Dr. Dan Dewitt, Hanging of the Green speaker

The public is invited to join the Georgetown College community in celebration of the holiday season at 7 p.m., Dec. 2 in John L. Hill Chapel for “Hanging of the Green” – a wonderful tradition for the whole family that includes a worship service, congregational singing, and a guest speaker. The event will conclude with the traditional lighting of Giddings Circle, hot chocolate and carols.

In the middle of the service, family members, and all organizations and clubs on campus will be encouraged to hang their decorated ornaments on the tree; children are invited to do likewise with the candy canes they are given as they enter the chapel. A special treat is the duet of two of the College’s biggest singing stars – seniors Jessie Rose Pennington of Lexington and Ryland Pope of Harlan. A brass quartet and the new gospel choir (Joyful Noise Singers) will also perform.

Event chair Lynnesy Rowland, a junior from Louisville, has arranged for a special speaker this year – Dr. Dan Dewitt, the Associate VP of Communications at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also an Instructor of Youth Ministry at Boyce College and will be an Assistant Professor of Youth Ministry at Southern in the Spring semester. And, he has been Lynnesy’s youth minister at Highview Baptist Church since sixth grade. Dewitt’s message will be “In Search of Christmas Lost” on the passage of John 3:16.

Here is the POS 321 International Human Rights class that is putting on the Dec. 2 “Responding to Humans Rights Challenges” at the Thomas & King Conference Center at Georgetown College: Kneeling l-to-r: Michael Clemons, Jacob Price, Brandon Record. Standing l-to=r: Amanda Bowen, Katie Henderson, Ashley Hashampour, Anna Wiederhold, Dr. Michael Cairo, Andi Wilhoit, Elizabeth Fannin, Ashley Morgan. (Korey Snodgrass not picture.)

Are here is what a few of them have to say about why this is important:

Ashley Hashampour

Sophomore Political Science major/ Security Studies minor from Chesapeake, VA

“Holding a conference like this one specifically for International Human Rights is an important asset to the Georgetown College Community. Many things that occur in the world today, in regards to human rights, are often overlooked or pushed aside. Bringing light to current human rights violations will hopefully encourage students to broaden their knowledge of serious world issues as well as to create in them the desire to get involved and speak out against the injustices of the world. A big part of why the world is the way it is, is because so many people will not say “enough is enough”. I believe that having conferences similar to this one will empower the students and staff to make a difference.”

Andi Wilhoit

Junior Political Science & Spanish double major from Versailles, KY

“As American citizens, we often take for granted the rights that our country affords us. Not all of our fellow global citizens, however, possess these same rights. While human rights violations do occur in the United States, many countries grossly violate the rights of our fellow global citizens every day. Thus, it is important for us as Americans to understand the true value and significance of our own human rights and to recognize and defend the rights of our fellow global citizens.”

Ashley Morgan

Senior Religion major/ Political Science minor from London, KY

“This conference is important to me because I believe that the students on Georgetown’s campus don’t know enough about human right issues. I have been lucky enough to travel extensively and have seen firsthand people who do not have a roof over their head or enough food to feed their family. I believe that every individual deserves to live a life of dignity. It is up to me, my fellow students and all citizens alike to advocate for those who are being oppressed. I am thankful for the opportunity to learn more about human rights issues, and be able to present to my friends, family, and community issues that I find important and have been studying in depth this semester. I’m glad that Dr. Cairo has provided me and my fellow classmates the opportunity to speak out about something so important.”

Anna Wiederhold

Senior Political Science/Communication double major from Fayetteville, Ohio

“I am considering a career involving international human rights, either working for a research institution or a nongovernmental organization, so this conference is especially important to me as an opportunity to network and learn more about post-graduation options available to students such as myself. Beyond that, this conference is bringing an impressive panel of speakers to Georgetown’s campus, allowing attendees to raise their awareness on issues of global importance and hopefully encouraging them to think critically about some of the problems that afflict our world and the amount of social responsibility we bear.”

Katie Henderson

Junior Political Science major/ History minor from California, KY

“The conference on Responding to Human Rights Challenges is important because it is helping to spread awareness on issues that most people are not familiar with. Things such as female genital mutilation or honor killings violate human rights, but they are rarely talked about. Through this conference it enables the students at Georgetown College to educate people on these important issues. To end human rights violations, it takes the efforts of more then just a small group of people, and with the opportunities this conference affords students at Georgetown it enables them to motivate and educate a larger group of people on these issues.

