Sigmas Molly Shoulta (now a junior), left, and Emily Holt ’11 with a “mummified” friend at last year’s Dance Marathon

Georgetown, KY (March 30) – Dance Marathon, the new GC student organization, hopes to have more than 200 “dancers” (participants) Friday night and into Saturday for its second annual fundraiser to benefit Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (specifically Kentucky Children’s Hospital.) Read the good story in Thursday’s Georgetown News-Graphic below.

Even if you haven’t signed up, drop-ins are welcome during the “community hours” from 6-9 this evening and from 9 a.m. until 12:27 p.m. Saturday. Why “27” – the event will last 17 hours 87 minutes as a tribute to 1787, the year Christian education began on the site in Scott County that would become Georgetown College.

And, please especially thank the following primary sponsors when you are shaking-a-leg at our George H.W. Bush Fitness & Recreation Center: Kohl’s and Papa John’s of Georgetown, and 104.5 The Cat (Clear Channel Communications).

 Dance Marathon also thanks these Georgetown businesses: Advanced Eyecare, Applebee’s, Between Friends, Central Bank, Chick-Fil-A, Georgetown Flowers, Penn Station, Pizza Hut, Mancinos, Starbucks and Walmart. Other supporters include Hooters in Lexington and Kentuckiana Title Agency of Louisville.

Georgetown College students work to help children by hosting dance marathon this weekend

By Nancy Royden, Georgetown News-Graphic

Lauren Casada, right, founder of GC’s Dance Marathon, and event publicist Ashley Fox (Photo by Nancy Royden)

Georgetown College students are getting footloose this weekend to raise money for some of the state’s youngest residents by hosting a dance marathon on campus to benefit Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

“We needed something to work for the greater good; for something outside our campus,” said Lauren Casada. 

Casada, a senior at the college majoring in exercise science, said the event is one of several held at different schools in the United States. The marathon at Georgetown college will benefit the Kentucky Children’s Hospital, part of the UKHealthCare system.

To make the event successful, local businesses, students and others are working together so children may receive medical treatment they need.

“Community involvement is great. It will benefit local families so they can get very specialized, awesome care,” the Louisville native said.

Dance Marathon is a nationwide movement involving high school and college students to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospital in their community. The event lasts for 12 to 40 hours, and students stay on their feet by dancing, playing games and other entertainment, according to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. This is the second year it has been held at Georgetown College, and it will be in the George H.W. Bush Center for Fitness.

Casada, founder of Dance Marathon at the college, is joined in coordinating the event by Georgetown College sophomore Ashley Fox of Corbin, senior Hannah Flanery of Ashland and other students. Staff adviser Jesse Hines Farley has been working with the students. 

Casada and Fox said they are excited about the event that starts Friday at 6 p.m. and ends Saturday at 12:27 p.m. It lasts for 17 hours and 87 minutes to mark the year Georgetown College was established, Casada said.

“We come together for the kids for one night for one cause,” she said.

Casada said sometimes students at the college stick with their own group, Greek organization or fellow dormitory residents. However, the marathon will bring everyone together to do something selfless while still being fun.

Fox said the students hope to raise at least $10,000, and by March 27, they raised nearly $6,000.

During the marathon, some of the the families who have benefitted from Kentucky Children’s Hospital or a Children’s Miracle Network Hospital will be in attendance and interact with the participants. 

Casada said the marathon will kick off with an opening ceremony at 6 p.m., and there will be a 

an “inspiration tent,” a curtained-off area with pictures of children who have benefitted from the philanthropy. Other mementos may be viewed there as well.

Throughout the marathon, there will be mini dance lessons, and at the end of it, participants will be able to do the same dance together, Casada said.

Fox said there will be different themes during the marathon and participants will be standing up and doing things throughout the event. Some activities will include dodgeball and volleyball. Music will be played throughout the marathon.

Fox and Casada are seeking sponsors and monetary donations from people in the Georgetown area. Food donations for the marathon are also sought.

For more information or to make a donation, visit the Georgetown College Dance Marathon website at www.dancemarathongc.org.

