Tusculum College to screen documentary “Armor of Light”

Tusculum College will host an advanced screening of “Armor of Light” on Thursday, April 21, at 7 p.m.

Presented by Independent Lens and East Tennessee PBS in partnership with Tusculum College’s department of civic studies, the movie follows Rev. Rob Schenck, an evangelical minister who preaches about the toll of gun violence in America.

“Students will benefit from watching this documentary by their exposure to different viewpoints and perspectives concerning important and controversial matters such as abortion and gun rights and will hopefully gain a deeper understanding of the moral principles of civility, tolerance and how to work with others to find solutions for these significant and often divisive social issues,” said Dr. Troy Goodale, chair of the department of civic studies and associate professor of political science at Tusculum College.

As an anti-abortion activist, Rev. Schenck questions whether being pro-gun conflicts with being pro-life. He meets Lucy McBath, the mother of an unarmed boy who was murdered in Florida and whose case became a landmark in the fight against “stand your ground” laws.

The documentary’s trailer states, “Through their stories, intercut with revealing footage underlining the marriage between the religious right and the NRA, “The Armor of Light” asserts that even in the face of heartbreak, outrage and political affiliations, it is possible for people to evolve their opinions and potentially come together to find common ground.”

The screening is free and open to the public and will be followed by a discussion session. An Arts and Lecture Series event for residential students, the film is rate PG-13, and its running time is 88 minutes.

 

By Stephanie Turner, senior journalism and professional writing major from Shelbyville

 

Curtis Owens literature prize winners announced

Tusculum College students Jennie Frost, Emily Wyrick and Sarah Holly are the winners of the 2016 Curtis and Billie Owens Literary Awards.

The awards, which are given annually to recognize the literary achievements of the college’s students, are open to all Tusculum College students.

Frost, a senior creative writing major from Friendsville won the fiction category; Waryck a junior creative writing major from New Concord, Ohio, picked up the prize for poetry; and Holly, a senior creative writing major from Johnson City won the non-fiction category.

Honorable mentions were given in the fiction, poetry and nonfiction categories. Six students received an honorable mention for original works, including Holly (poetry), Frost (poetry) and Waryck (fiction). Additional honorable mentions were awarded to Austen Herron a senior from Durham, North Carolina, and Tyler Brown, a freshman from Rockwood, both in the  non-fiction category, and Emily Watson, a junior from Watauga for her fiction entry.

The winners’ works will be included in a publication to be released during the 2016 Old Oak Festival, April 15-17. Additionally, the winners will read their selections at the Tusculum Review Launch Party scheduled from Saturday, April 16, at 4 p.m. on the Terrace of the Thomas J. Garland Library on the Greeneville campus, as part of the 2016 Old Oak Festival.

The Curtis and Billie Owens Literary Awards are annually given to recognize the literary achievements of Tusculum College’s creative writing students. The literary award was named for Curtis Owens, a 1928 graduate of Tusculum College who went on to a teaching career at what is now Pace University in New York. He and his wife established the award at his alma mater to encourage and reward excellence in writing among Tusculum College students.

The event also featured readings by contest judge Eric Lundgren and fiction writer Dr. Meagan Cass, and was part of the Humanities Series, sponsored by the Tusculum College English Department.

 

From left, 2016 Curtis Owens Literary Prize award winners Tyler Brown, Sarah Holly, Jennie Frost, Judge Eric Lundgren, Emily Waryck, Emily Watson and Austen Herron.

 

Tusculum College Sport Management program ranked among most affordable

Tusculum College has earned a No. 22 ranking by Sports Management Degree Guide in its listing of the “50 Most Affordable Small Southern Colleges for Sports Management in 2015.”

For the rankings, Sports Management Degree Guide used the National Center for Education Statistics College Navigator database to examine 61 institutions in the U.S. and Puerto Rico offering four-year bachelor’s degrees in sport and/or fitness administration/management and located in the South with an undergraduate enrollment of less than 3,000 students. From these, Sports Management Degree Guide selected the least expensive based on net price.

According to the recent article, recommended Sports Management programs on the list are accredited by reputable governing bodies, offer quality courses and academic rigor and allow students to hone their skills in particular areas of interest.

“This specialty degree program does not have to come at a hefty price tag. In fact, we have located some of the most affordable small Southern colleges to earn an accredited sports management degree,” the report states.

Tusculum College offers an undergraduate sports management degree program within the School of Education. Students who complete the requirements for the program earn a Bachelor of Arts in Sports Management.

This program combines knowledge and skills required for leaders in athletics, sports, recreation and fitness. By integrating management and marketing principles with sport and fitness components, students are prepared for job opportunities in sport management, recreation, athletics and fitness settings or are prepared for graduate studies in sport management.

