SPRING | SUMMER 2019 - Transylvania University
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SPRING | SUMMER 2019
Volume 5, Issue No. 1
Volume 5, Issue No. 1
4
The Face of
Writing
8
Finding Their
Muse
12
Moving the Field
Forward
2 | From the President 23 | Alumni Notes
16 | In Photographs 28 | Alumni Awards
20 | Campus News 30 | Alumni Weekend
Editor Contact Us
Robin Hicks Third & Broadway
news@transy.edu
Graphic Designer 859-233-8120
Stephen Russell
Readers may send name/address
Writers changes or corrections to:
John Friedlein Alumni & Development Office
Robin Hicks 415 North Broadway
Megan Moloney Lexington, KY 40508
Tyler Young 800-487-2679
alumni@transy.edu
Photographers
Joseph Rey Au Transylvania University, located in the heart of downtown
John Friedlein Lexington, Kentucky, is a top-ranked private liberal arts college
Ron Garrison featuring a community-driven, personalized approach to a liberal
Megan Moloney arts education through 46 majors. Founded in 1780, it is the
Stephen Russell 16th oldest institution of higher learning in the country, with
Tim Webb approximately 1,000 students.
Production Manager
Julie Martinez Find more resources online at:
transy.edu
FROM THE PRESIDENT
ON WRITING
Like most substantive human activities, our thoughts. Knowing grammar helps and deadlines close in, our thoughts and
writing can be a metaphor for how we live. the writing process, but by itself knowing perceptions become restrictive. The only
If we take writing seriously, we learn as grammar doesn’t lead to good writing, just creativity we seem to be able to muster is
much about ourselves as we do about that as knowing the rules of a sport does not in in multiple forms of procrastination. To
which we write. Writing gives voice to the itself make one a good athlete. overcome the restrictiveness that often
murmurings of inchoate experience, and Practice and repetition help. Many accompanies stress, we can trust in the
in developing a voice, we learn more about writers lament their early work. Over richness of the world. There is always a
who we are and want to be. We deepen our time, as one’s experience becomes richer new story, a different angle, a revealing
awareness of self. and thoughts become more complex, the metaphor to anchor an idea waiting to
Like education, writing orients us toward persistent writer becomes more adept be noticed if we trust in our experience
the future, even if we are writing about with language. The ability to express and in our ability to see it. William James’
the past. To set out on a writing project complexity with clarity increases. Nuance account of attention is helpful here:
is to make a promise to oneself to bring settles into sentences and paragraphs, “Attention … is the taking by the mind,
something into being that does not exist. layering meaning into words. James in clear and vivid form, of one out of what
As we work toward keeping that promise, Baldwin ties together the importance of seem several simultaneously possible
we increase our freedom by staking our experience with the agency of shaping objects or trains of thought. … It implies
claim on the future. it with language when he observes, “It is withdrawal from some things in order to
In “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism,” experience which shapes a language; and it deal effectively with others.”
Soshana Zuboff presents an exquisite is language which controls an experience.” James is reminding us that we decide
analysis of ways in which our ability Like grammar, experience is essential to what we pay attention to. And what we pay
to stake a claim on the future is being a maturing writer, but by itself does not attention to not only influences how and
undermined by the pervasive operations guarantee the proficiency we seek. what we write, it determines how we live.
of big technology. In contrast, she sees the Imitation helps. In grammar school and Again, James: “Our lives are what we agree
act of writing as an example of how we can my early years of high school, I traveled to attend to.” Through writing, which is a
preserve our freedom by giving voice to our around New York City to watch the best process of upholding promises to which
experience. She writes, “I made a promise high school basketball players in the area. we commit, we increase our claim on the
to complete this work. … It represents my When I got home that evening or the next future tense. We expand our freedom.
commitment to construct a future that day, I would try to imitate something they This is what liberal education does. It is
cannot come into being should I abandon did, and I would repeat it until it could be well known that one of the most notable
my promise. … I am an inchworm moving done with some fluency. Reading other qualities of Transylvania graduates is
with determination and purpose across the writers is similar. In paying attention to their proficiency for writing. By extension,
distance between now and later. … I can the way they develop a story, a character, Transylvania exemplifies the very best of
promise to create a future, and I can keep an argument, or focusing on the style and liberal education by guiding the attention
my promise. This act of will is my claim on efficiency of word use, we can identify and of students to the richness of the world
the future tense.” adopt patterns of writing that help us say and encouraging them to stake their claim
This act of will is an act of human what we want to say. But, like knowing on the future tense. It is no surprise that
freedom. As Toni Morrison points out, grammar, imitation is an aid to finding so many Transylvania graduates assert
“Word-work is sublime … because it is one’s voice. It is not the goal. their freedom by being attentive to the
generative; it makes meaning that secures Good coaching helps. Constructive well-being of others and to improving
our difference, our human difference — critiques of one’s writing from careful their communities. They understand that
the way in which we are like no other life.” readers is invaluable. A good writing coach their lives are “equivalent to what they
Word-work — writing — is an exercise in points out pitfalls to avoid and tips to attend to,” and their attention is devoted
human freedom that enables us to stake a employ. While the words, sentences and to what is most important and, ultimately,
claim on the future by giving distinctive ideas we generate can be hard to let go, the most rewarding.
meaning to our lives. sooner we shun attachments of the ego, the
There are technical elements to writing quicker we can advance.
that help. Grammar is a powerful set of For some of us, the blank page is our
organizational tools that direct the way biggest challenge. As hints of an idea slide
we structure our sentences and hence around elusively beneath consciousness
2 THIRD & BROADWAY
Carey stepping down as
president, John Williams
’74 to serve as interim
Transylvania’s 26th president, Seamus
Carey, has announced he is stepping down
to assume the presidency at Iona College
in New Rochelle, New York.