GC Psychology professor Regan Lookadoo, coordinator of the Kentucky Conference on Human Trafficking

Georgetown, KY – The Modern Day Slavery project started by Psychology professor Regan Lookadoo and other faculty and staff a year ago may be the most galvanizing effort the Georgetown College campus has ever seen. To be sure, this movement is making GC a more caring, socially-conscious institution.

Students have become increasingly drawn to GC’s Student Abolitionist Movement (SAM) chapter as they heard about and attended the many films and events on campus – including last year’s “Not for Sale” tour stop here. Discussions of human trafficking and fair trade issues are being introduced in a wide variety of classes. And, a generous grant from the Jenzabar Foundation last July has given “legs” to the MDS project for at least two more years.

The Kentucky Conference on Human Trafficking, March 23-24, the first such statewide effort, is bringing a number of national as well as regional speakers to campus – including Rep. Sannie Overly, D-Paris, the sponsor of House Bill 350, which would strengthen human-trafficking laws. It passed the Kentucky House 90-0 on March 2.

Acting upon the timeliness of HB 350, Lookadoo has a number of ways the conference will give attendees the tools to become advocates against human trafficking. “This an important bill for Kentucky because not only does it provide stricter fines and penalties to traffickers in our state and more resources to trafficked victims but it also emphasizes that trafficking is a problem in the Commonwealth,” she said. “So often this issue is confused as one facing people who live in other countries and yet the reality is trafficking takes place right here in our own communities.”

In part to attract those who aren’t so well-versed on the issues, coordinator Lookadoo, has booked the Peter Mayer Group for a pre-conference concert at 7 p.m., Thursday (March 22) in John L. Hill Chapel. (Parrot Heads Alert!) Mayer, who also happens to be Jimmy Buffet’s guitarist, is known to be issue-oriented. You may reserve concert tickets through the GC bookstore at 502-863-8134 for $18 or purchase at the door that evening for $20. Children, students, and conference attendees get in for $7, in advance and at the door. 

Carrie Cook and a number of Lookadoo’s faculty colleagues, whose names appear in parentheses, have been key in pulling together appealing side events such as: a Fair Trade Market from 8-10 p.m., Friday (Rebecca Singer and Alison Jackson Wood); a 5K run at 8 a.m., Saturday (Jonathan Sands-Wise  and Bryan Langlands);  and a showing of the film “Playground” at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Lookadoo is very excited about the interactive exhibits that junior

Katie Sanders, leader of GC’s Student Abolitionist Movement chapter, and several members of SAM have created on the second floor of the Ensor Learning Resource Center for the conference. The exhibits will raise awareness of issues related to both sex and labor trafficking through creative, interactive methods.

She said, “For example, conference attendees will have the opportunity to carry a bucket of tomatoes and imagine doing so multiple times a day like trafficked labor workers are forced to do in tomato farms across the country. This exhibit will include statistics and facts about labor trafficking of citrus and produce workers in the US.”

Attendees will exit the exhibit with the opportunity to sign a petition to local grocers requesting fair trade produce options. These exhibits will also include direct actions attendees can take to combat human trafficking.

Look for a hand display at the exhibits produced by Art professor Daniel Graham. Lookdadoo said, this will encourage attendees to reflect upon changes that they can make to better support trafficking victims and prevent trafficking in their world and communities. This reflection will continue into a meditation room where the Campus Ministry team will have highlighted religions from around the world that emphasize the need for justice and love of all people.

To register for the conference or 5K, or to buy t-shirts and/or “Playground” film tickets, please email Dr. Regan Lookadoo, Conference Chair at Regan_Lookadoo@georgetowncollege.edu. Online registration has been removed because of technical problems. If you have questions you may call her at 502.863.8165.

For more on the Modern Day Slavery project at Georgetown College, read the 2011 Winter-Spring issue cover story in Insights magazine and Dr. Lookadoo’s summary and plans for the project at this date.

