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Oglethorpe Alumna Organizes Relief for Hurricane Sandy Victims
Posted by: | November 06, 2012 | CommentsIn the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which left millions of northeastern residents struggling, it’s hard to know what to do to help. With so much damage—and the resulting delays in travel and transportation, and subsequent delays in relief in the form of volunteers and supplies—the question that comes to mind is, where do we start?
Alumna Sharon (Rudy) Moskowitz ’82, who is the special events manager at Oglethorpe, has jumped right into the effort of organizing relief for those affected by Hurricane Sandy. Originally from the southern Jersey shore area (Atlantic City, Cape May, Margate), Sharon is determined to get materials and supplies where they are most needed. She’s started an initiative to get the Oglethorpe community involved in “making a difference” by organizing a drive for victims of Sandy.
“Oglethorpe was really involved with Katrina—and this is a completely different situation—but I want people to know this is happening,” said Sharon. “I want to get students involved in bringing the community together. I have this opportunity to embrace the students and get their response. We can’t sit back and not do anything.”
“It’s closer to home when you’ve grown up there,” she continued. “I want to hit the initial need, and then we’ll see what might be required beyond that. We’re seeking to help childcare centers and the Salvation Army in particular. The goal is to help the many families who have great need while restoring their homes and businesses ravaged by the storm. I have several friends who own businesses that are just not sure if they can re-open. Friends that have older parents that have huge clean-ups. So it is a bit of a nightmare.”
Students and staff members have already jumped on this chance to reach out to these hard hit communities. The Center for Civic Engagement and OU students will help with the packing and shipments of the items going to South Jersey.
You can help, too! The greatest needs are blankets of every size, toiletries, tarps, and rebuilding supplies. Donations may be dropped off at Sharon Moskowitz’s office on the second floor of Lupton Hall. The collection will be shipped Friday, November 9th at noon, with help from Brookhaven UPS shipping store, which is offering discounts and help to get the boxes on their way. You can also help by spreading the word about the drive by visiting and joining the effort’s Facebook page.
Questions? Contact Sharon at smoskowitz@oglethorpe.edu or call 404-364-8467.
First Annual Fall Festival Brings OU Community Together
Posted by: | October 30, 2012 | CommentsHundreds of students, parents and community members came out to celebrate Oglethorpe’s First Annual Fall Festival on a beautiful autumn weekend, making the event a rousing success!
The Fall Festival festivities included Night of the Arts, a historical tour of campus by alumnus Paul Hudson ’72, “A Taste of Oglethorpe” featuring local restaurants, artisans, and children’s activities, and then hot air balloon rides in the evening, sponsored by the Oglethorpe Student Government Association.
“The idea was to transform Parents’ Weekend into a festival atmosphere so that parents and their families could spend some quality time together,” said Robin Brandt, Oglethorpe’s Director of Experiential Learning.
The new tradition will continue next fall!
Night of the Arts: A Masterpiece
Posted by: | October 25, 2012 | Comments
As an editor of The Tower literary magazine, I would normally hesitate in writing about Night of the Arts. As much as I love the event, there is the possibility that my praises are biased. But this year, my “bias” seems to be shared by the OU community at large.
NOA, as we’ve started calling it, is an annual event held by The Tower to showcase the artistic talents of the OU community. In the past, we’ve held the event in Emerson; this year, with the new campus center construction underway, we moved to Lupton Auditorium, and students welcomed the change.
“It was bigger than ever,” said audience member Bethany Booth ’13. “The change of venue made it much better and clearer and the performances were lovely.”
“Night of the Arts is one of my favorite Oglethorpe traditions,” added Tes Beals ’13. “It was the first event I was able to take my family to as a freshman…(and) it really showcases our student body’s unique talents and the creativity that we all possess.”
As always, getting everything ready for NOA was an ordeal, but my fellow ‘tri-editors,’ Caitlyn Mitchell ’13 and Lindsey Mitchell ’13, agree that the results made the hard work worthwhile.
