This Week @ LWC -- Aug. 31-Sept. 7

'Three-Minute Thursday' LWC's Community Campuses

Vice President for Educational Outreach and Student Financial Services Denise Fudges discusses LWC's 20 community campuses in Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia.

Football Practice: Second Day

A brief glimpse of the second day of LWC football practice in the Chris Oliver era. Only 374 days left until football returns to LWC on Sept. 4, 2010.

This Week @ LWC -- Aug. 24-30

Minister from Benin Visits John B. Begley Chapel

A minister from the West African nation of Benin visited Lindsey Wilson College Friday, Aug. 21. Pastor of Daniel Fanou of Cotonou, Benin (left), Rev. Ann Soleman of Fairfax, Va., and Russell Tiller of Russell Springs, Ky., strolled the college's A.P. White Campus and toured the John B. Begley Chapel, partially pictured in the background. Fanou and Soleman were in Kentucky to attend an Aug. 16-20 revival held Tiller's church, Greater Hope Christian Fellowship Church of Russell Springs. Although he has made previous visits to the United States, this was Fanou's first visit to Kentucky. Tiller is a 2007 LWC graduate.

Freshmen Hear from 'This I Believe' Producer

COLUMBIA, Ky. -- Lindsey Wilson College freshmen heard Monday afternoon from award-winning journalist Dan Gediman. Gediman is executive producer of the critically acclaimed radio series This I Believe. He's also co-editor of the book by the same name.

In 2004, Gediman revived the classic radio series that was started by legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow. The program has been aired on NPR and also on Bob Edwards' satellite and public radio show.

This school year, Lindsey Wilson freshmen are reading This I Believe as part of a shared experience in the "Freshman Seminar" class.

Gediman, of Louisville, Ky., was on the A.P. White Campus to discuss the series' origins, explain why he revived it, and also play recordings from the past and current radio program. Gediman spoke in the Norma and Glen Hodge Center for Discipleship, but because of the large size of LWC's freshman class his talk was broadcast to an overflow audience in V.P. Henry auditorium.

For more information about This I Believe, go to thisibelieve.org.

Looking Back: Start of 1909 School Year

A rear view of the A.P. White Campus in the 1920s while the football team practices. The buildings are, from left: Phillips Hall, L.R. McDonald Administration Building and Chandler Hall. (Photo: LWC Archives; full photo available at: Digital Library of Appalachia)

As Lindsey Wilson College’s 2009 fall semester begins on Wednesday, it’s interesting to look back a century ago to see what the college looked like.

The following item appeared in the Wednesday, Sept. 1, 1909, edition of the Adair County News.

Readers will no doubt notice the spelling of the school name’s -- “Lindsay Wilson.” It was not until the early 1920s that “Lindsey Wilson” appeared consistently in publications and notices about the school.

Thanks to LWC alumnus Jim Garner ’73 for providing the news clipping.

The Lindsay Wilson school will open to-morrow and the prospects are good for fine attendance during the term. The management, Profs. Neilson & Moss, are better prepared than ever to accommodate pupils from a distance. There is more room for bedding and a furnace has been put in and the heat will be regular, making the building perfectly healthy. The ventilation is good, in fact pupils will be made as comfortable as they would be in their homes. Profs. Neilson & Moss are gentlemen of high character, and much learning, and their experience in teaching has gained for the Lindsay Wilson an enviable reputation. They will be assisted by a fine corps of instructors.

-- Adair County News,
Sept. 1, 1909

This Week @ LWC -- Aug. 17-22

'It Begins' -- Largest Freshman Class Welcomed

COLUMBIA, Ky. -- Shortly after 8 a.m. CT Saturday, Lindsey Wilson College Dean of Students Chris Schmidt officially declared the start of the 2009 fall semester.

He posted a picture with the two-word tweet at @BigSchmidtDog: “It begins.”

Although freshmen resident students weren’t scheduled to move in to residence halls until 9 a.m. CT Saturday, dozens of students and their family members were already eager to unpack almost an hour before the official start time.

Fortunately, several dozen Lindsey Wilson staff and faculty were already on the A.P. White Campus to help the new students. For about four hours Saturday, several hundred freshman resident students were registered, directed and unpacked in the college’s residence halls.

Upperclass resident students return over the next several days. Fall classes begin Wednesday.

Official enrollment figures will not be available for several more days, but college officials already know that this fall’s freshman class is the largest in the college’s 106-year history. And with more than 825 students expected to settle in residence halls by Tuesday night, the college will also have its largest resident population in school history.

