NEWS & CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

Children’s activities and informative displays about environmental issues are planned as part of the Earth Day Extravaganza on Thursday, April 22, on the Tusculum College campus.

The Pioneer Green Team is hosting the event that is free and open to the public to commemorate Earth Day. The Earth Day Extravaganza will take place 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the lawn in front of McCormick Hall (in the area that can be seen through Arch on Erwin Highway). The Pioneer Green Team is a Tusculum student-led organization that conducts a recycling program on campus and sponsors various activities throughout the year to increase awareness of environmental issues.

Groups that will have informational displays include Keep Greene Beautiful and the Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance.

Parents are encouraged to bring their children after school to the event, which will feature activities for youngsters to learn about the importance of taking care of the environment. The children’s activities will include earth-friendly crafts such as making bird feeders and painting ladybug rocks. Youngsters will also be able to plant a flower to take home with them.

At 2 p.m., work will begin to expand the college’s community garden that was started in an effort coordinated by the Pioneer Green Team. Students, faculty, staff and community volunteers planted trees, shrubs and flowers along with installing bird feeders to establish the garden space on Earth Day last year.

The work at the garden may extend past 5 p.m. and the public is welcome to come help. The community garden is located at the Honors House, a residential house for students in the college’s Honors Program that is located across from Doak Elementary School on West Street.

For more information about the Earth Day Extravaganza, please e-mail kgust@students.tusculum.edu.

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INFUSION 215, an evening of music and spiritual celebration, has been set for May 1 on the Tusculum College campus. The event will feature musical groups and inspirational speakers to inspire the audience to celebrate the love of God.

Sponsored by the Tusculum College Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the event will begin at 5:01 p.m. and will be held at the Pioneer Park baseball stadium. The event is free of charge and open to the public.

Scheduled entertainment includes Tusculum alumnus Roger Williams, the Crossroads Band, Eleventh Step, Chris Haymes, Scott Galyon and the Curtis Band.

“The students are excited about what God is doing in their lives and wanted to find a way to share that with their friends and the community,” said Sarah Brooks, assistant athletic trainer at the college and staff sponsor of the college’s FCA organization.

“We want people to be moved and have lined up a program of music, speakers and inspiration that will allow people to feel the spirit of God,” she added.

All aspects of planning and organizing of the event, as well as choosing the name was done by the students at Tusculum College.

“As we began to think about how we could affect our campus, the idea of this event began to grow as a way to share what God has done in our lives,” said Scott Lucky, a senior sports science major from Orangevale, Calif., who is a member of the group planning the event.

INFUSION 215 is a combination of the definition of infuse - “to inject a substance into the body for the purpose of good usually through the veins” and from a Bible verse - “Philippians 2:15: so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world.”

The line up of the event includes former NFL standout Scott Galyon who grew up in Seymour, Tenn. Galyon played for the University of Tennessee Volunteers before being drafted by the New York Giants.  He played four years for the Giants and then played an additional three years after being traded to the Miami Dolphins. Galyon currently works for the national FCA organization.

Several music groups are also on the program, including Eleventh Step, a Christian rock band based in Morristown, Tenn.

The event is also being financially supported by Watauga Sports Medicine Foundation which is a sponsor of the event, and by the Tusculum College Student Government Association. According to Brooks, several local churches have also provided assistance.

For more information on the event, contact Lucky at 916-337-5717 or email to slucky2002@hotmail.com.

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Tusculum College students, Habitat for Humanity volunteers and others will take a stroll down the catwalk for a good cause on Thursday, April 29, at the General Morgan Inn.

Tusculum College Bonner Leader students are organizing a Fashion Show to benefit Greene County Habitat for Humanity. The public is invited to an evening of fashion and fun that will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Ballroom of the General Morgan Inn.

It is the third year that Bonner Leader students have coordinated a Fashion Show to benefit Habitat for Humanity. Bonner Leaders is a student-led service-learning oppor¬tunity that requires its members to fulfill 100 hours of volunteer work a semester and provides leadership training.

Fabulous fashions from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore will be modeled on the runway by Tusculum students, Habitat for Humanity volunteers and students from Greeneville Middle School who participate in a mentoring program with the Bonner Leader students. Spring fashions will be on display as well as wedding dresses recently received by the Habitat ReStore.