To see the complete list of school ranked by Sports Management Degree Guide, visit http://www.sports-management-degrees.com/affordable-small-southern-colleges-for-a-sports-management-degree-2016-bachelors/.

For more information on Tusculum College, the sports management degree program or enrollment and financial aid, contact the Admissions Office at 423-636-7374.

 

Tusculum College student is speaker at national conference for Operation Christmas Child

Kojo Abakah was 12-years-old and living in the West African country of Ghana when he received a shoebox from Operation Christmas Child.

Today, Abakah is a student at Tusculum College preparing for a career in pharmacy, and now puts together those shoeboxes that have the power to change lives. Abakah works with Tusculum Baptist Church in putting shoeboxes together and preparing them for delivery so he can spread God’s love to other children. Additionally, he has become a spokesperson for the organization, now traveling to their national conferences letting volunteers know that the work they do does have an impact.

Kojo Abakah

“I remember receiving the box from missionaries,” said Abakah. “I came to know the Lord after receiving the box. They taught us Jesus loves you because the Bible tells us so. And after their message, they gave us each our own box.

“As soon as I got my box, I took my books and my bag, and I just left to home. I ran home. When I got home, I showed it to my family, and we opened it. To my amazement, I had a yo-yo, a toy car, pencils. I was so grateful. And when I rolled my yo-yo, I remembered, Jesus loves me, because the Bible tells me so. I learned to pray, read the Bible and spent a lot of time in church after that.”

This week Abakah travels to Washington D.C. as a speaker at the Operation Christmas Child regional conference.  This will be his second appearance, having spoken to volunteers in Kansas City in early March.  He will also travel to the San Francisco and Atlanta meetings. So far it has been a solo experience, but he is looking forward to the San Francisco trip, during which he will have a traveling companion.

“Mama Jones” will accompany Abakah on this trip. Debra Jones met Abakah through Tusculum Baptist Church as has been his mother away from home, even having Abakah stay with her during the summer months when he is not in school and cannot return to Africa.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to see places I might not have ever seen,” said Abakah. “I am truly blessed.” These speeches give him the opportunity to share his stories with thousands of volunteers, so that they can hear what a difference just one shoebox can make.

And, while he admits to some pre-speech nerves as he prepares to address groups of more than 600, he credits Tusculum with preparing him as a speaker, and he credits God with getting him to Tusculum.

“God’s plan is not always our plan,” when asked how he ended up at Tusculum College. “It is by learning to listen to God that I found Tusculum College.

“ I always wanted to study in the U.S, but for a young man in Ghana, attending school in the United States is expensive and a difficult process. I used the Internet to find a list of colleges and universities in the U.S. I was going through them, state by state, looking at every one when I understood the message. I knew I was mean to apply to a school I had never heard of before. I continued my search, but I knew when I saw the name Tusculum, it was God’s direction. No one in my family ever got such an opportunity, and it has been the right place for me. Unlike school in Ghana, the teachers have time for you, and you get the attention of the teacher. Everything is different.”

Abakah plans on finishing his undergraduate degree at Tusculum and then attending graduate school in pharmacy. He then wishes to return to Africa, where health care professionals are desperately needed.

 

Tusculum College students spend spring break on service trip

In early March, students from Tusculum College along with other volunteers participated in an alternative spring break that included a focus on service, rather than surf time.

The students took a trip to Charleston, South Carolina, where they rebuilt two houses, both of which suffered flood damage from more than a foot of water entering the homes during the devastating floods last fall.

The first day in Charleston began with a few memorable mishaps: a broken shower head, a collapsed ceiling and a water spill. However, this did not deter the students of Tusculum College who dived into their project on the first day when they met the family who would benefit from their service hours

The first home needed the bottom two feet of all the walls insulated and dry-walled, according to student West Conner, a senior from Alpharetta, Georgia, adding that the second home needed the interior primed and repainted.

“I can proudly say after a first day’s work, Ms. Amanda’s home was entirely insulated and mostly dry-walled, and Charles and Mary Joe’s home was entirely primed and ready to be painted,” said Conner.

On Tuesday, the group arrived ahead of schedule and immediately started working.

Haylee Reed, a junior, biology major from Winchester said, “The paint didn’t match the paint on the upper portion of the wall. It was only a shade darker, but it was just enough to be irritating. With the help of Ronda and Sarah, we made a straight line barrier around all the walls to mark where the new paint stopped. It actually turned out looking alright.”

Also accompanying the group was Tiffany Dearstone, student life coordinator at Tusculum.