On Saturday morning, most new resident students enjoyed the kind of seamless move Jacob Shirley experienced. Shirley arrived in Columbia at around 9 a.m. CT, three hours after leaving his of Harrison, Ohio, home with his parents, Ron and Donna Shirley, and younger sister Emma.

Shirley said he didn’t pack for college until Friday, and he need but an hour on Saturday to unpack three bags of clothes, a box of school supplies, a basket of cleaning supplies, a laptop computer and a tent in his Richardson Hall room.

“It was pretty easy for me,” said Shirley, who is a member of LWC’s inaugural wrestling team and plans to major in pre-nursing. “Everything went just fine.”

Saturday’s move was also a relatively smooth one for freshman Ashley Upchurch of Monticello, Ky. She took about two hours to pack on Friday, and then arrived around 8:45 a.m. CT Saturday on campus with her parents, Ray and Carolyn, and twin younger sisters, Nikki and Taylor.

By noon CT Saturday, Upchurch’s belongings were unpacked in her Phillips Hall room, and she and her family were enjoying lunch in Roberta D. Cranmer Dining & Conference Center. Upchurch said she only forgot two items – a cable for her television and a toothbrush.

But her father, Ray, said moving was the easy part. Saying goodbye to his oldest child later in the day probably would prove to be more difficult for him and his wife.

Getting settled into a residence hall room was a little more involved for freshmen roommates Dorothy Karcher of Carrollton, Ky., and Emily Chesser of Chaplin, Ky.

The two met last March during tryouts for the LWC cheerleading squad. After making the squad, they decided to become roommates, decorating their Phillips Hall room in pink and black with a zebra theme. Although it took extra time to bring everything together – and also required a Saturday run to Wal-Mart – the pair had created a near-perfect residence hall room by the evening.

“It helps you and your roommate come together when you work on something like this,” Chesser said. “You have led separate lives, but then through this project you become friends and get closer.”

Early Saturday afternoon, the Lindsey Wilson community officially welcomed the Class of 2013 at the annual Kick-Off Ceremony, held in Biggers Sports Center.

“This entire campus has worked so hard to have you here today,” said LWC President William T. Luckey Jr., who is beginning his 12th year as the college’s eighth president.

Luckey told the students that they have “an incredible opportunity” at LWC.

“You have an opportunity to not only be the largest class in the history of this college but to also be the best class, if you find ways to help each other succeed,” he said.

New resident students then participated in Hooray, a community-building event in Biggers Sports Center. The day also included a picnic at the Emily Hundley President’s Home and an evening on the Campus Quadrangle, sponsored by the LWC Student Government Association.

Move-In Weekend continued with special events on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

But as LWC Alumni Director Randy Burns ’93 reminded the new resident students at Saturday’s Kick-Off Ceremony, they were embarking on more than a college career.

“You are only going to be a Lindsey Wilson student for a short period of time. … But you’re going to have the opportunity to be a Blue Raider for the rest of your life,” he said.

A Week Before Fall Semester Begins,A.P. White Campus a Busy Place

COLUMBIA, Ky. -- Lindsey Wilson College's 2009 fall semester does not officially begin until Aug. 17, but students were already on campus Monday morning to prepare for the new term. Some students were on campus early to begin practice with LWC's fall sports programs; others were on campus to beat the lines at the Campus Bookstore.

Freshmen resident students officially begin moving into the residence halls at 9 a.m. CT on Saturday, Aug. 15. College officials anticipate a record number of resident students.

Scenes from Aug. 10 ...

This Week @ LWC -- Aug. 10-14

Southeast Community Campus StudentsCelebrate Summer

Students, faculty and staff of LWC Southeast Community Campus gather Saturday afternoon in front of Godbey Appalachian Center on the Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College Cumberland Campus.

CUMBERLAND, Ky. -- Members of the LWC Southeast Community Campus celebrated Saturday, Aug. 8, as their summer session wound to a close. The summer session does not end until next weekend, but graduate and graduate students, faculty and staff held a potluck luncheon in Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College's Falkenstine Hall and then played counselor-education outside.

Students take classes at Southeast Kentucky CTC-Cumberland Campus on Friday evening and on Saturday.

Students brought a selection of covered dishes and desserts to the celebration. One of the more popular proved to be pizza casserole, baked by Brenda Smiddy, the mother of LWC graduate student Christopher Smiddy of Harlan, Ky.

