Model U.N. students prepare to represent Portugal

Fifteen Randolph students are prepared to represent Portugal in the National Model United Nations Conference next week. They will give speeches, advocate for Portugal’s interests, and make decisions with students from around the world in five days of sessions that test students’ skills in diplomacy and their knowledge of global issues.

Randolph is one of about 400 colleges with a Model United Nations team. Throughout this semester, the Randolph delegates have explored how

Meet the Delegates

Randolph’s Model U.N. delegates are introducing themselves and documenting their participation in the conference on the Model U.N. blog. Check it out!

Portugal would position itself on issues such as renewable energy, empowering women, and food security. Preparing for Model U.N. makes it a unique classroom experience.

“It doesn’t even feel like a class,” said Jacob Lusczek ’14, one of the head delegates from Randolph. “It feels like you’re getting together with a group of friends to talk about issues.”

Students participate in Model U.N. for a variety of reasons. Lusczeck, for example, applied for the program after he enjoyed, and performed well in, a mock summit in his world politics class.

Sara Terlizzi ’15 got involved because of her growing interest in international law. “This is an opportunity to learn about the law firsthand and see how it is implemented,” she said.

Students have been assigned to various committees where they research specific topics that those committees will address during the national conference in New York. Terlizzi, who will represent Portugal on the Model U.N. Security Council, said this immersion has really put her in the mindset of the country. When she hears about world events in the news she automatically begins processing how people in Portugal would view the event.

On Tuesday, the student ambassadors tested their preparation with Randolph professors and staff members who played the role of foreign ambassadors and asked them to explain and defend their positions on the issues. On Saturday, they fly to New York to face similar questions from other students who also have spent the entire semester preparing. On Sunday they will attend a reception at the home of Kathy Brown ‘76.

“It’s time consuming, but the time that you put into it is very rewarding,” said Lusczek.

“It’s an experience that you won’t get with anything else,” said Terlizzi.

Student travel and participation in the Model UN program is made possible through a generous gift from Marilyn Hicks Fitzgerald ’68 and Michael P. Fitzgerald and through support of the Gravely-Hampson Global Studies Fund.

Three "Extra Special Flavor" performances with poetry, prose, and dance set for this week

This year’s Heritage Ensemble Flavor Show will fill Thoresen Theatre with Pan-African poetry, prose, and theatrics that will offer new experiences even for those who have seen the show before.

This year’s show, “Extra Special Flavor,” includes two performances with special appearances from alumnae.

Hiawatha Johnson Jr., left,  coaches students during a rehearsal
for "Extra Special Flavor," the 18th annual Flavor Show.

Hiawatha Johnson Jr., Randolph’s composer in residence, is directing the Flavor Show for the 18th year. He began producing the show because he saw a need for an outlet to reduce the unnecessary conflicts and confrontations, both between people and within individuals, that exist when people from different backgrounds are placed together. “I wanted to use the arts to speak to the flavor that we’ve added to this world,” he said.

That flavor will take the form of prose and poetry with a significant Pan-African essence, enhanced with movement, music, and theatrics. African American poets Nikki Giovanni, Langston Hughes, and Maya Angelou will be featured at this week’s performances in addition to original works from faculty members, current students, and alumnae.

The show will be presented Wednesday and Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 5 p.m. Each performance will convey the same message but in slightly different ways, Johnson said. Alumnae will perform in the Friday and Saturday shows.

The show is free to the Randolph community, $5 for the general public, and $2 to students from the general public.

The audience is encouraged to attend Pan World Coffeehouse, a campus-wide event featuring fashions performances that highlight cultures from around the world, which will begin at 7 p.m.

Bike share program gets five new bicycles

Randolph College’s bike share program has grown with the addition of five brand new bicycles that anyone on campus can check out and use.

The College received five new Trek bikes from Bikes Unlimited in Lynchburg on Monday. Randolph's Student Government provided funding for the new bikes to accommodate the bike share’s growing popularity as well as provide bikes that are more suited for trail riding.

