Catawba College’s Omicron Chapter of Alpha Chi, the national college honor society, held an initiation ceremony for candidates Friday, Sept. 24 in Omwake-Dearborn Chapel on campus.

Dr. Aaron Butler of the Catawba College English Department has had an essay accepted for publication.  The essay is entitled "The Gift of the Magus: Mystical Glasses in Renaissance Drama," and it will appear in the 2005 volume of Shakespeare and Renaissance Association Selected Papers (SRASP).

She’s a poet, a performer and an activist, and the public is invited to see her in all three roles when African American Appalachian Poet Patricia A. Johnson performs at Catawba College Monday, October 25. Her free program entitled, “Somebody’s Child,” is slated for 7:30 p.m. in Tom Smith Auditorium on campus and is jointly sponsored by Catawba’s Honors Program and the Sociology Society.

Catawba College, along with the Rowan County Chamber of Commerce and The Salisbury Post, will host two election forums on campus during October which are free and open to members of the Salisbury-Rowan Community. Both events will be held in Hedrick Little Theatre in the Robertson College-Community Center, beginning at 6:30 p.m. and concluding by 8:00 p.m. Both forums will be videotaped for rebroadcast by Time Warner Cable prior to the November election.

J. Michael Bitzer, assistant professor of political science at Catawba College, and Kiki Caruson, assistant professor of government and international affairs at the University of South Florida, Tampa, have co-authored a recently published study.

The selection of the winning playwright is based on a nation-wide search for a new full-length script demonstrating outstanding playwriting promise by an emerging (not established) playwright. The deadline to enter is December 1, 2004.

The late Harry Chapin’s daughter is all grown up and blazing her own trails as a performing songwriter and social activist. She’ll share her considerable talents and selections from her major-label debut album, Linger, during a free Homecoming Weekend concert in Catawba College’s Keppel Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Friday, October 8. Chapin’s free performance is jointly sponsored by the Catawba Alumni Office, the Lilly Center for Vocation and Values, Wigwam Productions and the Catawba Music Depar

Catawba College will honor two of its alumni during Homecoming Weekend activities, slated October 8-10. LTC Chester C. “Trip” Buckenmaier III, M.D. ’86 of Gambrills, Md. and D. Bryan Jordan ’84 of Vestavia Hills, Ala., will be recognized with Catawba’s Distinguished Alumnus Awards. These awards are given annually by the Alumni Association Board of Directors to alumni who have served their community, distinguished themselves in their profession, and have served the Catawba College community.

The countdown has started and we want you to register your Homecoming attendance with the Alumni Office.

A recent National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) report shows improved retention rates for Catawba College athletes. The NCAA report released late this summer indicates that all students athletes, both male and female, who entered Catawba as freshmen in the 1997-98 academic year persisted to graduate from the institution six years later at a rate of 71 percent. This figure represents a 10% improvement over the four-year average graduation rate for athletes.

The Catawba College Theatre Arts Department’s production of "Island” was recognized as the 2003-2004 Outstanding College Production during the Metrolina Theatre Awards presentation held Sunday, September 19. “Island” was written by Catawba’s 2003-2004 Peterson Emerging Playwright Competition winner Kevin Brewer.

What do a frog, arterial venous malformation, and sailing all have in common? They are what bring the semi-autobiographical musical comedy, “A New Brain,” to life. “A New Brain,” will be the first Blue Masque student- produced musical performed in 10 years when it opens at Catawba College’s Florence Busby Corriher Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 6. Other performances are scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 7-9, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 10.

There is a way for orphans in both Russia and Cambodia to improve their lots, Catawba College Mathematics Professor Dr. Paul Baker learned this summer during mission trips to both countries. Those orphans can learn to speak English. Speaking English provides an escape route for these children, Baker says, allowing them to work as translators, or to work in hotels frequented by international travelers. These options stand in stark contrast to the normally preset fate for Russian boys, who ty

Catawba College is one of 38 institutions in the country to be accepted to participate in The Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) Leadership Initiative. It is the only institution in both Carolinas to be accepted to participate.

The Catawba College's Theatre Arts Department will present "Playhouse Creatures" at 7:30 p.m. each evening between September 28 and October 2 in Hedrick Little Theatre.

Dr. Bethany Sinnott, a professor of English and chair of the English Department at Catawba College, will participate in the upcoming N.C. Shakespeare Festival in High Point. From 3:30-5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 2, she will present the Nancy Lyles Classics in Context Seminar on "Othello." Sinnott's presentation will be offered in the Victorian Room of the Radisson Hotel, a block from the High Point Theatre where NCSF performs.

Catawba College History Professor, Dr. Gary Freeze, was honored in absentia during an August luncheon at the Museum of History in Raleigh for his work with the Tar Heel Junior Historians Association (THJH).

Catawba College President Robert E. Knott officially convened the college for its 153rd academic year September 2 in the Omwake-Dearborn Chapel. At the convocation, college faculty and staff members were recognized for their years of service to the institution.

Catawba College President Dr. Robert Knott commissioned 15 students as Junior Marshals in a ceremony held Wednesday, September 1 in Omwake-Dearborn Chapel on campus. These Junior Marshals were chosen from the junior class based on academic rank and are among the most honored students on campus. They embody the best of Catawba College both in academic achievement and service to the College community. They will represent the College in formal graduation week ceremonies, adding order and dignit

Dr. Clay Ballantine, a nationally recognized expert on air pollution and health, will launch the fall 2004 Clean Air Lecture Series at the Catawba College Center for the Environment on Tuesday, Sept. 14. The 7:15 presentation will be held in Room 300 of the Catawba Center for the Environment facility on the college campus. A reception at 6:45 p.m. will precede the lecture, which is free and open to the public. The event is funded by a gift from Rowan Regional Medical Center.

Dr. William Schlesinger, dean of Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, will speak Thursday, Sept. 9, at the Catawba College Center for the Environment on the college campus. Schlesinger, who also serves as the James B. Duke Professor in Biogeochemistry, will speak on climate change at 7:15 p.m. in Room 300. A 6:45 reception will precede the presentation, which is open to the public without charge.

Catawba College Mathematics Professor Joyce Caddell said she plugged a hole in her knowledge this summer when she visited Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula to study the numerology of the ancient Mayas. Caddell was among 35 educators from across the U.S. who participated in a faculty development program offered by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Several student members of the College Honors Program will travel, along with faculty, to the North Carolina Honors Association annual conference in Asheville, NC, on Sept. 16-17. Dr. Steve Coggin, Dr. Janice Fuller, and students Michelle Haynes, a junior from Rockwell, and Amy Guenther, a sophomore from Asheville, will make a presentation entitled "Leaving Our Comfort Zone: Team- Taught Classes in Science and Literature," which will focus on the integration of multidisciplinary courses for Ho

According to data released August 31 by the College Board, SAT scores for Catawba College freshmen have risen, ahead of both national and state averages, for the second consecutive year. This indicates to college administrators that Catawba continues to move steadily toward its goal of shifting from a select to a more selective institution. Catawba freshmen had an average, combined SAT score of 1050 for the fall of 2004 (526 verbal and 524 math), compared with a state average of 1006 (499 ve

During the summer of 2004, Dr. Woodrow Hood, Chairman of the Theatre Arts Department at Catawba College, and his wife, Dr. Cynthia Gendrich, Associate Professor of Theatre at Wake Forest University, took part in an Asian faculty seminar funded by the Mellon Foundation. They traveled extensively in the far East and will present their impressions of the ancient city of Shanghai (Old City to New), of the tension between Beijing and Hong Kong (planned economy versus Western capitalism), and of the