“Serving this community as your
president has been both an honor and
a privilege. I am grateful for all of the
support I received and for all of the
friendships we developed,” Carey said.
“The past five years have presented many
challenges — some that we overcame and
others that remain works in progress.”
Dr. John Norton
Williams Jr., a
1974 graduate of
Transylvania and
member of the
university’s Board of
Trustees since 2007,
will serve as interim president beginning
Aug. 15, 2019.
“Transylvania is a vibrant academic
community with outstanding students,
faculty and staff,” said Williams. “It is
an honor for me to serve the university
as interim president and share its great
tradition of liberal arts education with
future generations, just as it has done so
well for almost 240 years.”
During an academic career that spans
three decades, Williams has held provost
and dean positions at Indiana University,
the University of North Carolina and the
University of Louisville. He holds a Doctor
of Dental Medicine and a Master of
Business Administration from Louisville,
as well as a Bachelor of Arts in biology
from Transylvania. He is nationally
and internationally known for his work
in accreditation, academic program
development and assessment.
the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY 3
NG
L ER YOU
BY TY
TRANSY’S WRITING CENTER
IS PUSHING CREATIVITY
TO THE NEXT LEVEL
“It was at this point our parents what we did that day, we’ve assignment, on supporting a thesis, on
been telling stories, organizing our breaking rules and not being afraid to let
that the transition thoughts in a way that communicates your personality shine in your piece.
was first made to what it is we want to say.
We’ve always been writers. It’s building
“This space is sort of a cross between a
recording studio and a personal trainer,”
the conception our toolkit — the research, the knowledge
of literature, the tricks and turns of
he says.
Wait — hear him out. In addition to his
that rhetoric was a phrases — that gives us the confidence
to call ourselves that. Writing is a skill
teaching, Whiddon has been a working
musician since he was 16 years old.
teachable skill, that that we all have, but it’s a skill that can be “In a recording studio, you have to
developed with intentional training and actively listen, collaborate, figure out
it could … be passed learning from others. the end product and allow yourself the
from one skilled That’s what Aristotle was referring to
when he called rhetoric — his word for
benefit of surprise. You have to have a
really good sense of genre and know the
performer on to communication — a teachable skill that
adds tangible value to our lives. And
shape of things.
“But you go to a personal trainer with
others, who might perhaps that’s what alumni mean when
they say, over and over, that they learned
a specific set of goals in mind, and you go
regularly and keep building on that bar
thereby achieve to write at Transylvania. set, and through that process you end up
“That’s one of the foundations to a with an exceptional product.”
successes in their traditional liberal arts education,” says That strategy has grown the Writing
practical life that Scott Whiddon, professor of writing,
rhetoric, and communication. “It’s the
Center into the force that it is today —
20 staffers, fully trained, working with
would otherwise DNA of what we do.”
Whiddon talks about writing like
students from all years, all majors and all
skill levels.
have eluded them.” a parent talks about their children.
It involves discipline and love and
Potential staffers are recommended
to Whiddon, who puts them through a
— Aristotle, The Art of Rhetoric frustration and breakthrough and semester-long training practicum where
fear, but it’s always evolving — and they learn to be effective teachers and
M
ost of us can remember never boring. collaborators. From reading scholarly
learning grammar — parsing He’s the director of Transylvania’s research on good writing center
sentences and practicing Writing Center, a campus hub of practice, to shadowing current staffers,
subject-verb agreements. creativity and mentorship located in the to role-playing scenarios, the students
Many of us remember spelling tests library’s Academic Center for Excellence. soak up the Writing Center’s values of
and saying aloud with our schoolmates, His team of staffers spend time every collaboration, creativity and community.
“‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c … .’” week — approximately 800 hours a year Once they become full staffers, they
But do you remember learning to — working with their fellow students, in get requests submitted by students
write? Do you remember who taught you one-on-one and group sessions helping looking for writing assistance — they call
to take those jumbled ideas in your head them build their own toolkits. They them “patrons” — and meet one on one to
and transfer them to paper in a pathway also hold workshops in classes around help with anything from brainstorming
of paragraphs and pages? It seems most of campus, helping faculty carry out their to citing sources to clarity to length. They
us probably don’t. own writing assignments. often find that what the patrons are really
Could it be because we’ve always It’s not about fixing papers or seeking is confidence in their work.
known how? From the moment we began correcting typos. It’s about intentional “One of the most common questions
making up stories as toddlers, or telling conversation on the goals of an patrons have is ‘Does it make sense?’”
the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY 5
the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY 5
Chetali Jhamnani, left, working with
a student in the Writing Center.
“It’s not about
rules, it’s not
about forms. It’s
about learning to
think like a writer
— you have to
experience it."
