News Releases

Nationally recognized educator and psychotherapist Dr. Fay Maria Mitchell Hart of Greenville has endowed a second scholarship for music majors at her alma mater, Lander University.

Dr. Robert C. Figueira, professor of history at Lander University, recently took part in an international colloquium in Paris that was dedicated to the history of papal legates from the 11th through 16th centuries. As a research scholar in medieval history, Figueira was invited to address the first session of the conference.

Dr. William Ramsey, chair of Lander University's Department of History and Philosophy, has been selected as the winner of the 2008 George C. Rogers Jr. Book Award, sponsored by the South Carolina Historical Society.

"Art means the world to me" was a phrase that could be heard rolling off many tongues when young artists and their parents and teachers congregated on the Lander University campus for the 2009 South Carolina Scholastic Art Awards ceremony Jan. 31. This year 123 middle and high school students from across the state were honored for their submissions to the competition.

Lander University English students Wendy Polk, left, and Paula Birch of Hampton have received scholarships to the state university. Polk is the recipient of the Alumni Departmental Scholarship. Each year the Lander University Alumni Association provides a scholarship for a student in each of the university's 14 academic departments.

Lander University English student Alayna Joseph of Greenwood is the recipient of the Pat Sease Scholarship, which was established in 1997 by family and friends in memory of Pat Sease, a member of the Class of 1965 and a former English teacher at Clinton High School.

Lander University English student Rose Cox of Greenwood is the recipient of the Tolbert Family Humanities Scholarship and the Dr. John M. Rast Scholarship.

Lander University English student Rebecca McKay of Graniteville is the recipient of the Dr. John M. Rast Scholarship, which was established in 1993 in memory of former Lander President, Dr. John M. Rast, by his son and daughter, Carlisle L. Rast and Sue Rast Foy.

Lander University English student Jesse Timmons of Greenwood is one of the recipients of the Dr. John M. Rast Scholarship, which was established in 1993 in memory of former Lander President, Dr. John M. Rast, by his son and daughter, Carlisle L. Rast and Sue Rast Foy.

Lander University English student Sharon Gordon of Ware Shoals is the recipient of the Ann Hare Scholarship and the Seab Coates and Ruth Ball McEntire Scholarship.

Lander University English student Bryce Griffith of Anderson is the recipient of the Bob and Debra Cumming Scholarship. Griffith is interested in fiction writing and horror literature.

It is one of the world's most visited attractions, drawing in millions who want to experience the "most magical place on Earth." But for some Lander University students, the Disney World experience is more than a fairytale vacation - it's an educational adventure.

The day was May 21, 1781, and Gen. Nathanael Greene had arrived in the small town of Ninety Six located in the backcountry of South Carolina. He traveled in the company of more than 1,000 patriot soldiers. The task before these men was difficult but it was clear - to fell the British loyalist forces securing the town.

As a child he became interested in musical performance through a strong church music program. He started playing the trumpet in the fifth grade.

Durrell Jules, a Lander University music education major from Columbia, does not recall exactly when he was introduced to music, but he figures that his mother has been singing to him since his birth. He said his mother's talent was a direct influence in his decision to become a musician.

On the evening of Oct. 16, 1968, two black U.S. athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, accepted medals for the 200 meter race at the Olympics in Mexico City. As they stepped on the riser to be recognized, Smith and Carlos lowered their heads and raised their fists, staging a protest that drew attention to human rights issues in the United States and across the globe. October 2008 marked the 40th anniversary of this moment in history.

Lander University students in Jim Slagle's Advanced Commercial Art course received recognition from the Abbeville Opera House for their work on the opera house's centennial season program cover. With just days into the fall semester, Lander students Vitaly Odemchuk of Anderson and Michelle Amerine of Charleston were given the design project with just a few weeks to complete it.

An exhibitor in the current Lander University faculty exhibition wrote, "Traditional art forms such as painting on canvas once dominated art departments on university campuses. Currently nontraditional art forms including photography, ceramics and graphic design are appearing as areas of strong student interest and faculty performance within arts in academia."

Looking back at a time when South and North Carolina were one, when many Native Americans struggled to rid the land of their new neighbors from across the Atlantic and when a colony called Georgia was put in place as a line of defense for early Carolinians, the first lecture in Lander University's 2008-2009 Distinguished Speaker Series will reveal the events leading up to, surrounding and following the Yamasee War between southeastern Native American tribes and South Carolinians.

At a plaza in the Tlatelolco district of Mexico City on Oct. 2, 1968, Mexican students congregated in protest. Their goal, to draw attention to the lacking democratic processes of the Mexican government. But their voices were abruptly and violently silenced. In the afternoon, Mexican soldiers blocked the exits to the plaza and opened fire on the crowd killing around 300 protesters. It was ten days before the opening of the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.