1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

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Transylvania enrollment at 1,110; most academically-talented entering class in Transy’s history

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The class of 2014 poses on the steps of Old Morrison. LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University has enrolled 1,110 students for the 2010-11 academic year, including an entering class of 314 made up of 303 first-year students and 11 transfers. “This is a class about which we can be very excited,” said Brad Goan, director of admissions. “The academic quality of this group is outstanding. Moving forward, we want to accelerate the pace of diversification, but we made some excellent progress this year in recruiting students from outside Kentucky, and we held onto previous gains in the enrollment of minority and international students.” The entering class is the most academically-talented class in Transy’s history, with an average ACT of 27 and an average high school GPA of 3.8. Thirty-four are Kentucky Governor’s Scholars and Governor’s School for the Arts participants and six are National Merit Finalists. Twenty-one percent of the class comes from outside Kentucky and there are four international students from Korea, China, Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom. Eight percent identify themselves as members of a racial or ethnic minority, and 34 percent are first-generation college students. Transylvania, founded in 1780, is the nation’s sixteenth oldest institution of higher learning and is consistently rankedin national publications as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country.

Leading world authority on the Gnostic Gospels will speak at Transylvania Thursday, Oct. 14, at 7:30 p.m.; free and open to the public

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Elaine Pagels, the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University, will speak at Transylvania University’s Carrick Theater Thursday, Oct. 14, at 7:30 p.m. The lecture is free and open to the public. Pagels is considered a leading world authority on the Gnostic Gospels. The topic of her talk at Transylvania will be “The Discovery of the Secret Gospel of Thomas,” also the subject of her New York Times bestseller “Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas” (2003).  Other books by Pagels include “Adam, Eve and the Serpent” (1988), “The Origin of Satan” (1995), “Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity” (2007) and “The Gnostic Gospels” (1979), which was named by Modern Library as one of the 100 best books of the twentieth century and won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the National Book Award.   Pagels’ current project is a new book titled “Revelations” which will explore the New Testament Book of Revelation and other Jewish, Christian and Pagan books of Revelation written around the same time.  For more information, contact the public relations office at (859) 233-8120.

Transylvania offering five concerts during WEG, four as part of Alltech Fortnight Festival

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—As guests from around the world arrive in Lexington for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, Transylvania University will offer five concerts, four as part of the Alltech Fortnight Festival. September 27 and September 287:30 p.m., Carrick Theater, Mitchell Fine Arts Center Gregory Partain with Transylvania University artists Music professor and pianist Gregory Partain will perform solo masterworks of Beethoven and Ravel and collaborate with colleagues in ensemble music of the Baroque era. In his 23 years on the concert stage, Partain has appeared as recitalist, chamber musician and concerto soloist throughout the United States, and has performed overseas in Poland, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Russia, Greece and Germany. Part of the Alltech Fortnight Festival. $20 at the door or pre-purchase tickets available at the Downtown Arts Center, in person or online at www.lexarts.org/participate/box-office (processing fee applies). October 4 7:30 p.m., Carrick Theater, Mitchell Fine Arts Center Transylvania Faculty Showcase Concert Faculty members will perform in a variety of solos and ensembles. Free and open to the public. October 6 7:30 p.m., Carrick Theater, Mitchell Fine Arts Center Orchid Ensemble with the Transylvania University Choir Ensemble consists of Lan Tung on the erhu/Chinese violin, Haiqiong Deng on the zheng/Chinese zither, and Jonathan Bernard on percussion. Acclaimed as “one of the brightest blossoms on the world music scene,” the ensemble tours regularly across North America. Recent venues include The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer

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A resounding success: Transylvania’s 225th Anniversary Campaign surpasses goal

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—New buildings, significant new endowment funds for scholarships and academic chairs and renovated, state-of-the-art science laboratories are among the many benefits of Transylvania’s recently completed 225th Anniversary Campaign that members of the university community are already enjoying. The five-and-a-half-year campaign, launched in the fall of 2004, ended successfully with a total of $47.3 million, which surpassed the original goal of $32 million as well as the revised goal of $42 million. “Once again, Transylvania’s many supporters came through in grand fashion,” said William T. Young Jr., chairman of the Board of Trustees. “It is especially gratifying that our donors pushed us far beyond our campaign goal in a time of financial uncertainty. When the economy began to falter in the fall of 2008, Transylvania’s donors really stepped up. They continued their strong support of the 225th Anniversary Campaign right up to the very end.” Mark Blankenship ’81, acting vice president for development, noted that the components of the campaign encompassed all the significant areas of the university, from academics to residence life, student life and athletics. “Virtually all members of the Transylvania community are realizing the positive effects of the generosity displayed by everyone who supported the campaign,” he said. “The living and learning environment of the university is measurably better than it was before the campaign began.” New buildings appearTwo new buildings made possible by the campaign have greatly enhanced student life and residence life. A spacious bookstore,

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Transylvania’s Morlan Gallery opens "The Illustrious Horse" exhibition in celebration of the World Equestrian Games

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  Video artist Valerie Fuchs drew inspiration for her work, above, from Rosa Bonheur’s original sketchbook, below right. LEXINGTON, Ky.—In celebration of the World Equestrian Games, the Morlan Gallery proudly presents “The Illustrious Horse: Kentucky Artists Respond to the Clara Peck Collection,” an invitational exhibit of critically renowned contemporary artists from Kentucky. Twelve visual artists and one poet were asked to creatively respond to a horse image found in Transylvania University’s esteemed Clara Peck Collection. The Peck Collection, located in the Rare Book Room of Transylvania University’s library, houses collectable books dealing with the history of the horse and natural history. Exhibition participants are sculptor Steve Armstrong (Lexington); painter Gaela Erwin (Louisville); conceptual artist Kurt Gohde (Lexington); drawing and mixed media artist Michael Goodlett (Wilmore); video artist Valerie Fuchs (Louisville); photographer Guy Mendes (Lexington); painter Lennon Michalski (Lexington); fiber artist Arturo Sandoval (Lexington); conceptual artist Zoé Strecker (Harrodsburg); drawing and mixed media artist Lawrence Tarpey (Lexington); sculptor Travis Townsend (Richmond); sculptor Lavon Van Williams (Lexington); and poet Richard Taylor (Frankfort).   Original Rosa Bonheur sketchbook. These artists innovatively respond to the uncommon and diverse visual imagery of the Peck Collection. For example, Steve Armstrong replies to George Stubbs’ “1766 Anatomy of a Horse,” a virtuosic collection of drawings; Lennon Michaslski answers to “Hortusan Itatis” (Garden of Health), a rare illuminated manuscript from 1400; and video artist Valerie Fuchs finds inspiration from Rosa Bonheur’s original artist’s sketchbook, complete with the initial

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