— Martha Gehringer, professor emeritus,
writing, rhetoric, and communication
says junior staffer Isaac Settle. “Nine been honored with the 2018 Martinson Humanities so that they could have more
times out of 10, it does — that’s not Award by the Small Liberal Arts College space for more staffers and patrons.
the issue. What they usually want is Writing Program Administrators, as well Students started coming in, not just for
affirmation.” as three Christine Cozzens Research and help on their academic assignments, but
The staffers consistently talk about Initiative Awards from the Southeastern on their personal essays and poems. One
the importance of making the patron Writing Center Association. student asked Gehringer for help on how
feel comfortable in the sessions, that it’s Transy’s Writing Center was the to get a poem published.
the best way to bring out confident and brainchild of WRC professor Martha “I said, ‘You don’t have to know how
creative writing. It’s hard when students Gehringer, who, in the late 1980s, to publish it — go write it on my door,’”
are working on so many papers, trying observed a need for students to get extra Gehringer says. “So she wrote her poem
to perfectly fulfill the assignment’s help with their writing. Nationwide, on my door and signed it and dated it. I
requirements, to coax them into there was a movement to instill the said, ‘It’s published.’ Next thing I knew,
truthfully expressing themselves, but that value of writing into all programs and people were flocking to write poems
emphasis is one of the things that makes across all curricula, and at the same on my door.”
Transy’s Writing Center so unique. time pedagogical research was placing Gehringer’s door filled up with poems.
“I always start by welcoming them a greater emphasis on collaborative Shy students would write on the edges
to the Writing Center, by introducing learning and writing, showing that or even on the inside so you couldn’t
myself,” says senior staffer Chetali students learn particularly well and get read them when it was closed. During a
Jhamnani. “It’s really important to get a quality attention from each other. time when writing was really beginning
rapport with students, especially if you Gehringer was able to get a work-study to flourish at Transy, the door stood
haven’t worked with them before. A lot student — Lisa Jones ’89, who sat outside as a symbol of its great potential, of
of people are scared to talk about their her office in a partition — and the two playfulness and permanence and power
writing, and you have to help them get of them worked with students on their that remain deeply instilled in the culture
comfortable.” writing. They were the first Writing of writing that exists here today.
Senior staffer Jewell Boyd echoes the Center. Listening to Gehringer talk about “That’s what I inherited from Martha
importance of being at ease in writing. “If her vision from 30 years ago, the value Gehringer, and the seed of what we do
they’re not comfortable, they’re either not system is strikingly familiar to how the here,” Whiddon says.
willing to make changes in their writing, Writing Center functions today. The door sits in the Writing Center
or they’ll just take every single thing you “It’s not about rules, it’s not about as a reminder.
say and do it immediately,” she says. “And forms. It’s about learning to think like a Very often you’ll hear a Transy student
that’s not what we’re looking for. We’re writer — you have to experience it,” she say that they write a lot. Depending on
looking for collaborative effort.” says. “It’s a way that you don’t necessarily the student’s state of mind, that statement
This method and its success has learn from teachers. You learn from could be exciting or exhausting, freeing
earned the Writing Center national watching others.” or terrifying. But it’s universally true —
recognition. In addition to being asked As the Writing Center grew, Transy students write. They may study
to present at various conferences around Gehringer’s office was moved to the English, business, anthropology, German,
the country, Transy’s Writing Center has basement of what was then Haupt philosophy, physics, but they will write.
6 THIRD & BROADWAY
It can be daunting when you don’t continue studying in the sciences. And in their own academics. He gets emails
know what to expect. Transy has set up she’s a writer. and cards from them, marveling at how
courses for first-year students — First- Settle is a double major in history and they’ve become professors, surgeons,
Year Seminar and First-Year Research political science who is preparing to go to lawyers, parents. He sees how being a part
Seminar — that help give them an idea of law school. And he’s a writer. of the writing culture at Transylvania has
the kind of writing that will be expected Boyd is a WRC major whose dream instilled in them warmth and curiosity
of them as students here. Most students is to work in publishing. Of course she’s and active listening. He and some of
taking those courses will end up in the a writer. the current staffers recently unveiled a
Writing Center at some point or another Look at the Writing Center’s new research project where they will be
— staffers often say that those are their appointment log in any given semester, surveying Writing Center alumni and
favorite patrons to work with — and that and you’ll find every major represented. getting a sense of how working in the
relationship is a great way to set the tone There may be no better testament to the Writing Center influenced their lives.
for the university’s culture of writing. way writing has become intertwined “I have the best colleagues
“I consider myself someone who throughout disciplines. imaginable — they just happen to be
loved writing before coming to college,” “Writing is embedded at Transy,” Settle undergraduates,” he says. “The maturity
Jhamnani says. “I don’t think I was says. “You’re going to get better, even if they have — they’re the face of writing at
as confident coming in, though. But you don’t really care to get better. That’s this college.”
I’ve definitely gotten better at it. FYS a beneficial tool that Transy has. Think “The students who are staffers can
and FYRS prepare you to be a college about all the applications and resumes get into any school in the world because
academic writer. And I’ve taken a lot of you’ll be doing. Think about writing they can write,” Gehringer adds. “They
writing classes and the Writing Center emails — do you know how many emails I can take any question and see how to get
practicum, and all of that combined has get that don’t make any sense? it to the page in ways that you couldn’t
really helped me develop as a writer.” “The writing I do now, I assume, will teach them in the classroom. They’re
An international student who grew be different from the writing I do in patient. They’ll give you time. They’re
up in Liberia, Jhamnani is a biology graduate school. But I’ve been exposed to learning by teaching.”
major who was just accepted into a lot of different types of writing. After Those values aren’t much different
graduate school for medical sciences at working in the Writing Center, I wouldn’t from what makes any liberally educated
the University of Kentucky. She plans be as scared to tackle a paper in another student successful. Look at the quality of
to go to medical school or possibly to discipline. It’s professional development writing at a liberal arts institution, and
for my own writing.” you’ll probably have a pretty good idea
Seeing his staffers of the quality of the education. The two
Scott Whiddon pictured with
Martha Gehringer's door.
excel in their lives always inform each other. At Transy, the
and careers is just results speak for themselves.
as rewarding to
Whiddon as seeing
Writing Center
patrons blossom
“I have the best
colleagues imaginable
— they just happen to
be undergraduates.
