Author Archive
Alpha Psi Omega to Present ‘Of Dice & Men’
Posted by: | August 26, 2011 | Comments
Oglethorpe University’s chapter of the Alpha Psi Omega theatre honor society invites you to a tabletop game of Dungeons and Dragons—on stage, that is.
The Chi Kappa “cast” is set to produce Of Dice & Men, a coming-of-age play about six young people, all Dungeons and Dragons players, who must suddenly face the fact that one of their own will soon be deployed to Iraq—a conflict that will force them to realize why they game, what it means to grow up, and what true friendship looks like. Dice is one of this year’s breakout stage productions, and the thespians from OU’s Alpha Psi chapter are bringing it to the Lupton Hall stage later this fall.
The whole play, from top to bottom, is entirely student produced. To help defray the cost of building the set, costumes, and outfitting the Lupton stage for a production of this quality, Alpha Psi has set up an online fundraiser, powered by Kickstarter.com. They’ve already raised over $1300, and are looking to raise a total of $2000 by the beginning of next month. Danielle Hitchcock ’12, the play’s director, says that bringing an up-and-coming stageplay like Of Dice & Men to the Atlanta theatre scene is a wonderful challenge for the cast and a real treat for audiences.
“This show really spoke to me, and I am going to do my very best to bring to the stage all of the realism and truth of the relationships and emotion that Cameron McNary composed in the work,” said Danielle. ”This show is extremely touching, and I think it will resonate with anyone who sees it, regardless of whether or not they’ve ever even heard of Dungeons and Dragons.”
“The game is really more of a device to show how close the characters are and to explore what it means to grow up. I know that our tightly-knit ‘Ogle-community’ will be universally affected by the conflict of the play as everyone has had to deal with changes in their family of friends—whether it is just someone graduating or something more serious, the emotions in this play are ones that everyone must deal with at some point.”
Alpha Psi Omega’s Kickstarter fundraiser ends on Sunday, August 28, but the group will continue to collect donations through September 1. To donate, please e-mail Danielle Hitchcock.
Photo: (from left) Ryan Boland ’14 and seniors Jacque McFadden ’12, Alfred Rudzki ’12, and Danielle Hitchcock ’12 read through Of Dice and Men.
Dig This: OU Senior Studies Archaeology in Turkey
Posted by: | August 24, 2011 | CommentsHere at the OU Blog, we’ve heard plenty of stories of students traveling all over the world to enhance their OU education. Most explore places like England, Spain, and plenty of places in Asia—but a student studying archaeology in Turkey? That’s a new one for us!
Meet Katherine Harkleroad ’12. She is an art history major at Oglethorpe, and decided to spend her summer in Turkey, where she attended an international archaeology seminar at Crisler Library. Crisler is an American archaeological research and teaching facility which hosts some of the world’s brightest researchers and historians. The program is open to undergraduates, graduates, and PhD candidates, and it’s based in Selçuk, near the ancient Roman city of Ephesus.
But when we say archaeology, don’t think of Katherine with a shovel and brush in hand. As much as she’d probably love to dig, Katherine was taking the seminar from the standpoint of an art historian, and was a respectful observer of those “on the ground.”
“We are not actually digging in the dirt,” explained Katherine, while still in Turkey. “We are visiting Ephesus and the surrounding sites—such as Priene, Miletus, Didyma, and Aphrodisias—with archaeologists and professors from around the world…Turkey is very strict about who is involved in excavations. Although the archaeologists here are from all over, the excavation crews are from Turkey…[While] walking behind the scenes at many of the sites, our group has been able to view and hear about finds that are not yet published.”
Even without digging, Katherine kept a busy schedule. Each morning, she and her colleagues traveled to a new site, exploring topics such as Roman private life, cult and politics, pagan sanctuaries, and how the Romans supplied themselves with water. The seminar is taught by esteemed archaeologists known the world over for their research, including Germany’s Hilke Thür, the main lecturer in the course and a thirty-year veteran in the field.
“It is such a great opportunity to visit Ephesus and the surrounding sites with such a well known and renowned archaeologist,” said Katherine. ”[This] has helped me better understand archaeological practices, excavation, and restoration techniques and strategies. Such things are very useful for historians as well as art historians. [In the past,] I have taken a basic archaeology course, but this seminar has given me first-hand experience with the field of archaeology.”
