September 2007

Transylvania’s Smith Concert Series open with performance by Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet on Wednesday, Oct. 10, at 7:30 p.m.

Posted on September 27, 2007July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—The Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet will give the inaugural performance in Transylvania’s Dorothy J. and Fred K. Smith Concert Series Wednesday, Oct. 10, at 7:30 p.m. in Haggin Auditorium. For more than 30 years, the Kronos Quartet has pursued the artistic vision of combining fearless exploration with a commitment to expanding the range and context of the string quartet. In the process, Kronos has become one of the most celebrated and influential ensembles of today, performing thousands of concerts worldwide, releasing more than 40 recordings, collaborating with many of the world’s most eclectic composers and performers and commissioning hundreds of works and arrangements for string quartet. Their work has received numerous awards, including a 2004 Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance and being named 2003 Musicians of the Year by Musical America. Kronos has built a diverse repertoire for string quartet, performing and recording works by twentieth century masters (Bartok, Shostakovich, Webern), contemporary composers (Sofia Gubaidulina, Arvo Part, Alfred Schnittke), jazz legends (Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk), and such varied artists as rock guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, Indian vocal master Pandit Pran Nath and avant-garde saxophonist John Zorn. The quartet has collaborated with many of the world’s foremost composers and artists, and its work has been featured prominently in films and dance. The Smith Concert Series was created in February 2007 by Dorothy J. Smith, a 1942 Transylvania graduate, to bring high quality musical performances to Transylvania’s campus.

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First woman president of Ireland and winner of the Sydney Peace Prize to deliver Transylvania’s Kenan Lecture, Tuesday, Oct. 2, at 7:30 p.m.; free and open to the public

Posted on September 26, 2007July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Mary Robinson, chair of the Council of Women World Leaders and president of the Ethical Globalization Initiative, believes that rights are weapons the weak can use against the strong. An outspoken human rights advocate, she is a world leader who puts humanity at the forefront of politics. Robinson, the first woman president of Ireland, will bring her message to Transylvania University on Tuesday, Oct. 2, at 7:30 p.m. in Haggin Auditorium, when she delivers the fall Kenan Lecture. The event is free and open to the public. While serving as the president of the Republic of Ireland from 1990-97, Robinson placed an emphasis on the needs of developing countries. From 1997-2002 she served as United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights and gained a reputation for her willingness to stand up to powerful governments. Credited by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan with “putting human rights on the map,” Robinson was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize in 2002. She was the first head of state to visit Rwanda in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide there, and the first to visit Somalia following the 1992 crisis there. The Kenan Lecture Series is made possible by a grant from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust. Transylvania, founded in 1780, is the nation’s sixteenth oldest institution of higher learning and is consistently ranked in national publications as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country.

Two sisters honor brother with $1 million gift to Transylvania to fund two full four-year scholarships every four years

Posted on September 24, 2007July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—President Charles L. Shearer announced today that Clay Kirk of New York City and Sarah Kennedy of Atlanta, sisters of Transylvania University Board of Trustees member James G. Kenan III, have established a scholarship program at Transylvania to honor their brother. The JGK III scholarships will include full tuition, room, board and fees for four years and will be awarded to two entering first-year students every four years, beginning fall of 2008. “We are extremely grateful to Clay and Sarah for their generous gift to Transylvania in honor of their brother Jim,” said Shearer. “Jim has been exceptionally committed to Transylvania. As vice chair of Transylvania’s Board of Trustees and chair of the Investment Committee, he has overseen management of the University’s endowment for the past 20 years.” Kenan provides close oversight of Transylvania’s investment strategies and during his tenure, the University’s endowment has grown from $35 to $145 million. The JGK III Scholarship Program will build on the principles established in Transylvania’s prestigious William T. Young Scholarship Program that was launched in 1982. Transylvania, founded in 1780, is the nation’s sixteenth oldest institution of higher learning and is consistently ranked in national publications as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country.

Transylvania breaks record with official enrollment

Posted on September 20, 2007July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania’s campus is bustling with a record enrollment of 1,153 students. The former record, set in 2005, was 1,151, and last year’s enrollment was 1,117. President Charles L. Shearer said he expects enrollment to level off at or slightly below the current level. “We are delighted that our enrollment has increased at the rate it has over the past decade,” said Shearer. “Our enrollment is at capacity.” The record enrollment is attributed to an excellent retention rate of returning students combined with a full class of new students and 14 transfer students. Of the 335 members of the Class of 2011: 44 are Kentucky Governor’s Scholars, and five attended the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts Four are National Merit Finalists; two are National Merit Semifinalists Seven percent identify themselves as racial or ethnic minorities 48 percent rank in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class, and 76 percent rank in the top 25 percent of their class 28 were valedictorians, and 18 were salutatorians 60 percent have a high school grade point average above 3.50, and the mean GPA of the incoming class is 3.51 The ACT scores for this group are impressive with a middle 50 percent range of 23-29 “This year’s class is outstanding in every measure of academic strength,” said Shearer, “and these new students join a student body that is also academically strong. I think our enrollment record speaks very well

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Transylvania’s Morlan Gallery opens 2007-08 season with Imprinted Bodies, an exhibit of visual art, poetry, documentaries and gallery talks that celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

Posted on September 13, 2007July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Imprinted Bodies, an exhibit of contemporary Hispanic and Latino work by a dozen artists, opens Friday, September 14 in Transylvania’s Morlan Gallery. The exhibit traces the notion of embodiment or corporality in contemporary Latino visual art, poetry and documentaries and runs through October 24, from noon-5 p.m. in the Morlan Gallery. The exhibit will also be open for the Lexington Gallery Hop Friday, September 21, from 5-8 p.m. The exhibiting artists, originally from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Haiti, Mexico, Columbia, as well as the United States, examine the interplay between immigration, illness, ethnic relations, identity and their own participation in the formation of hybrid cultures. These experiences, involving displacement, relocation, and memories of home, uncover multi-layered disruptions of identity. Artists include Ana Albertina Delgado, Arturo Alonzo Sandoval, Sonia Baez-Hernandez, Elizabeth Cerejido, Eduard Duval Carrie, Francisca Hernandez, Diane Kahlo, Connie Lloveras, Jesus Macarena-Avila, Raul Ortiz Bonilla, Diana Solis and Federico Uribe. Their work includes video, sculpture, mixed media, paintings and installation pieces. In recognition of September as Hispanic Heritage Month, the Morlan Gallery will provide a week of related programming called Project Alterity, which will provoke thought in multiple areas including politics, identity formation and roles within culture and society. Tuesday, September 18, 7-8:30 p.m., Carrick TheaterStrangers Among Us: The Plight of Immigrant Workers in Kentucky A panel discussion with Transylvania sociology professor Brian Rich about the challenges of immigrant workers in Kentucky. Question and answer session to

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