The maturity they have
— they’re the face of
writing at this college.”
— Scott Whiddon, professor of writing, rhetoric,
and communication
the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY 7
Published alumni find inspiration in liberal arts background BY JOHN FRIEDLEIN
B
illy Reed’s path seemed clear right Reed’s life and career. “I’ll always camps. “On a personal level, I suppose,
out of high school. The future Hall remember him saying: ‘Billy, winning is I simply hoped to provide one of my
of Fame sports writer already was not important unless it’s done the right greatest literary heroines with a life that
covering games for two daily newspapers, way.’ That is a mantra that I’ve used in my she was cheated of,” Gillham says. “But
and he had a journalism scholarship in writing over and over again. He helped me in a larger sense, I wanted to underscore
hand to the University of Kentucky. set my standards for journalism.” what Annelies Marie Frank and her work
Reed instead chose Transylvania Reed recognizes the late coach in his have come to represent to me and to
University, which didn’t even offer a book “Last of a BReed,” a celebration millions of others: hope.”
journalism class at the time. The reason of the golden era of sports journalism Writing about Anne Frank was a
was pretty trivial: It would have been a published this past November. He hopes calling for Gillham, who believes “a liberal
hassle for him to drive across town from the readers will take away “the importance education is vital to anyone who dreams
work to UK, not to mention find a place of people along the way who will give of pursuing a writer’s life. It opens your
to park. But the impact of his broad- you a hand up when you need it, who creative process to worlds of thought and
based Transy education was anything will mentor you and believe in you if experience that expand your heart and
but trivial. you’re willing to work hard and have a soul. A writer can find subject matter to
Being so busy, Reed wasn’t exactly a good attitude. We all need those kinds of exploit in any of those worlds — not just
great student. But the breadth of what people. I found a lot of them at Transy.” history, literature and the social sciences,
he learned helped him become a great but math and the natural sciences as well.”
writer. “I did learn a little bit about a lot of
things,” says the 1966 graduate.
That’s the result of Transylvania being
steeped in the liberal arts tradition,
which forces students out of well-worn
ruts, helping them make unexpected
connections between far-flung subjects.
It also develops the whole person through
a range of enriching activities — from
mentorships to cultivation of self-
expression and discovery. Another alum, New York Times
“I became a big believer in the liberal bestselling author David Gillham ’79, Professor of English Maurice
arts,” Reed says. In fact, one of this found inspiration at Transy in political Manning, who was a finalist for the 2011
courtside scribe’s favorite classes at science and history professors such as Pulitzer Prize in poetry, incorporates
Transy was Philosophy, Religion and Life. Don Dugi and Joe Binford. “They not this interdisciplinary approach into his
“If you read good sports writers, they only permitted me to blend my creative teaching. Recently, themes as diverse
will have various allusions — literary work with history, but they encouraged as popular culture, psychology, history,
allusions, historical allusions,” he says. me to do so, and in the process deepened creativity and poetic technique came up
“It’s because they’ve had that kind of an my understanding of my writing and the in a single class period, because they were
education too. You can pull something world’s historical and political pageants,” in the range of thought and inquiry in his
out that you’ve learned and apply it to a he says. “I have been writing fiction that students’ poems, he says. “This is what I
current situation.” blends history and politics ever since.” always find exciting about a liberal arts
He also found a mentor in coaching Published in January, his novel education. We attempt to write a poem,
legend C.M. Newton, who imparted “Annelies” tells a fictional story of Anne and upon reflection and analysis, we find
lessons that reverberated throughout Frank, had she survived the concentration the poem is connected to the world we
“[A] liberal education is vital to anyone who dreams of pursuing a writer’s life.
It opens your creative process to worlds of thought and experience that expand
your heart and soul.” — David Gillham ’79
the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY 9live in and the vast array of intellectual see the book as a better way to understand
disciplines that capture human curiosity. I and grow, and through that growing
like to think that the liberal arts approach and self-awareness begin to engage
inspires curiosity and gives our students with their fellow citizens, their fellow
the hands-on skills and the outlook family members, their fellow community
necessary to follow that spark and see members about politics again — not
where it goes.” just with people who agree with them,”
Holland says. “We really think that the
ability to talk politics with one another is
Two other Transy alumnae, Beth essential to the health of our democracy,
Silvers and Sarah Stewart Holland, also so we really hope this opens the door to
help readers discover their better selves. people who have sort of cut politics and
The 2003 graduates — who hail from political conversations out of their lives.”
different sides of the political spectrum
— recently published a book titled “I
Think You’re Wrong (But I’m Listening):
A Guide to Grace-Filled Political
Conversations.” The book is based on
Colene Elridge ’05, author of “Monday their Pantsuit Politics podcasts, which
Morning Pep Talks: Inspiration to Make encourage civil, nuanced conservations
Your Week Thrive,” also finds inspiration — as opposed to shouting and insults.
in diverse, real-life experiences — thanks They’ve recently made multiple
in part to her anthropology major, which appearances on MSNBC’s Morning Joe
forced her to look at things in a new and were featured on Bloomberg Radio
way. “I find inspiration from everything, and in The Atlantic magazine. Not demonizing others, seeing them as
because I was taught how to observe the Their liberal arts background helps complex human beings, is also a goal of
world,” she says. them foster dialogue that is enriched by Alice Connor ’99.