So, after spending her summer up close and personal with professional archaeologists, can this Petrel see some digs in her future?
“I am very interested in the work of archaeologists, but I don’t think that I am cut out for the life of an archaeologist,” comments Katherine. “The work season for most [is in] the summer, [when the] heat and sun are brutal. The living conditions in an excavation house are…interesting! …like being at camp,” she says laughingly. “The program was a great—a once in a lifetime opportunity. It was amazing.”
Photo: Katherine atop a fortress at the Basilica of St. Johns in Selçuk, near Ephesus.
Hundreds Volunteer During Oglethorpe’s Orientation Day of Service
Posted by: | August 22, 2011 | Comments
Orientation Day at Oglethorpe is unlike orientation at any other school. While new Petrels do rush to meet their professors and participate in the essential get-to-know-your-campus activities, they also add another stop to their list of things to do: community service throughout the Atlanta area.
On Monday morning, Oglethorpe University’s incoming class volunteered at seven Atlanta-area nonprofits as part of the annual Orientation Day of Service. In past years students have volunteered during their first week of college, but this is the first time an entering class has reached seven locations within the same day!
For most, it was a way to become acclimated with the city around them, and experience hands-on learning about an an Atlanta nonprofit, its mission, and how it serves the community need. For others, like 17-year old Parth Patel, the biggest personal impact of the project was having the opportunity to create relationships with classmates from around the world.
“[The day of service] was a great way for me to start making friends,” explained Parth, who spent his morning clearing shrubs and picking up litter at nearby Silver Lake. “I am originally from Zambia, and it is neat to meet other international students from all over… because we’ve been working together all morning, we’ve had plenty of time to talk and learn about each other’s cultures and backgrounds.”
Parth and 19 fellow freshmen volunteered at Silver Lake in preparation for the community’s 100-year anniversary celebration. But hundreds of other Petrels spread out around the metro area with plenty of other tasks in mind. About 80 volunteers packed and sorted books for Africa’s youth at Books for Africa in Smyrna while 40 others worked at Medshare, sorting and preparing medical supplies for those in need the world over. Another 50 offered their hands at Decatur’s Delano Line Park, helping to remove invasive species on its grounds, through a program called Park Pride. At Grant Park, more than 100 volunteers worked to prepare and beautify Atlanta’s oldest public park—just in time for next weekend’s Grant Park Summer Shade Festival. More students visited Open Hand, packaging meals for medically-fragile patients, and more still spent time at Push Push Theatre, cleaning, organizing and painting areas of the theatre in preparation for a television show that is to be filmed there in the fall.
In recognition of their efforts, the Class of 2015 received the Phoenix Award from the office of Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed for “exemplary commitment to community service” and “for its hard work and dedication toward improving our quality of life and making our city a better place to live, work and play.” The Phoenix Award is given to organizations and individuals who have made significant contributions to the residents of Georgia.
“Oglethorpe University has expanded its Orientation Day of Service for incoming students to reach multiple nonprofit sites in the Atlanta area,” said Tamara Nash, director of the Oglethorpe’s Center for Civic Engagement. “Our goal is to make the service experience more impactful for both the nonprofits and for the students.”
Oglethorpe Students Help With Campus Clean-up
Posted by: | August 22, 2011 | CommentsLast week Michelle Hall, OU’s Vice President for Campus Life, was preparing for students’ arrival for the new semester and noticed a few areas around campus that could use a little sprucing up before the incoming class was the first to arrive on Saturday. She challenged Oglethorpe RAs and orientation leaders who were already on campus, to beautify their home-away-from-home in just over 24 hours. The students then challenged each other to see which group could collect the most trash.
With that, they got to work. The crews completely filled 40 heavy duty trash bags with their finds, and discovered a number of (rather peculiar) items in the process, including tiki torches, old furniture, traffic cones, and even a car tire.
“I honestly did not think we’d need as many trash bags as we did,” said Dona Kiosef ’14, a rising sophomore at OU. “We found some weird stuff, too. The coolest thing I found was the face of a CPR dummy. I was proud of it [and] showed it off during the pick up…Who doesn’t like sprucing up the place where we all live? It was tons of fun in the end and even served as a bonding experience between us all.”
