A couple of days before the New Year, West Texas A&M University received heart-wrenching news about a member if its faculty, Dr. Dean Hawkins, Head of the Department of Agricultural Sciences.
“Dear WTAMU Ag Family, Dr. Dean Hawkins, Department Head, found out on Monday after a CAT scan that he has a brain tumor.”
These were the words of a post on the WTAMU Department of Agricultural Sciences Facebook page by Dr. Lance Kieth on Jan. 1. Dr. Kieth is the Assistant Department Head of Agricultural Sciences.
“Dr. Hawkins is my hero and we are looking forward to getting him back in the seat of leadership,” Kieth said.
An online public journal created and shared via CaringBride.org has been kept up-to-date by Hawkins’ twin daughters, Callie and Hannah, as they have been chronicling the journey of their father’s condition. According to the journal, what was first perceived to be side effects to cholesterol medication turned out to be something different altogether.
After a few months, what started as slight mental confusion soon led to severe headaches and struggles with hand-eye coordination, Hawkins checked into Family Medical Clinic center in Canyon. It was there that he was diagnosed with what the journal referred to as “a tumor, approximately the size of a chicken egg, on the right partial lobe of his brain.”
It was later revealed that the tumor was more comparable the size of a small avocado, approximately a little more than five centimeters. Prior to surgery at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, there was an infection unrelated to the tumor that caused the surgery to be postponed until the infection could be contained.
Periodically, Hawkins’ wife, Jaye, would take over for the twins on the journal. It seemed during all this time, Hawkins remained in good spirits as support continued to come their way. As the surgery date grew closer, thanks to the containment of the infection, the twins attended stock shows and soccer tournaments, birthdays came and went and Dean and his wife moved into an apartment in Houston as their stay had been extended.
After surgery, it was confirmed that the cancerous brain tumor had been removed and Hawkins would be undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment to remove the remaining three percent. His strength and speedy recovery led to his release from the hospital to his Houston apartment and no therapy was suggested. Throughout this time, friends and family members wore shirts with the “Superman” emblem in solidarity.
Soon, they relocated apartments as Hawkins began chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Hawkins remained strong through treatments and even made time for some extracurricular activities, including a visit to the zoo. Pretty soon, Hawkins himself took to the journal to give his own personal update. He commented on the fact that he is surrounded by strong women, including his wife, his mother and his twins.
Support has come from all around the community, especially those from his WT family. Agricultural Media and Communications Major Morgan Gadd took it upon herself to set up a fundraiser for Hawkins and his family. Gadd organized a MyShirtSize.com account and created a superhero-esque “Super Hawkins” t-shirt in support of Hawkins.
“Dr. Dean Hawkins is the greatest asset we have in the department,” Gadd said. “He does work behind the scenes and establishes industry connections so students can capitalize on the practical education they have gleaned at WT.”
Gadd explained her motivation for this initiative and said supporting someone who is experiencing something so hard on a family is critical for her.
“Having experienced what brain damage can do to an individual, moreover a family, it was important to me to support Dr. Hawkins and his family,” Gadd said. “I reached out to my friends at a t-shirt shop back home in Indiana and started a ‘Super Hawkins’ t-shirt fundraiser to aggregate funds for a donation to the Hawkins family.”
Kassie Mullins, fellow Agricultural Media and Communications major and co-host of WTAMU’s KWTS radio show “Country with K&J,” had similar points of view regarding the Ag Department’s beloved Department Head.
“He is the backbone to our department,” Mullins said. “We consider him the ‘Superman’ of the Ag Department.”
The most recent update to the journal stated that after six weeks of treatment, Hawkins would be returning home. With not just WT, but the entire community anxious for his return after months of surgeries and hospital visits, the Hawkins twins summed it up best when they wrote, “Superman is on his way home.”
