News from Transy Archives

A resounding success: Transylvania’s 225th Anniversary Campaign surpasses goal

Posted on September 17, 2010June 8, 2023 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—New buildings, significant new endowment funds for scholarships and academic chairs and renovated, state-of-the-art science laboratories are among the many benefits of Transylvania’s recently completed 225th Anniversary Campaign that members of the university community are already enjoying. The five-and-a-half-year campaign, launched in the fall of 2004, ended successfully with a total of $47.3 million, which surpassed the original goal of $32 million as well as the revised goal of $42 million. “Once again, Transylvania’s many supporters came through in grand fashion,” said William T. Young Jr., chairman of the Board of Trustees. “It is especially gratifying that our donors pushed us far beyond our campaign goal in a time of financial uncertainty. When the economy began to falter in the fall of 2008, Transylvania’s donors really stepped up. They continued their strong support of the 225th Anniversary Campaign right up to the very end.” Mark Blankenship ’81, acting vice president for development, noted that the components of the campaign encompassed all the significant areas of the university, from academics to residence life, student life and athletics. “Virtually all members of the Transylvania community are realizing the positive effects of the generosity displayed by everyone who supported the campaign,” he said. “The living and learning environment of the university is measurably better than it was before the campaign began.” New buildings appearTwo new buildings made possible by the campaign have greatly enhanced student life and residence life. A spacious bookstore,

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65 Transylvania students return to campus a week early for community service and environmental projects

Posted on August 31, 2010July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Sixty-five Transylvania students have returned to campus a week early to participate in five community service and environmental orientation programs. The programs are for first-year students who want to start their college experiences at Transylvania a week early and the upperclassmen who assist in leading the programs. One group, Jump Start, travels to Land Between the Lakes to perform various services for the national recreation area, but the remaining four groups stay in Lexington, getting to know their new community and becoming downtown citizens through volunteering and outreach opportunities. Some highlights of the week: Monday, 2 p.m. – 5 p.m.: Rising Through Education (RiTE) at the Kids Café. Tuesday, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.: Disciples Orientation Into Transy (DO-IT) at Kentucky Refugee Ministries. Wednesday, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.: Community Learning and Sustainability Students (CLASS) at Transylvania’s grant-funded butterfly garden project on the northeast corner of Broadway and Fourth Street (www.transy.edu/news/arch_story.htm?id=585&obj=index) Wednesday, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.: RiTE at God’s Pantry Thursday, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.: CLASS and RiTE together with Seedleaf at London Ferrell Community Garden on W. Third Street The four Lexington-based service groups are First-Year Urban Program (FUP), Disciples Orientation Into Transy (DO-IT), Rising Through Education (RiTE) and Community Learning and Sustainability Students (CLASS). Contact the public relations office at (859) 233-8120 for more information.

President’s Advisory Council is formed

Posted on August 23, 2010July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—President R. Owen Williams has announced the formation of the President’s Advisory Council, a group of faculty, staff and a student representative from across campus who will meet once a month to assist and advise the president on matters that are important to the Transylvania community. Standing members of the council will be the director of public safety, the presiding officer of the faculty and the director of the physical plant. Other members will serve a three-year term on a rotating basis. The members for 2010-11 will be: Nancy Wolsk, chair, professor of art history Darrell Banks, physical plant director Susan Brown, director of the library Grant Buckles, student Richard Cook, director of public safety Michael Covert, associate dean of students Paul Dimayuga, software training and technology support coordinator Kathleen Jagger, associate dean of the college, professor of biology Don Lane, professor of physical education Paul Jones, professor of religion, presiding officer of the faculty Natasa Pajic, director of alumni programs Kim Chaffer Schroeder, associate director of admissions Kathy Simon, director of study abroad John Svarlien, professor of classics Tiffany Wheeler, assistant professor of education Tammie Williams, division secretary, fine arts

Transylvania ranked as one of nation’s best colleges by The Princeton Review

Posted on August 4, 2010July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University is listed in The Princeton Review’s The Best 373 Colleges, a ranking that includes the top 15 percent of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges. “Our choices are based on institutional data we collect about schools, our visits to schools over the years, feedback we gather from students attending the schools, and the opinions of our staff and our 28-member National College Counselor Advisory Board,” said Robert Franek, Princeton Review’s senior vice president for publishing. “We also work to keep a wide representation of colleges in the book by region, size, selectivity and character.” The book’s two-page profile of Transylvania includes comments from Transy students surveyed for the book. Included in those comments were descriptions of Transylvania as a “small and ‘very challenging’ bastion of the liberal arts and sciences with a ‘strong premed program,’ ‘a remarkable pre-law program,’ and a broad core curriculum.” A sophomore is quoted as saying, “the small college atmosphere allows students to participate in many arenas. At many schools, a math major would never be able to sing in the choir, work on the school newspaper, and be a resident assistant.” Other students said that “academic standards here are high” and dedication is “required if you want to excel.” The low student-to-faculty ratio means professors “are really concerned about helping you learn” and are “great to just sit down and talk with during their office hours.” The Princeton Review, a New York-based education

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Three Transylvania professors—Kirk Abraham, Belinda Sly and Scott Whiddon—receive prestigious Bingham Awards for excellence in teaching

Posted on July 28, 2010July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Exercise science professor Kirk Abraham, biology professor Belinda Sly and writing, rhetoric, and communication professor Scott Whiddon have received Transylvania’s highest teaching honor—The Bingham Award for Excellence in Teaching. The recipients are selected by a committee composed of distinguished professors from leading liberal arts colleges and universities across the country. The Bingham Program is unique among faculty incentive programs in that it rewards superior teaching rather than research and its awards are substantial. Recipients receive annual salary supplements for five years and are then reevaluated for annual fellowships for up to 20 years. Abraham, who was also granted tenure and promoted to associate professor, joined the Transylvania faculty in 2004 and holds a Ph.D. in physiology form the University of Missouri. He employs a hands-on method of teaching that is designed to keep the students involved. He said he’s learned today’s students expect more interaction with their professors to stay engaged. “I try to put myself back in the students’ shoes, which is getting harder to do all the time as I’m getting older, and help them walk through the stages of learning the material,” he said. “They tend to expect a lot of feedback, and that’s something I’ve learned to give more of as the years go by.” Sly, who was also granted tenure and promoted to associate professor, has been at Transy since 2004. She came to Lexington after getting her Ph.D. in molecular, cellular and developmental

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