Even after sorting through piles of trash and proudly sporting numerous mosquito bites, it’s safe to say that these Petrels clean up well.
“[They] really went above and beyond the call of duty to ready our campus for the newest Petrels,” said Dean Hall. ”Their teamwork and willingness to help truly reflects the spirit of Oglethorpe.”
Photos: (1) Two teams of OU Residence Assistants and Orientation Leaders take a break from beautifying their campus. (2) Part of the campus clean up included bamboo removal near the Emerson Student Center—now the Conant Performing Arts Center and a small creek are visible from Emerson.
Oglethorpe’s New Athletic Conference to be Named Southern Athletic Association
Posted by: | August 19, 2011 | Comments
With the new academic year, starting in less than a week, comes the announcement of the name of Oglethorpe’s new athletic conference that will launch in 2012-13: the Southern Athletic Association (SAA).
The new conference is truly southern, in that all eight member schools represent six southern states, its territory reaching from Georgia and Alabama over to colleges in Kentucky and Arkansas. The geographic focus will result in reduced travel time and fewer missed classes, while still allowing for a strong conference of like-minded institutions, all of which integrate competitive athletics into the whole of the student’s educational experience.
In a statement released today, the SAA announced its commitment to “fostering athletic competition and cooperation among academically selective, residential liberal arts colleges located in the southeastern region of the United States.”
The SAA member schools are Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama, Centre College in Kentucky, Hendrix College in Arkansas, Millsaps College in Mississippi, Oglethorpe University and Berry College in Georgia, and Rhodes College and Sewanee: The University of the South in Tennessee.
Jay Gardiner, athletics director at Oglethorpe, will serve as the Southern Athletic Association interim commissioner. Oglethorpe president Lawrence Schall will serve as convener of the conference’s Presidential Council during the 2011-12 academic year while Brian Chafin, athletics director at Centre, will serve as convener of the Athletics Director Council in 2011-12.
OU Alum Michael Rowe Makes a Difference One Dog at a Time
Posted by: | August 11, 2011 | CommentsEach year 10,000 abused and neglected dogs are brought to Atlanta’s Fulton County Animal Control. Though half of those animals are adopted out to loving families, nearly 5,000 dogs become casualties in the most populated animal shelter in Georgia. That’s where people like Michael Rowe ’95 come in. Michael works for the Barking Hound Village Foundation Rescue, a non-profit that rehabilitates and find homes for dogs that end up on the shelter’s death row. Their mission is to save the lives of lost, abandoned and unwanted pets in Fulton County. And that mission, according to Michael, falls right in line with his life course.
Back in June of last year, three pit bull puppies found Rowe as he walked his pit-pointer mix, and through his search for a good home for those pups, he stumbled on Barking Hound. This wasn’t the first time Matt had found himself seeking help for a misplaced canine in his community. After spending some time with the organization, Michael seized an opportunity to carry out this work full-time.
“[People] have always said, ‘Do [for a living] what you like to do anyway,” says Michael. “Well, I’ve always taken the dogs in…I’ve done that all my life. This is something I really love doing…and I think I’ve found my niche.”
There are only a handful of full-time associates at BHVFR, so Michael shares a number of different responsibilities—but his main job is preparing 60 dogs each month for a new home. Unlike most other animal shelters, Barking Hound guarantees a home to the 60 dogs they take in each month, relocating them through other rescues in the northeastern U.S.—where strays are fewer and sterilization laws are stringent. Each month, Michael selects the dogs he is confident the foundation can place, and spends the entire month rehabilitiating, socializing, and nursing sick dogs back to health. After placing the dogs on their website for other reputable rescue organizations to see, the dogs are then transported to the partner rescue, where a loving family meets the dog. In less than two years, Barking Hound has saved the lives of over 1,500 animals.
OU Senior Helps the Atlanta Track Club Run Smoothly
Posted by: | August 09, 2011 | CommentsMost people could only dream of having a job that is the perfect blend of business and pleasure, but this summer rising senior Beth Cleary ’12 got to experience just that.
Beth just finished a one-of-a-kind internship with the Atlanta Track Club, a job that seemed made for her. An avid distance runner, Beth worked at the ATC as an all-around intern, attending to hundreds of runners and helping to organize the ATC’s flagship event, the Peachtree Road Race.
