University Singers to Perform at New York City's Carnegie Hall April 8

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Join the University Singers at Eastern Kentucky University.

Of course, as the old joke goes, it does help to practice, and 31 EKU students will realize the benefits of all their hard work and experience a “once-in-lifetime opportunity” Monday, April 8, when they perform in the fabled New York City concert venue.

Under the direction of Dr. Richard Waters, the University Singers will perform six selections as part of a program that also features a large masterworks choir comprised of singers from across the U.S.

“We submitted recordings of some of our performances from last year to Manhattan Concert Productions, a New York-based company that brings together ensembles from across the country to perform at some of the world’s greatest concert venues,” Waters said. “Based on those recordings, we were invited by MCP to perform on their concert series.”

The students have held several fund-raisers to support the trip, partnering with Old Kentucky Chocolates, Belk and Applebees. In addition, as a result of performances throughout the region, the group has received assistance from the Cecilian Club, Appalachian Children’s Home, Centenary United Methodist Church in Lexington, and individual donors.

The premier choral ensemble at EKU, the University Singers are comprised of singers selected on the basis of auditions at the beginning of each fall semester.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our students to perform in one of the world’s most revered concert halls,” Waters said. “The students in the University Singers recognize and embrace their role as representatives and ambassadors for the University, the community of Richmond, and the state of Kentucky whenever they go on tour.”

Since it opened in 1891, Carnegie Hall has “been the premier classical music performance in the United States,” Waters said. “Every major performer of the last 120 years has graced its stage. The chance to make music in the same space as Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Horowitz, Copland, Bernstein and Pavarotti is extraordinary.”

The University Singers will perform “Christus est natus,” by Damijan Mocnik; “God Is Gone Up,” by Ned Rorem; “Nelly Bly,” arranged by John Halloran; “Ne Sedi, Djemo,” a Bosnian folk song arranged by Steven Sametz; “Fountain of Life;” a new composition that Waters wrote specifically for University Singers; and “I Can Feel the Spirit,” by Jeffery Ames.

In addition to the Carnegie Hall performance, the EKU group also will provide music for a Sunday worship service at Christ Church Riverdale in the Bronx, where EKU alum Tim Brumfield is director of music. The students will also have time to attend opera and/or Broadway performances and see other Big Apple sights.

View the original article here

Read More

EPA GRANT AWARDED TO DR. DANE SCOTT, EAST CENTRAL UNIVERSITY; GROUP TO PRESENT WORK IN WASHINGTON D.C. ON APRIL 19

ECU's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students,
faculty, staff and community interact to educate students for life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Central University Communications and Marketing580-559-5650 or 405-812-1428 (cell)

These three East Central University students (from left) Josh Smith, Cody Soden and Laura Blanco-Berdugo, along with Dr. Dane Scott, of the ECU Department of Chemistry, are headed to Washington D.C. later this month to present their work after being awarded a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency last fall.

- # # # -

Environmental issues are important at East Central University and Dr. Dane W. Scott, in the Department of Chemistry, is at the forefront of making them valid.

Scott and ECU was recently chosen by the Environmental Protection Agency for a 2012-2013 P3 Award, a national student design competition for sustainability, focusing on people, prosperity and the planet. 

This grant is the only one awarded to an individual and institution in the state of Oklahoma.

The EPA grant is called Making a Solid State Organic Photovoltaic Cell More Efficient and Economically Beneficial: The Relationship Between Dielectric Constant, Exciton Diffusion Length and Efficiency.

The study focuses on solar cells that are devices that convert solar energy into electricity but are not used in everyday lives as they have limitations due to cost, availability, stability and lack of efficiency.

Scott’s approach to studying this problem will use charged polymeric membranes to increase the dielectric constant of the solar cell with the goal of improving stability, lowering cost and increasing efficiency of solid state organic cells.

Scott and ECU students have been working on the project. Josh Smith, a senior from Ardmore; Cody Soden, a senior from Owasso; and Laura Blanco-Berdugo, of Colombia; along with Scott will present their work at the National Mall in Washington D.C. on April 19.

