Georgetown, KY – Psychology professor Regan Lookadoo, the key Georgetown College faculty member behind the campus-wide Modern Day Slavery Project, has been chosen by the KY Rescue and Restore Coalition as a 2012 winner of the Liberation Award. She’ll receive the award Friday (Dec. 7) at a luncheon ceremony during the Ending Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Conference Lexington’s Marriott Griffin Gate Resort.

Regan Lookadoo

The Liberation Award is for Dr. Lookadoo’s work with students at Georgetown College to plan and coordinate the spring 2012 ”Uniting Minds, Transforming Lives: Kentucky Conference on Human Trafficking” – the first such statewide event of its kind. The conference did much to galvanize GC students who are already knowledgeable about the issues surrounding human trafficking and it helped educate the larger campus community and Central Kentuckians as well.

According to the KY Rescue and Restore Coalition website, Liberation Award honorees are those volunteers, agencies, and community advocates who have made a significant impact in the effort against human trafficking in Kentucky; who have made great strides in raising awareness about the problem of human trafficking, providing assistance to victims of human trafficking, or advocating on behalf of those affected by human trafficking. Honorees are selected based on the impact they have made in the state of Kentucky to affect positive change regarding the problem of human trafficking.

This is the fourth year the organization has given out the Liberation Awards. Brittney Thomas, a 2005 GC graduate and the Community Health Liaison at Paragon Family Practice in Lexington, was the 2010 Volunteer Liberation Award Winner. She continues to be the volunteer director for the (national) Not for Sale Campaign for the state of Kentucky.

At about the time Thomas became interested in human-trafficking issues, she took some of Dr. Lookadoo’s first classes in this area –  The Psychology of Women, and The Psychology of Slavery.

While the Modern Day Slavery Project at Georgetown College first came together in Fall 2010, culminating in the February 2011 visit by David Batstone and his Stop Paying for Slavery Tour, Dr. Lookadoo – an associate professor of Psychology – first started to put the pieces together in 2004 with those two classes.

Lookadoo, who has been on maternity leave this fall semester, will be back in the GC classroom in January 2013. She is planning to organize a community-wide effort, starting with the students of the College’s chapter of SAM (Student Abolitionist Movement), to repackage mini soap bars and distribute them to hotels and motels in the Louisville area prior to the Kentucky Derby.

She hopes to partner on this with Theresa Flores, one of the speakers at our Kentucky Conference on Human Trafficking who founded The S.O.A.P. Project. SOAP (Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution) is an Outreach that aims to distribute thousands of bars of soap with the National Human Trafficking Hotline number and key identifying questions FREE to local motels. Volunteers talk to motel owners and managers and provide them with a quick overview of what is happening to young girls in their hotels.

“I hope to open our effort up to churches and the whole community,” Lookadoo said. She can be reached at regan_lookadoo@georgetowncollege.edu

Regan and her husband, Eric, brought son Brady into the world six months ago. They are also the parents of two daughters, Camryn, 8, and Logan, 3.

Frankfort, KY  (Dec. 5, 2012) – This summer, Georgetown College will be the host site for the inaugural Governor’s School for Entrepreneurs (GSE) and hopefully jumpstart the careers of a new wave of young business leaders in the state of Kentucky. That’s certainly what Gov. Steve Beshear (above center) had in mind when he announced the new program this morning at a press conference in the Capitol building. Beshear also said he hopes the GSE will “dramatically enhance job creation” in the state.

Georgetown President Bill Crouch, left, and Kris Kimel, right, President of the Kentucky Science & Technology Corporation, also gave remarks about this exciting program that is patterned after the very successful Kentucky Governor’s Scholars and the Governor’s School for the Arts. KSTC, which will run the GSE at Georgetown College June 9-29, will soon be taking applications for the 50 spots that will go to Kentucky high school students.

Wonderboy is played by recent Scott County High School graduate Connor Hall. For the complete cast, see the last paragraph.

By Caitlin Knox ’14

Georgetown, KY – It’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s Wonderboy!

But, you’ve got to be fast to catch the Georgetown College premiere of Professor George McGee’s wonderfully entertaining Sci-Fi musical comedy – as there’s just a one weekend run. But there are FIVE performances (see below for times) for what the Lexington Herald-Leader labeled a Best Bet in their Friday Weekender!

“Wonderboy,” McGee’s original play set in 1959, is “Superman” meets “Grease.” 

Walter, played by Scott County graduate Connor Hall, is the teenage version of Clark Kent. Thanks to a science experiment gone wrong, Walter discovers that he has x-ray vision, and he is learning how to fly. He develops his alter-ego Wonderboy, who is all about ‘doing good.’

McGee wrote the script in the Seventies for the Palm Beach Children’s Theatre in Florida. It was intended for “any kid old enough to understand a comic book,” he explained, and its main purpose was for laughs. He found the dusty script this year while attempting to clean out his basement, and decided to try it out on Georgetown.

