Spring Fling Kicks Off Weekend of Activities

Randolph College kicked off a weekend full of special events with Spring Fling 2011 Friday, March 25.

Science Festival events began the day with a special physics-based ballet class featuring Science Fest 2011 keynote speaker, Ken Laws of Dickinson College. Laws served as the Friday evening speaker for Science Fest with his lecture, “Science & Dance--A New Pas de Deux?”

Lunch in the Dining Hall featured The FrizzWheel Band, and students received free t-shirts and sunglasses. During the afternoon, students were able to try out Segways on front campus and make their own street signs.

Other events on Friday included a Women in Science Panel, featuring alumnae who work in the science field and another special alumnae event highlighting alumnae success stories.

The Randolph College community was also able to watch an In House Horse Show at the Riding Center. The evening features the BLA sponsored the Owt Cold Dance Party and No Shame Theatre.

Science Fest continues through the weekend with events planned through Sunday. For more details, please go to Science Fest

Check out this video of Randolph's Visiting Writer Series

Anthony D’Aries is serving as Randolph’s Emerging Writer-in-Residence for the spring 2011 semester. He's the winner of the 2010 PEN New England Discovery Award in Nonfiction and is known for his work teaching creative writing and literacy within correctional facilities in Massachusetts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGu7s61q5kQ

Frances Mayes Returns to Campus March 28 for Lynchburg Reads Lecture

Frances Mayes, R-MWC alumna and best-selling author of Under the Tuscan Sun, returns to the College on March 28 as the featured author for the Lynchburg Reads program. Mayes will deliver a lecture on “Writing a Life in Italy,” at 7:30 p.m. in the Smith Hall Theatre on the Randolph College campus. The event is free and open to the public. Mayes will sign copies of her books following the lecture.

Read Lynchburg News & Advance Columnist Darrell Laurant's story here:
Story

Randolph College in the News: Physics Professor Featured on WSET

Peter Sheldon, a Randolph College physics professor, gave middle schools students from New Vistas, a local private school, a lesson in electricity Monday, March 21. The class was featured on WSET.

Story

Visiting Writer William Trowbridge Offers Reading from Latest Poetry Collection

LYNCHBURG—William Trowbridge will read from his newest poetry collection, Ship of Fool, March 30 at 8 p.m. at Randolph College. The reading, which is free and open to the public, will be held in Jack Lounge in Smith Hall.

Known for his wit and humor, Trowbridge is the author of five full-length collections: Enter Dark Stranger, O Paradise, Flickers, The Complete Book of Kong, and most recently, Ship of Fool from Red Hen Press. His poems have appeared in such prestigious journals as Poetry, The Georgia Review, The Southern Review, The Iowa Review, Prairie Schooner, and New Letters, among many others. His awards include an Academy of American Poets Prize, a Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference Scholarship, and fellowships from The MacDowell Colony, Ragdale, Yaddo, and The Anderson Center. He is a Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at Northwest Missouri State University, where he was an editor of The Laural Review for many years.

Now living in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, Trowbridge teaches in the University of Nebraska MFA in Writing Program. He explores the back roads of the Midwest on his motorcycle, a Triumph Sprint 995 S/T.

Randolph College Publishes Ancient Performance Journal

Randolph College is the new host and publisher of the journal Didaskalia, the Journal for Ancient Performance.

Founded in 1994, Didaskalia is the third oldest online classics journal. It features scholarship on all aspects of Greek and Roman performance -- drama, poetry, music, and dance -- both in its original context and as it is performed today.

In relaunching the journal and embarking on its first publishing endeavor, Randolph is building on the work on ancient drama already being done at the college. The Mabel K. Whiteside Greek Theatre hosts the biannual Greek Play and the accompanying conference on ancient drama in performance.

Amy R. Cohen, the director of the Greek Play and associate professor of classics, is Didaskalia's new editor-in-chief, and Jay Kardan, research adjunct in classics, is assistant editor. Gage Stuntz '13, is serving as the journal's first student intern.

The journal features scholarly articles on ancient performance, as well as features, interviews, and reviews about modern productions.

Read Didaskalia online at www.didaskalia.net

Graduate School on the Horizon for These Seniors

Randolph congratulates the following students as they continue their education beyond the Red Brick Wall.

Rhiannon Knol ’11, a classics major, has been accepted and plans to attend the Ph.D. program in classics at the University of California, Los Angeles. Knol will receive a six-year, $21,000 annual stipend. She was also accepted into the classics program at Bryn Mawr College.

Eric Struble ’11, a classics major, has been accepted into the MA program in classics and archaeology at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York.

