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Lawn of historic Old Morrison is scene for Transylvania’s commencement

Posted on May 25, 2013July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University’s 222 graduates welcomed the cool weather Saturday morning as they sat in their black caps and gowns soaking up the sunshine on the lawn of historic Old Morrison during the school’s commencement ceremony. Transylvania president R. Owen Williams conferred the bachelor of arts degree on the graduates, actor Steve Zahn delivered the keynote address, class of 2013 member Hannah Johnson was the student speaker and poet Nikky Finney received an honorary degree. Zahn, a Lexington resident who has appeared in movies including “Reality Bites,” “That Thing You Do!,” “You’ve Got Mail” and “Riding in Cars with Boys,” advised the graduates to take the back roads, where it’s hard to pass and you have to slow down and go through a lot of small towns. “That’s not to say that you shouldn’t take the highways, too,” he said. “It’s your turn to merge onto the interstate and go for it. But remember, the faster you go, the harder it will be to pull off onto the back road, and trust me, the back roads are better. They’re the ones you remember. “The long and the short of it is this: Don’t be in such a hurry to get where you think you’re supposed to be, because you’ll run the risk of missing the real opportunity. Live with integrity and passion. Treat yourself and others well. Humility mixed with focused tenacity will go a long way. Buy a radar

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Transylvania University commencement is Saturday, May 25; actor Steve Zahn will give keynote address; poet Nikky Finney will receive honorary degree; senior Hannah Johnson will be student speaker

Posted on May 22, 2013July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Transylvania University’s commencement will be held on the front lawn of historic Old Morrison on Saturday, May 25, at 9:30 a.m. Actor Steve Zahn will deliver the keynote address and senior Hannah Johnson will speak on behalf of the graduates. Transylvania will award poet Nikki Finney an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. At 8:30 a.m. the 222 members of the Class of 2013 will gather in cap and gown on the steps of the Clive M. Beck Athletics and Recreation Center for a class photo. At 9:15 a.m. graduates, faculty, trustees and the platform party will march from the Mitchell Fine Arts Center behind Old Morrison to the front lawn and take their seats. A cookies and punch reception for graduates, families, and friends will follow the ceremony. Zahn had his first big break in the 1994 movie “Reality Bites.” In 1999, he was offered the starring role in the critically acclaimed film “Happy, Texas,” for which he won an Independent Spirit Award for best supporting male and a Special Dramatic Jury Prize for best comedic performance. Zahn received his strongest critical acclaim for his performance as Drew Barrymore’s husband in “Riding in Cars with Boys.” Currently, Zahn plays the character of Davis McAlary in HBO’s “Treme.” Zahn attended the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training founded by the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University. Johnson, a political science major from Lexington, Ky., will deliver a special

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Transylvania faculty, staff and students biking Friday, May 17, for National Bike to Work Day

Posted on May 16, 2013July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University faculty, staff and students will celebrate National Bike to Work Day by biking to campus on Friday, May 17. Cyclists can meet at Shriners Hospital on Richmond Road at 8 a.m. and bike to Transylvania together or they can bike to Transy on their own. Bagels and Bike to Work T-shirts will be available for all cyclists in Old Morrison Circle. May is National Bike Month and Transylvania has offered several other bike-related events for the campus community including a spring tune-up workshop conducted by the Transy Bikes! Shop, a snack and learn session on bike safety and maintenance and a bike skills relay. For Transylvania’s one-month May term, exercise science professor Sharon Brown lead students on bike rides around the region for her “It’s All About the Bike” class. Topics in this class have included cycling and public health, nutrition, cycling injuries and prevention, physiology of cycling, bike maintenance, bike safety and sustainability. The last full week of the class included Transy’s Tour de Kentucky, May 14-16, from Lexington to Frankfort, Terrapin Hill, Harrodsburg and back to Lexington. The class will also participate in the group ride to campus on May 17. This is the third year for Transylvania to participate in Bike to Work Day and several members of the Transylvania community commute by bike regularly. Transylvania has bikes on campus that can be checked out by faculty, staff and students who need to make

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Poet Nikky Finney to receive honorary degree from Transylvania University

Posted on May 10, 2013July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University will award the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters to poet Nikky Finney at the May 25 commencement ceremony on the front steps of historic Old Morrison. Finney is a nationally recognized poet and professor of English and creative writing at the University of Kentucky. She delivered the convocation address to Transylvania students in September 2012. Her latest book of poetry, “Head Off & Split,” won the 2011 National Book Award for Poetry and explores important people and events in African American history. One reviewer said the book confirmed her role as “…one of the most eloquent, urgent, fearless and necessary poets writing in America today….” Two other books of poetry have been award winners—“The World is Round” won the Benjamin Franklin Award for Poetry, and “Rice” won a PEN American Open Books Award. Her other writing includes “On Wings Made of Gauze,” a debut collection of poetry, and “Heartwood,” a collection of short stories. She also edited “The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South,” which has become an essential anthology of contemporary African American writers. Finney was born and raised in South Carolina as the child of activist parents. Her father was a civil rights attorney and her mother was a teacher. Coming of age during the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Arts Movement and seeing her parents deeply involved in the struggle for justice, she learned early on the power of language. Her

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Transylvania professor consulted for article in The New Yorker

Posted on May 9, 2013July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—In the May 6, 2013, issue of The New Yorker magazine, author Douglas Preston writes about the use of a new technology called lidar (light detection and ranging) that allows aerial mapping of both man-made objects and natural land forms that lie beneath dense vegetation. In the article, titled “The El Dorado machine: A new scanner’s rain-forest discoveries,” Preston first allows Transylvania anthropology professor Chris Begley to describe the rigors of the more traditional methods of mapping archaeological sites in the Honduran jungle. “It’s mountainous. There’s white water. There are jumping vipers, coral snakes, fer-de-lance, stinging plants, and biting insects. And then there are the illnesses—malaria, dengue fever, leishmaniasis, Chagas’ disease.” As one of the foremost experts on the region’s archaeological sites, Begley has bushwhacked a good bit of this formidable territory. And he understands that the introduction of this new technology could possibly save years of on-ground exploration amid punishing human hardship. “This data will certainly make it much easier for archaeologists to target their efforts, and the kinds of month-long jungle treks that I undertook over two decades can be reduced to much shorter trips targeting particular sites. This will make research in the area accessible to many more people who would not have been able to withstand the rigors of work in the area previously.” Begley has conducted ongoing research in the region, beginning in the 1990s while he was completing graduate studies at the University

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