Hollins University Carillon

This is a video of the Hollins University carillon playing. We went to listen to it as it was a special concert, and I hadn't heard the bells ring in a long time. I took video of it, but this is better quality. The wind was blowing so hard that is mostly all you can hear on my phone.

The carillon consists of 47 bronze bells that are played by a keyboard in the chapel tower, as seen in the video. The bells ring every hour and play melodies for special occasions such as commencement, convocation, and holidays, though they were quiet during the pandemic so they haven't been played as much.

Also, one of the lines of one of the bells was broken and recently repaired.

"The Hollins carillon was installed in 1959 as a gift from Mr. and Mrs. Toddie L. Wynne (Imogene Avis Young, Hollins 1917) in memory of Mrs. Wynne’s mother, Allie Nash Young, Hollins Class of 1890. The 47 bells are situated in the top of the chapel’s bell tower, which was built specifically to support the tremendous weight of the bells. According to university literature, the bells vary in weight from 22 pounds to 2,640 pounds. Of these, there are two pealing bells, which are played by pulling on a rope. The rest are played much like a percussion instrument by a bellmaster or carillonneur from a console in the tower." - Cardinal News

The Carillon is one of the few musical instruments of its kind in the United States. (From Bing AI)

***

One of the things I noted was how nostalgic being back on campus made me. I miss being in college. I miss the atmosphere of learning. That place is haunted by the ghosts of women before me who learned in order to make life better, and I feel it when I am on the grounds.

Something I Miss

A long time ago, when I was in college obtaining my bachelors degree, students talked to one another. I miss that. (When I finished up my masters degree in 2012, I had found, to my dismay, that the older students did not spend time with one another during breaks or in between classes. Instead, they went to their smart phones, off in some corner.)

I miss learning the old-fashioned way, with pen in hand, eyes and ears rapt with attention as a professor either entertained or droned on, depending on topic and personality. (I've recently been trying to learn new things via streaming videos. It's not the same.)

Atmosphere in an education of learning is breathtaking and inspiring. I miss that.

My professors brought out the best in me, making me think, feel, anticipate and argue. I miss that.

Professors gave me deadlines to do things. I miss that.

My classmates offered discussion on a variety of things, from the courses we were studying to new ideas about, well, anything. I miss that.

Learning never stops, and I hope I haven't stopped learning, but I do miss the environment of the college - the environment from the late 1980s and early 1990s, not the one in 2012.

****

Note: In the newspaper today, I read an obituary that I think belongs to my 7th grade English teacher, Mrs. Kiker. The obituary doesn't say if the person was a teacher, but I think this is the same person. I loved Mrs. Kiker. She was another one of those teachers who knew I would grow up to be a writer someday. She was encouraging and kind, and she left a big impression on an impressionable kid. **Update** My mother-in-law doesn't think this is the teacher.


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Linking up with the April challenge from Kwizgiver. April 24 done!

The Closing of Sweet Briar

I was dismayed yesterday to learn that Sweet Briar College, which is located north of us up the Shenandoah Valley, is closing. The graduating class of 2015 will be its last.

The women's college was established in 1901.

I attended Hollins College, now Hollins University, which is also a women's college. So this announcement shook the sisterhood, as it were, of women's colleges. They are becoming fewer. Young women do not want to attend all-female schools, particularly ones set in rural areas.

Hollins remains all-female in its undergrad courses, but its masters levels classes are co-ed. According to Hollins president, Nancy Gray, the Hollins community remains on sound financial footing. Here is part of her letter to students and faculty that went out yesterday after Sweet Briar's announcement:

I want to assure you that Hollins is strong and growing stronger as we approach our 175th anniversary in 2017. For example:

• We are on solid financial footing, operating with no debt.
• Thanks in large part to the generosity of our alumnae, our endowment has reached a record $180 million, making it the fifth largest among all independent colleges in Virginia. 
• Our most recent fundraising campaign, completed in 2010, raised $162 million, and remains the largest of any southern women's college.
• Our Board of Trustees demonstrated its commitment to faculty and staff with a five-year compensation plan.

We see evidence of the value of the educational experience at Hollins every day: 

• Students from 44 states and 17 countries are enrolled here.
• Applications for undergraduate admission are at the highest level in 12 years.
• The quality and diversity of applicants to our undergraduate and eight coed graduate programs are outstanding. 
• We are growing our academic programs. Last year, we added a new honors program, a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental sciences, new graduate certificates in playwriting, and a graduate program in children's book writing and illustration. 

At Hollins, learning has never been confined to the classroom. But in the last few years we have re-doubled our efforts to link living and learning by expanding our internship and experiential learning programs - thanks in large part to the partnerships with so many Hollins alumnae.

Young women come to Hollins eager to learn, ready to take chances, and poised to begin the next chapter of life. But when they emerge, they aren't just graduates in liberal arts, math or science. Like their predecessors, they become leaders, decision makers, and cultural shapers. That's because Hollins ignites in our students a passion to learn, explore, create, and contribute. Our mission remains compelling.

I know many people believe the time for separate education facilities for women has past, and perhaps that is so. In the past, there were lawsuits to admit women to higher institutes of learning that were state schools; UVA did not admit women until 1970. So the gains have come in my lifetime. Watching the current political landscape, it is easy for me to fear that such gains might also be quickly lost.