All clothes that are modeled will be available to purchase at the conclusion of the Fashion Show. The Habitat ReStore, located on West Main Street across from the Crescent School building, provides funds to Habitat from its sales of donated clothes, collectibles, household items, furniture and other items, and those funds are used in Habitat’s efforts to provide affordable housing for residents of Greene County.

B. J. Roberts, instructional technology specialist at Tusculum who is a well known local actor, will be master of ceremonies for the event.

Refreshments will be served during the Fashion Show.

The Fashion Show is being sponsored by Andrew Johnson Bank and Blackburn, Childers and Steagall, PLC, CPA.

Decorations for the Fashion Show have been donated by Bob’s Factory Outlet.

Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students and children. Tickets will be sold at the door.

For more information about the Fashion Show, call 423-636-7372.

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The Doak House Museum will be holding a “Trail Sale” next month and is seeking donations of items for this fundraiser to support its educational programs.

The museum is seeking “gently used” items for the Trail Sale, to take place on Saturday, May 15, along the historic wagon trail in front of the Doak House located on the Tusculum College campus.

To be accepted for the sale are collectibles, housewares, decorative items, crafts and a variety of other items.

Please contact Leah Walker, site and events manager at the Doak House Museum, beginning May 3 regarding dropping off items for the sale. Call 423-636-5884 or e-mail lwalker@tusculum.edu.

The Trail Sale will also include items from the Doak House Museum Shop, which features children’s toys, decorative items and old-fashioned sweet treats.

Tours of the historic home will also be available during the Trail Sale, which will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Doak House Museum serves more than 8,000 school children each year through curriculum-based educational programs, camps and special events. The programs continue the history of providing educational programs at the site where Tusculum Academy was founded in 1818. The circa 1830 house was the home of Rev. Samuel Witherspoon Doak, co-founder of the Academy and was lived in by members of the Doak family until the mid-1970s.

The Doak House Museum along with the President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library are managed by the Department of Museum Program and Studies of Tusculum College, which also oversees the archives of the oldest college in Tennessee and offers one of the few undergraduate museum studies degree programs in the country.

The Museums of Tusculum College are now on Facebook and Twitter. Visit these social media sites for instant updates on programs and events on the individual pages for the Doak House Museum and the President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library.

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Tusculum College officials are pleased with the outcome of a recent verbal report from the On-site Review Team of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools-Commission on Colleges.

The team was on-site April 5-8 as part of the college’s reaffirmation of accreditation efforts.

“I am pleased to report that the On-Site Review Team, consisting mostly of representatives from peer institutions, conducted a very thorough review of the College and accepted the college’s Quality Enhancement Plan on Problem-solving with Reflective Judgment with no recommendations and had no recommendations in the SACS-COC core requirements,” said Tusculum College president, Dr. Nancy B. Moody.

In addition, the On-site Review Team identified only four areas where they were unable to confirm compliance.

Dr. Kim Estep, provost and academic vice president who also serves as the accreditation liaison, reported that the next steps in this process will be for the college to receive the official On-Site Report and prepare a response to that report that would address the remaining four areas where recommendations were given.

Materials will be submitted and reviewed by a committee of SACS-COC with recommendations made by the committee to the full SACS-COC membership at the December 2010 Annual Meeting to be held in Louisville, Ky., when a decision will be made about the reaffirmation of Tusculum College.

The verbal report from the SACS-COC visitation team was made to Moody, Chairman of the Board Kenneth A. Bowman, the Cabinet and the Cabinet Advisory Council made up of a broad-based representation of faculty and staff.  In all, nearly thirty leaders of Tusculum College assembled to hear the report.

“I would like to commend everyone who contributed to any aspect of the SACS-COC report or the visit,” said Moody. “These efforts have included many members of the Tusculum College family including students, faculty, staff and members of the Board of Trustees. As President of Tusculum College, I am proud of these initial outcomes and proud to be a member of the Tusculum College team.”

