University of North Texas

Kevin Roden, assistant director of student life for the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, or TAMS, guides academically talented teens who are completing their junior and senior years of high school while involved in university-level research. Roden and his wife host “Drink and Think” events around Denton and are restoring their century-old historical home.

How long have you been at UNT? What is your  background?

I started at UNT as a jazz studies student in 1992 and graduated with a degree in political science. I started working full-time for UNT in June of 1998 as hall director and student development specialist at McConnell Hall, home of the TAMS students. Since then, I have earned a master’s in philosophy and am currently finishing my doctorate in philosophy, both at the University of Dallas.

How do you support student life for TAMS kids? What is different for them?

My aim is to help provide a student life program that is as first class as our academic program.  We try to put on some great events featuring professors and scholars, and relevant, sometimes controversial, topics.  But we also know that our students are in need of additional help transitioning to college at such an early age. We have some of the best student employees on campus who help … they provide the most sense of community, reflection and entertainment for our population.

What’s challenging and rewarding about working with these talented students?

The biggest challenge is just making sure we are helping to form the whole student. We stress involvement in community service to develop character and maturity and to gain a better perspective on the world. Each class of students typically logs over 15,000 hours of service to the Denton community during their time at TAMS. It is quite motivating, yet humbling, to get up in the morning realizing that it is my job to help shape and develop our nation’s next generation of leaders, scientists and researchers. Photo, TAMS students Jill Heller, Crystal Jain, Alex Price and Stella Yan at a 2009 Northlake Community Park service event.

Are they emotionally mature, along with academically gifted?

The vast majority of our students are well-adjusted, independent and quite confident … but even our most well-adjusted students still have some growing to do. We rarely have students leave for homesickness.  We are fortunate to have a tremendous psychologist and counselor on staff to help. Our resident assistants keep close tabs on them and are ready to get any help they might need.

 Tell us about your family

My wife, Emily, and I have been married for nine years.  She’s also UNT alum (music education). Emily works for Pearson Publishing and works with elementary schools throughout the DFW area. We have a bouncing two-year-old, Rosemary. We live in a century-old home near Texas Woman’s University that we have been fixing up for the last five years.

What are your hobbies?

We have hosted a popular discussion-oriented event called “Drink and Think” at our home for years, where folks gather to discuss some of the big questions of human life.  We recently turned this idea into a website – http://thinkdenton.com  – a place for Denton-centric news, happenings, and reflections on life and culture. We have also come to appreciate the historic beauties of this town, and I am a member of Denton’s Historic Landmark Commission.

What is your favorite book?

Plato’s Republic – just about every major question of human life that is still being asked today is dealt with in this ancient text.

(Interview by Megan Beck, student assistant, University Relations, Marketing and Communications.)