A Georgetown College student greeting committee walked-and-talked with Mr. Volcker on the way to the private reception

A Dec. 15 story on Bloomberg.com referred to former Fed Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker’s visit in October with Georgetown College students as a preview to his recent five-country, eight-week tour during which he warned bankers and regulators that they have not come close to dealing with the worst economic crisis in 70 years.

President Bill Crouch brought Volcker, a Trustee Fellow of Georgetown College, to speak to the campus community in Hill Chapel on Oct. 22 and to meet with a number of area bankers at a private reception.

The renowned economist advised Georgetown students to “work hard and polish your skills so you can beat the competition in this economy.” Then, he said what he’s been saying to national leaders and all of America since he was asked to be the first Chair of the Obama administration’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board last year after the presidential election: “People need a push to change their habits.” And, “we can’t live on borrowed money from foreign countries forever.”

That afternoon, Mr. Volcker was the featured guest at the 2009 Round Table at Shaker Village – the annual brainstorming conference of many of Kentucky’s top CEOs. Those state leaders heard more of the same – “save more, spend less.” Volcker, the 1st Chair of the Obama administration’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, was Chairman of the Federal Reserve during both the Carter and Reagan administrations.

President Crouch speaking in Chapel Service

We live in a noisy world. Georgetown College President William H. Crouch could tell you a thing or two about noise – he recently stood next to the speakers at a Kenny Chesney concert. Yet in all the noise, God whispers to us, and He has a lot to say.

President Crouch spoke to this on Tuesday, Dec. 8 in the final Chapel Service of the semester. He had a tough act to follow; after Sophomore Sarah Carey opened with a word of prayer, GC’s gospel choir, the Joyful Noise Singers, took to the stage. The choir, lead by Pamela Young, filled the John L. Hill Chapel with beautiful harmonies as they performed “Higher Lifted Up.” Their movement, energy and enthusiasm captured the audience. Immediately following, the audience joined with the choir in singing the congregational hymn, “O Come All Ye Faithful.” The Chapel Brass ensemble provided accompaniment, as did the organ. While the brass ensemble performed “Angels from the Realms of Glory,” offering was collected for the Salvation Army.
Then came time for the main event. Before President Crouch began his sermon, however, he recognized two GC groups – the Women’s Soccer Team, who played for the conference championship against Lindsey Wilson, and the Women’s Volleyball Team, who played for the national championship. Though both teams lost their games, they advanced quite far in their tournaments. No GC women’s athletic team has ever before played for the national championship. These two teams taught President Crouch to never give up. He presented them with orange and black M&Ms – his favored treat for himself when he has accomplished something.

“I want to talk to you today about whispers.” With these words, President Crouch began his sermon about the things that God whispers to us that we may be too busy to hear. Whispers are small, quiet proclamations. Someone might whisper to share a secret, because they are tired or sick, or because the noises around them are so loud that there usual speaking voice sounds like a whisper.

The Bible is full of whispers. Samuel heard a whisper and thought it was his mentor, Elijah, but in reality, it was the voice of God. In Acts 10:10, God speaks to Peter in a whisper, and on the road to Damascus, Paul hears a voice that no one else can hear. Yet, said President Crouch, “We live in a noisy world.” He drew a cell phone out of his pocket to demonstrate, walking across the stage and pretending to text. Distractions like phones, music, and television prevent us from hearing God.

God is still speaking, however, and according to President Crouch, he is whispering three things to us. The first of these messages is, “I love you.” “The most important condition of our human existence is that we are loved,” said President Crouch. Many people in the audience, he continued, have lost loved ones, to death, abandonment, divorce, or illness, and these loses leave holes in our hearts. “If we don’t fill those holes, then we’re not living up to the potential that God gives,” he explained. God is able to fulfill our need for love.

The second thing God whispers is, “Fear not.” “It’s a scary world…professors, papers, tests…,” said President Crouch, eliciting some laughs from the audience. People can also fear death, hurt, and illness. Fear keeps us paralyzed and prevents us from reaching our potential, but in the Christmas story, the angels tell the shepherds not to fear. God tells us not to be afraid, but instead, to rejoice. This is his third whisper – “Rejoice!” President Crouch explained that people look for happiness in all the wrong places – in sex, drugs, alcohol and illicit sex – when in fact, we have everything that we need to be happy inside of us. Here at GC, the faculty and staff want students to succeed, parents make sacrifices for their children to attend the college, and miracles happen so that young men and women can become GC Tigers.