This oil on canvas painting by Tom Coates, Bob Ridges, Decoy Duck Maker (40" x 48"), is at the top of Laura Stewart’s “must-see list” in the exhibit. The director of galleries at Georgetown College, Stewart said that John Milward cited this as his personal favorite “and he displays it above his sitting room sofa in the home he shares with his wife, Luanne.”

Georgetown, KY – The opening reception for “A Passionate Pursuit: The Milward Collection” at Georgetown College’s Anne Wright Wilson Fine Arts Gallery was postponed at the beginning of the month when severe weather and tornadoes tore through the state. But, the pieces that this Lexington businessman has amassed are so spectacular the event has been rescheduled for 6-8 p.m., Friday, March 23.

This exhibition, with 75 colorful paintings, pastels, and other works on paper made primarily by English artists working in the 20th-century, as well as exquisitely detailed late 19th- and early 20th-century French bronzes, offers an incredible variety of captivating works of art, all of which encompass less than 10% of one man’s collection.  Said Laura Stewart, the College’s director of galleries, said, “The fact that John Milward continues to pursue his passion for appreciating, collecting, and sharing with others the creations of several exceptional fine artists is truly awe-inspiring.”

For another perspective on the show, read Candace Chaney’s preview in the Lexington Herald-Leader’s arts section.

The “Milward Collection” will be up through April 20 in the Wilson Fine Arts Gallery, corner of College and Mulberry streets. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday, noon to 4:30 p.m. and by appointment, 502.863.8399.

Another special event involving the exhibit is a PreK-12 Teacher Workshop: “Portraiture Portals” from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, March 24. Pre-registration required; call 502.863.8399.

More on “A Passionate Pursuit”

This exhibition celebrates Lexingtonian John Milward’s passion for collecting art. “A Passionate Pursuit” examines Milward’s quest for amassing bodies of work featuring several artists over the past 30 years, with a focus since 1987 on paintings by artists holding membership in the New English Art Club.

Another Stewart-favorite work in the show is George Claxton's The Patriot Market, “which depicts a run-of-the-mill downtown Lexington building in a way that elevates it to a status worthy of attention by the artist in all of us.” ( 1992, oil on canvas, 18" x 24", photo courtesy Darrell Kincer.)

Exhibition co-curators Juilee Decker and Laura Stewart have selected 75 works, including paintings, prints and other works on paper, as well as bronze sculpture, to tell the story of this collection, a zealous effort that began with the acquisition of prints by sporting artist Sir Alfred James Munnings (1878-1959) and American artist George Claxton (2947-1995) before shifting focus to the work of contemporary English artists.  A catalogue is available and features an introdution written by Peter Trippi, President of the professional organization Historians of British Art and Editor of Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, additional essays, and an exhibition checklist.

“A Passionate Pursuit” showcases captivating paintings by established and emerging artists of the New English Art Club, a British art society established in 1886 with a profound commitment to figurative art. Members of the NEAC whose works are central to this exhibition are Tom Coates and John Ward in addition to Peter Brown, Ken Howard, Ruskin Spear, Ben Sullivan, and Leslie Worth. Works by Valery Gridnev, Katya Gridneva, and Mike Reynolds — artists unaffiliated with the NEAC — also comprise the exhibition, along with nineteenth-century French animalier bronze sculptures by P. J. Mene and Isidore Bonheur among others.

Visitors to the exhibition will encounter a number of subjects ranging from global markets and tourist scenes to varied landscapes of city and country; from solo figures in solace to those engaged in craft; from focused self portraits to assemblies of figures captured freely or carefully posed; and interior scenes that oscillate from capture moods of tranquility and contemplation to tempered domesticity.

