Jim Durham, News Bureau Director

Video Challenge winners Jordan Burk, left, and Jordan Patrick during a December 14 trip into London

GC Communications & Marketing Director Jim Allison congratulates Student Video Challenge winners Cody Polzin, second from left, and Corey Hatfield; EKU freshman Kurtis King, who filmed the video, is at right.

The votes have been tallied and two pairs of clever, enterprising young men have been declared winners of the Georgetown College Student Video Challenge.

A GC Communications Committee chose juniors Cody Polzin and Corey Hatfield as its winning duo for “Georgetown: A Fun Atmosphere.” (Tell us the phrase “Catch, Cody!” won’t be popular Spring semester!) And, juniors Jordan Burk and Jordan Patrick took the students’ online-vote for “Love From Across the Pond.”

Contestants were asked to describe the Georgetown Experience – and answer the question: Why did you choose Georgetown College? The winners were rewarded with $500 of food at Applebee’s and $250 worth of Nike gear, respectively.

“One of the important things about this challenge was that all of the entrants had fun highlighting their favorite GC activities. In very different ways, the two winning videos showcase their pride in Georgetown and highlighted many different areas of campus life,” said Jessica Shields, the College’s webmaster and coordinator of the project.

Obviously, student voters were taken with the two Jordans’ caring, ingenuity, and international swagger – all the way from Great Britain. Both are taking business and health science classes at Kingston University, about 10 miles southwest of London.

“Our inspiration came from the fact that even though we are getting to experience the opportunity of a lifetime by studying abroad, there are still many things we miss about Georgetown and will be glad to return home to these things,” Patrick wrote in an e-mail. He’s a Business Administration major/Communication and Media Studies minor from Mount Sterling. Burk is a Business Administration major/Communication and Media Studies minor from Shelbyville.

“I think we saw this video contest as a way to be creative and to connect with Georgetown even while abroad,” Patrick added.

The writing of “Love From Across the Pond” was a collaboration. Burk provided the camera, Patrick did most of the editing and Marek (their Polish roommate) did the filming. Patrick said, “On most of the speaking scenes, we would develop a general plan and then improv the actual words.”

A lot of the Polzin-Hatfield video – “Georgetown: A Fun Atmosphere” – was improv, too. For instance, during a scene in the Ensor LRC, when Hatfield threw a book a book to Polzin, he needed something to say – hence “Catch, Cody!” – and it caught on. “We bounced ideas off each other a lot,” said Hatfield, a Psychology major/Youth Ministry minor from Falmouth.

Polzin, a Commerce, Language & Culture major and Theatre minor, was in charge of sound production – with the background music coming from “loops from different garage bands. I wanted it to sound like a PBS educational tune,” he said.

Hatfield did the editing on their video and a friend from his home county of Pendleton, Kurtis King, a Broadcasting & Electronic Media major at Eastern Kentucky University, handled the camera.

Of the four winners only Polzin said his work on the video piqued his interest about a career behind or in front of a camera. But, Polzin-Hatfield have 10 videos on their own YouTube channel with the profile – Man Cave Saints. The roomies call their room The Man Cave and their favorite movie is “The Boondock Saints.”

The hope is that the messages in these two videos will give others some idea of the Georgetown College Experience and possibly spawn an annual video project.

“We thought this was a great way for our students to have some fun and use their creativity to show Tiger pride,” said Jim Allison, Associate VP Institutional Advancement/Communications & Marketing. “Our plan is to share the videos with students who are in the process of picking a college as well as alumni and friends.”

Jim Durham, News Bureau Director

Last year’s competition winners Brittany Glancy and Shay McCleavy, performing the roles of Fiametta and Antonio in The Gondoliers as freshmen this fall 

’08 winner Meredith Rigby at the piano, studying with Mami Hayashida

Georgetown College’s Music Department is looking for some real “winners” – competitors whose scholarships will be nearly as big as their talents.