“This year was really encouraging—the biggest turnout we’ve ever had—which is a really positive indication of The Tower‘s growth,” said Caitlyn. ” After resurrecting The Tower two years ago, it’s been an uphill battle to get (it) back on its feet, and it’s good to know hard work is paying off and that people are getting more involved with and aware of the arts.”
Also celebrating this increased awareness is Dr. Hornback, who spoke about how essential the arts are, and how we are in danger of losing many potential great artists because of funding cuts for art programs across the country. It was a sobering moment among the festivities, but a crucial one, highlighting the importance of those performers on stage.
People of various backgrounds and interests joined together to create a stellar array of acts. Some of their performances included spoken word, piano performance, and vocals. Audience members really seemed to enjoy what they were watching—some even chose to participate!
“My favorite thing about this Night of the Arts was the involvement that we were able to enlist from the audience,” said Lindsey. “This year we really hit on a theme that many people could enjoy. We had our first impromptu dance routine and people from the audience actually joined in!” That dance, The Time Warp, was a perfect fit with our theme of Cult Cinema.
Out of everything that night, there is only one thing I would change—there were so many people attending that we ran out of cake pops (a complimentary snack for attendees) before I had the chance to eat one!
Night of the Arts is becoming a true work of art in its own right, and it’s thanks to the OU community, that the arts are allowed to flourish. Thank you to SGA for funding this event, to our advisor Dr. Taylor for supporting us, to The Tower staff for all your hard work and dedication, and to everyone who performed, assisted, and watched. It’s all thanks to you that Night of the Arts was such a success.
If you are interested in being published by The Tower (the literary magazine responsible for Night of the Arts), send submissions with your name, email, and phone number to Secretary Caitlyn Mitchell at oglethorpetower@yahoo.com or to cmitchell@oglethorpe.edu. The cut-off for submissions is tomorrow, October 26th!
EF @ OU: An International Education Partnership
Posted by: | October 22, 2012 | Comments
Exciting things are happening at Oglethorpe this year! In addition to the new scene shop and developing track and field and campus center, Oglethorpe just established a great partnership with Education First, or EF. As both an OU alum and an EF employee, I’m very excited to watch this partnership evolve! If you don’t know what EF is, we’re an international education company that aims to break down barriers of language, culture, and geography. We have more than 40 schools around the world, including sites in Boston, London, Rome, Paris, and Sydney, just to name a few.
Our site at Oglethorpe, referred to as EF Atlanta, is the newest EF school. Currently, our students come from a wide range of countries, such as France, Taiwan, Japan, and Colombia. Most students live on campus in the recently reopened Schmidt Residence Hall. Though our students live on campus and come abroad, they are different than the traditional OU international students. Unlike traditional international students, our students do not take OU classes; instead, they take English classes with our EF teachers. However, our students are almost identical to OU students in other ways: they eat in the cafeteria, pay activity and facility fees, and want to meet other students and make friendships while they are here.
In addition to occupying Schmidt, most of our classrooms and offices are located in the newly renovated lower level of Robinson Hall. If you haven’t checked out the new area, I highly encourage you to drop by! It’s incredible that a storage area can be transformed into such a beautiful spot in just a few short months!
Going forward, EF Atlanta aims to have 150-200 students, both on campus and with nearby host families. We also aspire to unite with existing groups on campus, so that EF and OU students can benefit from the combined resources and innovations of two amazing schools. Students can expect more co-planned activities with EF and OU, like our upcoming trip to Cirque du Soleil on October 26th. In the future, we hope to work with Oglethorpe’s study abroad program to offer a more comprehensive and diverse experience for OU students looking to learn another language while immersing themselves in another culture.
