1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

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2008 Governor’s School for the Arts session begins Sunday, June 22

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LEXINGTON, Ky. – A record number of Kentucky’s best young artists will gather on the Transylvania campus on Sunday to begin the three-week 2008 session of the Governor’s School for the Arts. The latest GSA class includes 241 rising juniors and seniors from all corners of the Commonwealth, including 15 in a new discipline called “New Media,” which will focus on more recent forms of art communication, including animation, video production, and digital imagery. The student-artists will receive intense instruction in a total of nine areas. Along with New Media, those disciplines are Architecture, Creative Writing, Dance, Drama, Instrumental Music, Musical Theatre, Visual Arts, and Vocal Music. Educational experience is gained through a variety of daily seminars, master-classes, lectures, hands-on workshops, and field trips to regional arts attractions. More than 3,500 of the state’s most talented high school artists from 120 counties have attended the 21-year-old GSA summer program following a challenging selection process. Over 1,300 students apply for the program each year for one of the available scholarships valued at over $3,000. Currently, 18 colleges and universities, including Transylvania, offer scholarships to GSA alumni. The program will culminate on Saturday, July 12 with an all-day festival that celebrates the achievements of the young artists through performances that are open to family and the public. Corporate and government supporters of the program and the GSA Advisory Board have also been invited to attend the day-long pre-finals rehearsals on Friday, July

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Transylvania’s president of 25 years, Dr. Charles L. Shearer, profiled in Lexington Herald-Leader

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The Lexington Herald-Leader featured Transylvania University president Charles L. Shearer on the same day as the University’s Commencement. The article by reporter Art Jester profiled Shearer and his 25 years as president: In the nearly 25 years that Charles L. Shearer has been president of Transylvania University, the 228-year-old liberal arts college has grown stronger and better in every respect, largely due to him. “He’s a once-in-a-lifetime president,” said William T. Young Jr., chairman of Transylvania’s board of trustees. “I don’t think most people realize Transylvania has been transformed under his leadership.” By any measurement — students, faculty, alumni, scholarships, geographical diversity, facilities or fund-raising — Transylvania is far different than it was in the troubled hour when Shearer took office on July 8, 1983. Transylvania had been through three presidents in three years. Shearer immediately restored stability and confidence, as well as ambition. Continue reading the full article

Transylvania awards 259 degrees to largest class in its history

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University awarded bachelor of arts degrees to 259 seniors, the largest graduating class in the 228-year-old school’s history. Transylvania President Charles L. Shearer conferred the diplomas on the steps of historic Old Morrison before a sun-drenched crowd of friends and family, faculty and trustees seated on the lawn. John Churchill, secretary of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, gave the commencement address. He spoke on the role that education in the liberal arts and sciences plays in benefitting both the individual and society as a whole. “Engagement with the liberal arts and sciences fosters our abilities to use knowledge to make important decisions well,” Churchill said. “It also gives us responsibilities to make the world a better place.” He urged the graduates to look on their learning as a lifelong endeavor. “Never suppose that you have garnered enough knowledge, become skillful enough at deliberative thinking, or seen deeply enough into the meaning of things. There is no ‘enough.’” As secretary, Churchill is the chief executive officer and head of the national office of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest academic honorary society. He received his undergraduate education and induction into Phi Beta Kappa at Rhodes College, studied at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and earned the Ph.D. from Yale University. Graduating senior Lucie Hartmann, a political science and psychology double major from Asheville, N.C., used the whimsical poetic style of a Dr. Seuss tale to compare the education

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Largest graduating class in Transylvania’s 228-year history will receive degrees Saturday, May 24

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—A record 259 seniors will receive the Bachelor of Arts degree during Transylvania’s Commencement exercises on Saturday, May 24, at 10 a.m. in front of historic Old Morrison. (The rain location is the Clive M. Beck Center). The previous largest class was 257 in 2004. John Churchill, secretary of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, will deliver the commencement address and graduating senior Lucienne Hartmann, a political science and psychology major with a women’s studies minor, will speak on behalf of the students. Churchill was educated at Rhodes College, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, at Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar and at Yale University, where he was awarded a Ph.D. in 1978. Churchill was formerly vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college at Hendrix College, where he also served as professor of philosophy and twice as interim president. In the 1970s, he served as assistant American secretary to the Rhodes Scholarship Trust and has been active since that time in the selection of Rhodes scholars. His scholarly interests include the philosophers Ludwig Wittgenstein and David Hume, as well as topics in the history of philosophy, the philosophy of religion and the philosophy of liberal education. He has published several dozen articles in these and related fields. Churchill’s professional activities have included membership on the Board of Directors of the American Conference of Academic Deans and the Arkansas Endowment for the

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Transy announces Athletes of the Year for 2008

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Men’s soccer All-American Matt Vogel, two-sport standout Liz Meredith, and All-Heartland Conference golfer Rhea Badgett were named  male and co-female Pioneer Athletes of the Year during Wednesday’s 15th annual Transylvania Athletic Awards ceremony.   Vogel, a native of Lexington and a graduate of Lexington Christian Academy, was a two-time All-American and a three-time All-Region choice for the Pioneers. He was also the HCAC Player of the Year this season after leading Transy to its third straight NCAA Division III Championship appearance, where the Pioneers advanced to the round of 16.   For the third time since the award has been given, there were co-female Pioneer Athletes of the Year in Meredith and Badgett.   Badgett, a Madisonville North Hopkins product, was a four-time member of the All-HCAC first team and was the conference’s Freshman of the Year, when she finished second in the league tournament. A two-time team captain, she never finished lower than seventh in the HCAC Championships.   Meredith was a starting outfielder on the softball team and a team captain on the swimming and diving squad. She played on the first Transy softball team to qualify for the NCAA Championships in 2006 and scored points in all three of her individual events at the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Swimming Championships. She also established personal best times in all her events as a senior.   Brent Roach, a four-year member of the baseball team, received the George H.

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