1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

Top Stories

Transylvania PumpkinMania on Oct. 30

Posted on by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University invites the community to campus for the eighth annual PumpkinMania on Oct. 30. Hundreds of jack-o’-lanterns will light up the Old Morrison steps and student groups and campus organizations will host trick-or-treating the night before Halloween. “Last year, we had more than 5,000 people participate in PumpkinMania,” said Hannah Piechowski, director of student transitions and parent programming at Transylvania and PumpkinMania committee chair. “As this event continues to grow, we’ve added more food trucks, an activities area for kids, more space for trick-or-treating, as well as an information center and meeting location. PumpkinMania celebrates so many things I love about working at Transylvania—a wonderful campus, amazing neighbors, the downtown community and fall,” Piechowski said. The event kicks off at 6 p.m. with trick-or-treating, live music, food trucks and children’s activities. The pumpkin lighting will be at 7 p.m. To get the pumpkins ready for the display, the public is invited to help carve them on Sunday, Oct. 28, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Back Circle on the residential side of campus off West Fourth Street. Later that evening, be sure to catch the PumpkinMania float in the Lexington Halloween Thriller Parade. The jack-o’-lanterns will be lit every night and remain on display until Nov. 2. PumpkinMania is made possible by the generous support of the Bluegrass Community Foundation and Tetra Tech.

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

Posted on by Office of Marketing and Communications

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

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

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

Posted on by Office of Marketing and Communications

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

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

Transylvania University announces 2018-2019 feature event series New Frontiers

Posted on by Office of Marketing and Communications

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,

Read “Transylvania University announces 2018-2019 feature event series New Frontiers”