Elridge is a coach and motivational many viewpoints. “We really try to look at Her upcoming book, “How to Human:
speaker who sends inspirational emails to each issue holistically and from a variety An Incomplete Manual for Living in a
subscribers every Monday morning. These of perspectives,” Silvers says. “That to me Messed-Up World,” arose from her work
messages are included in her book, which was the essence of what my education as a campus minister at the University of
came out this past October. at Transy was about.” Transylvania Cincinnati. She hopes readers will take
“I’m always taking notes about things taught her to “approach everything from away “a sense of the complexity of human
that have happened during the week an interdisciplinary perspective and experience and a willingness to engage
— random things I see,” Elridge says. understand that everything builds on difficult questions for themselves more.”
“Sometimes it’s a song lyric or a verse that itself and that you can’t really understand To do so requires opening your
I’ve read somewhere. I can be at a coffee sciences without the arts and vice versa. mind. “We get stuck in boxes a lot —
shop and see something and think: Ooh I feel like that’s the foundation of what emotional, spiritual or vocational, or
how can I apply that in a bigger way? Sarah and I do — this kind of blending of sometimes physical even — we don’t see
Being able to look at the world through things.” what’s outside of them,” Connor says.
this lens gives me an endless amount Additionally, Holland sees the liberal Not coincidentally, escaping mental
of material to write the pep talks every arts values of engagement and openness as constraints is a main goal of the liberal
week.” ways to incorporate politics into our lives. arts. “My experience at Transy opened up
“We hope that people first and foremost the idea of possibilities for me.”
“We really try to look at each issue holistically and from a variety of
perspectives. That to me was the essence of what my education at
Transy was about.” — Beth Silvers ’03
10 THIRD & BROADWAYDespite her book being called a manual, I was taking, and how that related to an
Poet Tiara Brown ’16 just completed an
what it asks of us isn’t easy. “Much of the English literature course that I was taking.
MFA at the University of Kentucky as a
book is about vulnerability and a need to Those interconnected threads are a big Lyman T. Johnson Fellow. At Transy she
not just be taken seriously ourselves as part of writing well, because if you don’t received both the Delcamp and the Judy
valuable people, but to take other people have that nuance, your story is missing Gaines Young student writing awards
seriously. something. Stories aren’t singular — they and gained the confidence she needed to
“To do what I’m asking people to do don’t come out of nowhere, and there are pursue the “writing life.” Read more on
requires a lot of engagement ourselves. multiple angles from which to view them.” the 1780 blog at blog.transy.edu.
And that’s really hard and unpleasant.
It’s also deeply delightful when you give
yourself over to something like this. Martha Gehringer, professor emeritus
You’re attempting to look at yourself more of writing, rhetoric and communication,
clearly, and you’re attempting to look at facilitated this cross-fertilization of reply to “how can you become a writer?”
your own patterns and the other people ideas across academic subjects in part after eve merriam
around you and see them as complete and by helping develop a May term art and
beautiful and beloved human beings.” writing course in Ireland. She also
encourages all students — regardless of eye a blackberry on a shrub
their area of concentration — to think of
themselves as writers.
follow its contours
“You’re really denied something in with your finger
life if you think you can only write in every juicy bulb
response to an assignment,” Gehringer
says. “There’s just something to be had
giving way
for the rest of your life from learning to
know the role of writing — and not just to commit to memory
work out feelings. It’s an art form, and it’s
the way this glossy clot clings
something that you should know that you
Cory Collins ’13 — a senior writer can do. You don’t have to be good at it — to the stem (and how each thorny
for Teaching Tolerance, an advocacy it’s just part of how you can be human. In stem curves from the branch
organization started by the Southern my own life it’s been that way.” as if on display)
Poverty Law Center — also draws on the
complexity of being human in his recently
how it bursts forth in April
published piece, “The Book of Matthew.” Professor Richard Taylor, a former how it flowers in May
The article and poem is about Matthew Kentucky poet laureate, says Transylvania
Shepard, whose life was taken in an anti- graduates tend generally to write well
gay hate crime 20 years ago. academically. Additionally, the creative
come early June crush
Over the years Shepard has become writing program flexes their imaginations one in your palm &
a symbol. Collins, however wanted to in poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. let its flesh stain you
portray him not as that, but as a person. “Courses in these areas give students
“I wanted people to realize he had faults, the chance to draw on the creative
that his parents recognized he had very intelligence all of us possess but not then watch as it is vanquished
human dreams and missteps. I also all of us exercise,” Taylor says. “These in the autumn air
wanted to tie him into this larger narrative experiences are empowering. These
of people who came before and after him. students leave with a sense that creativity
His story was not the first and not the is not just the stuff of anthologies or
& in winter when there is no leaf left
last instance of horrific violence or hate bookshelves, but with the confidence that
crimes, and I wanted people to reflect on ‘this is something I can do.’ It’s no surprise create one
what we could learn from his story and to me that, in fact, they find their creative
how we should be responding when and if imagination and publish.”
this happens again.”
At Transy, Collins learned that in
writing there are always interdisciplinary
connections to be drawn. “I could take a
class like Sports in Latin America and see
how that related to an anthropology class
the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY 11Science Writing BY ROBIN HICKS
M
ark Sirianno ’19 remembers his professor of biology and interim associate of writing, she explains, “is really the
eureka moment. Alone in the lab dean for academic affairs. “It’s exciting to springboard to asking: What is the next
one evening, a few years into his be learning something that no one else problem that I need to address in my
work with Associate Professor of Biology knows,” but, as she reminds her students work?”