Current students can help us and OU out by showing our students the famous Oglethorpe hospitality, attending our many events, and introducing yourselves to our students! If you’re a local alum with an open room, you can help out by hosting one of our students. I think that this partnership is amazing for Oglethorpe, and I hope that yOU want to be a part of it with me. (Even as an alum, I can hardly resist the urge to underline or capitalize every consecutive “OU” that I come across!)
For more information, contact Justin at 404-547-0419 or email justin.sabree@EF.com.
Clinton Global Initiative: A Chance to Change the World
Posted by: | October 18, 2012 | CommentsDo you want to change the world? Here’s a place to start….
Last October, Awet Woldegebriel ’14 submitted an application to attend the fifth annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U), launched in 2007 by President Clinton to engage the next generation of leaders on college campuses around the world to turn ideas into action. CGI U builds on the successful model of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), which brings together world leaders to take action on global challenges.
Awet’s passion and commitment, coupled with his story of an early life as a refugee, stood out. He was not only invited to attend, but asked to be a speaker.
Awet was welcomed to the stage by The Daily Show‘s Jon Stewart, which he says was “a true honor.” During his speech, he talked about his nonprofit Knowledge Aid, which gathers and ships books from the United States to libraries in Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Kenya. “The initiative,” he explained, “is driven by an old but still widely referred to proverb that states: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
The goal of Knowledge
Aid is to make aid sustainable and to offer children the chance to enjoy their childhood through books. Awet, who still has memories of the devastation he faced in war-torn Ethiopia and his home country of Eritrea, was able to regain some of his lost childhood through reading books by Dr. Seuss.
“They made me laugh, they made me silly, they made me imagine what a full childhood would have been like,” he says. “And that is why my initiative is so important to me… whatever your initiative, make sure it does justice and represents the passion you have for it.”
Thanks to Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), Awet was able to meet and gain support for Knowledge Aid from many influential people, including former journalist Amanda Lindhout, musician Hugo Levy, supermodels Christie Brinkley and Anna Maria Lewiarz, and Argentinian Education Minister Esteban Bullrich. His facebook page for Knowledge Aid, which had 147 “likes” before the conference, now has over 2200.
Awet, who is now a CGI ambassador and recruiter, will be co-hosting an informational meeting with President Larry Schall on Monday, October 22, from 7:00-8:00 p.m. in Lupton Auditorium.
“We want to encourage more Oglethorpe students to take part in the conference and also grow their ideas,” said Awet. “You (will) have access to the people you don’t have access to, so your ideas can expand and grow through CGI. We will help you to accomplish those ideas and initiatives.”
If you’re interested in nonprofit work, social enterprise, or in giving back—then this meeting is for you! Come learn more about CGI’s purpose, benefits, and how you might get the chance to attend the next CGI meeting…and learn how you can propel your ideas and make a difference.
New Sophomore Tradition Celebrates the Legacy of Thornwell Jacobs
Posted by: | October 17, 2012 | CommentsIn early October, the Oglethorpe sophomore class gathered for the inaugural Thornwell Jacobs Legacy Celebration, a new annual tradition for the sophomore class. The event celebrated Thornwell Jacobs, Oglethorpe President from 1915-1943, who fulfilled a lifelong dream of restoring Oglethorpe to its present location on Peachtree Road in Atlanta.
Sophomore students gathered to learn interesting history and facts about President Jacobs and his mission from award-winning author and historian Dr. Paul Hudson ’72 . Later over dinner in the Great Hall of Hearst, students heard from Sophomore Class President Kurt Reynolds, Alumni Association Vice President Austin Gillis ’01, and Georgia State Representative Dar’Shun Kendrick ’04, an Alumni Association Board member who spoke about her OU experience and how it helped to shape her career and future.
Celebrate the Season at Oglethorpe’s First Annual Fall Festival
Posted by: | October 15, 2012 | Comments
Oglethorpe University will host its first annual Fall Festival this Friday and Saturday, October 19-20.
