May 2012

Affrilachian poet Bianca Spriggs gives Transylvania graduates address to remember

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

Poet Bianca Spriggs ’03 speaks to the Class of 2012. LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University President R. Owen Williams conferred the Bachelor of Arts degree to 241 students Saturday in a commencement ceremony on the steps of historic Old Morrison. Bianca Spriggs, a renowned Affrilachian poet and 2003 Transylvania graduate, gave a unique commencement address in front of hundreds of spectators, presenting a poetry reading accompanied by graduating senior Caleb Ritchie on keyboard. Spriggs put out a call to seniors to submit responses to questions about their four years at Transylvania—what they would take with them to their careers and how they’ve grown as people. She used some of those responses in her presentation. Spriggs, a history major and studio art minor at Transylvania, is in the doctoral program for creative writing at the University of Kentucky and has had an active career including writing, teaching, performance art and filmmaking. She earned a master’s of arts in English composition/creative writing at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She was named one of the Top 30 Performance Poets by TheRoot.com, a daily online magazine providing commentary on the news from black perspectives. She is recognized as a Cave Canem Fellow from the Brooklyn-based national writer’s center that focuses on African American poets and writers, and she is the creator of The Swallowtail Project, a traveling creative writing workshop designed for incarcerated women throughout Kentucky. Spriggs talked to the students about measuring time not in minutes

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Five Transylvania students awarded prestigious Transylvania Honors Scholarship

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

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Five current Transylvania University students have received Transylvania Honors Scholarships, which are awarded annually to rising senior students who have achieved outstanding academic records and have made significant service contributions to Transylvania. The scholarship covers tuition and the general fee. The recipients are chosen by a panel of faculty members who interview each applicant. “These are students whose academic and campus community accomplishments are impeccable,” said William F. Pollard, vice president and dean of the college. “Being named a Transylvania Honors Scholar is an extraordinary achievement given the credentials of the finalists, all of whom have outstanding records of academic success and of contributions to the life of the campus.” Molly Dean, a writing, rhetoric, and communications and Spanish language and literature double major, is from Louisville, Ky. Hannah Johnson, a political science major and Spanish and international affairs double minor, is from Lexington, Ky. Cameron Lindsey, an English major, is from Nicholasville, Ky. Jordan Rebsch, a business administration and psychology double major, is from Lexington, Ky. Alex Yaden, a teaching music major, is from Bardstown, Ky.

Transylvania’s Theatre Guild production of “Rough Magic,” transplants Shakespearean characters to present-day New York; May 17-20

Posted on May 17, 2012July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University’s Theatre Guild offers up a Shakespearean action-adventure-fantasy with “Rough Magic,” in the Lucille C. Little Theater May 17-19 at 7:30 p.m. and May 20 at 2 p.m. Transylvania senior Heather Porter directs the regional premiere of this play, written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Transplanting characters from “The Tempest” to present-day New York, “Rough Magic” conjures a mythical, magical meta-universe in which the evil sorcerer Prospero is willing to do anything to recover his stolen book of magic, even if it means Manhattan’s destruction. Luckily, Manhattan’s defenders include a quartet of unlikely heroes: a plucky, raven-haired dramaturg named Melanie Porter, who has the ability to free characters from plays; Prospero’s hunky, though not-to-bright son, Caliban; a revenge-seeking Fury from ancient Greece named Tisiphone and Chet Baxter, a 17-year-old lifeguard from Coney Island. General admission tickets are $10 and may be reserved by calling the box office at (859) 281-3621, weekdays from 1-4 p.m. For more information, contact Sully White at swhite@transy.edu.

Harry Stephenson, former student, coach, teacher, and administrator with 63-year legacy at Transylvania University, dies

Posted on May 16, 2012July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Harry Stephenson, whose relationship with Transylvania University as student, coach, teacher and administrator totaled a remarkable 63 years, died May 15 in Lexington. He was 95. Stephenson enrolled as a first-year student at Transylvania in the fall of 1936. His association with the university was interrupted by military service during World War II, a year earning a master’s degree after the war, and another year of high school teaching. He joined Transylvania’s faculty and staff in 1948, and when he retired in 2006 had achieved a 58-year employment tenure at his alma mater that became a 63-year association when his student days were added on. “Transylvania has lost a leading member of its family with the passing of Harry Stephenson,” said President R. Owen Williams. “There have been few people in the long history of this institution in whose hearts the spirit of Transylvania burned so brightly.” “Harry Stephenson was the epitome of an educator,” said athletics director Jack Ebel, a 1977 graduate of the university. “Countless Transylvania students and athletes developed lifelong relationships with Harry through his dedication to mentoring young people. Harry was an exceptional friend to the university whose commitment began 76 years ago when he came here as a student.” Stephenson’s Transylvania studies were sidelined by his service as a crew chief and engineer on a C-47 troop carrier with the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1942-45. He had played professional baseball with the St.

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Transylvania hosts garden party May 16 to unveil new rain garden signage; free and open to the public

Posted on May 15, 2012July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—On Wednesday, May 16, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Transylvania University will host a garden party to unveil new signage for Transylvania’s rain garden, one of the first in Lexington. A traditional sign has been created by Kayla Kidwell-Snider ’12 and Barbara Grinnell, Transylvania’s graphic designer. Kidwell-Snider has also created hand-painted interactive signage for the garden. These signs are blocks mounted on a threaded rod. Each side of the block has different information, such as a picture of the plant with the name, a picture of an animal that uses the plant, a fun fact about the plant and information on when the plant blooms or where to plant it. The party is free and open to the public and representatives from the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government will attend. The garden signage is the final component of Transylvania’s nearly $4,900 Stormwater Quality Grant that the university received in December 2010 from the LFUCG. The grant was to fund education initiatives related to water quality, specifically, how people’s actions can impact water quality. With the grant money, which Transylvania matched at 50 percent, the sustainability office has held workshops on rain barrel making, rain gardens and environmentally friendly lawncare for faculty, staff and students. Last May term, the office also hosted Town Branch Tuesdays to increase stormwater quality awareness, including a progressive lunch garden party, a scavenger hunt, a water festival and storm drain painting. For more information, contact the public

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