1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

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Education and Innovation: Time for a Change

Posted on by President Seamus Carey

The following originally appeared in The Huffington Post. Throughout America, there’s a persistent national debate about the value of a liberal arts education. A day seldom passes when a new study doesn’t appear about student debt, unemployed graduates, the need for professional training and, the perennial question, “Who needs to study Plato anyway?” What we once took for granted in higher education has been turned on its head. The scrutiny of the liberal arts comes at a time when the economic performance of the United States has been languishing for more than six years. As a result, colleges are not only being forced to control costs but also to innovate and invest more in their students to keep up with the competition. For a university to be competitive nowadays, it must offer more than a good education. At many schools, large sums of donor dollars are being funneled into infrastructure projects, such as new dormitories, dining halls, fitness centers and even state-of-the-art climbing walls, which supporters justify as necessary to attract the best students.

Dean search continues Transylvania’s leadership transformation

Posted on by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON Ky.—As part of a broader leadership transformation that began with selecting a new president, Transylvania University has begun a search for a vice president for academic affairs and dean of the university. Michael J. Bell is serving as interim vice president and dean of the university. The new dean will help lead the campus community as the school carries out the Transylvania 2020 strategic plan—a roadmap that provides a vision and direction for enhancing student success and curricular innovation. A member of the executive cabinet, the dean is responsible for enriching and expanding academic programs while overseeing the university’s library, writing center, study abroad program, first-year academic experience, and career development and registrar offices. As the university enters a bold new era, it is looking for a dean who is not only an accomplished scholar, educator and administrator—but also someone with a strong commitment to liberal education, shared governance and collegial problem solving. The dean will work closely with President Seamus Carey, who already has made an impact in his first few weeks at Transylvania with the introduction of his new mentoring program, 100 Doors to Success. The initiative pairs first-year students with alumni who can share insights into building successful careers. For more information, visit https://www.transy.edu/about/employment.htm.

Transylvania alumni to transform campus plaza, create scholarship fund

Posted on by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University alumni have united to renovate a gathering place in the heart of the campus—and provide funding for legacy scholarships while they’re at it. To raise money for the Alumni Plaza project, graduates of the university are asking donors to have their name—or the name of someone they’d like to honor—engraved on a brick that will be placed in the busy meeting area behind historic Old Morrison. “Our plan is to transform Haupt Plaza into a true campus center—a place of pride and beauty for all of the Transylvania community past, present, and future,” according to alumni representatives. “Hand-in-hand with this bricks-and-mortar component is the effort to create a new scholarship fund for legacy students to ensure that the campus will persist with new generations of Pioneers. We look forward to creating an inspiring and functional outdoor gathering space for future Transylvania students to enjoy.” The goal for the Alumni Plaza Brick Project is to raise at least $250,000 for the renovation, which also will include new trees, seating, and an outdoor classroom with Wi-Fi capability. The Transylvania Alumni Board and the Transylvania University Young Alumni Council already have received almost $135,000 in pledges. These tax-deductible donations are an opportunity for the Transylvania community and friends to not only leave a mark on an institution that has been around for more than 230 years but also help shape the future through the scholarship fund. For more information, contact

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Transylvania to house chamber performers in a pinch

Posted on by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University’s downtown campus will provide a home base for WindSync while the Houston quintet serves as ensemble-in-residence for the 2014 Chamber Music Festival of Lexington. When Barbara LoMonaco, vice president for student affairs and dean of students, learned that the festival’s plans to accommodate the group had encountered complications, she readily offered individual rooms in a university residence hall for the duration of the musicians’ visit to Lexington. “We are delighted to support the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington by hosting members of  WindSync on our campus,” LoMonaco said. LoMonaco was supported in her efforts by music professor Ben Hawkins. “Transylvania and its music program continue to seek ways to collaborate with our neighbors to enhance the quality of life in our great city,” he said. The 10-day festival begins on the evening of Thursday, Aug. 14, with a WindSync concert featuring barbecue and beer on the lawn of Loudon House, home of the Lexington Art League. The event is free and open to the public. Hailed by the Houston Chronicle as “revolutionary chamber musicians,” WindSync is recognized internationally for dramatic and adventurous programming in venues ranging from concert halls to museums, universities and schools.  The young, energetic group plays exclusively from memory, incorporating elements of staging and choreography. For more information, contact Tom Martin with the Transylvania communications office at 859-281-3617.

Transylvania again honored as one of America’s top colleges

Posted on 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.