“My hope for this conference is that we will be able to educate the people in our community on issues that affect thousands around the world. I hope that through both the presentations and the speakers that we will be able to motivate people to become involved in further researching human rights violations. I also hope that when people leave from this conference that they will leave knowing more about human rights violations and what can be done to end them. My goal at this conference is to educate the people who come up to my table and to motivate them to become involved in spreading awareness on female genital mutilation.”

Brandon Record

Senior Political Science major/ Business minor from Danville, Ky

“This conference is important to me not only because it is a great learning experience, but it allows us as students to actually educate peers, family, and even professors about problems occurring around the world. It is important for more people to become involved in International Human Rights, every person that knows more about the problems will allow them to get involved and to help prevent them. Hopefully we will have a big turnout to broaden the interest on the college level and throughout the state. This is a great opportunity for my classmates and I. I hope we have put together a great conference that is inspirational for our peers, educators, locals, and family.”

Amanda Bowen

Senior Political Science major/ History minor from Demossville, KY

“In our world a state cannot thrive in isolation. The exchange of goods, services and ideas between states will lead to the development of a dynamic and cooperative international community. However, it is also important to remember that within a community the state of one member affects all other members of the community. This is why every citizen should have an awareness of and respect for human rights. A high level of respect for human rights is in the best interests of every citizen.”

Michael Clemons

Senior CLC and Spanish double major/ Political Science minor from Louisville

” Human rights are things that we as Americans often take for granted. But around the world, there are major human rights violations that occur everyday. As fortunate, educated students and citizens, it is our obligation to fight for the violated. This conference will hopefully bring awareness to those in attendance about these important human rights issues. My presentation is about street children in South America. Currently, there are millions of children who are homeless and many without families who wander the streets, doing whatever it takes to make money and survive. I saw these children first-hand when I worked at a children’s center in Ecuador this past summer. My Ecuadorian experience opened my eyes to how we as Americans can do our part to help these children, even though they may be a hemisphere away.”

Senior Ryland Pope — a product of the famed Harlan Boys Choir — is one of the main reasons Georgetown College is producing a full-scale opera, “The Secret Marriage,” Dec. 4-5.

“I realized we have this exceptional singer here…and I said Ryland’s not leaving Georgetown without an opera on his resume,” said Heather Hunnicutt, the production’s stage director and the College’s Coordinator of Vocal Studies. Ryland and his fellow cast members are so professional, she said, that the Lyric Theatre Society has been selected to perform the opera at the 7th annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities – and they’re scrambling to raise money for the January trip.

According to Hunnicutt, Ryland’s role – Conte (Count) Robinson – is very challenging, especially for an undergraduate student. “It requires an excellent command of the Italian language, the voice and dramatacism.”

My character can be considered the antagonist and I have really enjoyed playing the trouble-maker,” Ryland said. “This role has been very challenging for me because there is so much Italian to learn.”

The audience needn’t worry. An English translation of the Italian lyrics will be projected onto a 40-foot wide screen above the stage. Hunnicutt, however, promised that patrons won’t need to look at the super titles to understand the opera. The performers understand the Italian words, and their facial expressions and exaggerated actions will convey the meaning, she explained.

“I truly believe that people will forget that they are watching an opera and start thinking they are watching a great theatrical production,” Ryland said of Hunnicutt’s production. “From the opening scene, ‘The Secret Marriage’ has a heart-warming and humorous feel…and there are hysterical moments through-out.”

Professor Hunnicutt sees Ryland Pope as a leader who truly sets the tone for the team, which one would hope from the president of the College’s Lyric Theatre Society. “Ryland is always the first one in the practice rooms in the morning, the last one to leave in the evenings, and every time I come in to work over the weekends, the halls are invariably filled with his voice,” she said. “I believe that it is Ryland’s hard work and talent that has inspired the rest of the cast and production team to raise their game and truly create something magnificent!”

Ryland’s star really took off earlier this fall in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) State Competition at Murray State University when he won Senior Classical and took Best Singer/Artist Overall. His repertoire requirements over the two days were tough, too – four pieces for upperclassmen with a mix of foreign language and English pieces, operatic arias and art songs or musical theatre numbers from different time periods.