At the end of the day, Reed said, “We still had a lot of work to do, but we were working quickly and efficiently. After dinner, we all sat around the table and talked about our favorite parts of the day.”

Christian Howard, a junior, special education major from Greeneville, said the group livened up on Wednesday morning as they pulled into the driveway to being another day at work.

Splitting into two groups, they began work on both homes. “The back house crew worked their hardest and finished dray-walling the entire house, besides a little left in the laundry room. The front house worked through the colors and smell of the new paint,” said Howard.

With more than half of the work finished, the students were rewarded with an evening of shopping in Charleston.

On Thursday, one group finished dry-walling the garage and continued touching up primer and painting Charles and Mary Joe’s home. Robert Nichols said, “Tiffany and Haylee went through the rooms that we had completed Wednesday and made sure that the paint was even and that there was none on the ceiling.

“When we got back, most of us went right to our cots and air mattresses and fell right asleep. All in all, it was a great day. We finished our tasks at the houses, and it felt good to have accomplished them.”

Friday morning found the group in high spirits, as they spent the day exploring and touring Charleston. Steven Hollingshead, a former Bonner Leader and a 2015 graduate of Tusculum College who joined the trip as a volunteer said, “The morning was wonderful, because we all knew we had completed a great amount of work this week with incredible precision and diligence, and we were excited about our day of fun in the sun.”

 

Front row standing from left to right is Rev. Dr. Ronda Gentry, Tiffany Dearstone, Tarah Helms, Haylee Reed, Steven Hollingshead and Briana "BW" Werder. Middle row, left to right, are Dennis Acquah, Morgan Jones, Mary Jo (the home owner, with Elsa the dog), Sarah Galentine, Deondra Thomas and Jalesa Perkins. Back row, left to right are Amanda (homeowner), Charles (homeowner), Robert Nichols, Kirai Kozak, Christian Howard, Rod (contractor), West Conner and Courtney Washburn.

 

Registration for fall 2016 semester begins next week

The next two weeks will be busy ones at Tusculum College as registration for the 2016 fall semester will begin for students in the traditional academic program.

Registration for rising and continuing juniors and seniors will be March 21 through 24. Registration will be open for continuing  freshmen and rising and continuing sophomores will be March 28 through April 1.

Students have been encouraged to visit various offices such as the Financial Aid, Business, the Registrar and Student Affairs to ensure the are ready to begin the registration process. A registration orientation event was held in February to allow students to finish this process.

In registering, students are to follow a set of steps. First,they are to make an appointment to meet with their academic adviser to discuss their schedule and the courses needed to continue on the path towards earning their degree. While it is important for students to regularly meet with their academic adviser, it is crucial for students to meet with their adviser in preparing their schedule for the fall as the College will be implementing a new schedule formatthat allows students to personalize and customize their schedules to a greater extent than in the current format.

Students then fill out a fall 2016 registration form and then visit the Business Office and Financial Aid (if their status was not cleared during the pre-registration visit).

Once that is completed, students submit their form to the Registrar’s Office.

For students living on campus, submitting their registration form enables them to complete the Housing Selection process.  Juniors and seniors will have housing placement preference as they will be able to complete the process a week ahead of the underclassmen. Students complete the process by submitting Housing Selection forms along with signed Housing License Agreements to Student Affairs. Students are able on these forms to indicate preference of residence hall on campus and indicate their preference for roommate(s).

However, after April 1, incoming students placements will begin, and current students who have not completed registration by the beginning of April will have their placements made as they are received.

Tusculum College English majors honored at literary festival

Four Tusculum College students were recently recognized at the Hollins University 56th Annual Lex Allen Literary Festival in Roanoke, Virginia.

Students were invited to submit creative works for the festival’s contests in poetry and fiction, and Tusculum College English majors Macy French of Kingsport, Jennie Frost of Friendsville, Sarah Holly of Johnson City and Emily Waryck of New Concord, Ohio, were selected as finalists in the poetry category. Also attending was student Emily Watson of Watauga.

French’s poem, “Nature and Nurture in Binary,” was selected as runner-up winner in the poetry category. Work of the poetry finalists were read and discussed in a poetry panel comprised of poets Ricardo Pau-Llosa, Cathy Hankla and Jeanne Larsen.

The group, accompanied by Heather Patterson, English department chair and associate professor of English, were participants in the conference that included readings by Pulitzer Prize nominee, poet Ricardo Pau-Llosa, Los Angeles Times columnist and essayist Meghan Daum, and winner of the Berlin Prize Fellowship, novelist Fred Drury.

“It was a treat to see our students praised so highly by attendees of the festival. Hollins’s contest pool was quite large and impressively talented,” said Patterson.

