1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

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Transylvania adds faculty members for new academic year

Posted on by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Four new full-time faculty members will join Transylvania University for the start of the 2018-19 academic year on Sept. 4. The three professors and endowed chair will contribute to the university’s centuries-old tradition of excellence in teaching through their fields of theater, music, education and exercise science. “We are excited to welcome these four faculty members to campus as we embark on a new academic year,” said Laura Bryan, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the university. “They bring a wealth of experience and enthusiasm that will enrich the learning environment here at Transylvania.” The new faculty members include Tosha Fowler, who is Transylvania’s Lucille C. Little Chair of Theater and the director of the Theater Program. An educator, director and actor, she spent the past 11 years in Chicago’s thriving arts scene. Fowler is the founding executive artistic director of that city’s Cor Theatre. She also taught at The Theatre School at DePaul University, where she received an MFA in acting. Her other experience includes serving as an instructor of drama workshops for Urban Hope, a program for inner-city youths in Savannah, Georgia. Most recently, Fowler was a visiting professor for the School of Theatre and Dance at Kent State University. Also joining Transylvania’s Division of Fine Arts this fall is Regan MacNay, who is the university’s new assistant professor of music and director of choral activities. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts in choral

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Remarks to the Transylvania Class of 2022 at the First-Year Induction Ceremony

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Good morning and welcome to Transylvania. We’re delighted to kick off a new school year by honoring you, the class of 2022, and your family members who have joined you here today. All of us at Transylvania are honored that you have chosen to spend four pivotal years on our campus, and we take our commitment to you and to your education very seriously. I have recently navigated the process of selecting a college with both of my daughters, and I am now in the middle of that process with my son. I know how trying it can be. So let me first offer my congratulations on your having reached this milestone. As students, I expect you feel some relief and not a small amount of anxiety. Those jumbled feelings are perfectly normal. Talk with your roommate, your floor mates, your classmates. I expect you’ll find they all share your excitement and your concerns. It’s a while ago now, but I remember experiencing a similar sense of trepidation when I first arrived on campus. As the son of immigrants and the first in my family to go away to school, I was lost. In fact, I was so homesick, I decided to withdraw after a couple of weeks and drove home on a Friday afternoon.  The next morning my father told me to have a job by Monday morning. So I called a friend who had a construction company to ask for a job. He

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More than 300 students welcomed as Class of 2022 arrives at Transylvania University

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University will welcome students from across Kentucky, the nation and the world when more than 300 new Pioneers move in Friday. Kentucky students make up a majority of the incoming class, with nearly 80 percent coming from the Commonwealth. Students from Ohio, Florida, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan make up another 13 percent of the first-year class, with 10 other states also represented. They are joined by international students from Albania, Australia and Estonia.  Almost 18 percent of first-year students are first-generation college students. Twenty percent of the incoming Class of 2022 are students of color, making this class the most diverse ever to enroll at Transylvania. This is the result of a sustained effort by the university to diversify its student body and foster an inclusive campus environment. “We’re excited to welcome our new class and guide them through the transformative education for which Transylvania is well known. They will be introduced to new ideas and perspectives that will give them the freedom to choose their most desired paths which, after all, lies at the heart of our liberal arts mission,” President Seamus Carey said. “The college years are an opportunity for dialogue and interpersonal interactions that help our students lead more fulfilling lives and develop the skills necessary to succeed in the modern workplace.” The Class of 2022 has already demonstrated its success in academics. At Transylvania, they’ll have the choice of 46 majors and pre-professional

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Offer of a Lifetime

Posted on by Office of Marketing and Communications

Lesley Goodaker ’17 Lesley Goodaker interned in marketing at Spring & Sprout dental network. She based her senior seminar project on the work she’d done there. She invited the vice president of marketing and communications to be on her review panel. But she still wasn’t prepared for what happened during her presentation… …a job offer on the spot. “To say that was a surprise would be an understatement,” she says, “but it was incredibly exciting.” Lesley’s study in her writing, rhetoric and communication major centered on rhetorical practices, but she was especially interested in incorporating digital technologies into her projects. So she worked with WRC professor Kerri Hauman to craft her curriculum to give her as much time in the Digital Arts Technology Lab (dArt lab) as possible, learning video and audio editing softwares and taking courses in digital rhetoric. To have faculty and staff that recognized the growth potential I had and pushed me toward that was indescribable. “In my program, you could really pick and choose what you want to focus on,” she says. “I had done several videos with Dr. Hauman in our Digital Rhetoric class, and it laid the foundation for technical skills. She made sure we were getting exposure to a lot of different tools.” She used her newfound expertise in her internship—which Hauman recommended to her—where she worked with a creative agency to gather all of the video and audio footage they had compiled

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State-of-the-art technology enhances safety of Transylvania’s North Broadway crosswalk

Posted on by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Partnering with the state, Transylvania University is improving campus safety through the addition of state-of-the-art technology and major renovations to campus grounds. The North Broadway crosswalk between Third and Fourth streets has been equipped with rectangular rapid flashing beacons, which feature motion sensors that activate multiple flashing lights when pedestrians approach. The signals are especially helpful at dusk and night when motorists may have a difficult time seeing pedestrians. “These crosswalk improvements will enhance the safety not only of our students, faculty and staff, but also of motorists traveling along North Broadway,” President Seamus Carey said. “We appreciate the state Transportation Cabinet’s assistance in making these upgrades a reality.” The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet manages improvements to North Broadway, which is U.S. Route 27/68 through Lexington. The university, along with local and state transportation officials, explored numerous alternatives before deciding on the beacons. The solar-powered devices are similar to ones installed a few years ago in front of the Transportation Cabinet building in Frankfort. Additional safety enhancements to the Transylvania crosswalk include reducing the width of the crossing to a standard size, reconfiguring the sidewalks on both sides of Broadway to direct pedestrians to use the crosswalk and new signage. Also, the university is permanently closing a semicircular roadway and parking lot in front of the newly-renovated Carpenter Academic Center, formerly the Haupt Humanities building. Transylvania will install brick pavers in front of Carpenter to create a walkway, which will still

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