Details of this study can be found at http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/9851/
report/0.

- # # # -

View the original article here

Read More

“STOMP OUT SEXUAL ASSAULT” EVENT SET FOR APRIL 6 IN ADA

ECU's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students,
faculty, staff and community interact to educate students for life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Central University Communications and Marketing580-559-5650 or 405-812-1428 (cell)

“Stomp out Sexual Assault”, a community-wide awareness day, will be held on Saturday, April 6, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Wintersmith Park in Ada.

East Central University’s Campus Initiative to Reduce Crime Against Women (CIRCAW) in partnership with The Chickasaw Nation, Family Crisis Center and the Pontotoc County District Attorney’s Office is staging the event in conjunction with April’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

The event will feature a 5K walk, free hamburgers, entertainment and other free park activities.

For more information on the event contact ECU CIRCAW Program Coordinator Peggy Saunkeah at 580-559-5892.

- # # # -

View the original article here

Read More

ECU SINGERS, UNIVERSITY CHORALE, WIND ENSEMBLE, WOMEN’S CHORUS SET CONCERT FOR APRIL 22 AT ADA’S ST. JOSEPH CATHOLIC CHURCH

ECU's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students,
faculty, staff and community interact to educate students for life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Central University Communications and Marketing580-559-5650 or 405-812-1428 (cell)

The East Central University Singers, University Chorale, Wind Ensemble and Women’s Chorus will perform a concert on Monday, April 22, at 7:30 p.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Ada.

Begrabnisgesang (Burial Song), opus 13, will be performed by the Wind Ensemble and ECU Singers. Written by the 19th century master, Johannes Brahms, opus 13 is one of the very few examples of a composition written for wind ensemble and mixed chorus.

The Singers will perform Austrian composer Michael Haydn’s Petite et Accipietes (Ask and you will receive, John 16) with the assistance of Dr. Starla Hibler, professor of music. Also, the Singers will perform a recent setting of O Magnum Mysterium (O Great Mystery), a responsorial chant from the Matins of Christmas by the contemporary choral composer, Dr. Z. Randall Stroope, of Oklahoma State University. O Magnum Mysterium was copyrighted in 2010.

Finally, the Singers will perform a vivacious arrangement of the Battle of Jericho by the late and great arranger of spirituals, Moses Hogan.

The ECU Women’s Chorus will sign a lovely setting of Ave Maria (Hail Mary) by the contemporary composer Dr. Guy Forbes of Milliken University in Decatur, Ill.

The University Chorale will introduce a work by ECU’s resident choral composers, Victoria Davison and Rudy Lupinski. The Song of Ruth, a very beautiful setting of Ruth 1:16-17, was pinned in 2012 for mixed chorus, piano, harpsichord and recorder. The University Chorale will be assisted by Lupinski at the piano, ECU senior piano major Carissa Rogers at the keyboard and ECU faculty member Juliana Overmier on the flute.

The University Chorale will also present Tota pulchra es, a lovely setting of one of the Five Antiphons for the Psalms of Second Vespers for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Composed by Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo, Tota pulchra es was composed in 2001. Finally, the Chorale will sing a setting of the Ambrosian chant O salutaris hostia. The piece was  published in 2001 and written by Vytautas Miskinis, a Lithuanian composer and professor who has been the chorale director of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater Conservatory since 1985.

The Wind Ensemble is under the direction of Dr. Allen Correll, director of bands. The ECU Singers, University Chorale and ECU Women’s Chorus are under the direction of Dr. J. Steven Walker, directory of choral activities.

The concert is free and open to the public.

- # # # -

View the original article here

Read More

FRESHMAN ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP ENROLLMENT SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 13-20

ECU's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students,
faculty, staff and community interact to educate students for life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Central University Communications and Marketing580-559-5650 or 405-812-1428 (cell)

East Central University’s Freshmen Academic Scholarship Enrollment is scheduled for April 13, 16, 17, 18 and 20.

