NEWS & CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

Tusculum College Pioneer Spirit Week is set for September 21-25, with activities planned on campus for each day. The events, sponsored by the Office of Institutional Advancement, include a variety of ways to show your Pioneer Spirit!  This year’s Spirit Week Schedule is as follows:

Monday, September 21 - Pioneer Spirit Sign Day! Come to the Office of Institutional Advancement, located in McCormick Hall on the third floor, to pick up your Pioneer Club Spirit Sign and enjoy a refreshing drink courtesy of the Advancement staff.

Tuesday, September 22 - Tuesday only! Take advantage of a 20 percent discount at the Tusculum College Bookstore. (Discount available on selected items.)

Wednesday, September 23 - Share your Pioneer creativity by showcasing your favorite team spirited dessert! Bring your entry to the Haynes Boardroom in McCormick Hall between 10:45-11:15 a.m.  Judging will be at 11:30 a.m., with special guest judges, including Dr. Craig Shepherd, chairman of this year’s Pioneer Club Campaign and Larry Coughlin, co-chairman of the Pioneer Club Campaign, awarding a prize, lunch for two provided by the Tusculum Eatery, for the winner.

Thursday, September 24 - Game Day! Show your Pioneer Spirit by wearing your favorite orange or black Tusculum College apparel. See you at the game cheering for the Pioneers! This game will be televised on CBS College Sports and FSN South, so bring a friend and help us fill the stands and visitors section for the cameras! Kickoff is at 8:05 p.m.

Friday, September 25 - Post-game Ice Cream Social for faculty, staff and students. Join the Office of Institutional Advancement in the Quad on the lawn behind McCormick Hall from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. for ice cream and a wrap up of a successful Spirit Week.

For more information on any of the Spirit Week events, contact Kim Kidwell ‘99, director of development, at Extension 5681.

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The writing of award-winning author Sharyn McCrumb and the music of Jack Hinshelwood will combine for an entertaining evening Tuesday, Sept. 29, at Tusculum College.

“Words and Music: A Soundtrack to the Ballad Novels” will be presented at 7 p.m. on Sept. 29 in the Behan Arena Theatre in the lower level of the Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Building. The program is part of Tusculum College Arts Outreach’s Acts, Arts, Academia 2009-10 performance and lecture series.

The internationally acclaimed program brings together the ballads that are woven throughout McCrumb’s novels with Hinshelwood performing the songs while the author reads and discusses her novel. The program features the novels, “If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O, “The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter,” “She Walks These Hills,” “The Rosewood Casket,” “The Ballad of Frankie Silver,” “The Songcatcher,” “Ghost Riders” and “St. Dale.”

Hinshelwood and McCrumb have toured the United States with the program, and their collaboration has resulted in a recording by Hinshelwood of the ballads from “I Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O.” Hinshelwood, who began playing traditional music in the 1970s, is a member of the Celtibillies.

Early in his career, Hinshelwood found success in numerous guitar contests, winning the Knoxville World’s Fair Guitar Championship, the Galax Fiddler’s Convention Guitar Contest and the Wayne Henderson Guitar Championship. He has also contributed to the rich heritage of traditional music through his instrumental and vocal compositions, many of which are included in his recordings.  The National Park Service Blue Ridge Music Center featured him in their Blue Ridge Masters showcase concert series.

McCrumb is best known for Appalachian ballad novels, set in the North Carolina/Tennessee mountains. The New York Times Best Sellers “She Walks These Hills” and “The Rosewood Casket,” deal with the issue of the vanishing wilderness. “The Ballad of Frankie Silver,” is the story of the first woman hanged for murder in the state of North Carolina. “The Songcatcher” is a genealogy in music, tracing the author‘s family from 18th century Scotland to the present by following a Scots Ballad through the generations. “Ghost Riders,” an account of the Civil War in the mountains of western North Carolina, won the Wilma Dykeman Award for Literature given by the East Tennessee Historical Society.

In 2008, McCrumb was named a “Virginia Woman of History” for achievement in literature, and she was a guest author in the 2006 National Festival of the Book in Washington, D.C. She has also received the    Appalachian Writers Association Outstanding Contribution to Appalachian Literature Award, the Chaffin Award for Southern Literature and the Plattner Award for Short Story.  A graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, with an M.A. in English from Virginia Tech, McCrumb was the first writer-in-residence at King College in Tennessee. In 2005 she honored as the Writer of the Year at Emory & Henry College. A film of her novel “The Rosewood Casket” is currently in production, directed by British Academy Award nominee Roberto Schaefer.