Ryland competed with pieces in English, Italian, Spanish and French. For the Finals, he sang “Se vuol ballare” from “Le nozze di Figaro” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – a piece that he first sang in the Georgetown College Opera and Musical Theatre Workshop in spring 2007. “Being in a NATS has given me more chances to perform,” he said. “The more chances you have to perform the better you get at performing and the better performer you become.”

Ryland credits the Harlan Boys Choir – and its directors David L. Davies and Marilyn J. Schraeder – for pointing him toward a musical career. Named Most Outstanding Member his senior year at Harlan High (2005), he said he “enjoyed every second” from the fourth grade on. “Mr. Davis would gather us together and give some of the most inspirational speeches I’ve ever heard. He didn’t talk to us like we were boys, but as if we were men, men who were there for a common goal.”

Being in the choir and traveling to major cities for choral singing competitions, he said, “opened my eyes to the rest of the world.” He fondly remembers touring the cities, dining in fine restaurants and sometimes catching a live show from a major theatre company.

He obviously had educational and arts influences in the home as well. His father, Thomas Pope, is a dean at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College; his mother, piano teacher Clara Atkins-Pope, owns the Studio of Piano and Fine Arts. He is also the grandson of Clara Atkins and the late Frank Atkins; and the late Roy and Maxine Pope.

Ryland’s “guardian angel in music” now, he said, is Professor Hunnicutt. “She was the first person who told me (she) believed in me and that I could make it in the music business. She has made sure that I have had as many performing opportunities as I could possibly have, which helps a young performer grow.

“She has also made sure that I am always going in the right direction concerning career. This is one reason I am grateful to be at a smaller college like Georgetown, because students don’t always receive such good advice and personal attention at the big universities.”

The university scene, however, is next on the Ryland Plan – and pursuit of a Masters of music in Vocal Performance. He is in the process of applying to the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Cincinnati Conservatory (CCM), University of Kentucky and Rice University. Said Hunnicutt, “I absolutely believe that Ryland is going to make it in our tough field. He is going to set the opera world on fire!”

Another singer with Harlan ties in the opera’s ensemble cast is Chuck Harris (Geronimo), who moved to Lexington at age six, then graduated from Scott County High School two years ago. His father is Charles Harris, Jr., now of Georgetown. His grandfather, Charles Harris Sr., used to work in the maintenance department at Cawood High School; grandmother Reba Harris worked at Ages Headstart. Terry and Corina Ryan, his great-uncle and aunt, still live in Harlan.

Chuck, who won the Underclass Musical Theatre category of the recent state NATS competition, said he came into “The Secret Marriage” hating opera. “They tried to make me an opera singer at UK and I didn’t like it at all,” said the sophomore transfer. “But, this production has opened my eyes to opera and I love it now.”

According to Daniel Ng, the Student Musical Director: The opera’s plot is reminiscent of a 1950s episode of “I Love Lucy,” if Lucille Ball was Italian and lived in the 18th century. Geronimo lives with his sister Fidalma and his two daughters, Elisetta and Carolina. When the opera begins, Carolina has fallen in love with Paolino, Geronimo’s clerk, and the two have married in secret. Carolina is in a higher class than Paolino, so Geronimo wouldn’t approve of their union. Paolino attempts to arrange a marriage between the older daughter, Elisetta, and a rich count, hoping that afterwards, he will get Geronimo’s blessing and can reveal the marriage. But when Count Robinson arrives, he decides he prefers Carolina. Ng said, “This lively comedy is perfect for those who have never seen an opera before, or those who assume they wouldn’t enjoy opera.”

The campus performances of “The Secret Marriage” by Domenica Cimarosa are at 7 p.m., Dec. 4-5 in the College’s John L. Hill Chapel on Giddings Circle. Tickets are $15 for adults, $4 for all students with ID, and free for children under-10 (who will get a special, student-designed “Secret Marriage” coloring book). Tickets may be ordered by calling the College’s bookstore at (502) 863-8134.