On Friday the festival begins with events for Oglethorpe parents, including a chance to sit in on classes from 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Later in the day, parents are invited to meet Eric Tack, director of the Academic Success Center, and to attend a seminar led by Dr. Jeffrey Collins about Oglethorpe’s study abroad opportunities. Friday’s activities end with Night of the Arts, an annual event put on by The Tower literary magazine to showcase the artistic talents of Oglethorpe’s students, faculty and staff. Expect a diverse range of acts, including spoken word, singing and piano.
Saturday’s invitation extends to the entire community! Experience “A Taste of Oglethorpe,” featuring local food vendors and artists from 12 noon-3 p.m. Enjoy face painting, games, a moon bounce, music from OU Radio Live and much more.
At 1:00 p.m., Oglethorpe alumnus Paul Hudson ’72 will lead a walking tour of Oglethorpe, providing interesting facts about our nearly 100-year-old campus. The OU Museum of Art, currently featuring the exhibit “Burden of Proof: National Identity and the Legacy of War,” will be open for visitors from 12:00 noon-5:00 p.m.
Read about all the exciting Fall Festival events and make your plans to celebrate the season here on campus!
“OU Unplugged” Connects Students and Alumni
Posted by: | October 12, 2012 | CommentsMeet the O Team—some of Oglethorpe’s most engaging students who share their stories about the Oglethorpe student experience at various alumni and campus events.
The O Team (l-r): Kai Street '14, Tirzah Brown '14, Stephanie Croston '13 and Weston Manders '12.
During Oglethorpe’s Fall Break on October 8-9, I had the incredible opportunity to accompany President Schall and Alumni Office staff to New York City as a member of the O Team to present “OU Unplugged,” a panel presentation about student life at Oglethorpe for New York area alumni.
Members of the O Team who traveled with me included Stephanie Crosten ’13, Kai Street ’14 and Weston Manders ’12. I had never been to New York City before so the whole experience was special from beginning to end. But, the star attraction of our trip was definitely the conversations we had with alumni gathered at the Charles Bank Gallery on the Lower East Side.
Before this trip, I was quite familiar with the passionate, interesting and all-together wonderful students at OU. However, I learned from my conversations at the event that alumni who graduated before I was even born share those same traits. Every person that I spoke with at the event is living a life of purpose.
I had the opportunity to connect with a fellow Alpha Phi Omega brother, discuss economics with a software engineer originally from Cameroon, and meet a sweet elderly couple that spends part of each year in my hometown of Ft. Myers, Fla. I treasured every conversation with each graduate and I enjoyed observing people who had never met each other connecting over their shared Oglethorpe experiences and memories.
Following the alumni event, my fellow travelers and I toured all over the city seeing as many sites as we could fit in to our 40-hour visit to the Big Apple. From Ellis Island to Times Square and Central Park, I loved the sights and sounds of New York City and can’t wait to return for another visit. I also look forward to attending alumni events when I graduate and meeting OU students of the future.
Oglethorpe’s Career Take Out: More Than Just a Meal!
Posted by: | October 11, 2012 | Comments
Oglethorpe students practiced their networking skills a few weeks ago by participating in Career Take Out—three community dinners planned by the Alumni Office and Career Services. About 20 students participated in the events, along with alumni and staff members. The program connects students who are focusing on their job search and preparation with Oglethorpe alumni in similar career fields.
Alumni in Atlanta graciously opened their homes to students for small dinner parties, bringing everyone together in a friendly environment for good food, conversation, career advice and camaraderie. This year’s event focused on three specific career/majors: English Communications, Pre-Law and undecided majors.
Janice McNeal ’97, a community volunteer and philanthropist, hosted the English/Communications group, along with Ashish Thakur ’99, executive director and CFO of The Indus Entrepreneurs of Atlanta, Megan Van Doran ’09, social marketing specialist for the InterContinental Hotels Group, and Danielle Hitchchock ’12, a marketing coordinator for the Heeney Company.