McCrumb’s great-grandfathers were circuit preachers in North Carolina’s Smoky Mountains a hundred years ago, riding horseback over the ridges to preach in a different community each week.  It is from them, she says, that she gets her regard for books, her gift of storytelling and public speaking, and her love of the Appalachian Mountains.

“My books are like Appalachian quilts,” McCrumb says. “I take brightly colored scraps of legends, ballads, fragments of rural life, and local tragedy, and I piece them together into a complex whole that tells not only a story, but also a deeper truth about the culture of the mountain South.”

For her latest two novels, NASCAR provides the setting. “St. Dale” is a “Canterbury Tales” type story of a group of ordinary people who go on a pilgrimage in honor of racing legend Dale Earnhardt. “Once Around the Track” examines the need for larger-than-life heroes while chronicling the adventures of an all-female race team that hires a “pretty” male driver.

Admission is $6 per person.  For more information about the performance, contact Tusculum College Arts Outreach at 423-798-1620, e-mail jhollowell@tusculum.edu or visit http://arts.tusculum.edu.

The Acts, Arts, Academia performance and lecture series is supported by Dr. Sam Miller in memory of Mary Agnes Ault Miller, Tusculum College Arts Outreach, Society of Cicero, Hearts for the Arts, the Tennessee Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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This year marks the 25th anniversary of Tusculum College’s Graduate and Professional Studies (GPS) program, and the milestone has been marked by anniversary celebration activities throughout the year and a final celebration event is planned for Saturday, October 17, at the main campus in Greeneville.

The final celebration includes a GPS Alumni Tailgate Party in conjunction with the College’s Pioneer Club and group seating at the Tusculum College South Atlantic Conference match-up against Catawba College.

Following the game a GPS Anniversary dance will be held in Niswonger Commons in the Chalmers Conference Center.

“We hope to see all the alumni of the GPS program come out and celebrate this milestone for a program that has helped so many attain their dream of higher education,” said Cody Greene ‘08, coordinator of alumni and parent relations.

The event is planned for all GPS graduates, including those who participated in the TALL (Tusculum Adult Leaders Learning) and TAG (Tusculum Adult and Graduate) programs, as well as for faculty, staff, current students and all who have helped this program develop into one of the top adult education programs in the state over the past 25 years.

Since 1984, more than 10,000 working adults have realized their dreams by earning a bachelor’s or master’s degree at Tusculum College. The program is specifically designed with working adults in mind, allowing them to continue to work while achieving their dream of higher education.

“We are celebrating 25 years of making dreams of a college education come true for non-traditional students,” said Dr. Lisa Johnson, director of the Graduate and Professional Studies Program in Northeast Tennessee and assistant professor of education at the College.

“Tusculum College has helped many of us complete our degrees while working full-time. For 25 years this program has helped working adults advance their education. And, this year, we celebrate the success not only of the program, but of the students,” said Sherri Storer, site director of the Morristown Center and enrollment representative, as well as a GPS graduate in both in 2003 and 2006.

The event is free of charge, however, registration is encouraged.

The Graduate and Professional Studies portion of the Tusculum College Web site has been redesigned to provide information on the 25^th Anniversary events and to allow for online registration. On the site, visitors are able to get information on the events, register and see a list of those who are planning to attend.

For more information about the celebrations, to make reservations or get updates on the events, please visit www.tusculum.edu/adult/anniversary.html or contact Greene at Tusculum College at 423-636-7303 or email ccgreene@tusculum.edu.

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Due to the cancellation of the Men’s Soccer match for this Saturday, September 19, the Pioneer Club event has been rescheduled. The Pioneer Club event will now take place on Sunday, October 4, when the Pioneers take on Newberry College. The lunch will start at 12:30 p.m. with the game at 2:00 p.m. Reservations are required. Cost is $10 per person; however, Pioneer Level members and above will be admitted free. Please RSVP by Thursday, October 1, by calling 423-636-7303 or emailing bsell@tusculum.edu.

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Tusculum College’s first benefactor, Nettie Fowler McCormick would give students’ rooms the “white glove treatment” to check for cleanliness when she visited campus, and students would have passed her test in their efforts Thursday during the community service day named in her honor.

About 370 students were involved in the college’s annual Nettie Fowler McCormick Service Day, working with nine community organizations, agencies and schools as well as with the Doak House Museum and on campus. All new students, freshmen and transfer students participate in the day’s activities as part of a Tusculum Experience course and upperclassmen volunteer.