If you would like to become involved with the Lyric Theatre Society of Georgetown College, call Dr. Heather Hunnicutt at (502) 863-8056. The group has been selected to perform “The Secret Marriage” in Honolulu for the 7th annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities in early January. They will also bring the opera to the Hawaii Baptist Academy, a long-time partner of the College. The public is also welcome April 9, back on campus, for the GC Opera & Musical Theatre Workshop Performance at 7 p.m. in Hill Chapel.

Crew & Cast of “The Secret Marriage”

• Producer/Stage Director: Heather Hunnicutt
• Musical Director: Daniel Ng of Georgetown
• Stage Manager: Shannon Brunk of Lexington
• Artistic Director: Hannah Davis of Lexington
• Lighting: Shawn McPeek of Shelbiana, KY

• Conte Robinson: Ryland Pope of Harland
• Carolina: Cate Kilgore of Bowling Green
• Paolino: Michael Cannon of Stamping Ground, KY
• Elisetta: Sable Floyd of Somerset
• Geronimo: Chuck Harris of Lexington
• Fidalma: Sarah Smith of Stamping Ground, KY
• Chamber Maid: Madeline Gannon of Mount Sterling, KY

Area alumni of Georgetown College are invited to a reception hosted by the College on Monday, November 24, 2008, at Mariah’s Restaurant, 801 State Street in Bowling Green, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. President William H. Crouch, Jr. will present his vision and future plans for the College and discuss a number of Georgetown’s recent accomplishments benefiting alumni and undergraduates alike.

The College’s Executive Scholar-in-Residence, former Governor Martha Layne Collins, will speak as well. Organizers encourage Bowling Green and Warren County area alumni to attend in order to renew or establish acquaintances with other Georgetown alumni from throughout the region.

Governor Collins, Dr. Crouch and members of the College’s Admissions staff will also be visiting with students at Greenwood, Warren Central and Bowling Green High Schools during the day Monday, November 24 and at Warren East on Tuesday, November 25. They will share information about Georgetown’s academic programs, including such Programs of Distinction as Global Scholars and Equine Scholars, and opportunities for study abroad at Regent’s Park College of the University of Oxford.

Georgetown is a faith-based, residential, co-educational college defined by academic excellence in the liberal arts that teaches students to think, to lead, and to serve with balance and respect as demonstrated and modeled by Christian character. Historically Baptist affiliated, Georgetown College is nationally ranked by U.S. News and World Report, and was recently ranked among the top ten percent of America’s undergraduate institutions by Forbes.com based on the quality of the education provided and student achievement.

Traditionally, Georgetown College Concert Choir officially marks the holiday season with Handel’s “Messiah” on a Sunday afternoon in early December. But, Director John Campbell figures his students will be in better voice if they take the John L. Hill Chapel stage Thursday night (Nov. 20) with “Messiah and More.”

Turns out too many of his choral members are also in the College’s full-scale opera (“The Secret Marriage” Dec. 4-5) two days before the date “Messiah” fans have come to expect and Campbell won’t hear of anything less than the best. “I figured my best voices would be used up by the time they got to Sunday…so I chose not to set up the Concert Choir for a struggling performance, vocally,” said Campbell, who hopes the campus community and other patrons will be thankful for this pre-Thanksgiving event. The free concert begins at 8 p.m.

Two who will be doing double-duty are senior Ryland Pope of Harlan and freshman Elizabeth Levay of Maysville, who recently won first places in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) State Competition at Murray State University. Pope, who was also named Best Singer/Artist Overall, happens to be President of the College’s Lyric Theatre Society, too.

What the public will get Thursday. is Part One of “Messiah” and much, much more. Along with the traditional Christmas portion of Handel’s masterwork, the 56-voice Concert Choir will sing four carol settings by the recently deceased American composer Norman Dello Joio, and the Chorale will present a set of both serious and lighter Christmas selections.

Here are the student soloists and the pieces they are featured on:

• Comfort Ye/Every Valley – Michael Cannon
• Thus saith the Lord /But who may abide – Daniel Ng
• Behold a virgin shall conceive/O Thou that tallest – Haley Howard
• For, behold, darkness/The people that walked – Adrian Russell
• There were shepherds/And lo! the angel/And the angel/And suddenly – Elizabeth Levay
• Rejoice greatly – Whitney Lanway
• Then shall the eyes/He shall feed – Dominique Higdon
• Come unto Him – Danielle Harrison
• Behold, I tell you/The trumpet shall sound – Ryland Pope