“I can say with confidence that Tusculum College’s creative writing program is one of the best undergraduate writing programs currently operating, and I feel that folks outside of Tusculum are recognizing that fact more and more. The writers who come out of our program are being published in esteemed journals, winning awards, being hired for internships and jobs and getting into top-notch graduate school programs. We can now add more success at Lex Allen to our long and lengthening list of our students’ achievements.”

 

Tusculum students competed against 211 entrants in poetry from colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, including Stanford University, Hollins University, University of Arizona, Georgetown University, University of Pittsburg, Malone University, Austin Peay State University, Pennsylvania State University at Erie and the University of Toronto.

 

From left to right: Emily Waryck (finalist), Emily Watson, Sarah Holly (finalist), Jennie Frost (finalist) and Macy French (runner-up winner).

 

Vendor deadline for Old Oak Festival is March 31

The vendor deadline for the Old Oak Festival is March 31. Those who wish to participate are encouraged to get their applications in as soon as possible in order to secure a space, as there are a limited number still available.

According to festival coordinator David Price, there are still a few slots remaining for craft and food vendors; however, the spaces are filling up and the deadline is quickly approaching.

The Old Oak Festival will return to Tusculum College campus April 15-17. Featuring a wide variety of music and food and fun, the Old Oak Festival will span across three days, featuring something for everyone, be it live music, theater, arts and crafts or fabulous festival food.

A new festival feature announced this week was the lineup of 10 workshops designed for high school students, through which five participants will be awarded a $500 scholarship.

Workshops will be offered in morning and afternoon shifts, from 9-11 a.m. and 12:30-2:30 p.m. The morning workshops will consist of an educational wetland tour and nature writing, contemporary poetry, drawing, playwriting, and music theory and songwriting. Acting, brief essay or prose poem, tree identification, photo manipulation and songwriting will be offered in the afternoon.

“With an incredible lineup of music and the wide variety of crafts, as well as the writers section, theater performances and surprise events, we expect this year’s festival to be a stand out,” said Price, who also serves as director of Music and Band programs at Tusculum College.

Throughout the weekend on stage, the festival will present the sounds of the region, with a wide variety of music from bluegrass to jazz to local vocalists and musicians. A new feature this year will be horse and carriage rides, sponsored by Tymley Travel.

As part of the entertainment, there will be three performances during the festival of GLAWPIGT (Great Literature Alive and Well and Playing in Greeneville, Tennessee) Showcase, presented by the group comprised of local students under the direction of Arts Outreach Director Marilyn duBrisk. Show times are Friday  at 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Performances will be held in the Behan Arena Theatre in the Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Building.

There is no fee to attend the festival. Art vendor hours will be Friday from noon until 6 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. For more information, contact Price at 423-636-7303.

Coolers and alcohol are prohibited during the festival.

For updates and more information, visit the website at www.oldoakfestival.org or on facebook.

 

 

 

 

 

New offerings provide increased flexibility for Graduate and Professional Studies programs at Tusculum College

Tusculum College students will see course scheduling changes in the Graduate and Professional Studies program as a result of a recent student study. The changes aim to improve student experience and completion outcomes.

“While remaining focused and flexible, the new schedule will provide more student-centered offerings, as well as improve transferability and reduce length to completion,” said LeAnn Hughes, vice president of enrollment management and marketing at the college. “We are excited to offer one of the region’s most flexible adult programs.”

Major changes in the schedule will include allowing students to take two courses during an eight week block, as well as allowing for additional online course opportunities. The Graduate and Professional Studies program currently only offers the option for taking one class at a time in a five-week course format.

“The new schedule will provide students the flexibility to choose the pace to completion based on the student’s individual needs, offering both a fast and short track options in which students may accelerate their pace by taking additional courses,” said Dr. Ron May, vice president for Academic Affairs. “However, it will be implemented as an option and students may choose to continue with one night a week.”

Dr. May highlighted that students will have more options, including online and hybrid format course offerings.

According to Lindsey Seal, director of Graduate and Professional Studies enrollment, “Students want options, and not everyone wants to be held to a set time to complete their degree. Our goal is to provide the flexibility for students to shorten or lengthen their program of study to best meet their needs, thus creating the most flexible adult degree completion programs in the region.”

The changes were put into place as the result of a research survey conducted among current students and perspective adult learners in the region.

Upon completion of the survey, representatives from the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning and Tusculum academic and administrative leadership discussed the schedule options and survey results. The presented schedule was chosen for GPS to begin fall semester 2016.

The survey results indicated the top priorities for adult learners in the region were the availability of majors, flexibility of class scheduling and price. Nearly 80 percent of all respondents were willing to consider online courses to shorten their length to program completion.