Registration each day will take place from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. in the Bill S. Cole University Center on the ECU campus. That will be followed by a welcome meeting and information on ECU’s Tuition Lock Program, HigherOne Program, Honors Program, Disability Services, sECUre Success, ECU Bookstore and the enrollment process in the Estep Multi-Media Center inside the Bill S. Cole University Center.

Advisement and enrollment, along with parent orientation sessions, will take place from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Estep Center. Also scheduled during that time frame is information on applying for student housing and financial assistance. A housing tour is set for 4 p.m.

For more information, contact B.J. Echard at the ECU Office of Enrollment at 580-559-5806.

- # # # -

View the original article here

Read More

SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS MONTH EVENT BEING HELD AT ECU APRIL 16

ECU's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students,
faculty, staff and community interact to educate students for life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Central University Communications and Marketing580-559-5650 or 405-812-1428 (cell)

East Central University’s Campus Initiative to Reduce Crime Against Women (CIRCAW) and Empowering You and Educating Students (EYES) will host a campus Sexual Assault Awareness Month event on Tuesday, April 16, at 7 p.m.

The community-wide event is designed to raise awareness of the blight of sexual assault victimization which not only affects victims but communities.

The event is affiliated with National Walk a Mile in her Shoes. Campus teams of two men and two women will be formed. The teams will share a pair of high heels on a mile course throughout the upper level in campus, starting at the Bill S. Cole University Plaza toward Science Hall and across the mall with a turnaround point at the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center.

EYES will have stations at each quarter mile to ensure that the high heels are passed. Recruitment started on April 1 and there is no registration fee. The winning team will receive a traveling ‘spike heel’ trophy which will be exhibited in the University Center until the next event. T-shirts will be sold by EYES as food and other activities will be available.

ECU President John Hargrave will be the grand marshal.

For more information, contact the CIRCAW office at 580-559-5892 or circaw@ecok.edu or CIRCAW Director Sonya Chronister at 580-559-5382 or schronis@ecok.edu.

- # # # -

View the original article here

Read More

EVENING OF WORSHIP BEING PRESENTED BY ECU SACRED MUSIC PROGRAM ON TUESDAY, APRIL 23

ECU's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students,
faculty, staff and community interact to educate students for life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Central University Communications and Marketing580-559-5650 or 405-812-1428 (cell)

The East Central University Gospel Singers and students from ECU’s Sacred Music Program will present an Evening of Worship on Tuesday, April 23 at 7:30 p.m. at Grace Christian Fellowship Church in Ada.

Some of the selections by the ECU Gospel Singers will include Hallelujah Anyhow and Order My Steps, as well as other familiar praise songs.

The ECU Gospel Singers include the following students: Sarah Barnes, of Sulphur; Laci Jo Barringer, Pryor; Kendall Carter, Sulphur; Krysta Cassell, Bristow; Justin Cody,  Tecumseh; Steve Filkins, Oklahoma City; Zach Garcia, Ada; Kevin Gottman; Morgan Harper, Comanche; Chenaniah Heath, Poteau; Chloe Henry, Stratford; Joshua Hudson, Seminole; Naomi Long, McAlester; Tommy Long, Tecumseh; Kathleen Madden, Byars; Jordan Myers, Sapulpa; Kendra Parker,  Norman; Myranda Spencer, Henryetta; Shay Standingwater, Tulsa; Trevor Sutton, Tupelo; Ashley Tucker, Sasakwa; and Meleah Underwood, Stratford.

Grace Christian Fellowship Church is located at 15900 County Road, 3563 Loop, in Ada.

- # # # -

View the original article here

Read More

‘PICNIC’ BEING PERFORMED AT ECU, APRIL 18-20

ECU's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students,
faculty, staff and community interact to educate students for life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Central University Communications and Marketing580-559-5650 or 405-812-1428 (cell) 

Picnic, a play which won the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, will be performed by students from the East Central University School of Fine Arts on April 18-20 at the Chalmers Herman Theatre inside the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center.

Picnic is one of William Inge’s most popular works, along with Bus Stop and Splendor in the Grass.