Deborah Lange ’03 , director of admissions for the Lovett School, and her husband Rocky Lange, a Financial Advisor for BB&T, hosted the Undecided group, along with alums Trevor Sheffield ’09, manager of marketing and customer relations at Geo Certs SSL, and Whitney Hockensmith ’09, customer service representative at Enterprise Fleet Management.
Joe ’91 and Andrea Shelton ’91 hosted the Pre- Law group. Joe is a partner in the Atlanta office of Fisher and Phillips LLC, and Andrea is an attorney and as well as president and founder of Heart Bound Ministries. Alex Johnson ’07, an attorney at Gillis and Creasy LLC, and Bobby Baker ’79, a partner at Freeman, Mathis and Gary, also joined the group.
La Tasha Bellamy, a senior majoring in Communication and Rhetoric Studies, felt participating was well worth it. “Attending gave us the opportunity to connect with one another and meet new and such resourceful and amazingly talented people within our degree/career interests.”
Felisha Ellison, a sophomore studying Communication also enjoyed the evening. “I participated in the Communications Networking dinner and found it to be extremely rewarding,” said Ellison. “I learned much valuable information, and met many new knowledgeable contacts. Thank you so much for organizing and helping to provide this special event for Oglethorpe students. It was a wonderful opportunity!”
Look out for the next Career Take Out, planned for the spring 2013 semester!
Amy Clemente, MS, NCC is the Career Counselor at Oglethorpe’s Center for Experiential Learning.
Finding My Way at the Modern Media Conference
Posted by: | October 05, 2012 | CommentsAs a senior at Oglethorpe, my current goals involve deciding where I want to go with my life, which paths I wish to embark upon and which journeys I will undertake. Ironically, on a physical plane, my navigational abilities are not exactly “present.” Maps and signs befuddle me, as do landmarks, and I can find myself getting lost in ways that are so bizarre as to be impressive… from a certain angle, that is. While my “impressive” skills at getting lost were no different at Georgia State’s Modern Media Conference (it took me half an hour to find the cafeteria), in a deeper sense, there was some direction to be found—the type of direction that every college senior ultimately desires.
Debra Bryant '12 and Marisa Manuel '13 at the conference
I chose to attend Georgia State’s conference because of my editor position with The Tower literary magazine, as well as my internship with Oglethorpe’s Pegasus Creative (the University Communication department’s newly-launched student communications agency that gives us the opportunity to gain real world experience in a collaborative team environment). The conference, held September 28-29, was packed with more than 20 guest speakers from major media outlets such as CNN, ESPN, WSB-TV, HLN, and WXIA. I was accompanied by Director of Communications Renee Vary, Assistant Director Debbie Aiken ’12, and Pegasus Creative’s Web Content Development Intern Debra Bryant ’12 (who also came on behalf of The Nightcap, the Evening Degree Program’s newsletter.)
The four of us had numerous lectures to choose from, some headed by photojournalists, others by newspaper editors, and a few by the professors at Georgia State themselves. The variety of seminars offered went far beyond what I had anticipated, and I used up an entire booklet taking notes on what was discussed.
Throughout the course of the day, I was able to attend five sessions, ranging from a passionate lecture called “Get to the Damn Point!” (something which I have admittedly not done yet—read on!) to an informative presentation on what makes student government an exciting body to report on. (As a member of our school’s SGA, this was especially topical for me!). Journalist and Editor Michael Koretzky ended the conference with several stories concerning his own experiences in the professional world; he encouraged the audience to “be fired for the right reason,” before recounting several situations in which he was fired for just that.
So, what is the “darn” point of me writing this? Well, there are several points I wish to share with you—I had fun, I learned a lot, and I hope to have more opportunities like this in the future. Is this where I want to go with my life? Do I want to work in PR, journalism, broadcasting, or some other form of media? I don’t know, but I now see them as options, which puts me a step closer to finding my way than I was before.