It became obvious that this was a match made in heaven when, during the beginning of her internship, she witnessed people literally “running into work.”
“You have no idea how thrilled I was to find out that they had two full bathrooms with showers,…so you could run into work or run with your coworkers before the office opened and then just get showered up there,” recalled Beth. “I was immersed in a culture and group of people that lots of [others] look at like it’s crazy…but for me, it’s a dream.”
At this year’s Peachtree Road Race, Beth had the opportunity to meet some of the world’s most elite runners. She attended the pre-race press conference, picked up invited athletes from the airport, and readied the athletes for the post-race awards stage.
Oglethorpe Helps Blue Heron Nature Preserve to Protect Local Flora
Posted by: | August 05, 2011 | Comments
Oglethorpe’s Buckhead neighbor, the Blue Heron Nature Preserve, recently received a $12,500 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help eliminate non-native plant species that have settled in the 25-acre preserve. The Five Star Restoration grant, provided in part by Georgia Power, is one of the most notable wetland conservation grants in the country, and OU biology professor Dr. Charles Baube and his students were not only instrumental in securing it, but will play a large part in seeing the project through.
To secure the grant, Dr. Baube and Blue Heron used data that Oglethorpe biology students collected to understand the problem of invasive species and to write the proposal. Now Blue Heron and Oglethorpe University will work together to tackle the project.
As unbelievable as it sounds, some 100 years ago, there was no such thing as kudzu or Chinese privet in the state of Georgia. Flash forward a century-plus later, and kudzu is the unofficial state flora—growing up to a foot a day and wrapping its roots around seemingly every thing in its path. But according to Dr. Baube, this species— along with several others—have no natural enemies in the area to limit their reproduction, and are a threat to biodiversity and the survival of domestic plants and animals in the area. Read More→
New Carillon Magazine Now Online — and in a Mailbox Near You!
Posted by: | August 04, 2011 | Comments
The newest issue of the award-winning Carillon is here!
This issue explores Oglethorpe’s engagement in the world, recalling the beginnings of international study and examining how the university and its partners continue to make an imprint on our world today.
The Carillon also shares how Oglethorpe alumni endeavor to “make a difference,” relating stories of Petrels who have made their marks around the globe. And, the pages of this issue introduce us to globetrotters like Scott Zannini ’96, a mountain climber who makes fascinating trips to the Earth’s highest summits, and Rodney Drinkard ’92, who manages international security for top Coca-Cola executives.
In addition to fascinating profiles of alums, meet some of OU’s newest Petrels—one who has already begun paving her way through the realm of international athletics, and another who has weathered war and displacement to finally find himself at home, here at Oglethorpe.
Read the Carillon here or look out for the magazine at your home—and let us know what you think!
Oglethorpe Named Among the 2012 Princeton Review’s Best Colleges
Posted by: | August 03, 2011 | Comments
According to The Princeton Review, Oglethorpe is one of the best colleges in the southeast and in the country. The home of the Stormy Petrel was included in the newest edition of Princeton Review’s annual “Best Colleges” book – The Best 376 Colleges: 2012 Edition, available now in bookstores, as among the best colleges in the nation and the “Best Southeastern Colleges.”
In addition to naming the best 376 colleges, the book includes 62 categories of “top 20″ nationwide ranking lists— the results of 122,000 students’ reports about their institution through surveys. This year, Oglethorpe was named one of the top 20 schools on the “Class Discussions Are Encouraged” list. Coming in at number 15, Oglethorpe’s students revealed that OU is where thinkers and communicators thrive .
In Oglethorpe’s profile in the book, students are quoted as saying that “the classroom experience is unsurpassed…you are expected to actively participate in class.” And, “Oglethorpe University offers ‘an exceptional, well-rounded education in a close-knit community,’ with “dedicated professors.’”
The Princeton Review does not rank the colleges academically or in any specific order from 1 to 376. Instead, it reports 62 ranking lists of “top 20″ colleges in various categories. Those lists are entirely based on The Princeton Review’s survey of current students attending the reviewed colleges.
The Princeton Review explains the basis for each ranking list in the book and at www.princetonreview.com/college/college-rankings.aspx
