1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

Bryan Station, Transylvania announce partnership to provide scholarships to IT Academy graduates

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Beginning in 2019, graduates of the Academy of Information Technology at Bryan Station High School will be eligible to receive a minimum $18,000 scholarship to attend Transylvania University. The newly announced partnership not only recognizes the achievements of academy graduates, but also provides them with a path to further their education at one of the nation’s top liberal arts colleges. “The work Bryan Station and its academies are doing to empower individuals to become globally-minded citizens goes hand-in-hand with our mission at Transylvania,” said President Seamus Carey. “We want students from throughout our community to know they can afford a top-level liberal arts education right here in Lexington, and we’re taking the steps to help make that happen for them.” “With this commitment, Transylvania University is taking community partnership to the next level,” said Fayette County Public Schools Superintendent Manny Caulk. “The Fayette County Public Schools Portrait of a Graduate is our promise to families that when you choose our schools, you are choosing an experience for your child designed to equip them to excel in whatever future they can imagine for themselves. This significant scholarship opportunity expands the world of possibilities for the graduates of Bryan Station High School.” Beginning this year, students who graduate from Bryan Station’s Academy of Information Technology, apply to Transylvania by Feb. 1 of their senior year, and are admitted will receive a minimum renewable scholarship of $18,000 per year. Eligible

Transylvania climbs 11 spots in U.S. News & World Report national ranking

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University moved up 11 places this year in the U.S. News Best Colleges rankings released today. The university rated 76th among the nation’s top liberal arts colleges. Transylvania also placed 60th in the list of Best Value Colleges, which is based on factors such as price, quality of the program, average discount and number of students receiving need-based scholarships. “If you look at the criteria that U.S. News & World Report uses to rank colleges, Transylvania performs very well across the board,” said Rhyan Conyers, the university’s vice president of institutional effectiveness. “We are recognized as an affordable institution with an excellent reputation.” When ranking Transylvania, U.S. News considered the university’s small class sizes—78 percent have fewer than 20 students—and the fact that 95 percent of faculty have the highest degrees in their fields.  Other factors include Transylvania’s high 75-percent graduation rate, student selectivity and retention, the amount spent on instruction and other student services, and alumni giving rate.  Transylvania, in the heart of downtown Lexington, is one of only nine schools in the U.S. News top-100 liberal arts colleges in a city with a population of more than 300,000.  The U.S. News ranking comes on the heels of Transylvania’s inclusion in Princeton Review’s “The Best 384 Colleges: 2019 Edition,” which recognized the school in specific categories such as Colleges That Pay You Back—showcasing affordability and career outcomes for graduates—and in College City Gets High Marks, for the

Transylvania University announces 2018-2019 feature event series New Frontiers

This year, the public is invited to go beyond the familiar and explore ideas, art and music with a new feature event series hosted on the campus of Transylvania University.  The New Frontiers 2018-2019 season focuses on the university’s year-long campus theme—civility—and the debate over its role in shaping citizens and communities.   Through presentations from such innovators as author Sir Salman Rushdie, digital creator Dylan Marron and data visualization artists Hasan Elahi and Laurie Frick, New Frontiers embraces multiple disciplines, backgrounds and perspectives in a process that is vastly challenging, entertaining and, ultimately, transformative.  “In a world that is at once fragile, unyielding, complex and searching for direction, Transylvania’s New Frontiers season draws on the arts, humanities and sciences to explore who we are as humans and how we relate,” President Seamus Carey said. Events in the New Frontiers series are free and open to the public. Some events require reservations.  New Frontiers season highlights include signature performances and lectures, as well as selected events from the Transylvania Creative Intelligence Series, including: “Considering Matthew Shepard,” a choral drama featuring the Grammy-winning Conspirare on Oct. 9  James Mustich, author of “1000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List” on Oct. 18 “Data, Mine” art talk and exhibition with Hasan Elahi and Laurie Frick on Jan. 24 Shaun Leonardo, an award-winning artist who uses performance practice to unravel the complexities of human interaction on Feb. 27 Sir Salman Rushdie,

Remarks to the Transylvania Class of 2022 at the First-Year Induction Ceremony

Good morning and welcome to Transylvania. We’re delighted to kick off a new school year by honoring you, the class of 2022, and your family members who have joined you here today. All of us at Transylvania are honored that you have chosen to spend four pivotal years on our campus, and we take our commitment to you and to your education very seriously. I have recently navigated the process of selecting a college with both of my daughters, and I am now in the middle of that process with my son. I know how trying it can be. So let me first offer my congratulations on your having reached this milestone. As students, I expect you feel some relief and not a small amount of anxiety. Those jumbled feelings are perfectly normal. Talk with your roommate, your floor mates, your classmates. I expect you’ll find they all share your excitement and your concerns. It’s a while ago now, but I remember experiencing a similar sense of trepidation when I first arrived on campus. As the son of immigrants and the first in my family to go away to school, I was lost. In fact, I was so homesick, I decided to withdraw after a couple of weeks and drove home on a Friday afternoon.  The next morning my father told me to have a job by Monday morning. So I called a friend who had a construction company to ask for a job. He