News from Transy

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University’s downtown campus will provide a home base for WindSync while the Houston quintet serves as ensemble-in-residence for the 2014 Chamber Music Festival of Lexington. When Barbara LoMonaco, vice president for student affairs and dean of students, learned that the festival’s plans to accommodate the group had encountered complications, she readily offered individual rooms in a university residence hall for the duration of the musicians’ visit to Lexington. “We are delighted to support the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington by hosting members of  WindSync on our campus,” LoMonaco said. LoMonaco was supported in her efforts by music professor Ben Hawkins. “Transylvania and its music program continue to seek ways to collaborate with our neighbors to enhance the quality of life in our great city,” he said. The 10-day festival begins on the evening of Thursday, Aug. 14, with a WindSync concert featuring barbecue and beer on the lawn of Loudon House, home of the Lexington Art League. The event is free and open to the public. Hailed by the Houston Chronicle as “revolutionary chamber musicians,” WindSync is recognized internationally for dramatic and adventurous programming in venues ranging from concert halls to museums, universities and schools.  The young, energetic group plays exclusively from memory, incorporating elements of staging and choreography. For more information, contact Tom Martin with the Transylvania communications office at 859-281-3617.

LEXINGTON, Ky.— The Princeton Review listed Transylvania University in its publication “The Best 379 Colleges,” earning the school a spot in the top 15 percent of four-year colleges in the United States. “Transylvania offers outstanding academics, which is the chief reason we selected it for the book,” said Robert Franek, Princeton Review’s senior vice president and author of “The Best 379 Colleges.” Along with institutional data, campus visits, and opinions of independent college counselors, inclusion in the list was determined by an 80-question survey of 130,000 students around the country, asking them to rate their school on several different criteria and report their campus experiences. The book’s two-page profile of Transylvania includes students’ comments. They described Transylvania as “an extremely close-knit campus” and “a holistic education experience where one can grow intellectually and academically while participating in a vibrant social community.” One student extolled Transylvania’s diversity, saying, “We also have a huge population of individuals from different backgrounds, including differences in sexual orientation, class, religion, region, and political orientation.” Other comments praised the quality and accessibility of the professors, a vibrant student activities life, athletics, and the location of the university in downtown Lexington. The Princeton Review is a New York-based education service company known for its education, admission, and test-preparation services. For more information, contact Brad Goan, vice president for enrollment and dean of admissions, at 859-233-8242.

LEXINGTON, Ky.—A champion for teaching college students more about poverty and its implications for society spoke on Sept. 7 during Transylvania University’s opening convocation marking the beginning of the academic year. Harlan Beckley’s talk titled “Poverty Studies: A Liberal Arts Vocation?” was free and open to the public. He is the Fletcher Otey Thomas Professor of Religion Emeritus and was an adjunct professor of law at Washington and Lee University, and he currently serves as executive director of the Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty. During the convocation, Beckley discussed how undergraduate education in the United States has inadequately addressed poverty. “Higher education and think tanks in the United States have provided leadership in research about poverty, but we have not done well preparing our graduates in English, education, the arts, the social sciences and sciences—those headed to professional vocations in law, business, healthcare, education and even social services—to address poverty,” Beckley said. He calls for an interdisciplinary study of poverty that goes beyond reading a textbook—to include community engagement and internships. “When our colleges and universities do more to inform and prepare their students to address poverty as part of their vocations, the graduates will become a force to reduce the persistent poverty that diminishes our wealthy nation,” Beckley said. Beckley earned a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from the University of Illinois and a doctoral degree in Christian Theological Ethics from Vanderbilt University. In 2002, Beckley was

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—The first weekend that Transylvania’s first-year students arrive on campus, they are treated to an evening of karaoke with the university’s public safety officers. A little laughter, some gentle ribbing, a relaxed atmosphere—students learn immediately that the officers are approachable and that they care. Soon thereafter they recognize that a particular officer has been assigned to their residence hall to keep an eye on their safety and to get to know them. Officers rotate assignments among the dorms so they learn as many faces and recognize as many individuals as possible. These are just two of the ways that the university’s Department of Public Safety uses a community approach to policing. Reaching outside campus, the officers regularly train with local law enforcement agencies and the fire department. They learn they can rely on local first responders to help with any emergency that might arise on campus. Director of Public Safety Gregg Muravchick—a veteran of city, county, and state law enforcement—encourages officers to develop personal relationships and dedicate themselves to service. With this approach, officers learn to ask, “What can I do for you?” instead of saying, “That’s not my job.” Muravchick stressed the importance of having professional, trained staff to provide service no matter the task—whether it’s unlocking doors or escorting a student to a dorm room late at night. He expects his officers to take ownership in what he refers to as “our university.” It’s the kind of

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