Celebrating George Strait's "Cowboy Rides Away" Tour at New Mexico State University with George's 15th and final show at NMSU in April 2013. Pictured L - R Scott Breckner, George Strait, Barbara Hubbard, and Ginny Van Doren
Barbara Hubbard with Bob Hope and one of the early and most notable ACTS showcase winners, Jeff Dunham from Baylor University.
Reba McEntire and Barbara Hubbard at New Mexico State University (NMSU). Barb and Reba have enjoyed a 40+ year friendship over the years. Barb still has the receipt for the $500 guarantee for Reba's first performance at NMSU.
ACTS Presents KISS at NMSU. Pictured L - R Members of the band KISS and Barbara Hubbard
Barbara speaking with a student during her 3 decades as the Director of Special Events at New Mexico State University.
Alabama performance at New Mexico State University. Pictured L - R ACTS Student, Sabrina Garza, Randy Owen of Alabama, Barbara Hubbard, and ACTS Student
ACTS student interns in Hot Springs, Arkansas with Beach Boys members Mike Love and Bruce Johnson. The ACTS students are holding up t-shirts from their respective colleges. Throughout the early 2000s Barbara ran a summer internship program with
ACTS Presents Jason Aldean at New Mexico State University May 2013. Pictured L - R Ginny Van Doren, Barbara Hubbard, Jason Aldean, Sabrina Garza, and ACTS Student.
ACTS Presents Brad Paisley at New Mexico State University in March 2013. Pictured L - R Scott Breckner, ACTS Students, Brad Paisley, Barbara Hubbard, Andy Arrendondo, Jared Stormen, 2nd Row Ginny Van Doren and ACTS Student
ACTSWebsite_BarbaraMotherHubbard_ACTSstudentsatPollstarConference.jpg
Barbara "Mother" Hubbard Presents Singer, Songwriter, and Actress Tina Turner an ACTS jacket as a thank you for performing.
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood sold out 5 shows at New Mexico State University in April 2017. Pictured L - R Ginny Van Doren, Scott Breckner, Trisha Yearwood, Barbara Hubbard, Garth Brooks, and former New Mexico State University Board of Regency me

About ACTS Scholarship Program

 

  • ACTS has been serving as a bridge between dreams and reality for many young rising stars since its founding in 1978.

    ACTS offers educational scholarships for New Mexico State University students in all aspects of the entertainment and media industry. As a development program, ACTS also connects students with opportunities to meet people in the industry who can help them.

  • Today a critical demand exists for thoroughly skilled performing artists and other entertainment and media industry professionals like producers, editors, and marketers who support the back end of the industry.

    Like most professional careers — the more professional training, mentoring, and experiences a student has, the more likelihood that student can earn a living in the entertainment and media industry.

  • The entertainment and media industry continues to explode at an incredible rate each year since the beginning of the 21st Century.

    Today’s technology makes it easy. Smartphones have placed high-quality cameras in every owner’s pocket. YouTube reaches audiences around the globe instantly. Online courses offer training in ukulele to bookkeeping and have become the norm for self-improvement.

    Now the industry saturation is higher than it’s ever been. Competing for audience share to earn a living requires knowledge – and talent. And as each generation becomes more and more comfortable with advancing technology, there will be more and more sources of entertainment to choose from – the good, the bad, and the ugly.

  • Universities have stepped in to meet this growing need of helping talented entertainment and media students to rise up to the top in their industry through dedicated courses, inclusive majors, and internship opportunities.

    Many entertainment and media students pay for their college education through scholarships, work programs, and grants in addition to loans.

    Starting in 1980, Barbara “Mother” Hubbard and the ACTS program began setting up endowed scholarships at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Today there are fourteen. You can find the list and apply at https://panam.nmsu.edu/acts.

    “An endowed scholarship is a donation made to a college that earns interest each year. When you endow a scholarship, you’ll give a university, college or local foundation a certain amount of money. Then the organization will invest it how it sees fit and use the proceeds to fund a scholarship for years to come. You can add more funds over time, but the principal amount itself will never be spent.”