Helena Gray ’16, bike share manager, and Ludovic Lemaitre ’11, sustainability coordinator,
show off the five new Trek bicycles that were added to the bike share program this week.

The bike share program was started several years ago to allow students to access bikes for short trips that they need to make and for exercise and recreation. The College is just a short distance from Lynchburg’s Blackwater Creek Trail, which is popular for biking. Faculty and staff members are welcome to check out the bikes, too.

People can sign out a bike at the information desk in the lobby of Main Hall. “All you have to do is go to the front desk and ask for a key and a helmet,” said Helena Gray, bike share manager. “You go and get the bike that corresponds with your key, and it’s yours until dusk.”

A few things to remember:

• Check the brakes and tires before beginning your ride
• Wear a helmet
• Be aware of Lynchburg’s regulations for riding bikes
• When finished with the bike, return it to the rack where you picked it up and lock it to the rack using the lock that corresponds with the bike’s number
• Return the key and helmet to the front desk

Students visit psychology history museum

Spring break offered a group of psychology students the opportunity to learn more about the history behind psychological research and understanding.

Jordan Bailey ’14, Tina Barnes, psychology professor Rick Barnes,
Victoria Harris ’13, Cindy Ferguson ’13, and Robert Ferguson  went
on the trip to the Center for the History of Psychology.

Psychology professor Rick Barnes invited students from his History of Psychology course on a trip to the Center for the History of Psychology in Akron, Ohio. The center houses archives and artifacts from famous psychological experiments and includes educational exhibits detailing the history of the discipline. Students saw devices such as Henry Lavery’s psychograph, which was thought to measure mental aptitude, and Stanley Milgram’s shock machine, which was instrumental in a controversial study on obedience, among other artifacts and documents.

Cindy Ferguson ’13 said the experience was not to be forgotten. “I enjoyed seeing firsthand the tools and studies that we have discussed in class,” said Ferguson. “ I was inspired to continue to learn all that I can in this amazing field of psychology.”

Philosophy professor headlines Centenary's Forum with consumer ethics discussion

Randolph philosophy professor David Schwartz is taking the message of consumer ethics to Shreveport, Louisiana. Tonight, Schwartz will lead a discussion at Centenary College of Louisiana on the topic of the responsibility consumers have to be informed about the ethical practices of the companies whose products they purchase.

The college invited Schwartz to speak for Centenary’s Forum, an annual event that explores social issues. In conjunction with the event, Schwartz wrote an opinion article for the Shreveport Times and asked readers to contemplate the ethical question of whether to purchase shirts made and embroidered by slaves.

Schwartz is the author of Consuming Choices: Ethics in a Global Consumer Age, which explains the ethical questions consumers face and offers a guide in making ethical choices.

Randolph College Announces 2013 Commencement Speaker

Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling will give Randolph College’s 2013 Commencement address May 12. The ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. in the Dell.

Bolling was elected to serve as the 40th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 2005. Prior to his election as Lieutenant Governor, Bolling served for 10 years in the Senate of Virginia, where he was widely recognized for his work on health care and natural resource issues. Prior to his service in the Senate, Bolling served as chairman of the Hanover County Board of Supervisors.

"I am pleased to have Lieutenant Governor Bolling as the College's 2013 Commencement speaker because, in addition to his successful forays in politics, he has struck me as a person who has had varied experiences in his life and relates to people on a personal level," said John E. Klein, president of Randolph College.

To read the full press release, please see:
http://web.randolphcollege.edu/newsevents/pressreleases/news_detail.asp?id=1499

Alumna's TED Talk now available online

Kakenya Ntaiya ’04 has captured many audiences with her personal journey that included becoming the first woman from her African village to attend college. Now a TED Talk about her accomplishments is available online.

Ntaiya delivered the speech last fall as part of the popular TED Talk series that features thought leaders from various fields. Titled “Kakenya Ntaiya: A girl who demanded school,” the talk details life in her Massai village, her strategic efforts to convince her father and the village leaders to allow her to break tradition and attend college, and her decision to open a school for girls in her home village.

The speech was placed on the TED website this week. Watch it here: