News from Transy

LEXINGTON, Ky.—If you considered the Lexington Tattoo Project sort of a mom and pop endeavor, think of it now as World Wide Inc. (Make that Ink.) Transylvania University professors Kremena Todorova and Kurt Gohde have launched Love Letter to the World, a variation on their local project that was recognized as one of the nation’s top public artworks and featured on CNN. Participants across the globe will get tattoos based on phrases from Kentucky Poet Laureate Frank X Walker’s “Love Letta to the Worl’” poem adorned with designs that will make up a secret image when combined with the other tattoos. Kenny Moorman, a Transylvania computer science professor, built a website that will display uploaded pictures of the tattoos in a variety of ways as Walker reads his poem. Bianca Spriggs, a local poet and Transylvania graduate, wrote the poem for the Lexington Tattoo Project, which is spawning similar artworks in cities such as Boulder and Detroit and has helped foster not only a pride of place but also camaraderie between participants. “Tattoos historically have connected people in a tribal way,” Gohde said. Could the new project enable this on a worldwide scale? These artists think it can. “A number of people called the poem very healing and talked about how it’s wonderful to have something so connecting at a time that is so divisive,” Todorova said. While participants can connect with the poem’s global themes, such as sustainability, they also find personal meaning

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University’s innovative August term not only helps recent high school grads transition to college, but it’s also a valuable experience for the upper-class students who mentor them. These juniors and seniors—called August term scholars—advise students during their first few weeks on campus about life both inside and outside the classroom and work with faculty to develop First Engagements seminars, which hone new students’ critical, interpretative, and analytical abilities. “August term scholars serve as role models and peer mentors for new students and help guide them on what it means to be a scholar and a member of the Transylvania community,” said Michael Covert, associate vice president for retention and associate dean of students.  “They’re responsible for helping plan and facilitate all out-of-classroom events and activities, including campus speakers, social events and outings around town.” As this year’s term winds down, it’s a good time to reflect on what the program means to the upper-class students. “In my role as an August term scholar, I’ve found great joy in advising, instructing and mentoring first-year students—helping establish the foundation of their liberal arts education,” senior Skyler Slone said. These past three weeks have been a time of discovery for Slone as well, because he came to Transylvania before the program began in 2012. “I wish I had something like that in my first year,” he said. “Now I’ve experienced it from a different perspective—one that is just as rewarding. I’m

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — The national leadership society Omicron Delta Kappa has recognized recent Transylvania University graduate Raisa Tikhtman as a Leader of the Year in the area of campus or community service. The prestigious award honors students who have demonstrated the greatest dedication to one of five phases of campus life celebrated by ODK: athletics, campus or community service, creative and performing arts, journalism, speech and mass media, and scholarship. “Raisa Tikhtman is a natural leader in every sense,” said Tiffany Wheeler, who is the ODK faculty advisor at Transylvania and an education professor and program director. “She is poised, decisive, and highly organized. Raisa possesses a collaborative spirit and is adept at enabling others to utilize their strengths while working together for a common purpose. She is also extremely versatile and has been very successful in leading a variety of organizations, which include serving as president of her sorority and ODK, an August term scholar, and a site leader for Transylvania Alternative Spring Break.” Tikhtman’s leadership qualities match her strengths as a scholar, Wheeler said, noting that she graduated with a 4.0 GPA in both of her majors: biochemistry and French. In fact, the combination became her passport to study nanotechnology in France and traditional medicine in Madagascar.   “The balance between natural science and a humanities-based education is really important to me,” Tikhtman explained. “It’s been essential to my mental stability as a student, and it’s forced me to think

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