The Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College will host the first annual Virginia Art Historians Colloquium Undergraduate Symposium this weekend.
The symposium will include five presentations on a variety of art history topics, including a paper by Glenna Gray ’14 about modern pillaging of Iraqi art. Presentations begin at 1 p.m. Saturday.
“This symposium gives undergraduate art history students an opportunity to share their research with their peers from other institutions in Virginia,” said Leanne Zalewski, a Randolph art professor.
The idea for a statewide symposium highlighting the work of art history students came up in a discussion between Zalewski and professors from other colleges at a conference last fall. Zalewski offered to host the first one at Randolph.
The presentations include:
“I Heard it Through the Grape Vine: Revelry Scenes in Ancient India” by Ellen Archie, Washington and Lee University
“The Truth Beyond the Loss Register: An Examination of the Economic and Political Factors Behind the Pillaging of Iraq's Cultural Heritage” by Glenna Gray, Randolph College
“She left the web, she left the loom: Pre-Raphaelite Representations of the Lady of Shalott and Gender Ideologies in Victorian England” by Virginia Lefler, Roanoke College
“Odilon Redon: Prince of the Fin de Siècle” by Stephanie Stassi, Hollins University
“Not So Happy Days: A Biographical Analysis of Happy Days (Edward Henry Potthast)” by Grayson Van Beuren, Virginia Tech
There will be question and answer sessions at 1:50 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Friday, March 14, 2014
2001 alumna runs Boston Marathon for charity
The day after a bombing at the 2013 Boston Marathon, Rachel Mathewson ’01 went running.
So did many Boston residents. For Mathewson, it was a way of trying to respond with hope and solidarity after a tragic attack that killed three people and injured more than 200.
“As a mother, and as a runner, and as someone who lives here, I know we have to move forward,” she said, recalling that day. “That’s the way we’ll promote healing.”
This year, Mathewson will run the Boston Marathon on behalf of a charity that honors the youngest person who died from the bombing last year—8-year-old Martin Richard. Mathewson was one of 72 people chosen to receive one of the charity’s spots in the race.
In the aftermath of the bombing, a photo of Richard and a sign he had made stating “No more hurting people—Peace” was widely circulated. In January, his family announced the formation of the Martin W. Richard Charitable Foundation and Team MR8, a Boston Marathon team that would raise money that the foundation could use to support education, athletics, and community programs.
Mathewson, who has run one marathon before, decided to complete the 11-page application. “I never thought I would be picked,” she said. But at the end of January she learned that she had been selected for the team. “It is an extraordinary privilege to be running this Boston Marathon and especially for Martin, adding my voice to his message of peace,” she said.
Since then, Mathewson has stepped up her running in order to be ready for the 26-mile race. Her running schedule includes short runs during the week and longer runs on weekends with other Boston-area members of Team MR8.
“This is a relatively short time frame to be training for a marathon,” she said. “There is the physical part of it, but I think the mental part of it is more challenging. It requires a lot of dedication and persistence. It’s more a state of mind. The miles will come. You just keep putting one foot in front of another.”
By joining Team MR8, Mathewson committed to raise at least $7,500 for the foundation. The amount seemed daunting at first, but she believes it will help establish a strong beginning for the charity. Mathewson thinks of her fundraising efforts much like she approaches running—one step at a time. Currently, she is more than halfway to her goal, according to her fundraising page.
Mathewson, who majored in psychology at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, has been inspired by the way her community responded to the bombing last year. Victims have shown courage and determination in overcoming their injuries, the community has joined together to support their recovery, and the Richard family turned their sorrow into an opportunity to do good.
“Everyone is in action. Everyone is moving forward,” she said. “This year’s marathon is going to be a testament to the fact that you can’t take this away from us.”
So did many Boston residents. For Mathewson, it was a way of trying to respond with hope and solidarity after a tragic attack that killed three people and injured more than 200.
This year, Mathewson will run the Boston Marathon on behalf of a charity that honors the youngest person who died from the bombing last year—8-year-old Martin Richard. Mathewson was one of 72 people chosen to receive one of the charity’s spots in the race.
In the aftermath of the bombing, a photo of Richard and a sign he had made stating “No more hurting people—Peace” was widely circulated. In January, his family announced the formation of the Martin W. Richard Charitable Foundation and Team MR8, a Boston Marathon team that would raise money that the foundation could use to support education, athletics, and community programs.