The 3^rd Annual Georgetown College High School Voice & Piano Competition, February 5, 2011, in John L. Hill Chapel is the place for high school seniors to vie for some great scholarships and the experience of working closely with some very talented Music faculty in the fall and over the next four years. Entry deadline is Feb. 1.

“This is an exciting opportunity for high-schoolers to show off their talent and hard work AND finance their education at the same time,” said Heather Hunnicutt, Coordinator of Vocal Studies and Chair of Georgetown College’s Music department. She and fellow assistant professor of music Mami Hayashida (piano) are co-coordinators of the competition.

Entrants must be planning to major in vocal or keyboard music at Georgetown College to claim the prizes in the two categories. Each scholarship for the first three places is annual for four years at Georgetown, as long as certain standards are met. They are:

• 1^st Place: minimum of $10,000 per year ($40,000 total)
• 2^nd Place: minimum of $7,000 per year ($28,000 total)
• 3^rd Place (Voice Only): minimum of $5,000 per year, ($20,000)
• Honorable Mention Awards: Vary at the judges’ discretion
  (Every competitor will receive $250 per year for four years at Georgetown College.)

Hunnicutt loves the competition because the event is special in itself, and she knows the Music department and the entire campus community will get to enjoy these talented young people for the next four years. “It’s wonderful to hear such exuberant, talented performers…and then to actually get them here!,” Hunnicutt exclaimed.

All of the winners from the previous two competitions are having incredible, varied experiences at Georgetown College. Freshmen Shay McCleavy (1^st place) of Brandenburg and Brittany Glancy (2^nd place) of Cincinnati were both in our Lyric Theatre Society’s fall production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers and will be in the April 14 “Op Shop” (Opera and Musical Theatre Workshop) performances in Hill Chapel. They also sing in the College’s Chorale, and McCleavy had a role in the College Maskrafters fall production of “The Doctor in Spite of Himself.”

As if her Georgetown experience wasn’t already full enough, Glancy loves that she can be involved in so many different activities and plans on rushing a sorority next semester. And, although she hasn’t been a cheerleader since middle school, she’s thinking of trying out for the Tiger squad.

Earlier this week, the day before her “juries” (final singing exam in front of three Music professors), Glancy had Dr. Hunnicutt practically tearing up as she spoke about being judged. “Brittany said the only time she hasn’t been nervous was last year at the Voice Competition – because everyone was so nice and friendly that made her more at ease,” said Hunnicutt, who includes campus tours as part of the welcoming atmosphere.

Glancy, who attended the School for Creative & Performing Arts in Cincinnati and graduated from Oak Hills High School, said the treatment she received during this competition last February “was what sold me on Georgetown College. The teachers talked to me and drank coffee with me and treated me like an adult,” she recalled warmly. “This was more like them seeing how I’d fit in here than a competition.”

Of the vocal winners from two years ago, Nathan Van Til (3^rd place) of Georgetown is the most involved sophomore. He’s in Chorale and been a lead in every Lyric Theatre production, including “The Gondoliers;” and, he took first place in Underclass Musical Theatre at the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) regional last spring. Lauren Siegel (1^st place) of Shelbyville, who’s in Chorale and was in The Gondoliers chorus, remains a Voice minor but has decided her major calling is Elementary Education. Rebeccah Bowery of Covington will be in “Op Shop.”

Dr. Hayashida hopes the competition will produce more piano stars like 2008 winner Meredith Rigby, an Oxford Honors Scholar. This year, the sophomore from Richmond was the first place winner in the highest category (Preludes and Fugues) of the Lexington Bach Contest in February and one four students chosen in August to participate in the UBS Chamber Music Festival of Lexington Piano Masterclass taught by Alessio Bax, the 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient.

“We will all be very happy if more students like Meredith apply to Georgetown College,” Hayashida said. “She will be one those students everyone will be watching in a couple of years.”

Jim Durham, News Bureau Director

The Georgetown Activities Council’s Co-VP for Traditions – Thomas Owens, a junior from Nicholasville, and Emily Faulkner, a senior from Hopkinsville, pictured here with 6-year-old Josie Dummer – want to welcome the public for the College’s annual “Hanging of the Green” on Wednesday, Dec. 1.