So like all great superheroes, “Wonderboy” is being brought back from his dormant slumber of 30-plus years. He will be facing the many trials of high school and bizarre creatures like the “Hot-dog Monster” (Chris Bartlett), “Cheese-Whiz Monster” (Ashley Conover) and the “Pepsi-Cola Monster” (Meredith Cave). He will fall in love with Darlene (played by Amanda Williamson), and she will be torn between the soft-spoken Walter and the mysterious Wonderboy.

Director McGee has been constantly changing his original script, shaping the story around his actors. The show could even be classified as a musical as it includes original songs by McGee himself, and a live band called “The Prairie Dogs.”

There are five performances with curtain times of 7:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 30; and 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 1 and Sunday, Dec. 2, in the College’s Ruth Pearce Wilson Lab Theatre, corner of Mulberry and College streets.

Tickets are $5 for adults $5 and $3 for students $3. Reserve your seats through the College bookstore, 502-863-8134.

The cast, from left-to-right, in the photograph above: Shay McCleavy, junior from Brandeburg; Liz Duccilli (hidden behind Wonderboy), sophomore from Cincinnati; Connor Hall, Scott County High School graduate; Alex Caudill, freshman from Henderson; Fiona McElrath, freshman from Altadena, CA; Elizabeth Foote, junior from Independence; Natalie Alexakos (on stool), freshman from Georgetown; Amanda Williamson, senior from Simpsonville; Chris Bartlett, sophomore from Louisville; Cheryl Brumley, senior from Louisville; Alyssa Hendricks, freshman from Crestwood; Sam Adams, sophomore from Shelbyville; and seated, Meredith Cave, senior from Nicholasville; and Allie White, sophomore from Lawrenceburg.

Georgetown, KY – Far be it for Georgetown College Choir director John Campbell to throw his audience a red herring – especially at Christmas time. But, his choirs are changing up their usual holiday fare a bit with the “Mystery and Messiah” concert that needs some explanation.

The “mystery” will be cleared up – as well as a treat to hear – at 3 p.m., Sunday (Dec. 2) in the College’s John L. Hill Chapel. The concert is free and open to the public.

Dr. Campbell said the mystery comes as three settings of “O magnum mysterium.” When translated, the title means “Oh great mystery,” and it speaks about the wonder that is the birth of Jesus. 

The first setting is by Renaissance composer Tomás Luis de Victoria, the other two by contemporary composers Morten Lauridsen and Ivo Antognini. Campbell had the chance to meet the latter two in person at the World Choir Games 2012 in Cincinnati this past summer.

The choir director said that the concert will “have some element that appeals to every member of the audience.” The music mixes old and new, with Handel’s famous “Hallelujah” chorus and the 20th century “Fanfares” by American David Pinkham.

There will be a guest appearance by the Chapel Brass, directed by Dr. H.M. Lewis. There will also be an appearance by Campbell’s Liberal Arts Voice Class, who will be accompanying the choir on handbells to “Carol Medley.” This is one of Dr. Campbell’s own arrangements of Christmas carols.

Georgetown, KY - First-round NAIA Championship playoff action begins at 3:30 p.m. this Saturday, November 17, at Toyota Stadium/iHigh Field. Our undefeated No. 1 Tigers go against No. 18 Bethel – sure to be an excellent matchup since the visitors have a six-game winning streak going since GC beat them, 63-21, during the regular season.

For those who can’t be there to cheer in person, view the game on Fox College Sports Atlantic (533 on Insight in the Lexington area; 252 in Georgetown and surrounding Time-Warner cable systems). Those on other cable systems and satellite subscribers to Direct TV should check your local listings.

Alumni can purchase first-round playoff tickets at regular season prices until Thursday, November 15, at midnight! After that, Friday and Saturday, only full-priced NAIA playoff tickets will be available.

Through Thursday midnight, Bleacher seats are $10, bleacher-back seats are $12 and chair-back seats are $15! Children under 6 are $5. After Thursday night and at the gate, tickets will be $20, $24, and $30 respectively.

So purchase your tickets NOW for Saturday’s playoff game!  To purchase online, click on this tickets link.

If you prefer to order by phone, call Austin Sparks at 502.863.8222 or email him at austin_sparks@georgetowncollege.edu.

Also, be sure to purchase your Alumni and Friends tent event tickets for $5 per person, which includes a Chili bar, hot dogs and cookies. (Adults and children, same price) The tent event starts at 2:30 p.m. To purchase your ticket for the Alumni and Friends tent, click again on the above link.

We will also have face painting for the children and you and the kids can have your picture taken with the Tiger!

President’s Club members will also have a chance to win tickets to the 2^nd round of the NAIA playoffs. And there will be door prizes for everyone to register to win!

Remember, kickoff is at a special time this week at 3:30 p.m. due to Fox College Sports (ATLANTIC) coverage.

GC is 7-0 against the Wildcats all-time. The win this season marked coaches Bill Cronin’s, Craig Mullins’, Bruce Owens’, Steve Hill’s and Marty Park’s 150th with the Orange & Black.

“Bethel is a very good team,” Cronin said. “They started the season as No. 11 in the nation, went 2-2 early on trying to find a rhythm under first-year head coach Chris Elliot. They left here 2-3 and finished the season on six-straight wins.

“I expect it to be a great game and a tough first-round matchup.”