Nettie Day, which began in 1913, has evolved to take on a more generalized community service emphasis that supports the College’s mission “to provide a liberal arts education in a Judeo-Christian and civic arts environment,” said Tusculum College President Nancy B. Moody during the Nettie Day Opening Session.

“Today Nettie Day is our introduction to you, our new students, to Tusculum College’s commitment to service.”

Also participating in the opening program were students Estefania Chevez, a senior political science major and Boazin Katina, a senior education major, who are part of the Bonner Leaders service program at the College. Each spoke about service and what it has meant to them over their four years at Tusculum College.

Katina’s work as a student tutor when he was a freshman changed his life’s path and he has now participated in many service projects as a result of the experience, he told the group.

Students worked doing a variety of tasks at the Nathanael Greene Museum, visiting with residents at Plaza Towers apartments, cleaning and helping re-arrange an office at the Child Advocacy Center, walking dogs and other tasks at the Greeneville-Greene County Animal Shelter, planting trees along Frank Creek to prevent erosion for the Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance, helping clean the gymnasium and horse barn at Holston United Methodist Home for Children, picking up litter along Highway 11-E, working with clients at the Crumley House Rehabilitation Center and painting the play shelter at Doak Elementary School.

The students’ work was much appreciated by those at the various agencies.

“This is the best group of volunteers we have had,” said Billie Roberts of the Nathanael Greene Museum of the class that worked there. “They did a lot of things that we don’t have the staff to do. We really appreciate them.” This group was very efficient in their tasks, such as cleaning, so much so that they finished before it was time to leave. They then weeded and trimmed in the flowerbeds and landscaping at the building.

Students were also very busy at the Child Advocacy Center as one group cleaned toys with disinfectant wipes, another straightened and cleaned the kitchen and a group of strong young men helped move file cabinets and a desk in the rearrangement of an office.

Deana Hicks, executive director of the center, said the students like to work with children and may not think such things as cleaning toys and rearranging furniture to make much of a difference. “However,” she said, “it has a significant impact because it gives our staff more time to concentrate on our clients and help them rather than spending time straightening the kitchen or rearranging an office. And keeping the toys cleaned and disinfected is a never-ending battle.”

A greater number of community agencies were planned as project sites for students, but involved primarily outdoor work. With the steady rain that was falling on Thursday morning, plans were changed with students redirected to working on campus.
Members of the Housekeeping and Maintenance staff directed the students in such projects as cleaning hallway walls and floors in residence halls, cleaning windows in the Niswonger Commons and cleaning in the Thomas J. Garland Library.

The group of students assigned to the Doak House Museum were working inside and out. Inside a group cut out mouse patterns and pressed gingerbread patterns into paper for children’s educational activities hosted at the museum. Outside, students weeded in the garden, cleaned gutters, trimmed bushes and collected walnuts.

The students on campus were joined in their efforts by a number of staff and faculty members. President Moody encouraged staff and faculty to volunteer to help spruce up the campus. After the rain cleared, they went to work weeding flower beds, trimming bushes and spreading mulch, particularly around McCormick and Virginia halls. Dr. Moody and members of cabinet were part of the staff members who spent their morning helping with the landscaping.

View more “Nettie Day” photos

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Dr. John Paulling, professor of mathematics at Tusculum College, recently headed to London, where he will teach a course on the mathematics of political decisions and coordinate the British Life and Culture program as part of the College’s participation in the “London Program” study abroad program.

Paulling joins four other American professors who will manage the student program that allows American students to study in London for a semester. This past spring Tusculum College student Lynnsey Jett, a senior education major from Jefferson City, Tenn., participated in the London Program as a student. Jett is one of nearly 10 students who have participated in the study abroad program since it was initiated by the College.

“I have always been interested in going to other places, whether it be travel or study abroad,” said Paulling. In his past he studied in Germany as a student and has traveled to Europe several times. As a result, he speaks German, Spanish and Norwegian, which provides him the unique ability to converse with international students in their own languages.

Paulling’s opportunity to teach is part of Tusculum College’s participation in the program that is a partnership between International Enrichment and the Private College Consortium for International Study, a partnership of 14 colleges in the Appalachian College Association. The Private College Consortium for International Studies was developed for the promotion of study abroad programs, and for the participating institutions, it is the opportunity to design their own academic programs abroad using their own curriculums, standards and styles.

