1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

News from Transy

Governor’s School for the Arts moves into final stage

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—The 2007 session of the Governor’s School for the Arts will reach the half-way point on Wednesday with its 20th-year anniversary celebration and final day performances still on the horizon. The GSA summer program includes 226 rising junior and senior Kentucky arts students. The 2007 session features students from 50 counties and about 86 Kentucky high schools. Over the 20 years of its existence, the GSA has provided scholarships for over 3,300 students from all 120 counties. During their 21-day stay on the Transylvania campus, the students are immersed in a rigorous schedule of daily seminars, master classes, lectures, hands-on workshops and field trips to regional arts attractions. Instruction is offered in eight disciplines: architecture, creative writing, dance, drama, instrumental music, musical theater, visual arts and vocal music. Students, faculty and staff have already hosted a meeting of the Kentucky General Assembly’s interim joint Education Committee. This Saturday, alumni from the program have been invited to Transy for a reunion that will include performances, an alumni art exhibit and classroom visits. On July 4, all students will attend a field trip to the Freedom Center in Cincinnati. Final performance day is set for July 7, where family, friends, and family are invited to attend performances and art displays featuring the work of the students. Graduation is set for 5 p.m. Editor’s Note: Media are invited to attend remaining daily GSA sessions as well as final day performances on July

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It’s Just Her Style

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Carrie Blaydes, a 2002 graduate of Transylvania University, is now a freelance writer and vintage clothing collector in New York. She has coauthored her first book—Fashion DIY: 30 Ways to Craft Your Own Style. Carrie majored in English and French at Transylvania and received several writing awards. Sewing since kindergarten, she began altering and embellishing vintage clothing in grade school and branched out into original designs while at Transy. The Lexington Herald-Leader ran this feature article on Carrie in its June 21, 2007 issue.

Five consecutive generations of one family have earned Transylvania degrees

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When psychology major Caitlin McGuire walked across the stage in front of Old Morrison on Saturday, she was the ninth member of her family to graduate from Transylvania University. Five consecutive generations of her family, touching three different centuries, have included a Transy graduate. Caitlin’s great great grandfather William Smallwood Gamboe began the tradition when he graduated in 1896 from Kentucky University, the name Transylvania used from 1865-1908 before reclaiming its historic name. William and his wife Tacie Pharis Gamboe had a son, Homer Pharis Gamboe, who was born while the family was living in a boarding house on Upper Street across from the Transy campus. This structure is now the Row House, restored in 1996 as part of the John R. Hall Athletic Field. Homer also attended Transy and after graduating in 1918, he went on, like his father, to graduate from the College of the Bible, then located on Transy’s campus. Homer and his wife had two daughters, Alice who graduated from Transylvania in 1946, and Rachael Gamboe McGuire. Rachael and her sister grew up in India, where their father was a missionary. After attending Woodstock, an American boarding school in the Himalayas, they came back to the United States to attend college. For Rachael, attending Transylvania was a dream come true, as she had heard tales of it her whole life. While there, she met Franklin McGuire. The two became sweethearts and were married in 1947. In

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Princeton Review names Transylvania one of America’s Best Value Colleges; selection based on excellent academics and value

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University is one of the nation’s best value undergraduate institutions, according to The Princeton Review. The New York-based education services company features Transylvania in the new 2008 edition of its book, America’s Best Value Colleges. The guide profiles 165 colleges chosen for their excellent academics, generous financial aid packages and/or relatively low costs of attendance. In its narrative profile on in the book, The Princeton Review’s editors commend Transylvania for its small classes. “This allows for more personal attention and lets students develop close relationships with their professors.” The editors also praise Transylvania’s “unparallel preparation and advising for all pre-professional programs” and tout Transy’s high medical and law school acceptance rate. Transy’s location and extensive scholarship and financial aid opportunities also fare well. The Princeton Review selected the schools for the book based on data it obtained from administrators at more than 650 colleges during the 2005-06 academic year and its surveys of students attending the schools. Robert Franek, vice president of publishing at The Princeton Review, said that the editors consider “over 30 factors to identify our ‘best value’ colleges. They covered four areas: academics, tuition GPA (the sticker price minus average amount students receive in scholarships and grants), Financial Aid (how well colleges meet students’ financial need), and Student Borrowing. The 90 public and 75 private colleges we chose for this edition offer a terrific education, plus they have impressive records of meeting students’ needs for

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Transy on Broadway returns!

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“Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?” A musical adventure of life, love and growing up Catholic LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University’s student-run musical theater group Transy on Broadway, which gave an inaugural performance of “Godspell” last spring, returns this April with “Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?” a musical about life, love and growing up Catholic. The show runs Friday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, April 28 at 2 p.m. Both performances are in the Lucille C. Little Theater. Tickets are $10. The comedic coming-of-age musical follows Eddie and Becky as they grow up together in Catholic schools and navigate issues such as confession, guilt, forgiveness, the opposite sex and answering “the call.” For more information, call the public relations office at (859) 233-8120. For tickets, call the box office at (859) 233-8601, from 1-4 p.m.