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Transylvania again honored as one of America’s top colleges

Posted on August 5, 2014July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

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.

Transylvania convocation speaker to address lack of education about poverty

Posted on August 1, 2014July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

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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Transylvania’s public safety officers sing karaoke to help students get to know them

Posted on August 1, 2014July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

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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Educators from across the country to attend Transylvania liberal arts seminar

Posted on July 22, 2014July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Seventeen participants will bring their passion for the liberal arts to Transylvania University this week for the “Twenty-First Century Liberal Education: A Contested Concept” seminar. The ninth annual event will draw participants from top institutions, including Earlham, Skidmore, and Washington and Lee. Beginning Thursday, the four-day seminar will address a range of pressing issues, such as the future and purpose of liberal education. The public is invited to attend free lectures on Thursday and Saturday—at 8 p.m. both nights in the Cowgill Center, room 102. J. Scott Lee, executive director of the Association for Core Texts and Courses, will give the first talk, “Cultural Institutions, Theater, and Humanistic Liberal Arts Education: Rethinking Where We Can Go From Here.” Professor Sarah Stanbury, with College of the Holy Cross, will present the weekend public lecture titled “Things of the Past: Medieval Objects and the Liberal Arts.” Michael Bell, vice president and dean of the college, said: “I am delighted that Transylvania is once again able to bring such a distinguished community of scholars together to engage with the theory and practice of the liberal arts. Those arts and the thinking they sustain are, I think, essential to our ability to function as responsible citizens in a democratic society.” The seminar—sponsored by the university and its Bingham Program for Excellence in Teaching—draws higher education faculty from across the country through an extremely competitive application process. Past participants have come from colleges such

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