Kathleen Conti ’11, a history major, has been accepted into two Ph.D. programs in Russian Studies, at the University of Rochester with a six-year stipend, and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Best-Selling Author Frances Mayes Coming to Randolph March 28

Frances Mayes, R-MWC alumna and best-selling author of Under the Tuscan Sun, returns to the College on March 28 as the featured author for the Lynchburg Reads program. Mayes will deliver a lecture on “Writing a Life in Italy,” at 7:30 p.m. in the Smith Hall Theatre on the Randolph College campus. The event is free and open to the public. Mayes will sign copies of her books following the lecture.

Mayes, who divides her time between homes in Italy and North Carolina, recently shared with USA Today some of Italy’s little-known regional gems.
http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/10great/story/2011/03/10-great-places-to-go-off-the-beaten-path-in-Italy/44737440/1

Under the Tuscan Sun details Mayes’ experiences renovating a dilapidated Tuscan farmhouse while living in Italy. Other memoirs that followed include Bella Tuscany, and the latest sequel, Every Day in Tuscany, published in 2010.

In addition to her Tuscany memoirs, Mayes is the author of the travel memoir A Year in the World; the illustrated books In Tuscany and Bringing Tuscany Home; Swan, a novel; The Discovery of Poetry, which is widely used in college poetry classes.

Lynchburg Reads is run through the Lynchburg Public Library System and chooses an author each year to highlight. Randolph College sponsored this year’s event.

Randolph College Safety and Security Officers Now Receiving Advanced Training

Randolph College’s campus security officers now receive the highest level of certification for campus security officers by the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS)—an accomplishment that goes above and beyond state standards.

“It is important that our security team receives the best possible training and keeps pace with the most recent developments and protocols in emergency preparedness,” said Kris Irwin, director of safety and security. “We felt it was important, even if it wasn’t required. It is about being proactive to ensure that our officers are prepared for any situation.”

The training, which includes a minimum of 40 hours and a battery of written examinations, is now required for Randolph officers by the College. Randolph chose to require this training even though it is not required for private institutions of higher learning under state or federal law. This newest certification requirement is in addition to the basic training already required by the DCJS.

The Virginia General Assembly enacted legislation in 2006 requiring the DCJS to develop training standards for campus security officers across the Commonwealth. Since that time, the Office of Campus Policing and Security was established within the DCJS.

Officers must successfully complete classroom and practical training on various subjects such as legal and liability issues, conflict resolution, crisis response and management, handling threats, investigating crimes against persons, crime prevention, fire safety and more. Once completed, officers receive documented certification from the DCJS, which is valid for two years. As part of recertification requirements, officers must accumulate documented, approved in-service credits prior to being considered for recertification.

For more information, see www.randolphcollege.edu/security

“Be An Original” Wins Top Communications Award

The Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) has announced that Randolph College has won the Grand Award in the council’s internal communications competition.

Randolph’s entry, “Reconnecting with History: Randolph College’s Be An Original Campaign,” was judged to be superior to all other entrants from public and private institutions of all sizes in Regions II/III, which includes the Southeast region of the United States.

The judges sent these comments with the announcement:

“Vibrant, witty text, stunning, relates to people of all ages, beautiful imagery, truly sells the college, great interaction across campus
...one judge asked, ‘How do I sign up for classes? I'm sold.’ The most visually engaging entry in this category.”

The on-campus rollout of the campaign was created by the Office of College Relations. To unveil the campaign to the campus community at the start of the fall semester, Randolph students in the Davenport Leadership Program helped to prepare the campus for the campaign and incorporated the Be An Original message into the orientation for new Randolph students. Buildings and Grounds, Campus Safety, DOS and Residential Life, Athletics, and Dining Services also did an admirable amount of work. All of these organizations deserve sincere thanks, as do the members of the Randolph College community and alumnae who have supported this campaign and adapted it to spread the College’s compelling message.

Randolph’s QEP Designed to Enhance Student Learning

Bridges Not Walls, a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) created by Randolph College for reaccreditation, is designed to enhance student learning. It will help students to succeed in today’s complex world by further developing their intercultural competence. That’s the ability to understand and adapt behavior to cultural differences and commonalities.

To further that understanding, Randolph’s QEP will focus on international student recruiting, expanded study abroad, enhanced foreign language study, visiting international scholars, the American Culture Program, and other initiatives.

It’s all part of Randolph’s mission to prepare students to engage the world critically and creatively, live and work honorably, and experience life abundantly.

Randolph's Quality Enhancement Plan Stresses Cultural Development

Bridges Not Walls, Randolph’s QEP, stresses intercultural competence, but what does that really mean?

In many practical ways, it’s a continuation of what students at Randolph have been doing for years. That’s because Randolph students, whether they’re Odds or Evens, understand the importance of exploring other cultures as well as their own. They seek out effective ways to communicate in intercultural settings, and value equality, community building and the life-enhancing role of cross-cultural connections.

So when we as a College community talk about Bridges Not Walls, we’re simply talking about promoting the skills, knowledge and values that help us understand each other better.