The setting for Picnic is in a small Kansas town not too far from the Oklahoma border. Its Labor Day weekend and members of the audience visit the backyards of two middle-aged widows, Flo Owens and Helen Potts. Flo has two daughters, 16-year-old Millie and 19-year-old Madge, who is dating the son of a wealthy and influential local businessman.

Flo also rents a room to schoolteacher Rosemary Sidney. Helen Potts takes care of her elderly, invalid mother and occasionally hires vagabonds to work in exchange for food. Along comes Hal Carter whose personality and animal vitality upsets everyone. A former athlete, Hal poses a temptation to the women, especially the young daughters, Madge and Millie.

The realistic romantic drama/comedy is full of laughter and pathos.

The cast includes Amanda Hughes as Flo Owens; Micah Worcester as the energetic and intelligent Millie; Rachel Hayes as the bored beauty Madge; Angelina Tinker as Mrs. Potts; Mason Gibson as Rosemary Sidney; Wyatt Freeman as her friend Howard Bevans who runs a notions and novelty shop in nearby Cherryvale; Domineque Carey as the vagabond Hal Carter; Ben Eckart as rich kid Alan Seymour; Cheyney Jo Taylor and Haley Cantrell as Rosemary’s friends and fellow schoolteachers; and Cristian Nazario-Cruz as Boomer, the local newspaper boy.

For the non-season pass holders, tickets are $10 for the general public and $9 for senior citizens and children of any age. Admission is free for ECU students, faculty and staff. Seating is limited, so will call reservations are available by calling 580-559-5751 or visiting the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center Box Office Monday through Friday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets still available will be sold the nights of the shows, starting at 6:45 p.m.

- # # # -

View the original article here

Read More

Scholars Assembly April 5 Honors Academic Stars

Eastern Kentucky University will hold its annual Scholars Assembly on Friday, April 5.

The event, at 9:30 a.m. in Walnut Hall of the Keen Johnson Building, will honor the recipients of major awards from each of the academic colleges, the Graduate School and Phi Kappa Phi, as well as recognize national scholarship nominees, Honors Scholars, Phi Kappa Phi initiates, and participants in the Undergraduate Presentation Showcase and Posters-at-the-Capitol. Families of the major award winners have been invited to attend. The campus community is invited as well.

Betina Gardner, dean of libraries at EKU, will preside, and EKU President Doug Whitlock will bring remarks. The deans from the respective colleges will present the awards, and the recipients will speak briefly about their Eastern experience.

The event is sponsored by the EKU Libraries, the President’s Office, Provost’s Office and Division of Public Relations.

View the original article here

Read More

BOSWELL LECTURE SCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY, APRIL 16 AT ECU

ECU's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students,
faculty, staff and community interact to educate students for life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Central University Communications and Marketing580-559-5650 or 405-812-1428 (cell)

Chief Program Officer Kristen Cambell, of the Washington, D.C. based National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC), will be the guest speaker at the 2013 Boswell Lecture on Tuesday at 2 p.m. at East Central University’s Estep Multimedia Center in the Bill S. Cole University Center.

The Boswell Lecture will feature remarks from Cambell, followed by a presentation of the Civic Health Index findings by a team of University of Central Oklahoma graduate students, led by Lauren Craig and under the direction of Dr. Janelle Grellner. This will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Cambell and questions from the audience.

Cambell, an ECU graduate and a native of Norman, is responsible for researching, developing and implementing all programs and special initiatives for the NCoC, including the Annual Conference, The Civic 50, NCoC.net, and the Civic Health Index portfolio.

A Civic Health Index Summit will take place from 12:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. at the Stanley P. Wagner Ballroom inside the Memorial Student Union. The public is invited to join ECU students in small group discussions related to the index. A facilitator will lead the discussion at each table of 6-10 participants. Anyone who would like to take part in the summit is invited to simply be in the ballroom of the student union by 12:30 p.m.

Dr. Pat Fountain serves as ECU’s S.C. Boswell Professor and coordinates the events. The S.C. Boswell Award, based on effective classroom teaching, professional development, involvement in student activities and contributions to the department, school and university, is presented to a faculty member in ECU’s School of Business.