Josie, a first-grader at Western Elementary, helped GAC promote this most wonderful holiday tradition to the community via the Georgetown News-Graphic. She is the daughter of James and Susan Dummer – respectively, a teacher at Scott County Middle School, and a professor in the College’s Communication & Media Studies department.

The event begins at 7 p.m. in John L. Hill Chapel with entertainment and singing and a special message from Alan Redditt ‘00, pastor of Georgetown Baptist Church.

Participants will enjoy the Joyful Noise Singers, GC’s gospel choir led by graduate student Pam Young of Georgetown; the GC Chorale led by Dr. John Campbell; and congregational songs led by Campus Ministry sophomores Morgan Floyd of Richmond and Evan Harrell of Middlesboro.

Children will again be invited to place an ornament (which is provided) on the Christmas tree along with representatives from each campus organization.

Then, the event moves outside for the traditional lighting of Giddings Circle, hot chocolate and carols. The Tiger Tunistas – an all-female a capella group led by senior Molly Maggard of Hazard – will lead the crowd in the singing of “Silent Night.”

Jim Durham, News Bureau Director

Rev. Dr. W. Morgan Patterson, the 22^nd President of Georgetown College (1984-91), – after a brief illness – died a few minutes before midnight Friday (Nov. 19) at his home in Novato, CA. attended by his wife, Ernestine, and both of his sons.

Memorial services will be held at the Tiburon Baptist Church in Tiburon, CA, at 2 p.m., Sunday (Nov. 28). Burial will be at a nearby cemetery the following day with arrangements under the direction of Keaton’s Redwood Chapel of Marin, Novato. Among the tributes already to Dr. Patterson, a historian who taught at four Southern Baptist seminaries, is a story on the Associate Baptist Press website. Also, the Georgetown College flag will be flown at half mast through Wednesday in Patterson’s honor.

William H. Crouch, Jr., who succeeded Patterson as president in ’91, said, “Anyone who dedicates a portion of their life to leading an institution is a person with a servant heart. Morgan Patterson served Georgetown College and her students for eight years as president with dedication and passion. In 2001, the trustees named the important and historic Admissions facility in his honor as a symbol of gratitude for his leadership. His scholarship will be forever remembered at this place and we thank God for his time as our leader.”

During the Patterson administration, Georgetown College consistently increased its enrollment each year of his leadership, reached an endowment of more than $16 million (then a record), and saw the restoration and beautification of two antebellum buildings – Highbaugh Hall and Pawling Hall. Among other improvements and acquisitions, the purchase of 52 acres of farmland east of campus stands out.

“A lasting legacy many people don’t know was Dr. Patterson’s vision for the land that would become ‘East Campus’,” said Garvel Kindrick ’85, now the College’s VP of Enrollment – and a student representative on the incoming president’s inaugural committee back then. “Without that we couldn’t have handled the growth we’ve had under President Crouch – the 128 beds in the apartments, and Cincinnati Bengals training camp.”

Patterson also leaves quite a legacy at Campbellsville University where he had served as Scholar in Residence since 2000. Dr. Frank Cheatham, that Baptist institution’s vice president for academic affairs, said, “His knowledge and experience provided an extra dimension for our students. I was looking forward to his return in the spring.”

Campbellsville’s president, Dr. Michael V. Carter, added, “Dr. Patterson was a brilliant scholar and Baptist historian and an accomplished higher education leader. We were very saddened to learn of his death and extend our heartfelt sympathy to Mrs. Ernestine Patterson and family. The Campbellsville University family has been greatly enriched as a result of Dr. Patterson’s service for a number of years as a visiting scholar. We will miss him tremendously.”

Jo Griffith, the former administrative assistant to Patterson and three other Georgetown presidents, said by telephone, “President Patterson was quite a gentleman and a scholar…a great academician. Retired now in Elizabethtown, she added, “He was also a great person to work for.”

