1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

News from Transy

Pioneering United Way leader to deliver Transylvania commencement address

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LEXINGTON, Ky.— Bill Farmer, president and CEO of United Way of the Bluegrass, will deliver Transylvania University’s commencement address on Saturday, May 27, as the 237-year-old institution celebrates its 2017 graduates. “Community partnership is an integral part of a liberal arts education,” Transylvania President Seamus Carey said. “Mr. Farmer’s dedication to the Lexington community offers compelling evidence of how one individual can improve the lives of many. His example will remind our graduates of their responsibility to bravely tackle the challenges that lie ahead while they imagine the possibilities.” Farmer, who is the first African American to head the United Way of the Bluegrass, has helped the organization focus on improving educational opportunities, health outcomes and financial security among struggling central Kentucky families. He is building partnerships with local businesses, universities and individual volunteers to achieve those goals through social change. Transylvania’s commencement will begin at 9 a.m. in front of historic Old Morrison. The rain location will be the Clive M. Beck Center. Students in this year’s graduating class have distinguished themselves academically, with numerous accolades awarded to them. Class of 2017 highlights • Thirty-three percent of the 215 graduating seniors are receiving Latin honors for a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5, and 40 percent are receiving program honors. • Two of the 26 national Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society graduate fellowships were awarded to Transylvania seniors. • Students will pursue advanced degrees at institutions such as Vanderbilt,

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Transylvania named best Kentucky college for alumni job placement rates

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University ranks first among Kentucky colleges for landing a job after graduation. Zippia, a career advice website, recently included the university on a list of the best schools in each state for job placement rates. This ranking underscores the importance of a liberal arts education in creating not only well-rounded individuals but also sought-after employees. “A Transylvania education prepares our students to excel in the workplace,” President Seamus Carey said. “We teach them to be skilled communicators, creative thinkers and lifelong learners.” Transylvania graduates consistently find desirable jobs, such as principal project engineer for the Walt Disney Corporation, director of finance at Humana, and chief of exhibit planning at the Smithsonian Institution. To help current students get there, the Career Development office finds them internships at places like the Kentucky Supreme Court, the Edward Jones Investments national headquarters, and the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City. They also get real-world experience and advice through Transylvania’s 100 Doors to Success mentoring program. Future employment, after all, is a big consideration for parents and prospective students. Getting a good job after graduation is perhaps the most important thing on the minds of first-year college students, according to Zippia. “Not all schools are equal in this, and some colleges are vastly more supportive of their students’ post-graduation concerns than others.”

Lexington author wins Transylvania’s Judy Gaines Young Book Award

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Local author Crystal Wilkinson has won Transylvania University’s 2017 Judy Gaines Young Book Award for her novel, “The Birds of Opulence.” Wilkinson is a founding member of the Affrilachian Poets collective, the Appalachian Writer in Residence at Berea College and co-owner of Wild Fig Books & Coffee in Lexington. Wilkinson will receive the award on Tuesday, March 21, at 5 p.m. in Transylvania’s Carrick Theater. The event, which will be free and open to the public, will include a reading and book signing. This is the third year for the Judy Gaines Young Book Award, which honors recent works by writers in the Appalachian region. The University of Kentucky Press—the publisher of this year’s winner—describes the novel as “a lyrical exploration of love and loss that centers on several generations of women in a bucolic southern black township as they live with and sometimes surrender to madness.” Wilkinson is an “extraordinary storyteller,” said Transylvania English professor Kremena Todorova. “Her characters in ‘The Birds of Opulence’ are ordinary people dealing with everyday events like birth, postpartum depression, illness and the fast-spreading gossip of small-town folks. Yet, Wilkinson asks us to care about her people. Using language that is irresistibly beautiful, Wilkinson beckons us to enter her characters’ lives, to begin to do what the novel’s opening word asks us to do: ‘Imagine.’” “The Birds of Opulence” has won several other honors, including the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. Transylvania’s award is funded by

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Transylvania launches Summer Academic Program for high schoolers

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Beginning this summer, Transylvania University will offer area high school students the opportunity to get a head start on their college careers in its new Summer Academic Program. Rising high school juniors and seniors can take courses on campus, taught by Transy faculty, that can earn them college credit and potentially count toward their high school curriculum requirements. They will learn alongside current and entering Transylvania students and will get all the benefits of being a Pioneer, including personal attention from professors and access to the library and its resources. Students will pay approximately half the price of standard tuition rates, and those fees can be earned back in the form of a scholarship to Transylvania. “We look forward to working with some of the brightest young minds in the area, preparing them for success in their college careers while showing them the tremendous value of a Transylvania education,” said Laura Bryan, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the university. The Summer Academic Program has 10 classes available in its first year, with subjects including politics, public speaking, economics and environmental science. It is open to rising high school juniors and seniors, as well as current high school seniors who have been admitted to Transy, and students from other institutions. For class information and registration, which is open until May 15, go here.

Award-winning poet to deliver Transylvania’s Kenan Lecture

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Renowned poet Claudia Rankine will present Transylvania University’s 2017 Kenan Lecture on Thursday, Feb. 16, at 7:30 p.m. in Carrick Theater. The event is free and open to the public, and tickets can be reserved here. Her five poetry collections include “Citizen: An American Lyric,” which is the only poetry book to make the non-fiction category of the New York Times bestseller list. At Transylvania she will discuss making the book and the question of creative imagination and race. Rankine—who also is a playwright, essayist and editor of several anthologies—is the Aerol Arnold Chair at the University of Southern California, the Frederick Iseman Professor of Poetry at Yale University and a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. “Citizen” has won numerous honors, including the prestigious National Book Critics Circle Award in 2014. It also was a finalist for the National Book Award in Poetry. “This collection of lyrical essays or poetic prose bears witness to the experience of everyday encounters with racism,” Transylvania professor Jeremy Paden said. “It moves in and through the feelings and thought processes of the person trying to understand the experience of these injustices. ‘Citizen’ names and narrates these experiences. And in reading and listening to the poems, in learning from them, our world is enlarged.” Transylvania’s William R. Kenan Jr. Lecture Series is funded by a grant from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust. Previous speakers have included: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an

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