Paul Duffin, he opened the incubator and at Transy, “you haven’t really participated Kelly Lennington Ronald ’09, who
found that the Neisseria sicca bacteria, in science until you have others read it, researches animal behavior, can’t imagine
which scientists heretofore had deemed think about it and respond to it.” science without writing.
immutable, had, in fact, transformed. They But first you have to write it. And “Writing is integral to science,” she
had, Sirianno explains, “taken up DNA through the process of writing, a deeper says. “We give presentations and have
from their environment and incorporated comprehension develops. conversations, but it’s really those peer-
it into their genome.” Articulating the work is so much reviewed publications put out for the
In a world in which Neisseria more than merely detailing what’s been research community that move the field
gonorrhoeae is becoming resistant to done. “[Writing] helps us understand forward. So I don’t see science and writing
antibiotics, portending catastrophic our science and think about what we’re as being separate; it’s the same thing.
epidemics, any new light on Neisseria doing,” says Bray. “We’ve gathered data, That’s how you do science.”
bacteria could be helpful — particularly, we’ve looked at it, we’ve visualized it, but
as Sirianno notes, when 75% of the human that process of verbalizing it in a way for
population carries non-pathogenic another individual to understand often “I don’t see science and
Neisseria in their nasopharynx (the cavity
behind the nose).
leads to greater depth of thinking about
what your results mean.”
writing as being separate;
“Every time you take antibiotics,”
Sirianno explains, “it makes those
For Sirianno, the writing process
reveals whether he’s done a good job in
it’s the same thing. That’s
Neisseria (in the nasopharynx) antibiotic his research. “Writing makes you organize how you do science.”
resistant. If they can exchange DNA with the ideas and the process,” says Sirianno,
— Kelly L. Ronald ’09, assistant professor
the pathogenic version, it’s no wonder who won second place in the microbiology
of biology, Hope College
gonorrhoeae is becoming resistant so undergraduate poster competition at the
quickly and so efficiently.” Kentucky Academy of Sciences meeting
Sirianno is helping to prove that in the fall of his junior year. “It definitely A William T. Young Scholar, Ronald
Duffin’s thesis is correct, that this shows you new things.” is one of several Transy grads to win a
nonpathogenic strain is subject to “inter- Bray describes the linear structure National Science Foundation Graduate
species genetic transfer.” of the end product of science writing: Research Fellowship, which is, Bray says,
Yet who would know about the the universal format of an introduction “incredibly competitive” and very much
discovery or the broader implications if followed by a methods section, then based on the written proposal. She sees
the researchers failed to write up their results and, finally, a discussion section. these fellowships and postdoc grants as
work clearly and concisely, and, ultimately, Bray notes, however, that she has illustrations of the quality of the writing
craft an abstract compelling enough to be improved as a writer in the sciences of Transy’s science grads.
accepted for presentation at a conference “by understanding that we often write Ronald, who also won the prestigious
among peers? in a very nonlinear way,” assessing the Walter Clyde Allee Award for best student
“The process of science isn’t done until methods, for example, before composing paper (an early career award from the
you’ve communicated it,” says Sarah Bray, the introduction. And that final piece Animal Behavior Society), points to
the skills she developed in a “writing-
intensive environment,” at Transy,
“both in the classroom, and as a Writing
Center tutor.” All of that writing became
a “natural extension” for her writing in
demanding graduate programs.
The ability to write strategically,
persuasively and concisely, drawing on
Left: Mark Sirianno ’19, William T.
Young Scholar
Right: Kelly L. Ronald ’09, assistant
professor of biology at Hope College
the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY 13perception of beauty in plumage or song a highly educated, interdisciplinary
when picking a mate. Her research shows audience that included scientists,
that “not all animals agree about what philosophers and lawyers.
beautiful is. The way they see and hear Being steeped in two different
changes their interpretation of what is disciplines made it possible for him to do
attractive. In that sense, it allows for the research and understand the data that
animals to vary in their preferences.” summer, he recalls, but also to present
She acknowledges how Transy has the results in a final form that was written
been the model for her being able to span with his diverse audience in mind.
fields and labs in her work, to ask the big “How you interpret and write about
questions and not be intimidated. your findings changes what people will
Bray points out how Transy’s liberal glean from them,” he notes. “I think it’s
arts education gives students “unique very important to be able to take that hard
tools for understanding how people data and write about it in an eloquent,
[and, in Ronald’s case, animals] look educational way, where you don’t lose any
at the world differently and how they of the information and you don’t put in
might interpret information.” The anything that’s not necessary. And that’s
Sarah Bray, professor of biology and interim
associate dean for academic affairs interdisciplinary approach trains students not something that’s easy to do. It takes a
to communicate not just with academic lot of practice,” he adds.
peers, but with policy makers and the As he prepares to enter medical school
general public, and to translate their work at the University of Kentucky, Sirianno
specifics relevant to the application rather into more “digestible” content for blogs, plans to continue his research and
than on personal generalities, she says, podcasts and social media. acknowledges how important writing will
helped her secure the NSF funding. And For the past two years, students in be in every facet of his future work, from
having the grant gave her the time and Bray’s upper-level classes have been lab work to ethics boards. “Medicine has
opportunity to devote all of her focus to creating podcasts and blogs. Students given me a route to practice everything
the broad, interdisciplinary questions she look first at the peer-reviewed literature I’ve learned here at Transy and put it
first began to tackle at Transy as a double and write an annotated bibliography, all together — from the philosophy, the
major in psychology and biology. then “translate” this very dense scientific research, the biology, to health care as
“I study animal behavior,” explains information into the format of a podcast well,” he says. “Writing has profoundly
Ronald, who earned a Ph.D. from Purdue, for the casual listener. affected the way in which I think about
a postdoc at Indiana University and, “The fact that students write across just about everything.”