Georgetown graduate Marsha Oakes Eden ’87, an SGA Speaker of the House during college and now of Lexington, recalled “Dr. Patterson was a great listener and always made the students feel very comfortable when speaking with him.”

In 1992, Patterson received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Stetson University, and in 1993 he was given the Distinguished Service Award for contributions to Baptist history by the Historical Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Official obituary for W. Morgan Patterson

(October 1, 1925 / November 19, 2010)

Rev. Dr. Patterson, a native of New Orleans, LA was born to E Palmer Patterson and Jess Margaret Patterson on Oct. 1, 1925.. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Ernestine N Patterson of Longwood, FL, two sons, W Morgan Patterson II and Jay N Patterson, and four grandchildren, Nolan, Jessica, Grace and Abigail.

After high school, he served as a flight officer in the US Army Air Corp. Upon discharge after WWII, he entered the Christian ministry. He completed his undergraduate work at Stetson University, Deland FL. He continued his education at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and post graduate study at Oxford University, England. Dr. Patterson taught church history and related subjects at four theological seminaries in Louisiana, Kentucky, Missouri, and most recently at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, Mill Valley, CA. He ended his career as the 22^nd President of Georgetown College in Kentucky (1984 – 1991). After retirement, he continued teaching at the seminaries and at four colleges and universities; Louisiana Baptist College, Baptist College of Florida, Oklahoma Baptist University, and Campbellsville University in Kentucky. As an Assistant to the President, Dr Patterson represented the College of the Ozarks for the western United States.

Representatives of schools where he served will join family and friends at the Memorial Service to be held at Tiburon Baptist Church, 445 Greenwood Beach Road, Tiburon, on November 28, 2010 at 2 p.m.

Dr Patterson has donated his extensive library collection of church history and related material to the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, 201 Seminary Drive, Mill Valley, CA 94941. Donations may be made to GGBTS / W Morgan Patterson Collection in lieu of flowers.

The family wishes to extend their gratitude to all those who were supportive during his recent illness.

Jim Durham, News Bureau Director

Bob Russell, the popular Retired Senior Minister of Louisville’s Southeast Christian Church, is certain to draw a crowd as the speaker at Georgetown College at 11 a.m., Nov. 30 in John L. Hill Chapel. His sermon – “Worldly Success or Spiritual Significance” – is free and open to the public.

Russell said in an e-mail he will challenge this audience with questions such as these: “When your life is over will your life matter? So what? Who cares? Says who?”

Russell’s appearance is also one of the highlights of Georgetown’s fall College for a Day (Nov. 30) that includes four exciting “class” choices, a special luncheon and a closing reception on that Tuesday for only $25 per person. For that special event package, please RSVP by noon Wednesday (Nov. 24) to Kathleen Johnson, (502) 863-8041, toll free 877-640-0107, or via email Kathleen_Johnson@georgetowncollege.edu.

Bob Russell began his 40-year tenure at Southeast Christian in 1966 with a congregation of 120 and saw it become one of the largest churches in the country at their wonderful Blakenbaker Parkway location with 18,000 people attending the four worship services every weekend in 2006 – the year he stepped down. Through Bob Russell Ministries he mentors ministers and elders. He’s also the author of more than a dozen books, including Transition Plan: 7 Secrets Every Leader Needs to Know, which he co-authored with Bryan Bucher. Learn more at http://bobrussellministries.org

If you decide to come for the entire College for a Day, here are your class choices:

In the morning, choose between Dr. Ben Oldham, a Southeastern Conference football official, “Watching the Zebras: A Behind-the-Scenes at the Game of Football;” and Dr. Greg Earwood, president of Baptist Seminary of Kentucky, “What You Don’t Know CAN Hurt You.”

For the afternoon session, choose either Music professor Pete LaRue, Director of Georgetown College Bands, “Tunes for Twangers – Silver Threads Make the Gold,” tracing the three unique strands (Appalachia, Sacred Music and Delta) as they came together to form that which we know as country music; or Laura Stewart, curator and director of the College’s art galleries, “Frame Your Mind for Art” with the subtitle “The ugly truth is out: not all art looks beautiful.”