Tusculum College, the oldest college in Tennessee and the 28th oldest in the nation, is a liberal arts institution committed to utilizing the civic arts in developing educated citizens distinguished by academic excellence, public service and qualities of Judeo-Christian character. Approximately twenty-four hundred students are enrolled on the main campus in Greeneville and three off-site locations in East Tennessee. The academic programs for both traditional-aged students and working adults served through the Graduate and Professional Studies program are delivered using focused calendars whereby students enroll in one course at a time.

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Mark your calendars – dates have now been set for Homecoming 2010!

Homecoming will be Friday and Saturday, October 8 and 9, the second weekend of the month. The theme for this year’s activities will be “A Tapestry of Pioneer Leadership.”

The Homecoming festivities will include a very special event in the life of Tusculum College – the inauguration of its first female president, Dr. Nancy B. Moody. The inauguration will take place on Friday, October 8, and will include participation by a number of alumni in a ceremony full of pomp and circumstance. The preceding days will also be filled with inaugural activities. Announcements of these events will be made as plans are completed in the coming months.

Continue to watch this space as events for Friday and Saturday are finalized and announced. The time for the football game has not been announced, but the opponent will be South Atlantic Conference foe Newberry College.

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The Class of 2010 has begun looking toward life after Tusculum College and is making plans to leave a mark on campus before their time here comes to an end. A tradition at the college, this year’s senior class is currently raising funds to leave a permanent improvement on campus in recognition of their time at Tusculum College.

This year’s class is working to purchase a new banner for Niswonger Commons that will proudly display the College’s Alma Mater. The banner will be placed above the entrance of the Pioneer Perk for all future Pioneers to see. The goal of the campaign is $500, and several donations have already been made.

In addition to the students, all faculty, staff, parents and friends of the College are encouraged to participate by making a contribution to the 2010 Senior Class Gift campaign. All seniors are being asked to make a gift - in any amount - in honor of a professor, administrator, friend or parent who has had a positive impact during their college career.

The campaign is being led by members of the Senior Class Gift Campaign Committee which identified the project as a gift they would like to complete and leave as a legacy for future Tusculum College students.

“By participating, it’s a way to bring back tradition at Tusculum College and leave our mark as a graduating class,” said Ashley Shoults, chair of the Senior Gift Committee. Shoults, who graduates in May, is a political science major from Newark, Ohio.

“It doesn’t matter how much the gift is, we really just want everyone to participate,” Shoults added.

There is also still time to participate and support the project. If you are interested in participating in the Senior Gift Campaign, contact Shoults at ashoults@students.tusculum.edu or

Cody Greene ‘08, coordinator of development and alumni relations, in the Office of Advancement at 423-636-7303 or by emailing ccgreene@tusculum.edu. Gifts can also be made online at www.tusculum.edu/giving/gift.php.

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A Tusculum College vice president and professor brought back new insights about the Holy Land from a recent trip to the Middle East as well as ideas of how similar trips can be planned for Tusculum students in the future.

Jacquelyn D. Elliott, vice president for enrollment management, and Dr. Angela Keaton, assistant professor of history and the commons, spent three and a half weeks earlier this year in Israel and Jordan visiting Biblical, historical and religious sites, such as the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem and Petra in Jordan. The two gave a presentation about their trip on March 24.

The two were “podded” with a class from Bridgewater College during the trip. Elliott explained that “podding” is a new concept whereby faculty or staff from a college or university participate in an international trip of another institution to learn about the logistics of planning such a trip and how it can be integrated academically into a course or program.

Elliott, who previously worked at Bridgewater College, said that college’s chaplain contacted her about the trip because it seemed to fit Tusculum’s curriculum and mission.

During the trip, Elliott and Keaton did the same coursework as the 15 students in the Bridgewater class, completing daily readings from the Bible and other texts as well as written assignments and journaling.

The trip’s fast-paced itinerary, which included as many as five sites a day, featured many of the sites in the Holy Land associated with Jesus’ life and ministry.

Visiting the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, the group was also able to see the remains of a home from the 1st Century recently discovered by archeologists. “We were very lucky to have a glimpse of it,” Elliott said.

