Founders' Day Kicks Off 8-Day Academic Celebration At LWC

Lindsey Wilson College will kick off an eight-day academic celebration today. In addition to its annual Honors Convocation and Founders' Day Dinner and a ground-breaking ceremony, the college will host a Sunday night concert, Academic Celebration Day, a production of a Shakespeare play, a production of a Neil Simon play and a living Chautauqua performance.
"The next eight days will celebrate the essence of what Lindsey Wilson College is all about," said LWC President William T. Luckey Jr. "The community will have several opportunities to see outstanding work by our students as well as friends of the college. We are pleased that Lindsey Wilson can offer so many opportunities to members of the community over the next eight days."
Today's activities kick off at 11 a.m. CT with a ground-breaking ceremony for a new physical plant building. The building will replace physical plant's current building on Blake and Williams streets. That building, which plant has occupied since 1988, will be the home of the college's fledgling marching-band program. Thursday morning's ground-breaking ceremony will be held on the campus' southern edge on Wheeler Street, behind Walter S. Reuling Stadium.
The celebration will continue at at 4 p.m. CT in Biggers Sports Center with the annual Honors Convocation. At the ceremony -- which is open to the public -- students will be recognized for their academic accomplishments during the 2008-09 school year.
Also at Honors Convocation, the President's Award will be given to a member of the graduating class the president feels best embodies the Lindsey Wilson mission. The Lindsey Wilson Student Government Association will also present the Teacher of the Year award to an outstanding member of the college's faculty.
Luckey will deliver the keynote address as the annual Founders' Day Dinner. The invitation-only dinner will be held at 6 p.m. CT in Roberta D. Cranmer Dining & Conference Center. Four new Begley Scholars -- three incoming freshmen and one returning student -- will also be introduced.
"Founders' Day is a wonderful evening because it gives members of the Lindsey Wilson community an opportunity to thank those who have given so much to make this an extraordinary college," Luckey said.
Academic Celebration Day
On Friday, Lindsey Wilson will hold Academic Celebration Day, which spotlights student research from throughout the school year.
"We want to recognize students who have engaged in undergraduate research, service learning or creative projects during this academic year," said LWC Vice President of Academic Affairs Bettie Starr.
At noon CT in Cranmer Dining & Conference Center, the college will recognize participating students and their faculty mentors.
Academic Celebration Day will also feature a sneak peak at the Lindsey Wilson Players' production of the Neil Simon play Rumors, which will be performed April 29-30 and May 1.
The sneak peak will be from 10:30-11:30 a.m. CT in the Norma and Glen Hodge Center for Discipleship.
Also on Friday: a presentation of research posters from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. CT in Cranmer Dining & Conference Center; and student presentations of their research from 1-2 p.m. CT and 2-3 p.m. CT in the J.L. Turner Leadership Center and Goodhue Academic Center.
Rumors to be Performed April 29-May 1
Rumors will be performed at 7:30 p.m. CT on April 29-30 and May 1 in the Hodge Center.
Written by Neil Simon, Rumors is a farcical play set among the upper-middle class in mid-1980s New York. It tells the story about a group of friends who arrive at a dinner party, only to discover that their host, who is the deputy mayor of New York City, has shot himself through the earlobe. The comedy ensues after the couples decide to conspire to keep the evening's events from the local police and media.
"It's one of Neil Simon's best plays," said Asa Swan, LWC history instructor and the play's director. "It's hilarious, very witty and the dialogue couldn't be better."
Tickets -- which are $5 each -- can be purchased by contacting the Lindsey Wilson Players box office; players@lindsey.edu or (270) 384-8132.
Bicentennial Concert Sunday
On Sunday, the Lindsey Wilson Concert Choir will join with local talent as well as talent from Louisville, Ky., to perform "A Bicentennial Concert Celebrating Haydn and Mendelssohn." The concert will be at 7 p.m. at Columbia Christian Church, 206 Campbellsville St. The concert is free and open to the public.
The Sunday night concert will conclude another successful year for the college's choral programs, which have once again been under the director of Associate Professor of Music Gerald Chafin.
Sunday's bicentennial concert recognizes the 200th anniversary of the death of Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) and the 200th anniversary of the birth of Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847).
The concert will feature the LWC Concert Choir; LWC Professor of Music Robert Reynolds, pianist; Adair County High School junior Paige Coomer, pianist; and the Louisville Symphony. In addition to the Concert Choir, featured vocalists are Dwayne Martin, Chris Richardson, Trey Ball, Katelin Frederick and Janette Ralston.
"Uniquely, the choral aspect of the concert takes an 'all in the family' approach with Haydn's recognition," Chafin said. "Relatives Johann Michael Haydn and Joseph Leopold Eybler are featured, along with selections of Haydn's crowning work, 'The Creation.'"
In celebration of LWC's 10th anniversary of collaborative projects with the Louisville Symphony, Reynolds will perform Haydn's "Piano Concerto in D" and Mendelssohn's "Capriccio Brillant" with Chafin conducting.
"Dr. Reynolds displays both composers at the height of their creativity," Chafin said. "The contrasts in these complex works show the shifting of musical style from classicism to romanticism; from Haydn to Mendelssohn -- an amazing moment we captured from 1809."
Adair County High School junior Paige Coomer will play a piano work by Haydn with the Louisville Symphony. Coomer is a student of Reynolds.
"Paige has studied piano for several years, and I am very proud of her progress, in that she has reached this level of excellence in performance," Reynolds said.
Lincoln's Love and Shakespeare on April 28
On Tuesday, April 28, area residents will have a choice between Abraham Lincoln's "first Mary" and a former king of Scotland.
Barbara Flair of Greensburg, Ky., will perform "Mary Owens, Lincoln's First Mary, 1808-1877: A Living History Chautauqua Performance" at 7 p.m. CT in W.W. Slider Humanities Center Recital Hall. (The event is sponsored by the Kentucky Humanities Council and Columbia Women's Club Event.)
Also at 7 p.m. CT on Tuesday, the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival will perform Macbeth in the Cralle Student Union Building. Both events are free and open to the public.
Before Lincoln married Mary Todd of Lexington, Ky., he was seriously interested in another Mary: Mary Owens of nearby Green County. Owens was a well-educated daughter of an estate owner who also ran an academy. But Lincoln and Owens drifted, and she instead married Jessie Vineyard, with whom she had five children and operated a successful hemp plantation in Missouri.
Macbeth, which is considered to be one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies, is the story of the Scottish general whose decision to commit regicide to gain his nation's throne leads to his doom. The performance is free and open to the public.
For more information about LWC Founders' Day, Honors Convocation or any of the week's other cultural-affairs events, contact the college at info@lindsey.edu or (270) 384-8400.