Scenes from the Celebration ...

Swimming & Diving and Wrestling CoachesTour Holloway Health & Wellness Center

COLUMBIA, Ky. -- It’s been a busy summer for the east side of Lindsey Wilson College’s A.P. White Campus as the largest structure in college history is being built. Progress has continued all summer on the Bob and Doris Holloway Health & Wellness Center. When completed later this fall, the Holloway Health & Wellness Center will include more than 73,000 square feet -- which is almost 75 percent larger than the Jim & Helen Lee Fugitte Science Center. The two coaches whose student-athletes will make the most use of the Holloway Center recently toured the building to check on its progress.

On Tuesday, July 21, LWC swimming and diving coach Bart Garlick stands in front of what will be the swimming area of the Holloway Health & Wellness Center. Immediately behind Garlick is the end of the competition swimming pool that will reach 16 feet deep. The entire pool area will hold about 297,000 gallons of water.

On Wednesday, July 22, afternoon, LWC wrestling coach Corey Ruff stands in the room where the wrestling team will practice. The first LWC wrestling team will begin competition in the winter.

Scottsville Campus Students Raise Fundsfor Center for Courageous Kids

Members of the Lindsey Wilson College-Scottsville Campus community present a facsimile check Friday to Center for Courageous Kids officials. From left: LWC instructor Kris Marowski; CCK volunteer recruiter Sarah Keltner; CCK Community Relations Director Tim Turner; LWC Scottsville Campus Director Dorinda Livesay; and LWC students Jeannie Martin of Adolphus, Ky., Janie Rollin of Westmoreland, Tenn., Kelly Brewer of Fountain Run, Ky., Lisa Sowers of Scottsville and Pam Smith of Scottsville.

SCOTTSVILLE, Ky. – When Lindsey Wilson College instructor Kristinna Marowski had her human services and counseling students do a practicum, they took it to heart.

And thanks to their hard work and imagination, they will help change a child’s life.

On Friday, July 31, the students presented a check for $775.25 to Center for Courageous Kids to sponsor a child for one week at the nearby camp. The students held a fund-raiser to sponsor a child for one week at Center for Courageous Kids, a world-class medical camp that operates solely on donations.

The students raised the money by holding bake sales plus a massive yard sale on July 25 at the LWC Scottsville Campus.

“A lot of my students have talked about how they have had family members touched by cancer, so they decided that they wanted to do something to help a child with an illness by sending one to the Center for Courageous Kids,” Marowski said. “There is just so much for children there – the Center for Courageous Kids makes the week a truly magical experience for a child.”

As part of her practicum, Lindsey Wilson student Lisa Sowers of Scottsville spent a week as a counselor at CCK. She was so impressed by what she saw at the camp that she spent her entire practicum at the center.

“It was just an amazing experience for me because the facilities there are just wondering,” Sowers said. “What’s great about the Center for Courageous Kids is that everything is focused on the children. It’s just wonderful.”

Center for Courageous Kids officials said they were touched by the Lindsey Wilson students’ generosity – and they hope it is the start of a beautiful friendship between the two institutions.

“The fact that Lindsey Wilson College has embraced CCK is a testament to their belief that their students can make a difference,” said Stormi Murtie, CCK communications director. “Their fund-raising efforts on our behalf will directly impact the brave children who attend our camp as well as provide a nice partnership between the college and the camp.

“We applaud Lindsey Wilson College for encouraging their students to embrace the idea that it is important to give back to your community. And hope the partnership between CCK and Lindsey Wilson College will continue for many years to come.”

Camp Children Create New City

Children of the Lindsey Wilson College Fun Factory stand in front of Boxville, a makeshift city they created the final week of the day camp. Located in the Cralle Student Union Building, Boxville was built out of large cardboard boxes, plastic foam and a lot of imagination. According to the city’s residents, Boxville is “a place of peace and where everyone is nice.” Pictured are six of the city’s residents – front row: Taybren Manners of Greensburg, Ky.; C.J. Bonifer of Greensburg; and Cole Schmidt of Columbia; and back row: Shelby Curry of Columbia; Luke Wolford of Columbus, Ind., and Emma Wolford of Columbus. The Fun Factory is supervised by LWC Assistant Professor of Recreation, Tourism, and Sports Management Tricia M. Day. The day camp – which was held over three weeks this summer – concluded on Friday, July 31.