“It is part of who we are at Tusculum College to keep in touch with our students and provide them with the best options for finishing a degree,” said Hughes. “With the new formatted GPS course schedule, we have taken another step to easing that process and supporting the efforts of our students and future students.”

 

FLY Dance Company takes the stage at Tusculum College

FLY Dance Company will make its way to Tusculum College this week for what organizers say is an “eye-popping 90 minutes of show-off entertainment,” featuring a unique dance performance combining various styles of dance and music.

FLY is an all-male contemporary dance company from Houston who are known for high-energy performances with clever staging to a variety of music including classical, jazz, pop, hip hop, experimental, drumming, and live sound effects.

The dancers will perform at 2 p.m., on Sunday, March 20, at the Annie Hogan Byrd theatre on the Greeneville campus. The performance is part of Tusculum College’s annual Acts, Arts, Academia Performance and Lecture series.

Admission is $15 for adults, $12 for seniors citizens (60 and over) and $5 for children (12 and under).

FLY Dance Company takes off on the stage with a unique combination of entertainment and art. Attracting highly diverse audiences, FLY appeals to young and old, male and female, sophisticated and unsophisticated, and all ethnicities and cultures encountered to date.

A variety of dance styles and selections make up FLY’s repertory, including a mix of hip-hop, classical and modern dance with colorful costumes and comic delivery. These high-energy selections are fun and exciting.

Musical selections include Edgar Meyer, Leonard Bernstein, Earth Wind & Fire, Hacienda Propellerheads, Debussy, Kodo Drummers, Michael Jackson, Nat King Cole, Aphex Twin, Vivaldi and James Brown.

This event is recommended for all ages and audiences.

For more information or to reserve tickets please call Tusculum College Arts Outreach at 423-798-1620 or email jhollowell@tusculum.edu.

 

FLY Dance Company

 

Lecture about significant, but lesser known Supreme Court cases to be Tuesday, March 15

Uncovering cases from the annals of the highest court in America that may not have the popular recognition of Brown v. Board of Education or Roe v. Wade but have had as significant impact on the nation will be the focus of a presentation Tuesday, March 15, at Tusculum College.

“American Civil Rights and Liberties: Little Known Supreme Court Cases That Have Made a Big Impact” will be presented by Dr. David Scott at 7 p.m. at the Behan Arena Theatre in the lower level (side entrance) of the Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Building on campus. The presentation is part of the Cicero Lecture Series and Tusculum Arts Outreach’s Acts, Arts, Academia 2015-16 performance and lecture series.

The lecture was originally scheduled in February but had to be postponed and rescheduled due to inclement weather.

Dr. Scott, visiting instructor of political science at Tusculum, will be primarily discussing four cases that have been significant for the country during his lecture, but will also share information about other important Supreme Court decisions.

A licensed attorney, Dr. Scott earned his doctorate in political science with a focus in American politics from the University of Tennessee. He holds Juris Doctorate and Master of Dispute Resolution degrees from Pepperdine University.

His teaching and research interests include American constitutional law, civil rights and liberties, the influence of interest groups on the Supreme Court via the submission of amicus curiae briefs and political philosophy.

Admission to the lecture is $7 per person.

For more information about the lecture, please contact Tusculum Arts Outreach at 423-798-1620 or jhollowell@tusculum.edu.

 

Exterior framing, roofwork progressing on new science and math center

With the roofing seals going into place this week, construction of the Ronald H. and Verna June Meen Center for Science and Math at Tusculum College continues to progress at a steady rate.

As of the first week of March, exterior framing and sheathing is approximately 90 percent complete, according to David Martin, director of facilities at Tusculum College. “The lecture hall slab on grade is being poured in multiple sequences and will be complete this week,” he said.

“Waterproofing and window installation, as well as mechanical, electrical and fire protection trades are continuing as we work towards the milestones of permanent power and unit startup.”

The Meen Center for Science and Math will be a four-story structure of approximately 100,000 square feet. Interiors include wings for biology, chemistry, mathematics, computer science and environmental science. There will also be lab space and research areas for both faculty and students.

The ground floor features the environmental science wing with a loading dock, as well as large general classroom spaces and classrooms equipped for distance learning programs. A large lecture hall will be included on the ground floor. Space is also allocated to house the Bachelor of Science degree program in nursing and at least one other graduate level health-related program.

 

Construction continues on the Ronald H. and Verna June Meen Center for Science and Math with roofing seals being put into place.

Windows have started to be installed as exterior framing is nearing completion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The side of the building opposite Pioneer Field and the entrance on that side below.