need to be matched. And he said, let's just do it dollar for dollar. And what we raise is going to be doubled. And, you know, let's just double as much and do as much with what we have. So that's what we did. And people could give to any designation. We had about 30 designations, different different programs, scholarships, sports that people donated to during that evening. And we had some pretty good sized gifts as well, which was a lot of fun just to see checks and very large amounts. But it ended up with almost $440,000 in gifts that night, which will be doubled. So we're talking $880,000, just a little under of impact for NSU. So that's just way more than we've ever made before. Like I said, $50,000 was gonna be a stretch, we thought, and we blew that out of the water.

SPEAKER_01 13:31

Yeah, that's really awesome for sure. And I think it's really cool too that people got to choose where their money was going to. You know, if they wanted to make an impact on a certain part of NSU, they were able to do that. Exactly. In the past, it had gone to just scholarships.

SPEAKER_02 13:44

And so we had some going to general scholarships, some going to the winners' scholarships, and then the other competitors' scholarships. Our Emerald in the Rough scholarship received some, and then our legacy scholar from the Alumni Association received some amount. And we think we'll be able to clear enough from things that were donated before that night that we'll be able to continue funding those to the extent we need to, as well as use the match to fund all the other programs that people really wanted to invest in themselves.

SPEAKER_00 14:17

I hope that people invest in the tennis team.

SPEAKER_02 14:21

Yeah, this is the first year for men's tennis since it was discontinued in the 90s, I think. And so Batiste is on the inaugural team for men's tennis in the 21st century. And so his teammates came that night. And in fact, I had someone come up to me and say that it was just such a great vibe with the support of the other students and staff and faculty and community members for the performers.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

Yeah, I didn't know that about the tennis team either. So that was really cool that all your teammates were there that supports you.

SPEAKER_02 14:53

Yeah, they did a chant after his performance, and then when he won, you would have thought they won. It was it was so cool. They were out in the hallway immediately to just embrace him and congratulate him.

SPEAKER_01 15:06

That's really special for sure. So, Batisse, how do you hope winning the scholarship has an impact on your time at NSU?

SPEAKER_00 15:12

I mean, it's really helping because only my mom is paying for my scholarship and I have a student loan. So yeah, it's really, really helping. And a lot of people came up to me and congratulated me that it was my night. You know, you don't have that every day. And yeah, I feel like I made quite an advertising of the tennis team, and I hope people now is gonna come or donate for the tennis team. It'll be good. Yeah, I feel like uh a star for the night.

SPEAKER_01 15:38

Yeah, I mean, it's not every day someone gets to have their moment in the spotlight like that.

SPEAKER_02 15:42

Literally in the spotlight, and he had he had tails on his tuxedo that he flipped out when he sat down on the piano bench. It was so classic. Um, actually, the president uh wife, our first lady, Sarah Gunnis Hanley, went down and helped them. Uh, he and one other performer helped them pick out what they were gonna wear. So, I mean, we had support from all types of people to make this the best show and the best experience for the students. We got their green room requests, like what their favorite snacks were, what their favorite drinks were. We just let them decide what they want to have that will make them feel comfortable, and they were very supportive of one another. They were in the background and really helping and cheering on each performer as they went up there. It's so cool. Every year I'm just so impressed with our students and the quality and the earnestness and the talent that we have among our students, and it's great to get to share that with our community.

SPEAKER_01 16:38

So I think it's my last question: how do you hope the Emerald will continue to grow over the course of the next several years?

SPEAKER_02 16:45

Yeah, so this year we had our first returning performer. She had done a duet, Michelle Vynam's her name, and did a solo this year. So I suspect we'll see more people returning. And the steering committee really wants to have discussions about okay, how can we make this bigger and better every year? This year, with the match theme, we encouraged people to dress in matched outfit. The cabinet for NSU dressed in 80s outfits, and it was so much fun. It was such a great look at their table, and they they really rocked it. So, you know, probably expanding upon that. So it's not just a fancy affair that you wear a long dress to that you can actually match someone else, or maybe at the table all gets together and decides on a theme. So we're always trying to make it bigger and better. And our steering committee goes to a lot of these events, so they always have great suggestions. And honestly, I could not have imagined what it was on Saturday a year ago. So I have no idea how to predict what it will be like in the future. But again, we have some very talented students and very committed steering committee members, so we'll make it work.

SPEAKER_01 17:54

Yeah, well, I'm very excited to see how it continues to grow over the future. And I mean, it looks like 2026 was a really historic year. Oh, yes. For the Emerald. It's extremely historic. Yeah, it's just made a lasting impact on students, and looks like you guys are pretty hopeful to continue doing that in the future. Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today. It was great getting to sit down with the two of you. For more information about the Emerald, visit nsualumni.com. Thanks for listening to the Hawk Talk Podcast. You can find us at nsunews.com or Spotify. You can also follow our social media pages at TE News on Instagram and Twitter and the Northeastern on Facebook for the latest NSU news.