most recently, a tenure-track position in the curriculum here — they know these
biology at Hope College, “so it really is the different modalities of communication,”
combination of both understanding the Bray remarks. “Writing has profoundly
evolution of animals and why, historically, Bray believes that essential questions
they make the decisions they do.” in biology encompass ethics, politics and affected the way in which
Ronald is interested in why animals sociology. The answers require thoughtful,
make their decisions and how they educated exposition, not a series of facts I think about just about
interpret the information around them.
In evolutionary terms, choosing a mate
and numbers.
“Because big societal issues often
everything.” — Mark Sirianno ’19
is one of the most important decisions involve these different disciplines,” she
made, she notes, “because that is the says, “one of the big things about learning
decision that produces offspring, and to write and being a good writer is this In July, Ronald begins her work as
that is what evolution works on.” Her ability to integrate ideas.” It makes a assistant professor at Hope College. She
work, particularly with birds and mice, person a better communicator and, will have a research team of students that
investigates the larger questions of ultimately, “an active participant in will meet weekly to read scientific articles
evolution but also drills down to the conversations about the issues that we and discuss project ideas. The goal, as at
individual level, asking: “How does this face.” Transy, will be to present and publish the
one particular animal sense its world and Sirianno, a philosophy and biology results. “Writing will definitely be a part
make a decision?” double major, tested these principles at of anyone who joins my lab,” she says.
In doing so, her research is Yale University’s Summer Institute in “We will be writing all the time.”
contradicting the long-held idea, for Bioethics, where he found his Transy
example, that all birds share the same training had prepared him to write for
14 THIRD & BROADWAYRight brain, left brain, one brain:
Tech entrepreneur Mike Finley ’90 trained them all at Transy
What do you do when you’ve just sold a At Transy, whether it was by being on
global tech business? the debate team, or in Pi Kappa Alpha,
You embark on your next startup, yes, or David Choate’s math class, he notes,
but if you’re tech innovator Mike Finley ’90, “they all had this aspect of fluidity to
you also take time to write about how you them that required communication and
got there. After 10 years of developing the responsiveness. I wasn’t allowed to hide
technology and building a company, Finley and turn my assignments in online; I had
wanted to capture all of the knowledge he’d to be there and look and see and interact,”
gained and to share it with others. he explains. “The book was capturing a
He says he was motivated, in part, by the lot of what that was all about. And what
kinds of frustrating conflicts satirized in I think is that missing skill for some
the cartoon series, “Dilbert.” Finley, who is technical people to move into leadership.”
a member of Transy’s Board of Trustees, Ultimately, writing is how the creator
had witnessed how the conflicts between communicates and markets an innovation.
engineers and management, and the “If you’re selling something that
imbalance of skills and training, often kept someone already makes, but you have
people and companies from succeeding. He a cheaper or faster one, then you don’t
wanted to see more tech people taking those have to explain very much. And you’re
leadership roles, as he had. never going to get a big premium for your
So, he wrote an article, “Build a Winning product,” he says.
Technical Team: How to Prepare and “When you are doing something new,
Promote Left Brain Techies for Right Brain something that you can’t compare to the
Leadership Roles,” and published a book one that someone else already did, you
with Honza Fedák titled “You.next(): Move have to explain what it is you’re doing, why
Your Software Development Career to the it’s new, why it’s useful, why everyone is
Leadership Track.” going to have it and how it’s worth tackling
As someone who had developed both the change.” Finley describes it as “the
sides of his brain at Transylvania, Finley qualitative side of business modeling,”
entered the workforce able to innovate, do the rhetorical side of spreadsheets, charts
the science and build the technology. He and graphs that establishes the intention
could easily shift to marketing, account behind the new business idea.
management and executive leadership. He “That’s been something I’ve applied
knew how to communicate as well as to many times in many of the things I’ve
create. He could socialize. He contrasts done,” Finley reflects, “in volunteer work,
the outcomes of his liberal arts education in professional work, in new product
with the more limited scope of so many launches, in chasing investors and in
engineering programs. different levels of financial audits.
“Engineering schools take bright kids and “The ability to write and explain
put them in a corner and tell them to get concisely,” says Finley “continues to come
really smart and solve problems quickly,” up in all of those scenarios.”
Finley explains. “Well, how do you take that
person and ask them to be sociable and to Read more about Mike Finley’s journey
build a team and recruit? It’s really hard for on the 1780 blog at blog.transy.edu.
those people who have been crammed with
all of that knowledge and none of the life
skills to build an organization or a team.”
the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY 15Commencement
C L A S S O F 2 0 1 9
16 THIRD & BROADWAYthe magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY 17
18 THIRD & BROADWAY
Transylvania graduates 229 Pioneers Professor Paul Jones retires
in Class of 2019 after 33 academic years
The 229 students in the Class of 2019 celebrated a milestone
in their college careers with the commencement ceremony on
Saturday, May 25, in front of historic Old Morrison.
Humanitarian Deogratias “Deo” Niyizonkiza, founder
and CEO of Village Health Works in Burundi, delivered the
commencement address, capping off an academic year focused
on the theme of civility. “I am so proud to be taking part in the
graduation ceremonies at Transylvania University,” he said,
“where students are taught to become citizens who are not just
out to make a living, but who are living to make a difference
through great ideas and actions that speak to all humanity.”