In closing, President Crouch reminded the audience that 2,000 years ago, God spoke in a whisper, and that whisper was the Baby Jesus. Instead of using a natural disaster or some other grand display of power, he sent his son in the form of an infant.
“On Christmas,” said President Crouch, “shut off your phones and listen.”

The Chapel Service then ended as the entire audience joined hands and sang “Joy to the World.”

However, spending this semester studying abroad in England has kind of put this into perspective. Obviously, there is no Thanksgiving here. So Christmas—complete with shopping displays, catchy commercials and, as of just last week, streets lined with Christmas lights—has been plugging ahead at full speed since early November.

Still, in the midst of it all, the American visiting students at Regent’s Park College were able to pull together a makeshift Thanksgiving dinner so that the tradition wouldn’t go completely uncelebrated.

Having a classically-American Thanksgiving while studying in Oxford certainly sounds touching and sweet, but finding the correct ingredients for non-English dishes is really more of a challenge than anything else.

For instance, senior Stacy Durham, a GC student also studying at Oxford, had planned to make a from-scratch red velvet cake for this little extravaganza.

What began as merely a lofty goal of deliciousness turned into quite the ordeal. To be on the safe side, we decided a trial-run was in order. This ended up requiring about an hour-long frantic grocery store scavenger hunt. The result of this experiment was a pink velvet cake…with a little too little cake and a little too much icing.

Several things became evident. One: we needed more food coloring. And two: we needed more cake for the icing. For some reason, red food coloring is over twice as expensive as the other colors. So, after much debate, we decided that a purple velvet cake would not only be much more regal, but also much cheaper.

Thus, our plan for Thanksgiving Day was clear—a purple velvet cake with the amount of cake batter doubled to balance with the delectable cream cheese icing.

Unsurprisingly, we encountered another hitch in our culinary scheme. Red food coloring, in addition to being more costly, is also just a pansy. The blue food coloring completely overtook it and the resulting cake was…..well, blue.

Also, finding a time to bake said cake was interesting, considering life doesn’t just shut down over here so everyone can go and eat turkey. The amazing blue confection ended up being created by two sleep-deprived and slap-happy girls at approximately 4 a.m.

Nevertheless, though the final product—though somewhat visually appalling—was very, very yummy and enjoyed by everyone.

Also, when Thanksgiving dinner finally commenced, I found that almost everyone had a similar story: about a scramble for ingredients and a finished dish that wasn’t quite what they had intended.

Ordeals and color mix-ups aside, Thanksgiving dinner was a success. We managed to have most of the traditional dishes. I think the only thing we were missing was a pumpkin pie.

And in the end, it was precisely what a Thanksgiving should be: a group of friends, sitting down to a meal together and being thankful for each other’s company. Even if they were eating blue cake.

“We are excited that these scholarships will help reduce the 10 students’ loans to very close to zero so that they can focus solely on their academics,” said Dr. Christine Leverenz, SCALARS Program Director. “Having to worry about paying loans back has always been a huge burden on needy students and their parents.”

The SCALARS Program at Georgetown College provides an opportunity for students to contemplate freely the full range of career options in math and science. Additional scholarship aid, a summer preparation course, honors courses, faculty mentoring, undergraduate research experiences, and special extracurricular activities enhance the SCALAR student’s academic experience. The program also endeavors to broaden the students’ understanding of a scientific vocation through volunteer service in the local community that draws upon their academic gifts and through opportunities to reflect upon these experiences. This program is designed for students from populations typically under-represented in the sciences including rural and Appalachian students and minority students.

“Georgetown College has a great track record for mentoring students who come from families where college hasn’t been a traditional path,” said Leverenz, Chair of the Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science department.

She added: “This program is designed to support students who might otherwise not consider the sciences because of the heavy academic load and the difficulties in adjusting to college expectations. There is faculty mentoring, but we have designed the program so that the students also mentor each other and can form life-supporting friendships. We know the talents these students bring to campus will encourage greater aspirations in each other, the science faculty, and in other students. ”
Among the pre-requisites for applying for the SCALARS Scholarship, a student must intend to graduate with a major in one of the sciences or Physics, have an un-weighted high school GPA of 3.8 or higher, score 25 or higher in the mathematics portion of the ACT and have strong academic potential, and demonstrate financial need.