    Source: Bankrate’s Scholarship endowments: Benefits of giving (April 29, 2021)

    ACTS strives to insure widespread participation regardless of race, creed, or sexual orientation.

    The Bob Hope Scholarship awards funds to military veterans or military retirees in honor of his overseas tours. Another scholarship seeks students with a disability while another reserves its awards for minorities. Most require a financial need, and many have a major requirement like theater arts, venue management, and other E&M careers.

  • Barbara “Mother” Hubbard started the American Collegiate Talent Showcase (ACTS) as the All-American Collegiate Talent Search in the 1970s. This was a national program that discovered and encouraged fresh, new entertainers on college campuses across the U.S.

    ACTS also provided them with a chance for national exposure. The first national competition was held at Southwest Missouri State University in 1978 as the “Bob Hope search for the Tops in Collegiate Talent”. This effort forged a life-long friendship with Bob Hope who affectionately coined Barbara’s nickname as “Mother Hubbard” for her nurturing of young, collegiate talent.

    ACTS eventually expanded to help students achieve the knowledge and experience necessary to work "behind the scenes." Training through experience and classroom studies included skill development as sound and lighting techs, marketing and promoting professionals, venue managers, tour accountants, booking agents, and more. Much of the hands-on experience came through paid and volunteer internships. Students would work the shows at the Pan American Center at New Mexico State and serve as volunteer students at national trade conferences like the International Entertainment Buyers Association.

    Every college and university in this country has collegiate performers and support professionals who dream of developing and sharing their talents on a national level.

    To help fund the scholarships, ACTS became a promoter booking shows at various college and community venues. Students would work on these shows to gain hands-on experience. Often the talent would give back to ACTS to set up a scholarship in their name. We’ve included their names in our shortlist of supporters.

  • The Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management Bachelor’s Degree delivers a real-world knowledge on how to manage hotels, restaurants, and venues. Students learn everything from safety and sanitation to marketing and business models.

    In 2018 Mother Hubbard worked with the Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management professors to develop a new course. The HRTM 444. Entertainment Business and Venue Management course debuted in the spring of 2019. This is a comprehensive course designed to cover all aspects of incorporated event practices such as marketing, production, contracts, ticketing, and security.

    Barbara “Mother” Hubbard continues to serve as guest speaker and special projects coordinator for the class.

    Students can find out more information and enroll in the class at HRTM-HOTEL/RESTAURANT/TOURISM MGT course listings. For 2021/22 find it HERE.

    The Hubb Conference

    Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in Nashville, TN in 2017 honored Barbara Hubbard for her 50 years of educating students about the entertainment industry. CAA set up a new program in her honor, “The Hubb Conference." This invitation-only event offered students networking opportunities with leaders in the industry. You can read about it in Digital Music News.

    The 2019 conference reported that several 2018 alumni of THE HUBB found full-time employment “at top music companies, including CAA, Universal Music Group, and Spotify, among others.” Read about the 2019 conference in Music Row.

  • Many established performing artists, producers, managers, agents, administrators, educators, and educational institutions have joined together to support the ACTS program and its many students through the years.

    Supporters have included: Bob Hope, Garth Brooks, George Strait, Reba McEntire, Clarence Spalding, Jeff Dunham, Keith Urban, Stevie Wonder, and New Mexico State University. Organizations include Anschutz Entertainment Group, Live Nation, Creative Artists Agency, William Morris, APA, United Talent Agency, and Paradigm.

    Our students thank you for helping to make their dreams possible.

    If you would like to contribute to help our entertainment and media students, feel free to add to our scholarship program through New Mexico State University.

    Find out how at https://nmsufoundation.org/how-to-give.html.

  • Talk with your college advisor and apply for an ACTS scholarship for next semester.

    ACTS Scholarship Opportunities at New Mexico State University

    Apply Here

  • Coming Soon

Bob Hope, an extremely popular comedian and actor, honored Barbara Hubbard with the nick name of “Mother Hubbard” due to her dedication to her students.

“The engineers and statesmen, doctors and lawyers of tomorrow are now being groomed for our society in colleges and universities, so are future entertainers who could excite our souls, stimulate our minds and soothe our emotions”

— Bob Hope