The Church of the Annunciation, built on the alleged location where Gabriel appeared to Mary, is representative of many of the sites in the Holy Land whose claim to be a Biblically related site cannot be positively verified, Keaton explained.

The church is also representative in that it marks a notable Biblical site. “You know you have found a significant site if there is a church built on top of it,” Keaton said. “Churches were built on everything whether the site was legitimate or not.”

One of the legitimate sites that the group visited was the House of St. Peter, a church built over what is believed to be the dwelling of the apostle. Archeologists consider this a legitimate site, Keaton explained, because the house dates back to the 1st century, fish hooks were found and graffiti had been written on the walls indicating that Jesus had been there.

During the trip, Elliott and Keaton said they discovered that some of the common western perceptions of Bible stories differ from what conditions were like in Jesus’ time. For example, Elliott said, there is common perception that Mary and Joseph were alone when Jesus was born, but in the Jewish culture of the time, they were probably surrounded by people to help, especially since many others would have returned to Bethlehem for the census.

The class crossed over into Jordan for a few days. They visited the Jordan River, which now flows at about 10 percent of what it did in Jesus’ time, Keaton noted. One of several small lagoons off the main flow of the river was probably the location of Jesus’ baptism by John, she added.

In visiting Jordan, Elliott said they noted the difference in resources between that nation and Israel to preserve and maintain the historical sites. In visiting Jericho, the ancient remains are “literally melting” because they are made of mud-brick, Keaton added. The city of Petra, another popular site for tourists, is also suffering a similar fate as it is slowly eroding from the elements.

In addition to the fast-paced itinerary, it was also a challenge to keep names straight. “Everything there has multiple names,” Elliott explained. But, there was not a language barrier, she continued, as all signs were written in English, Arabic and Hebrew.

Jerusalem presented a challenge as well. “One of the most difficult things was keeping the chronology straight,” Keaton said. “You have the Canaanites, Philistines, Assyrians, Babylonians, Israelis, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Arabs again, Turks, British, Jordanians and then modern Israel all stacked on top of each other.”

In Jerusalem, Elliott and Keaton spent time in the Arab market, Jewish quarter and Armenian quarter. During their free time, the two had the opportunity to talk to people in the different areas, all of whom were warm and open.

While in Palestinian-controlled areas, Elliott recalled, she asked some direct questions about what the people there thought about America. “They said they loved Americans, but were not quite as sure about the American government,” she said. Keaton added that in Jerusalem they were told by people that they “wished that Americans were not so shallow – that they would read a book now and then.”

Visiting the Mount of Olives, the class discovered that adjacent to an Arab settlement, but Elliott and Keaton noted that in walking the streets in the settlement, called Silwan Village, they encountered no problems and that the people groups are not as separated as a westerner might perceive from watching media reports.

The Church of All Nations is built adjacent to the Garden of Gethsemane on the rock on which Jesus prayed. It is believed that Jesus most likely was in the garden there, Keaton said, because of the age of the olive trees around the church. The olive trees are old enough to be from the 1st Century and are the only ones of age preserved in the garden, she further explained.

The class also visited the Temple Mount, regarded as one of the most holy sites in Jerusalem by both Jews and Muslims. The Temple Mount is revered by Jews as the location of Solomon’s temple and later Herod’s temple. It is now the site of two mosques, the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque, and is considered the third holiest site in Islam.

The class was not permitted to go into either mosque. “The only Christian to go into the Dome of the Rock was the individual who did the tile work,” Elliott noted.

The group visited the Wailing Wall, the western wall of the Temple Mount. “It was one of my favorite places,” Keaton said. “It is important to Jews because the wall was the closest to the Holiest of Holies in the temple. The Jews believe that it is as close as they can get to the Holiest of Holies.”

The group waited in line for 15 minutes to approach the wall. “You could literally feel the movement and rhythm from the sound of all the people praying,” Elliott said. “It was a very interesting experience to see how dedicated they are to prayer.”

Asked about the mix of the old world and modern, Keaton said conditions depended on where you were – the group encountered everything from Bedouin camps to skyscrapers. “At one point, we saw a Bedouin boy riding a donkey with an iPod,” she said. “Everybody had cell phones. In Jerusalem, you can travel to the remnants of the ancient city of David, but nearby find a modern mall with Abercrombie & Fitch.”