The expectations for the SCALARS Scholar include a special Orientation Retreat and Bridge Course in the summer prior to the first semester at Georgetown and, on the other end, writing a Senior Thesis in your major as part of the Honors Program. In between are numerous exciting opportunities such as travel, social events and other extracurricular activities throughout each academic year, two summers of undergraduate research experiences, and community service projects that allow Scholars to put their academic gifts to work for the common good.

“I believe this program will help us enrich our overall campus culture,” said Dr. Rosemary Allen, Provost. “When you bring in students who have traditionally not had access to the college environment, you bring in fresh perspectives on the college experience. I hope it will teach us all to value the opportunity represented in higher education.”

Allen added: “I am glad that the program will help us showcase one of our institution’s strengths—the capacity to provide mentorship and personal attention to those who may feel intimidated by the challenges of college and the unknown.”

Soprano Maura Shirley, also a member of the GC Cheerleading squad, is the only freshman with a solo in Sunday’s ‘Messiah Sing.’

“There is a long tradition of ‘Messiah’ being performed at Georgetown College each fall, and I want to maintain that,” Choir director Dr. John Campbell said. “Students enjoy the familiarity of the work after they’ve worked it up as freshmen, and it is a good vehicle for our voice majors and minors to prepare and perform challenging selections from the standard vocal repertoire.”

But why make it a sing? “The Messiah” certainly is a challenge, even to those familiar with the work. On odd years, the community is invited to sing-along with the choir in a low-pressure setting. “People out there know and love this music,” Campbell explained, “but many don’t have the opportunity to reconnect with Handel other than at this event. Another plus is that in the odd years the Concert Choir can prepare and perform music in addition to ‘Messiah,’ such as ‘The Creation’ (the Haydn concert that took place last month).”

On even years, patrons just sit back and enjoy a polished performance of piece. Every year, however, soloists are selected from the Concert Choir to perform and expand their repertoire.

Singing two solos apiece Sunday are Scott County natives Michael Cannon and Chuck Harris, both juniors, and senior Daniel Ng. The other soloists are seniors Hagan Hill of Lexington and Cate Kilgore of Bowling Green; juniors Danielle Harrison of Paducah and Haley Howard of Harlan; sophomore Elizabeth Levay of Maysville; and freshman Maura Shirley of Georgetown.

Maura, who was in choir in both middle school and Scott County High School, is taking on her first-ever solo. “(Then) I was not one to try out because I didn’t think I’d get it,” she said. “But now that I’m in college, I thought I’d try something new.”

Also, she admitted to a little push from her father, who has encouraged her to pursue singing all-along. After attending the Choir’s recent performance of “The Creation” he asked if she could be a soloist. So, she decided to put her shyness aside and audition for “Messiah” with a piece she had been working on her with her voice teacher – “Come unto Him all ye that labor.” To her pleasant surprise, the soprano was awarded that solo for this Sunday.

“Maura did a good job and I said, yes, she can step up and do this,” said Director Campbell. “Plus, she has a good background…the (SCHS) choral program holds its own with any in Lexington.”

Campbell said Georgetown is one of few schools that allow freshmen to perform major parts in a work such as “The Messiah.” “We love to give our students opportunities here,” he said.

For Maura, this opportunity was monumental. “When I did my audition, Dr. Campbell actually thanked me…and that was a big deal to me. It felt like more than just him saying ‘okay, good job’,” she said. Maura is also a cheerleader for the Georgetown Tigers and a member of the new women’s a cappella choir, Tiger Tunistas.

On Sunday, patrons who just prefer to listen at “Messiah Sing” will be just fine. “With all the other singers… someone who can’t really sing can still maybe follow along,” said Campbell, noting more than 100 at the last sing two years ago. “Or simply experience the sound from within the choir, which can be pretty amazing.”

Those who want to chime in are urged to bring a copy of the music and sit in with the choirs on beloved choruses as “Glory to God,” “For unto Us a Child Is Born,” and the “Hallelujah!” chorus. There will be a few copies available at the door, including several of the full vocal score ($8 for that). Audience members are also welcome to look on with a choral scholar.

Glenna Metcalfe will accompany on the organ; H.M. Lewis will be on trumpet.