Mathewson, who has run one marathon before, decided to complete the 11-page application. “I never thought I would be picked,” she said. But at the end of January she learned that she had been selected for the team. “It is an extraordinary privilege to be running this Boston Marathon and especially for Martin, adding my voice to his message of peace,” she said.
Since then, Mathewson has stepped up her running in order to be ready for the 26-mile race. Her running schedule includes short runs during the week and longer runs on weekends with other Boston-area members of Team MR8.
“This is a relatively short time frame to be training for a marathon,” she said. “There is the physical part of it, but I think the mental part of it is more challenging. It requires a lot of dedication and persistence. It’s more a state of mind. The miles will come. You just keep putting one foot in front of another.”
By joining Team MR8, Mathewson committed to raise at least $7,500 for the foundation. The amount seemed daunting at first, but she believes it will help establish a strong beginning for the charity. Mathewson thinks of her fundraising efforts much like she approaches running—one step at a time. Currently, she is more than halfway to her goal, according to her fundraising page.
Mathewson, who majored in psychology at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, has been inspired by the way her community responded to the bombing last year. Victims have shown courage and determination in overcoming their injuries, the community has joined together to support their recovery, and the Richard family turned their sorrow into an opportunity to do good.
“Everyone is in action. Everyone is moving forward,” she said. “This year’s marathon is going to be a testament to the fact that you can’t take this away from us.”
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Family and friends celebrate the life of William F. Quillian, Jr., with stories, poetry, and a rendition of "Minnie the Moocher"
One of the most well-known memories of William F. Quillian, Jr., was his tradition of singing “Minnie the Moocher” for Randolph-Macon Woman’s College functions as well as community events. So it was somewhat unexpected, but not really surprising, when the final speaker at his memorial service, his son Robert Quillian, broke out into the song in which every verse ends, “Minnie had a heart as big as a whale.”
On the last verse, Robert Quillian changed the lyric: “Our daddy had a heart as big as a whale.”
Quillian, the fifth and longest-service president of the College, died on March 4, just a few weeks before his 101st birthday. Many of the comments and remembrances shared at Quillian’s service on Monday revolved around the size of his heart and the love he had for others.
“His love knew no bounds,” said Gil Cobbs, a local civil rights activist, former Lynchburg City Council member, and friend of Quillian’s. “What brought joy to him was creating joy and happiness in others.”
Speakers also talked about Quillian’s leadership of the College, his effectiveness in fundraising for the College and for other charitable causes, his stance for civil rights, his relationship with his wife, Margaret, and his desire for justice and racial equality. Bill Quillian III read a poem he had composed about his father’s life.
The Rev. Curtis Harper, who was a friend of Quillian’s for about the past 10 years, said Quillian epitomized the College’s motto, vita abundantior, a life more abundant.
“The spirit of a life more abundant radiated from that president’s office across the campus, over the Red Brick Wall, through the hills and valleys of our city, among the privileged and unprivileged,” he said. “It radiated from Bill Quillian’s heart throughout most of the 20th century and into the 21st century.”
Even towards the end of his life, when he had already retired from three careers, Quillian remained active in trying to improve the lives of others. Harper recalled Quillian’s role in forming a group to get together and discuss issues related to social justice. Harper recalled an Easter message that Quillian published several years ago encouraging people to honor their Christian beliefs by serving others who are less fortunate.
“He didn’t have any acquaintances,” Quillian's son, Robert, told the group. “If he knew you, you were his friend.”
He added that all who knew him benefited from his friendship, but many who did not know him are blessed by his legacy.
“Whether he was developing one of the finest liberal arts colleges in the country, or whether he was promoting the arts here in Lynchburg, or spearheading some charitable cause, we are all fortunate and humble beneficiaries of his extraordinary life’s work.”
| Make a gift in memory of Dr. William F. Quillian, Jr. |
Friday, March 7, 2014
Alumna could win teaching excellence awards
Tracy Earley Proffitt ’04 is in the running for the McGlothlin Awards for Teaching Excellence, a prestigious annual award that recognizes outstanding teachers with prizes of $25,000.