To a question about how the trip had affected her faith, Elliott responded that reading Scriptures is different now as she can picture the places she has visited while reading about them in the Bible. “I have a much deeper appreciation and a better understanding,” she said.

Keaton said she appreciated the academic-side of the trip, which introduced questions about the Bible and men’s religious traditions. “When you keep questioning, searching and pondering, there is always something to learn,” she said. “You also need to remember that questioning does not mean rejection of a belief.”

The two said a similar trip would be a fit for Tusculum’s curriculum and students, and an itinerary could be determined to match what a particular class was studying or wanted to see.

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Ruth Thomas, associate professor emeritus of music at Tusculum College, was recently honored as a Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Fellow for the State of Tennessee.

Thomas’ recognition is an honor bestowed by her peers.

“We are excited to honor Ruth for a lifetime of dedication to her students, to her community and for her exemplary service to the Tennessee Music Teachers Association and to the Music Teachers National Association,” said Deane K. Gray of the Smoky Mountain Music Teachers Association and the Tennessee Music Teachers Association Executive Board.

Thomas joined the College’s music department in the mid-1960s with her husband, Arnold, who passed away in recent years. The two decades that the couple served the College was marked by the success of the well-respected choral program that significantly touched the lives of students.

As a team, the husband and wife directed the Tusculum College Singers, creating three choirs from a small group of singers: the mixed chorus, men’s chorus and women’s chorus. She accompanied the men’s and mixed choruses on piano and directed the women’s chorus. According to former students, Thomas was always calm and cheerful - a trait which was needed during last-minute rehearsals before choir tours.

Teaching such classes as music theory and history, she also found time to teach piano in a studio at Tusculum, which she continues to this day. Her students found she had high expectations and helped them achieve results that they had not thought possible. Her attention to detail in playing music was not just valuable in regards to piano, but also one that benefited her students later in life.

Tusculum College has not been the only benefactor of Thomas’ talent and dedication. She was the founder and former conductor of the Greater Greeneville Chorale. She is also the long-time pianist and organist at Greeneville Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

Thomas received her honor at the 2010 annual conference in Albuquerque, N.M., during the closing Gala, and she will also be recognized in “American Music Teacher” magazine.

Thomas’s trip to receive her fellowship was funded in part by contributions from the Tusculum College community, family and friends, and Thomas thanked everyone who helped and supported her along the way.

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The President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library on the Tusculum College campus has been presented an Award of Commendation from the Tennessee Association of Museums during its annual conference.

The museum, which is located in the oldest academic building on the campus proper, received the award for “superlative achievement” in the special events category for “Preserving Your Traditions,” an exhibit and public program held in conjunction with National Archives Month and as part of Tusculum College’s Homecoming 2009 activities. The award was presented during the Tennessee Association of Museums’ annual conference held March 30-April 1 in Nashville.

Kathy Cuff, museum assistant/archivist, planned and coordinated the event, which included special presentations by Myers Brown, outreach coordinator for the Tennessee State Museum, and Amy Collins, archivist with the Archives of Appalachia at East Tennessee State University. The two guest presenters focused their sessions on providing information and techniques on storing and preserving textiles, metals, paper, photographs and film from personal family archives. Preservation “starter kits” were provided to those who attended one of the nine 30-minute sessions.

In the periods between the presentations, films of Tusculum College and Greeneville made between 1929 and 1970 were shown. The films had been recently restored and transferred to a digital format.

The museum also featured an accompanying exhibit that included rarely seen items from the archives of the college as well as examples of what happens to family artifacts that are not stored or handled properly. The exhibit, which has been visited by more than 1,800 people to date, will be on display through May 1.

The Awards Committee of the Tennessee Association of Museums was impressed not only with the scope and quality of the event but also the partnering between the museum, the college’s Office of Alumni and Parent Relations, ETSU and the State Museum.

The President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library and the Doak House Museum are operated by the Department of Museum Program and Studies of Tusculum College. In addition to the museums, the department is responsible for the College Archives and offers one of the few undergraduate Museum Studies degree programs in the country.

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