The recipient receives a stipend based on income from the S.C. Boswell Memorial Charitable Trust and sponsors a free, public lecture or forum on topics of interest related to business.

Boswell was a respected Ada businessman who served on the Board of Regents for Oklahoma Colleges for 18 years. He donated funds for the construction of ECU’s Boswell Chapel in memory of his wife Kathryn. He helped organize the Ada Industrial Development Corporation and establish Valley View Regional Hospital in 1935. Boswell was president of the hospital’s board of directors for 12 years.

The Boswell Trust was established through the ECU Foundation Inc. in 1975 by Boswell’s daughters, Sara Boswell and Jane Boswell Maher, in order to help attract and hold outstanding faculty members in business.

Fountain holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from ECU, a master’s degree in regional science from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and both a master’s degree in human relations and supervision and a doctor of business administration degree from Louisiana Tech University.

He is a past president of the Association of Collegiate Marketing Educators, the Career Guidance Network of Oklahoma and the Ada Rotary Club. He is secretary of the ECU Alumni Association and the cubmaster of Ada’s Pack 4 and assistant scoutmaster in Ada’s Troop 4 where his son, Nathan, is a Scout.

Fountain also is an adviser or co-adviser for several ECU student organizations. He is married to Dr. Usha Fountain, a professor in ECU’s Psychology Department. He is a former Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar and a past recipient of the ECU Teaching Excellence Award.

- # # # -

View the original article here

Read More

ECU WIND ENSEMBLE CONCERT MOVED FROM APRIL 18 TO APRIL 29

ECU's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students,
faculty, staff and community interact to educate students for life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Central University Communications and Marketing580-559-5650 or 405-812-1428 (cell)

East Central University’s Wind Ensemble Spring Concert has been moved from Thursday, March 18, to Monday, March 29, at 7:30 p.m.at the Ataloa Theatre of the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center.

The concert will feature student pianist Claire Marquardt, of Poteau and winner of ECU’s Second Annual Concerto Competition, as she will perform George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the wind ensemble.

- # # # -

View the original article here

Read More

Scholars Assembly April 5 Honors Academic Stars

Eastern Kentucky University will hold its annual Scholars Assembly on Friday, April 5.

The event, at 9:30 a.m. in Walnut Hall of the Keen Johnson Building, will honor the recipients of major awards from each of the academic colleges, the Graduate School and Phi Kappa Phi, as well as recognize national scholarship nominees, Honors Scholars, Phi Kappa Phi initiates, and participants in the Undergraduate Presentation Showcase and Posters-at-the-Capitol. Families of the major award winners have been invited to attend. The campus community is invited as well.

Betina Gardner, dean of libraries at EKU, will preside, and EKU President Doug Whitlock will bring remarks. The deans from the respective colleges will present the awards, and the recipients will speak briefly about their Eastern experience.

The event is sponsored by the EKU Libraries, the President’s Office, Provost’s Office and Division of Public Relations.

View the original article here

Read More

BOSWELL LECTURE SCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY, APRIL 16 AT ECU

ECU's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students,
faculty, staff and community interact to educate students for life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Central University Communications and Marketing580-559-5650 or 405-812-1428 (cell)

Chief Program Officer Kristen Cambell, of the Washington, D.C. based National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC), will be the guest speaker at the 2013 Boswell Lecture on Tuesday at 2 p.m. at East Central University’s Estep Multimedia Center in the Bill S. Cole University Center.

The Boswell Lecture will feature remarks from Cambell, followed by a presentation of the Civic Health Index findings by a team of University of Central Oklahoma graduate students, led by Lauren Craig and under the direction of Dr. Janelle Grellner. This will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Cambell and questions from the audience.

Cambell, an ECU graduate and a native of Norman, is responsible for researching, developing and implementing all programs and special initiatives for the NCoC, including the Annual Conference, The Civic 50, NCoC.net, and the Civic Health Index portfolio.