The student speaker, neuroscience major Presli Neal, is a
first-generation college student from Lexington. She plans to
attend physician assistant school and hopes to work in pedi-
atrics or emergency medicine. At Transy, Neal was a member
of the Student Government Association, Pre-Health Club,
Pre-Physician Assistant Club and STEM Empowerment Club,
and she served as membership director of her sorority, Phi Mu.
Remarking on their “wildly unique path,” Neal reminded
her class that “Transylvania, in true liberal arts fashion, has Professor of Religion Paul Jones leaves a lasting impact on
provided us a set of skills to question the world around us, to Transylvania after retiring in May.
think deeply about who we are and how we can impact others.” Members of the school community lined a hallway in the
But it’s the unique bond between people, she noted, that Carpenter Academic Center to wish him well after his last class
makes Transy, with its high academic standards, such a special and celebrate his 33 academic years at the university.
institution. “A university is a university, but it is the people that “I do not know a Transylvania without Paul Jones, and I
attend that make it a home.” suspect that’s true for many,” said Carole Barnsley, associate
professor of religion. “He will be missed, but he leaves behind
Class of 2019 highlights a legacy of an excellent work ethic, a loyalty to the Transy
Students in this year’s graduating class have distinguished community and a well-established religion program that I am
themselves academically, with numerous accolades. honored to get to continue.”
• Thirty-eight percent of the 229 graduating seniors are Jones will be remembered for building the religion program
receiving Latin honors for a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5, into two tracks: Western and Non-Western. “Few schools our
and 47% are receiving program honors. size do that,” he said.
• Forty-seven percent of this year’s graduates studied abroad He also helped secure and implement a grant from the Lilly
while at Transylvania — either for a full term, a summer Endowment, which brought in world-renowned scholars, social
or during the four-week May term. activists and educators focusing on the exploration of vocation.
• Students will pursue advanced degrees at institutions “This is at the heart and soul of the mission of Transylvania
such University College London and various medical and — to help our students not only cultivate the self, but also to
law schools. Other opportunities awaiting them after discern their life’s purpose and path.”
graduation include the Peace Corps, Fifth Third Bank’s Additionally, his May term trips abroad have impacted
Operations Leadership Program and various other jobs — students’ lives. “I find travel trips to be the ideal classroom,” he
from staff accountant to Walt Disney World cast member. said. “They are a full-immersion experience.”
• Senior achievements include the IU Lilly Family School of Jones’ last May term excursion included visits to Israel, Egypt
Philanthropy Fellowship, a Lexington Rotary Club Ollie and Jordan. He’d never been on a trip to three countries with
and Dick Hurst Award, a Cralle Foundation/Joan Cralle students before. “It was designed to be my swan song,” he said.
Day Fellowship from the University of Kentucky and a What does he plan to do after Transy? “Breathing, living,
Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, sponsored reading, writing, traveling, enjoying, enriching, loving.”
by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational
and Cultural Affairs.
the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY 19Senior receives IU Lilly Family School of Transylvania dedicates Ronald and Frances Holley
campus Philanthropy Fellowship Players Lounge
NEWS To stay informed
about the latest Transylvania
news, visit our 1780 blog at Transylvania dedicated the Ronald and
blog.transy.edu. Senior Aaron Martin received the Frances Holley Players Lounge in April.
Indiana University Lilly Family School Named in honor of Pioneer Hall of Fame
of Philanthropy Fellowship to pursue her athlete Sherry Holley’s parents, the new,
master’s degree in philanthropic studies. state-of-the-art locker room is a space where
The fellowship will cover 95% of her tuition, the team can not only get ready for games,
and she will receive a $12,000 graduate but can also relax afterward.
assistantship. Sherry Holley ’88 was a three-sport athlete
“I’m motivated to work in philanthropy at Transy in field hockey, basketball and
because I always want my work to be about softball. She was the 1988 Pioneer Athlete
more than just me,” Martin said. “My of the Year and currently serves on the
education at Transy has helped me recognize university’s Board of Trustees.
different issues and concerns — from our
local community to the greater global Morlan Gallery spotlights student artworks in May
community.”
Students kick off summer with Alternative Break
The artistic talents of Transylvania
University students were featured in May at
the annual Juried Student Art Exhibition.
The Morlan Gallery exhibition included more
While some students started their summer than 100 pieces — from paintings to fiber to
break soaking up rays on the beach, others digital media.
partnered with the Lexington community Art faculty and the gallery director
on projects such as gardening and exploring awarded prizes for creative, exceptional work
local neighborhoods. in “best of” categories.
Transylvania’s Alternative Break program
from May 27-31 focused on themes of Off-Broadway comes to Transylvania in acclaimed
food justice, immigration and community play about graduate, gay-rights pioneer
development in partnership with local Transylvania in May hosted an off-
nonprofits including FoodChain, Seedleaf Broadway production highlighting
and the North Limestone Community the accomplishments of John E. Fryer,
Development Corporation. a 1957 graduate who helped remove
“We wanted to give students a holistic homosexuality from the Diagnostic and
experience of the city they live in,” said Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Tevin Monroe, Transy’s AmeriCorps VISTA “217 Boxes of Dr. Henry Anonymous”
community engagement support specialist. came to Lexington and the Transy campus
through contributions by alumni,
JustFundKY, Rainmaker Hospitality,
20 THIRD & BROADWAYYou can also read
