Tutor aids student athletes off the field

Hoyle Julian has been serving as an A&M-Commerce math tutor for more than a decade and was honored by the Heritage Society in 2000 and the Rayburn Society in 2005, these accolades are the least of his achievements at the university.

"I taught in the classroom for four years after I retired," Julian said. "We (he and his wife Ann Julian) donated all the money to scholarship funds. I have never kept any funds from the university when I have been paid. This has been my giving back, I guess. We give a lot, but not as much as this school has given us."

Julian and Ann have set up a scholarship funds for students involved in everything from the performing arts and music, to math and agriculture. Helping students is a prominent theme in the life of the Julians.

"I explain to the students that I do get paid, but not in money," Julian said. "If they do well and make a good grade then I get paid, and if they do well out on the track or field then I get paid again. The reason I tell the students now that my work is voluntary, is that I found out it makes a difference to them. It's not that I need to be lauded for it. I get my praise when they do well in the classroom, but it makes a difference to the kids."

Hoyle normally helps student athletes in their study hall, but also takes time to tutor individuals one-on-one. Sophomore Joel Day is a sprinter for the A&M-Commerce track and field team, and said Julian has helped him more than his actual classes.

"In the past three weeks of tutoring, I have learned more than I have all semester," Day said. "It's a great deal of help and the motivation is good. Even at the situation I'm at right now, he's telling me to keep pushing through to keep fighting for a better grade. And the way he explains math is a lot easier, because it's a lot easier to understand one-on-one. Plus, not getting paid is a pretty big deal and it takes a lot of time and dedication for something like that."

Even library workers, such as Library Assistant in Curriculum Zear Leane Roberts, notice Julian's dedication.

"I see him up here tutoring almost every day," she said. "The kids seem to really respond to his teaching."

Helping students achieve success in the classroom has been a goal for Julian and a craft he has been honing for 10 years.

"I enjoy the tutoring and I think it's something that I cannot afford not to do," Julian said. "I will probably have one or two students a year who probably would not have made it otherwise. I used to say that I don't offer anything that the Math Department doesn't offer in the math lab, but I have come to find over the years that maybe that's not true and maybe I do make a difference."

Student athletes are not the only students that have gained from his efforts.

"She was making 50s and I talked with her and pumped her up," he said. "Then she started making 70s on the last two tests, but she skipped the final. So I called her and she was lacking self-esteem. I talked to the head of the Math Department and told him I wanted to give her an incomplete and re-test her, and he said that they had never done that before. He ran it by the dean and the dean said OK. She took that test and made enough to make a D."

Most of the students he has tutored have gone on to succeed in the classroom, and some have even proven more on the field. One, wide receiver Cedric Bonner, went on to play for the Atlanta Falcons and the Washington Redskins.

"I had a former basketball player I tutored here that called me from California because she saw a tutoring sign and it reminded her of me so she called and we talked," Julian said, "I had one comeback who plays professional football, and he came and sat by me at a basketball game. He hugged me and said, 'I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for you,' and that really feels good."