A Civic Health Index Summit will take place from 12:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. at the Stanley P. Wagner Ballroom inside the Memorial Student Union. The public is invited to join ECU students in small group discussions related to the index. A facilitator will lead the discussion at each table of 6-10 participants. Anyone who would like to take part in the summit is invited to simply be in the ballroom of the student union by 12:30 p.m.

Dr. Pat Fountain serves as ECU’s S.C. Boswell Professor and coordinates the events. The S.C. Boswell Award, based on effective classroom teaching, professional development, involvement in student activities and contributions to the department, school and university, is presented to a faculty member in ECU’s School of Business.

The recipient receives a stipend based on income from the S.C. Boswell Memorial Charitable Trust and sponsors a free, public lecture or forum on topics of interest related to business.

Boswell was a respected Ada businessman who served on the Board of Regents for Oklahoma Colleges for 18 years. He donated funds for the construction of ECU’s Boswell Chapel in memory of his wife Kathryn. He helped organize the Ada Industrial Development Corporation and establish Valley View Regional Hospital in 1935. Boswell was president of the hospital’s board of directors for 12 years.

The Boswell Trust was established through the ECU Foundation Inc. in 1975 by Boswell’s daughters, Sara Boswell and Jane Boswell Maher, in order to help attract and hold outstanding faculty members in business.

Fountain holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from ECU, a master’s degree in regional science from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and both a master’s degree in human relations and supervision and a doctor of business administration degree from Louisiana Tech University.

He is a past president of the Association of Collegiate Marketing Educators, the Career Guidance Network of Oklahoma and the Ada Rotary Club. He is secretary of the ECU Alumni Association and the cubmaster of Ada’s Pack 4 and assistant scoutmaster in Ada’s Troop 4 where his son, Nathan, is a Scout.

Fountain also is an adviser or co-adviser for several ECU student organizations. He is married to Dr. Usha Fountain, a professor in ECU’s Psychology Department. He is a former Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar and a past recipient of the ECU Teaching Excellence Award.

- # # # -

View the original article here

Read More

‘PICNIC’ BEING PERFORMED AT ECU, APRIL 18-20

ECU's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students,
faculty, staff and community interact to educate students for life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Central University Communications and Marketing580-559-5650 or 405-812-1428 (cell) 

Picnic, a play which won the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, will be performed by students from the East Central University School of Fine Arts on April 18-20 at the Chalmers Herman Theatre inside the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center.

Picnic is one of William Inge’s most popular works, along with Bus Stop and Splendor in the Grass.

The setting for Picnic is in a small Kansas town not too far from the Oklahoma border. Its Labor Day weekend and members of the audience visit the backyards of two middle-aged widows, Flo Owens and Helen Potts. Flo has two daughters, 16-year-old Millie and 19-year-old Madge, who is dating the son of a wealthy and influential local businessman.

Flo also rents a room to schoolteacher Rosemary Sidney. Helen Potts takes care of her elderly, invalid mother and occasionally hires vagabonds to work in exchange for food. Along comes Hal Carter whose personality and animal vitality upsets everyone. A former athlete, Hal poses a temptation to the women, especially the young daughters, Madge and Millie.

The realistic romantic drama/comedy is full of laughter and pathos.

The cast includes Amanda Hughes as Flo Owens; Micah Worcester as the energetic and intelligent Millie; Rachel Hayes as the bored beauty Madge; Angelina Tinker as Mrs. Potts; Mason Gibson as Rosemary Sidney; Wyatt Freeman as her friend Howard Bevans who runs a notions and novelty shop in nearby Cherryvale; Domineque Carey as the vagabond Hal Carter; Ben Eckart as rich kid Alan Seymour; Cheyney Jo Taylor and Haley Cantrell as Rosemary’s friends and fellow schoolteachers; and Cristian Nazario-Cruz as Boomer, the local newspaper boy.

For the non-season pass holders, tickets are $10 for the general public and $9 for senior citizens and children of any age. Admission is free for ECU students, faculty and staff. Seating is limited, so will call reservations are available by calling 580-559-5751 or visiting the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center Box Office Monday through Friday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets still available will be sold the nights of the shows, starting at 6:45 p.m.

