“Enter With Hope: Schreiner at 100”–the commemorative book that captures the history of Kerrville’s Schreiner University–is now available for purchase by the general public.

The completed publication is a coffee table-style hardcover that measures 9 x 11 inches, with 230 pages and dozens of photographs spanning the century. It is offered for sale locally at Schreiner Outfitters in the Cailloux Campus Activity Center (CCAC) on the Schreiner University campus. The book can be ordered online at schreineroutfitters.com, amazon.com, and through Texas A&M University Press at http://www.tamupress.com/books/.

Compiling the book, which chronicles the journey from its founding as Schreiner Institute in 1923 through becoming Schreiner College, then Schreiner University, was a five-year “labor of love” by author Tim Summerlin, PhD., President Emeritus.

“We were engaged in strategic planning as I retired in 2017, and we recognized that the approaching Centennial deserved an updated history,” said Summerlin, who served as the University’s fifth president, from 2001 to 2017. “As one who would suddenly have ‘no work,’ I was a natural to take that task on. Two excellent works published in 1998 chronicled the first three quarters of Schreiner’s journey, but the story of the last 25 years needed to be shared.”

Summerlin sorted through mountains of files, both paper and electronic, that he had accumulated, along with research material from associates both on and off campus. It truly became a “labor of love.”

“Writing the book was reliving the past twenty plus years,” he said. “It meant recalling some pain, but even more pleasure. Pride in what a committed group of people can accomplish is at the heart of that pleasure.”

To efficiently organize and encapsulate 100 years of growth and change, Summerlin chose to blend the topical with chronology. He formulated questions to provide structure: What was Schreiner’s situation as the 20th century was ending? How could it establish financial stability? Tell its story better? What was campus life like and what was Schreiner’s relationship to the community?

“At the heart of the story are four traits reaching from the Institute’s beginning to the present,” he said. “They are: belief in holistic learning, stress on learning results or outcomes, emphasis on relationships, and a flexibility in responding to change.”

Summerlin hopes the book will provide a welcome read and thoughtful gift for any Hill Country resident, history buff, current or past student, or anyone with an interest in or connection to Schreiner University.

“I hope that anyone who has been a Schreiner student or a part of its learning program or even a supporter or observer might find this story appealing,” he said. “There are a lot of heroes here.”

Contact: Tim Summerlin, tsummerl@schreiner.edu

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