Beginnings and endings: A reflection of the 2017-2018 academic year
As the 2017-2018 Maryville College academic year comes to a close, now is the time to reflect on this period of grand beginnings, growth, loss, learning, chaotic politics and sad farewells. Containing three deaths, multiple retirements and numerous changes to academic policy, the end of this year marks the end of a tumultuous time in the College’s history. This year, the college had many celebrations for those who made Maryville their profession. Several individuals bade bittersweet goodbyes to the College after years of service to professors, students and staff alike. Both Ms. Mary Frost and Mrs. Carolyn Potter, the former an administrative assistant to the behavioral science division and the latter an administrative assistant to the humanities division, publicly announced their plans for retirement early in December. These two staff members were loved by students throughout the years and...
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Legacy of learning: saying goodbye to Terry Simpson
Maryville College recently celebrated the retirement of one of its most valued staff members. Dr. Terry Simpson, Director of Teacher Education and Professor of Secondary Education, is leaving the College after 27 years of learnedly inspiring students and faculty alike. While surely looking forward to a relaxing retirement of well-deserved rest, the shrewd professor refused to leave his post without giving one last lecture. ———— This lecture, taking place during his very own farewell ceremony on Thursday, April 12, covered topics ranging from how to deal with an angry bull to gun control in the United States. It addressed the significance of childhood, the importance of professionalism, the joys of gardening, the achievement of religious freedom, but most importantly, it addressed the values of learning and education. To Simpson, an education is not something you do just to get...
Read MoreWhat drives Ms. Daisy
It’s late, and the day was near dreadful. Disappointed, you return to your dorm room aching for sleep, but your roommate has other plans. Apparently, 2:00 a.m. is the perfect time for a soda-induced gaming marathon complete with gunfire, questionable language and screams of virtual death. After three hours of slumber mixed with carbonated belching and frustrated mumbling, you stumble into Thursday’s first class 30 minutes late. The past 12 hours have been a college nightmare, but as you enter the dining hall, a kind smile greets you along with a softly spoken “hello and welcome.” This small interaction doesn’t erase the problems in a day, but it illustrates an important truth that makes the daily struggles bearable: someone cares. In fact, someone has been caring for over a decade, humbly serving Maryville College students and faculty with kindness,...
Read MoreEloquence Resurrected
Words are power. Throughout history words have changed, influenced and inspired every aspect of human existence. They have incited rebellion, toppled empires and raised armies of angry men. They have explained recipes, expressed love and adorned newspapers such as this for decades. Words give objects, places, people and feelings identity and, thus, meaning. Words are the glue of existence, and in this modern age, severely under-appreciated.(FIRST PAGE END) Whereas prose and literary eloquence were once pillars of communication, the present has chipped away at artful style leaving behind a slab of trite tweets and “dank” memes. Whatever happened to formality? Whatever happened to writers who wrote poems of nature and stories of humanity instead of “sexiest man alive” articles and top 10 lists? The future of well written prose in any context seems dire, yet there is still hope...
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A Wall of Hope
East Tennessee children’s hospital has commissioned Maryville College’s own professor of art, Dr. Carl Gombert, for the addition of a mural to its already diverse collection of art. The unnamed piece is in the final stages of creation, and its expected completion has stirred anticipation within the MC community and hospital residents alike. Gombert is well known on campus as “the really chill hippie looking professor,” and is well regarded within the Knoxville art community as an artist of extreme skill and whimsical design. While incredibly well versed in realism, Gombert prefers creating more decorative and hard-to-define pieces. “These are much more fun,” he said. “More is more,” said Gombert, the self-proclaimed maximalist. It’s a style so unique and unmistakable that it can only be described as “Gombertian.” In terms of inspiration, Gombert is influenced by biology,...
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