- # # # -

View the original article here

Read More

Memorial Service April 24 to Honor Lives and Contributions to Members of Eastern Family

A University-wide memorial service will be held Wednesday, April 24 to honor and celebrate the lives and contributions of members of the Eastern Kentucky University family – current and retired faculty and staff and students – who have died since April 2012.

The service, at 4 p.m. in the Meditation Chapel, will include remarks from President Whitlock and other University officials.

The event will honor students Caleb Blair, Kimberly Burton, Ernie Gillis, Kelly Harty, Douglas Hopper, Seth Taylor Myatt, Thomas Newsome, Cloyd Pearson, Ashley Slone, Kyle Thacker; staff members J.C. (Whitie) Agee, Roger Cain, Rosie Cain, Mary Coyle, Hanly Funderburk, Bobby Howard, Wanda Sue Lainhart, Diana Stapleton, Karyn Kuhn Yates, Bobby Young; and faculty members William Clay, Homer Davis, Charlotte Denny, Fred Engle, Dean Gatwood, Timothy Kiogora, John C. Lawson, Mary Jo McClure, Nancy Peel, Gil Rosenberg, Homer Tracy, and Clifford Wilson.

Family, friends and members of the campus community are invited to attend. For more information about the event, call the office of the University Chaplain, 859-622-1723.

View the original article here

Read More

University Singers to Perform at New York City's Carnegie Hall April 8

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Join the University Singers at Eastern Kentucky University.

Of course, as the old joke goes, it does help to practice, and 31 EKU students will realize the benefits of all their hard work and experience a “once-in-lifetime opportunity” Monday, April 8, when they perform in the fabled New York City concert venue.

Under the direction of Dr. Richard Waters, the University Singers will perform six selections as part of a program that also features a large masterworks choir comprised of singers from across the U.S.

“We submitted recordings of some of our performances from last year to Manhattan Concert Productions, a New York-based company that brings together ensembles from across the country to perform at some of the world’s greatest concert venues,” Waters said. “Based on those recordings, we were invited by MCP to perform on their concert series.”

The students have held several fund-raisers to support the trip, partnering with Old Kentucky Chocolates, Belk and Applebees. In addition, as a result of performances throughout the region, the group has received assistance from the Cecilian Club, Appalachian Children’s Home, Centenary United Methodist Church in Lexington, and individual donors.

The premier choral ensemble at EKU, the University Singers are comprised of singers selected on the basis of auditions at the beginning of each fall semester.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our students to perform in one of the world’s most revered concert halls,” Waters said. “The students in the University Singers recognize and embrace their role as representatives and ambassadors for the University, the community of Richmond, and the state of Kentucky whenever they go on tour.”

Since it opened in 1891, Carnegie Hall has “been the premier classical music performance in the United States,” Waters said. “Every major performer of the last 120 years has graced its stage. The chance to make music in the same space as Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Horowitz, Copland, Bernstein and Pavarotti is extraordinary.”

The University Singers will perform “Christus est natus,” by Damijan Mocnik; “God Is Gone Up,” by Ned Rorem; “Nelly Bly,” arranged by John Halloran; “Ne Sedi, Djemo,” a Bosnian folk song arranged by Steven Sametz; “Fountain of Life;” a new composition that Waters wrote specifically for University Singers; and “I Can Feel the Spirit,” by Jeffery Ames.

In addition to the Carnegie Hall performance, the EKU group also will provide music for a Sunday worship service at Christ Church Riverdale in the Bronx, where EKU alum Tim Brumfield is director of music. The students will also have time to attend opera and/or Broadway performances and see other Big Apple sights.

View the original article here

Read More

“STOMP OUT SEXUAL ASSAULT” EVENT SET FOR APRIL 6 IN ADA

ECU's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students,
faculty, staff and community interact to educate students for life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Central University Communications and Marketing580-559-5650 or 405-812-1428 (cell)

“Stomp out Sexual Assault”, a community-wide awareness day, will be held on Saturday, April 6, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Wintersmith Park in Ada.