Many of the artists featured here may be familiar to those involved in the Lexington arts scene, as the work of Coates and Ward played prominently in the recent exhibition (“The British Are Coming! Discover the New English Art Club”) on view at the University of Kentucky in spring 2010. Moreover, a number of artists have exhibited at Lexington’s Cross Gate Gallery. In fact, the Cross Gate connection between gallery founder, Greg Ladd, and John Milward is apparent in the exhibition. The two have developed a relationship through collecting. In remarking on the role and importance of Cross Gate, Milward remarked that Ladd has had a major influence on his own collecting practices, that this collection has been built through the development of their friendship and shared trust over the years. Further commenting on his own development as a collector and how others can start their own collection of art, Milward noted, “I like to think that through these shows someone might get bitten by the bug…[and] that you can start building a collection – you might do one a year.  It can be 10 paintings that you collect over a lifetime that can be special.  Buy what appeals to you, but do your homework and learn about the artist through the help of other collectors or gallery owners.”

“A Passionate Pursuit: The Milward Collection” is the spring highlight of a year-long celebration at the Georgetown College Art Galleries. Dubbed “The Year of the Collector”, many exhibitions in the Anne Wright Wilson Fine Arts Gallery and the Cochenour Gallery, as well as lectures and other ancillary events, will focus on art collecting. The Fall 2012 highlight will be a tenth-anniversary celebration of the Dr. Donald L. and Dorothy Jacobs Collection. To find out about these and other exhibition programs and events, consult the gallery website or follow us on Facebook and Twitter #GCArtGalleries.

Ben Oldham was the head replay official in the booth for the “Game of the Century” between No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama, Nov. 5, 2011. “It lived up to its billing and I was fortunate (?) enough to have the game-deciding call,” said Oldham of the 4th quarter play he ruled was an interception by the top-ranked Tigers. LSU went on to win 9-6 in overtime.

Georgetown, KY – A pass is thrown into the end zone. The receiver clearly possesses the ball in the air and comes down in the end zone on top of another player. Both are clearly inbounds lying in the end zone. The player who caught the ball rolled out of bounds as he was getting up. What is the ruling?

To find out the answer, you’ll have to attend Dr. Ben Oldham’s session – “You’d better be right! An inside look at major college football officiating” –  during College for a Day on April 24.

This is Georgetown College’s semi-annual day of special classes (a choice of two out of four) and events for reconnecting alumni with the campus. But, the day is also open to the public at the same $25 cost. The price includes breakfast, Chapel service, lunch and closing reception with certificate of completion.

Even if think you know your football, fans will enjoy hearing Oldham’s tales as a Southeastern Conference official and his explanation of the latest rules. Oldham will be fresh off an SEC clinic he’s conducting the week before in College Station, TX.

Here’s a typical football factoid from Oldham ’65, a former GC Director of Athletics:

“Did you know that SEC football officials receive a film grade for every game? Every play (typically 160 to 200 plays a game) is graded regarding good calls, missed calls, picky calls and coverage of the plays. Bowl games are assigned to the officials receiving the highest grades.”

Oldham has also served his alma mater as Dean of Education,  Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and most recently Distinguished Service Professor.

Check back here in the weeks to come as we feature your other three professors for College for a Day: Dr. Sheila Klopfer, Religion; Dr. Karyn McKenzie, Psychology; and Dr. Pete LaRue, Music.

For reservations, call 502.863.8041 or toll free 877.640.0107. The deadline is April 19, 2012.

Dr. Keith Jerome ’85

Georgetown, KY – Dr. Keith Jerome ’85, whose research on treating the root cause of HIV/AIDS has caught the attention of two major foundations, will deliver the Hatfield Lecture at 11 a.m., April 12 in John L. Hill Chapel. He will also tour Asher Science Center, visit several classes and be the guest-of-honor at a private reception held by the Society of Healing Arts of Georgetown College.

The Senior Research Professor with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center at the University of Washington in Seattle, Dr. Jerome was featured in the Summer/Fall 2011 Insights magazine.

Both the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases (National Institutes of Health) have put their money into the work of Jerome and colleagues.

The lecture honors in part a beloved Georgetown College professor of mathematics, Charles A. Hatfield (1929-60). Endowed by family and friends in ’55, this annual lecture brings to campus an outstanding scientist noted for his or her Christian witness; and involves persons from the areas of biological sciences, chemistry, mathematics, physics and astronomy.