News Releases

Myra Greene Shaffer, executive director of Greenwood Lander Performing Arts, was honored Tuesday evening, Nov. 30, before the sold-out Vienna Boys Choir concert at Lander University's Josephine E. Abney Cultural Center Auditorium. Shaffer is stepping down from her GLPA position and moving into an office across campus to become the university's director of Alumni Affairs.

Gina Barton, chair of Lander University's Department of Physical Education and Exercise Science, has received a prestigious award for promoting quality physical education during her 26-year career as an educator. The South Carolina Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (SCAHPERD) presented Barton its 2010 Honor Award at the organization's recent convention in Myrtle Beach. The citation accompanying the award said she has demonstrated "an outstanding commitment to the individuals she has taught and coached and to the profession in which she has invested so much time, energy and talent."

Lander University's chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma (BGS), the honor society for business students, has been proclaimed a Premier Chapter by the Board of Governors of the international organization. In a letter to Dr. Doug Grider, interim dean of Lander's College of Business and Public Affairs, international BGS president Robert Reid said, "This is a significant achievement and indicates a high value is placed on scholarship recognition at Lander."

Don't look for a theme in the Lander University Jazz Ensemble's Thursday, Dec. 9 show. "My guiding principle is variety," says associate professor of music Dr. Robert Gardiner, who's beginning his ninth year as conductor. "We all like repetition," says Gardiner, who teaches applied saxophone, jazz improvisation and music education at Lander. "But at a certain point, we need to contrast that with something."

To call the second performance of the season by Lander University's Wind Ensemble a holiday show would be a bit of an oversimplification. The Dec. 2 event will include favorites like Alfred Reed's arrangement of "Greensleeves" and a collage of traditional carols arranged by Jay Bocook, but it will also feature such diverse and musically challenging selections as "Toccata," by Italian composer Girolamo Frescobaldi; the "Russian Sailors' Dance," by Soviet composer Reinhold Gliere; and "In the Hall of the Mountain King," by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.

The week before Thanksgiving at Lander University began with an interesting message from Chris Spellman, the head of the university's Dining Services. The subject line for an e-mail that went to faculty, staff and students read, "What's with the garbage cans in the lobby of the dining hall." Upon opening the message readers were greeted by the comment "The message below is simple. Take all that you want, just eat what you take."

Lander University is looking for the biggest loser on its campus, and that lucky person will walk away the biggest winner. "Biggest Loser" is what the university's Student Wellness Center is calling its recently launched initiative to persuade students, faculty and staff to improve their health by exercising more, adjusting their eating habits and losing weight. A $500 cash prize will be awarded to the individual who records the largest percentage of weight loss when the promotion ends.

The teams from Lander University and The Citadel tied for fifth place among the 11 colleges and universities who competed in the annual quiz bowl, one of the main attractions of the South Carolina Psychological Association's Academic Day hosted by Lander on Nov. 9. Teams of students faced off in two rounds answering five questions in each of seven psychology categories. Points were awarded for correct answers and the team with the highest point total at the end of the competition was declared the winner.

It will be the Kelley McCravy Robertson show Sunday, Nov. 21, at 3 p.m., when Lander University's senior piano recital is slated to begin. Robertson, a music education major from Hodges, will play a challenging assortment of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Chopin and Brahms, then join Dr. Anthony Lenti, professor emeritus of music, in a concerto by Kabalevsky.

The Lander Dance Company will grace the Josephine B. Abney Cultural Center stage for their first concert of the 2010-11 Fine Arts Performance season Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 16-17, at 8 p.m. Under the direction of 1990 Lander graduate and adjunct instructor of dance Joey Giles, the Lander Dance Company is working hard to prepare for their exciting season debut.