As part of their agreement to participate with the ACA in the London Program, each year one ACA participant school must send a professor to teach in the program.  Tusculum College has provided the professor in the past, but this will be Paulling’s first opportunity.

“My course will focus on social decisions, voting ratios and various voting methods,” said Paulling. Adding, that the math involved in polling, voting, ranking and making choices will be the focus of the curriculum.

In addition to teaching, he will coordinate the British Life and Culture program for the American students, which involves British lectures, trips and excursions in the London area, with a focus on providing the students with hands-on experiences in London life and culture.

“We will have British experts in the lecture series who will talk about William Shakespeare, William Wallace and other historical and cultural leaders from London, and the excursions will include three days in Paris as well,” said Paulling.

The students participating; however, continue their progression towards their degrees even while studying in London.  According to Paulling, all courses have been structured so that academic credits earned by students are part of regular authorized course offerings.

Paulling will return to the United States and to Tusculum College next semester and pick up his courses in the mathematics department, but both he and the students he teaches may have just a touch more international pizzazz than was there before.

The London Program and its study abroad components are part of Tusculum College’s efforts to increase the number of students who have an international experience during their college career. As part of this campus wide goal, the College formed the Center for Global Studies in spring 2008, with a mission to “enhance the capacity of individuals and organizations to address local and global challenges through building relationships with communities, institutions of higher learning and organizations globally.”

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Freshmen at Tusculum College will head out into the community on Thursday, Sept. 17, to work on various service projects in and around the Greeneville-Greene County region as the College observes its traditional Nettie Fowler McCormick Service Day, referred to informally as “Nettie Day.”

The day honors the memory and altruistic way of life of Nettie Fowler McCormick, widow of reaper inventor Cyrus McCormick, who was a 19th century supporter and advocate of Tusculum College. The McCormicks, staunch Presbyterians from Chicago, learned of Tusculum College through Tusculum graduates who attended their McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.

Nettie Day began in 1913 as a day of cleaning the campus in reflection of Nettie McCormick’s insistence on clean living environments. The day has evolved to take on a more generalized community service emphasis that supports the College’s mission “to provide a liberal arts education in a Judeo-Christian and civic arts environment.”

This Thursday morning participating students will scatter across the area, under faculty supervision, to work at such sites as the Child Advocacy Center in Mosheim, Doak Elementary School, the Greeneville-Greene County Humane Society, Habitat for Humanity, Rural Resources, Plaza Towers, Old Harmony Cemetery and Holston Home for Children, among others.

Projects include clean-up and landscaping, projects with senior citizens and abandoned animals, tutoring and planting trees.

“Nettie Day is an opportunity for our new students to learn firsthand about the College’s mission - that we want them to be engaged citizens in the community,” said Joyce Doughty, director of the College’s Center for Civic Advancement and coordinator of Nettie Day. ” Hands-on experiences like these we do on Nettie Day offer a vivid learning opportunity.”

In addition to the students, this year at the encouragement of President Nancy B. Moody, faculty and staff are joining in to beautify the College campus on Nettie Day as well. Projects include refreshing landscaping and cleaning various work spaces.

Following the morning’s activities, a picnic lunch will be held at noon on the lawn near McCormick Hall.

Nettie McCormick is recognized as the College’s first Benefactor and funded construction of several of Tusculum’s historic structures, including Haynes Hall, Rankin Hall, Welty-Craig Hall, Virginia Hall and McCormick Hall, which is named after the McCormick family.

For more information on Nettie Day, contact Doughty, director of the Center for Civic Advancement, at 423-636-7372.

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Tusculum College Dean of Students Dr. David McMahan, at right, administers the oath of office to Tiffany Colbaugh, center, president of the Student Government Association for the 2009-10 academic year, and Brooke Haymaker, vice president. The officers were installed during the annual Opening Convocation ceremony on Aug. 27. Colbaugh then addressed the student body, encouraging them to get involved on campus and to bring any concerns to the SGA. Amber Collins, secretary/treasurer, was not able to attend the ceremony. Colbaugh of Blountville is a junior majoring in biology with a minor in mathematics. Haymaker of Kettering, Ohio, is a junior majoring in biology. Collins of Newport is a senior majoring in history. The SGA, whose officers and representatives are elected by popular vote by the student body, is the vehicle for expressing and addressing student concerns. The legislative body also allocates funding to student organizations. The SGA is the official voice to represent students’ concerns to the college administration and the Board of Trustees.

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