Proffitt, who teaches in the Gifted Opportunities Center at Lynchburg City’s R.S. Payne Elementary School, will find out in April whether she is one of this year’s McGlothlin Awards winners.
Proffitt has been a teacher for most of the 10 years since she graduated from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. She and her husband, also a teacher, spent three years working together in another field but then recognized their calling was in the classroom. “We both realized that teaching is where we want to come back to,” she said.
Her students and their parents are glad that Proffitt came to that realization. “She really knows how to stimulate a young child’s imagination and channel it into learning,” said Mari Ishibashi, a Randolph political science professor whose son, Elliot, is in Proffitt’s class. “She makes learning enjoyable, creative, and challenging for students.”
Proffitt employs a “flipped classroom” approach, in which many of her lectures are recorded for students to watch at home so more class time is spent on application. Her assignments involve hands-on activities and creative ways of thinking about the concepts.
For example, one assignment asked students to design a playground and describe it to demonstrate their understanding of force and motion. Ishibashi said such challenges help her son enjoy learning. “I really like the fact that he feels so excited, not burdened, about the prospect of doing these projects,” she said.
Proffitt gained the courage to teach this way in part thanks to her fourth grade teacher, who had a similar teaching style. Proffitt said that Randolph’s liberal arts education, and especially the teacher education curriculum, taught her about setting and meeting high standards.
“There was no room to be a slacker and not meet the expectations,” she recalled. “That has carried over to my classroom. If I have high expectations, then my students meet them. If they are not capable of meeting them, then I get involved and help them.”
She also learned about the personal touch that helps in teaching. “I had professors who really invested in me, who, outside of class, cared about what was going on. I try to be that for my students, too.”
Proffitt, who teaches in the Gifted Opportunities Center at Lynchburg City’s R.S. Payne Elementary School, will find out in April whether she is one of this year’s McGlothlin Awards winners.
Her students and their parents are glad that Proffitt came to that realization. “She really knows how to stimulate a young child’s imagination and channel it into learning,” said Mari Ishibashi, a Randolph political science professor whose son, Elliot, is in Proffitt’s class. “She makes learning enjoyable, creative, and challenging for students.”
Proffitt employs a “flipped classroom” approach, in which many of her lectures are recorded for students to watch at home so more class time is spent on application. Her assignments involve hands-on activities and creative ways of thinking about the concepts.
For example, one assignment asked students to design a playground and describe it to demonstrate their understanding of force and motion. Ishibashi said such challenges help her son enjoy learning. “I really like the fact that he feels so excited, not burdened, about the prospect of doing these projects,” she said.
Proffitt gained the courage to teach this way in part thanks to her fourth grade teacher, who had a similar teaching style. Proffitt said that Randolph’s liberal arts education, and especially the teacher education curriculum, taught her about setting and meeting high standards.
“There was no room to be a slacker and not meet the expectations,” she recalled. “That has carried over to my classroom. If I have high expectations, then my students meet them. If they are not capable of meeting them, then I get involved and help them.”
She also learned about the personal touch that helps in teaching. “I had professors who really invested in me, who, outside of class, cared about what was going on. I try to be that for my students, too.”
Randolph junior becomes poetry contest finalist, gets poem published
During its 50-year history, december magazine has published the early works of authors like short story writer Raymond Carver, the novelist Rita Mae Brown, five United States poet laureates, and six Pulitzer Prize winners. Hannah Cohen ’15 is happy to find herself in such good company.
“Filter,” a poem that Cohen wrote for a creative writing class at Randolph College will appear in december magazine later this year. It was one of three poems she submitted for the Jeff Marks Memorial Poetry Prize, for which she was listed as a finalist.
“I sent them out on a whim. I didn’t really expect to hear back,” she said. “I wasn’t really that sad that I didn’t win. I think just having the chance to be published in a recognized magazine is great. It really excited me. It made me feel important.”
Cohen described “Filter” as a poem about “cigarettes, death, love, and art.” It begins with a speaker noticing cigarettes discarded on the side of the highway, moves on to memories of the speaker’s grandmother, references to the Greek myth of Pygmalion and the artist Michelangelo, and returns to the car and images of cigarettes.
Cohen, who transferred to Randolph last year, enjoys exploring the ways in which her favorite subjects—art history, writing, and religion—intertwine. She is majoring in art and English and minoring in religious studies.