East Central University’s Campus Initiative to Reduce Crime Against Women (CIRCAW) in partnership with The Chickasaw Nation, Family Crisis Center and the Pontotoc County District Attorney’s Office is staging the event in conjunction with April’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

The event will feature a 5K walk, free hamburgers, entertainment and other free park activities.

For more information on the event contact ECU CIRCAW Program Coordinator Peggy Saunkeah at 580-559-5892.

- # # # -

View the original article here

Read More

EPA GRANT AWARDED TO DR. DANE SCOTT, EAST CENTRAL UNIVERSITY; GROUP TO PRESENT WORK IN WASHINGTON D.C. ON APRIL 19

ECU's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students,
faculty, staff and community interact to educate students for life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Central University Communications and Marketing580-559-5650 or 405-812-1428 (cell)

These three East Central University students (from left) Josh Smith, Cody Soden and Laura Blanco-Berdugo, along with Dr. Dane Scott, of the ECU Department of Chemistry, are headed to Washington D.C. later this month to present their work after being awarded a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency last fall.

- # # # -

Environmental issues are important at East Central University and Dr. Dane W. Scott, in the Department of Chemistry, is at the forefront of making them valid.

Scott and ECU was recently chosen by the Environmental Protection Agency for a 2012-2013 P3 Award, a national student design competition for sustainability, focusing on people, prosperity and the planet. 

This grant is the only one awarded to an individual and institution in the state of Oklahoma.

The EPA grant is called Making a Solid State Organic Photovoltaic Cell More Efficient and Economically Beneficial: The Relationship Between Dielectric Constant, Exciton Diffusion Length and Efficiency.

The study focuses on solar cells that are devices that convert solar energy into electricity but are not used in everyday lives as they have limitations due to cost, availability, stability and lack of efficiency.

Scott’s approach to studying this problem will use charged polymeric membranes to increase the dielectric constant of the solar cell with the goal of improving stability, lowering cost and increasing efficiency of solid state organic cells.

Scott and ECU students have been working on the project. Josh Smith, a senior from Ardmore; Cody Soden, a senior from Owasso; and Laura Blanco-Berdugo, of Colombia; along with Scott will present their work at the National Mall in Washington D.C. on April 19.

Details of this study can be found at http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/9851/
report/0.

- # # # -

View the original article here

Read More

FRESHMAN ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP ENROLLMENT SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 13-20

ECU's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students,
faculty, staff and community interact to educate students for life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Central University Communications and Marketing580-559-5650 or 405-812-1428 (cell)

East Central University’s Freshmen Academic Scholarship Enrollment is scheduled for April 13, 16, 17, 18 and 20.

Registration each day will take place from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. in the Bill S. Cole University Center on the ECU campus. That will be followed by a welcome meeting and information on ECU’s Tuition Lock Program, HigherOne Program, Honors Program, Disability Services, sECUre Success, ECU Bookstore and the enrollment process in the Estep Multi-Media Center inside the Bill S. Cole University Center.

Advisement and enrollment, along with parent orientation sessions, will take place from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Estep Center. Also scheduled during that time frame is information on applying for student housing and financial assistance. A housing tour is set for 4 p.m.

For more information, contact B.J. Echard at the ECU Office of Enrollment at 580-559-5806.

- # # # -

View the original article here

Read More

ECU WIND ENSEMBLE CONCERT MOVED FROM APRIL 18 TO APRIL 29

ECU's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students,
faculty, staff and community interact to educate students for life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Central University Communications and Marketing580-559-5650 or 405-812-1428 (cell)

East Central University’s Wind Ensemble Spring Concert has been moved from Thursday, March 18, to Monday, March 29, at 7:30 p.m.at the Ataloa Theatre of the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center.

The concert will feature student pianist Claire Marquardt, of Poteau and winner of ECU’s Second Annual Concerto Competition, as she will perform George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the wind ensemble.

- # # # -

View the original article here

Read More