April 2012

A.B. “Happy” Chandler tops list of Pioneer Hall of Fame inductees

Posted on April 30, 2012July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

A.B. “Happy” Chandler, Class of 1921 LEXINGTON, Ky.—Former Kentucky governor and baseball commissioner A B. “Happy” Chandler and basketball star Orbrey Gritton top a list of seven new inductees into Transylvania University’s Pioneer Hall of Fame. The 2012 class was inducted on April 27, following a reception and dinner. The latest additions bring the total number of Pioneer Hall of Fame members to 102, plus one team, since inductions began in 1992. The newest members include Chandler, a 1921 graduate who played baseball, football, and basketball at Transylvania prior to a long career in politics; Gritton, a 1989 graduate who ranks 13th on the all-time men’s basketball scoring list and was district player of the year and an NAIA All-American as a senior; and Mark Turner, a 1977 graduate who retired as the winningest coach in the history of the women’s basketball program. Also entering the Hall of Fame this year are swimming All-American Jay Ecleberry, a member of the Class of 1992 who still holds two school records; tennis standouts Elizabeth Boyd Fryar ’81 and Andrea Barton Lane ’90, both of whom starred on regional championship teams; and Emily Veeneman ’96, a field hockey and softball player who holds the field hockey records for most goals in a game, in a season and for a career. The Pioneer Hall of Fame was founded by the school’s alumni office and the athletics and physical education department to recognize former athletes,

Read “A.B. “Happy” Chandler tops list of Pioneer Hall of Fame inductees”

Polashek’s compositions to be performed by gEARbox Ensemble April 28 at Land of Tomorrow Gallery

Posted on April 26, 2012July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

Tim Polashek LEXINGTON, Ky.—Contemporary music composed by Transylvania University music professor Timothy Polashek will be performed Saturday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m. at Land of Tomorrow Gallery, 527 East Third St., Lexington. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted. The concert will feature Polashek’s “Engravings for Prepared Snare Drum, iPad, and Computer” and “Echoes of Steel: Electro-Acoustic Music for Drum Set”—both performed by percussionist Brad Meyer—and “Micro-Coastings: Electro-Acoustic Music and Video.” Polashek and Meyer are founders of the gEARbox Ensemble, which performs contemporary acoustic, electro-acoustic and electronic music and commissions and premieres works by established and emerging composers. Micro-Coastings is Polashek’s first extensive use of video in a composition. “The video camera, like the microphone during the recording of my sound sources, was positioned to frame objects more closely in order to capture things expressively,” he said. “All the sounds and video were taken from in and around my family’s home in Lexington.” Polashek writes in a variety of media and styles including vocal, instrumental and electro-acoustic music, text/sound compositions and interactive performance. His work has been performed all over the world, and he directed the Studio 300 Digital Art and Music Festival at Transylvania, which was held in September 2011 and featured more than 60 works and exhibitions by artists and musicians from eight countries. Land of Tomorrow Gallery facilitates the making and showing of experimental works of art, design, and music. For more information, visit www.landoftomorrow.org.

Twenty-four Transylvania students named August Term Scholars for the 2012-13 academic year

Posted on April 23, 2012July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Twenty-four upperclassmen at Transylvania University have been named August Term Scholars for the 2012-13 academic year. August Term Scholars will serve as role models and mentors to first-year students while working with faculty members. August term will take place August 10-30 and will provide new students with an engaging and exciting introduction to Transylvania. During the fall semester, August Term Scholars will continue to meet weekly with a small group of students. This is the first year for Transylvania’s August term, a three-week academic and cocurricular program for entering students. August term students take a single course, a seminar titled “First Engagements: Enculturation into a Scholarly Community.” Basic texts are common to all students, while professors teaching the various sections of the course supplement their class with materials from their own academic disciplines. August term also includes traditional new-student orientation sessions on alcohol awareness, academic integrity and other topics. This year’s August Term Scholars were chosen from a pool of applicants. Requirements included a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher, rising junior or senior status and a letter of recommendation from a faculty member. “They are outstanding students selected to help our new students make the academic and social transitions to college life,” said Michael Covert, associate dean of students and director of retention programs at Transylvania. “We couldn’t run the program without them.” The August Term Scholars are: Daniel Barber, rising junior from Frankfort, Ky. Carrie Burt, rising

Read “Twenty-four Transylvania students named August Term Scholars for the 2012-13 academic year”

Sallie Showalter named web content writer/editor at Transylvania University

Posted on April 20, 2012July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Sallie Showalter, communications and technology branch manager of the Kentucky Arts Council, has been named Transylvania’s web content writer/editor, effective May 1. “We are delighted to have Sallie join Transylvania University and our communications team,” said Sarah Emmons, associate vice president for communications and public relations. Showalter recently lead a team that reorganized and redesigned the Kentucky Arts Council website, improving its appeal and usability. She edited and designed the award-winning book, “Discover Art in Kentucky,” to promote opportunities for Kentuckians and visitors to engage with the arts. “Last fall, our web development manager Mariana Shochat completed the first phase of our newly designed site (www.transy.edu),” said Emmons. “Sallie will play an important role in enhancing the editorial content.” Showalter previously worked for IBM, Fazoli’s Management, Inc., Lexmark International and Toyota Motor Manufacturing. In 2000 she was honored as one of three Lexmark International employees around the world with a Vision Excellence Award. Showalter earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Centre College and her master’s in comparative literature from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She was a Rhodes Scholar nominee and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

See 1,000 handmade dolls at community potluck April 4 at Kentucky Theater; project sponsored by Transylvania’s Community Engagement class

Posted on April 4, 2012July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—If you spot a handmade doll hidden in the nooks and crannies of Limestone Street in the next few weeks, feel free to pick it up and give it a good home. It will likely be one of the 1,000 fabric, clay and wooden dolls that Transylvania University students and community members have made as part of the university’s Community Engagement Through the Arts (CETA) class. The public is invited for a sneak peek at the dolls during a community potluck dinner Wednesday, April 4, at 7 p.m. at the Kentucky Theater. The event will also feature live music and Lexington Mayor Jim Gray will speak at 7:30 p.m. The 1,000 Dolls project is the latest in a series of projects spearheaded by the class, whose goal is to strengthen the relationship between the university and the community by engaging in artistic community projects. Previous CETA classes have made quilts and applied temporary murals to downtown buildings, all while interacting and working with residents of Transylvania’s downtown neighborhood. The popular class, taught by art professor Kurt Gohde and English professor Kremena Todorova, has developed somewhat of a following, with community members regularly attending class sessions. The idea for the 1,000 Dolls project came from local artist Ed Franklin, who makes and hides dolls around town and posts clues to finding them on Facebook. Those who find the dolls get to keep them. This spring, CETA class members have coordinated

Read “See 1,000 handmade dolls at community potluck April 4 at Kentucky Theater; project sponsored by Transylvania’s Community Engagement class”