She has enjoyed writing for a long time, but became more serious about it in high school. At Randolph, she has benefited from working with professors who helped her sharpen her talent and find motivation to write. “I feel like I got the criticism and revision from my professors that I wouldn't have had if I had gone somewhere else,” she said.
“Hannah’s poems are full of surprising imagery and syntactic energy. She also has a dedication to writing and the life of writing that is rare in undergraduates,” said Laura-Gray Street, the Randolph English professor who taught the class for which Cohen wrote “Filter.”
Street added that it is very significant that Cohen’s poem was accepted by december, considering the other poets who have gotten started there. “That kind of company can exert a strange kind of pressure on a developing writer, of course. But it can also serve as creative stimulus, which I hope and believe it will be for Hannah. I’m very proud of her!”
“Filter,” a poem that Cohen wrote for a creative writing class at Randolph College will appear in december magazine later this year. It was one of three poems she submitted for the Jeff Marks Memorial Poetry Prize, for which she was listed as a finalist.
Cohen described “Filter” as a poem about “cigarettes, death, love, and art.” It begins with a speaker noticing cigarettes discarded on the side of the highway, moves on to memories of the speaker’s grandmother, references to the Greek myth of Pygmalion and the artist Michelangelo, and returns to the car and images of cigarettes.
Cohen, who transferred to Randolph last year, enjoys exploring the ways in which her favorite subjects—art history, writing, and religion—intertwine. She is majoring in art and English and minoring in religious studies.
She has enjoyed writing for a long time, but became more serious about it in high school. At Randolph, she has benefited from working with professors who helped her sharpen her talent and find motivation to write. “I feel like I got the criticism and revision from my professors that I wouldn't have had if I had gone somewhere else,” she said.
“Hannah’s poems are full of surprising imagery and syntactic energy. She also has a dedication to writing and the life of writing that is rare in undergraduates,” said Laura-Gray Street, the Randolph English professor who taught the class for which Cohen wrote “Filter.”
Street added that it is very significant that Cohen’s poem was accepted by december, considering the other poets who have gotten started there. “That kind of company can exert a strange kind of pressure on a developing writer, of course. But it can also serve as creative stimulus, which I hope and believe it will be for Hannah. I’m very proud of her!”
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Inauguration of Randolph President Bradley W. Bateman announced
Today, we publicly announced several details about the inauguration of Bradley W. Bateman, the 10th president of the College.
One of the highlights of the April 25 – 26 event will be a concert by Mavis Staples, a Grammy Award-winning singer. We also will host a symposium on the importance of liberal arts education.
For more details on the schedule, including instructions for members of the general public who would like to request free tickets for the Mavis Staples concert, read the press release or see the inauguration website.
One of the highlights of the April 25 – 26 event will be a concert by Mavis Staples, a Grammy Award-winning singer. We also will host a symposium on the importance of liberal arts education.
For more details on the schedule, including instructions for members of the general public who would like to request free tickets for the Mavis Staples concert, read the press release or see the inauguration website.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Randolph College Remembers Dr. William F. Quillian, Jr.
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| Quillian was the 2010 Commencement speaker |
William F. Quillian, Jr., the fifth president of Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, now Randolph College, and the institution’s longest-serving president, was a long-time supporter of the College, speaking at Commencement in 2010 and publishing Voices from R-MWC, a collection of essays about the College and his leadership. His presidency stretched from 1952 to 1978.
He and his wife, Margaret, came to Lynchburg in 1952 when Quillian began his tenure as president. His leadership brought dramatic chang
e—to the campus and the world surrounding it. During Quillian’s 26-year presidency, he oversaw a major push for capital improvements, racial integration of the student body, the end of sororities, and the launch of the College’s flagship study abroad program, The World in Britain.
The endeared president and father of four was well-loved by alumnae and alumni, who remembered his devotion to students and the liberal arts.
 |
| Quillian and his wife, Margaret |
Information on services for Quillian will be shared
as soon as it is made available.
A special photo gallery is available: https://picasaweb.google.com/117081625183515324802/WilliamFQuillian?authuser=0&feat=directlink
To read more about Quillian and his commitment and suppport of the College, please see this release.
| Make a gift in memory of Dr. William F. Quillian, Jr. |
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