My experience at Hollins helped me tremendously, and I valued the same-sex education environment. When I returned for my masters, I could tell a difference in the student learning experience. Men almost always dominated the classroom, even if he was the solitary male figure (or maybe especially if he was the solitary male). We have been conditioned from birth to defer to the penis, and so that is what we do. I always preferred female teachers to male and the hours spent with the estrogen-dominated classes rooms remain some of my happier memories. I was freer there than in "the real world," where men rule, but it also prepared me to meet that world by making a stronger, more sure woman.

So I am sad for the Sweet Briar students who are suddenly homeless. Some of these young women will transfer to Hollins, and I welcome them into the sisterhood. I hope they find that Hollins meets their needs as well as the old college.

Hollins: The Art Gallery

When I received my MA from Hollins in May, I promised myself that I would take every opportunity to avail myself of the campus and the college community. Hollins offers a lot of free activities, if some woman will just get off her duff and drive the 20 minutes over there.

This morning I visited the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum in the Richard Wetherill Visual Arts Center. I knew it a long time ago as the library, but that was before a major renovation. Now it is the arts building.

The Museum currently has three separate exhibits.

1. Alice Hohenberg Federico, Hollins Class of 1967. She is a ceramic artist and the museum had a room full of her art, almost all vases. Some were quite elaborate.

2. Andy Warhol.

I confess I am not a big Warhol fan. I have never gotten the whole tomato soup thing.

I approached the manikin from the rear and thought it was a real person.

Soup cans and naked woman outline. Hmm.

Marilyn Monroe, right?

3. Clement Hurd's illustrations of Goodnight Moon. Goodnight Moon is a beloved children's book written by Margaret Wise Brown, Hollins class of 1932.

A copy of the book along with activity items in a room set up to appeal to children.

An illustration of one of the pages.

Another illustration of one of the pages.

Cover art for different versions of the book.

The Museum is open to the public Tuesday - Friday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.; Saturday 1 - 5 p.m.

Check it out. It is one Roanoke's hidden jewels.

You May Call Me Master

So today Hollins University held its 170th commencement, and conveyed upon me the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Degree.

Today I took the ring, and I became the master! (A little paraphrasing of Lord of the Rings there.)

Finally! I have that diploma.

Me in my graduation get-up.

Me, Katy and Joyce. we had a writing class together.
You'd think I could have smiled!

The line up!

Friends and family watching as we march along.

Hollins University President Nancy Gray gives the welcoming speech.

The piece of paper that brings it all together.

Thank you, dear readers, for putting up with my self-indulgence in blog posts over my weekend of commencement exercises. One doesn't graduate from college every day and I wanted to document the experience. I hope that everyone who has ever considered continuing their education will take the steps to move forward. Learning is a life-long endeavor, and I heartily encourage it.

Follow your dreams!

Baccalaureate Service 2012

In the United States, colleges and universities hold a baccalaureate service to honor the graduating class. It is more for the seniors receiving their degrees than for the graduate students. However, any graduating student is welcome to attend, and several of us who will receive our advanced degrees tomorrow took in the service Saturday afternoon.

Lining up in our black gowns.

Marching to the chapel.

Katy and Anita. We had a class together.



An interpretative dance left me speechless
and near tears.

One of the student speakers talked about the "bubble" that Hollins creates. My husband told me after the service that he had heard me say the same thing many times. Hollins is a nurturing and safe place for women, a place where a girl can grow and find herself, returning to the world a brave and strong woman. I will miss that shelter.

Graduation Rehearsal

The beautiful Hollins campus. I love it.

Lining up in alphabetical order. The Master of Arts in Liberal
Studies students are all the way at the back. You would think
a bunch of people with degrees would know their
ABCs!

Chairs in a line, waiting for parents and loved ones. They will
all be full tomorrow morning for commencement.

Staff watches the show as the graduates try to find their seats
and make sure their names will be pronounced correctly.

The Precious

Today, the FedEx truck brought me a present.

It is my class ring. I declare today my own personal "ring day."

This signet ring has the Hollins University seal on it. On the sides it has the year (2012) and "MA" for my master's degree. My initials are on the inside.

The Hollins motto is Levavi Oculos, which means "lift thine eyes." That is from the 121st Psalm: "I will lift up mine eyes until the hills."

I did not purchase a class ring from Hollins College when I was an undergraduate. I always regretted that, particularly after the college changed its name to Hollins University not long after I finally finished up in 1993. I was not going to make the same mistake this time, so I saved my pennies in order to make this purchase.

My graduation is May 20, not quite a month away. It took me 19 years to finish this degree

I wonder what the next 19 years will bring?

The Psalms

121

The LORD Is Thy Keeper
A Song of degrees.
1	I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2	My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
3	He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4	Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5	The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6	The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7	The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
8	The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Art Everywhere

Tuesday when I pulled into the parking lot at Hollins University to go to my first class of the semester, I found this row of decorated trash bins.

The college had held  bin decorating contest earlier in the day, I think.

I thought this was a wonderful sight.

Last night when I was back on campus, I saw that the trash and recycling bins had been placed all over the campus.

Way to go Hollins Women!

Sanctuary

I never tire of taking pictures of the Hollins University campus. I was on the premises Thursday, picking up my final papers, and the grounds crew was busy readying the Quad for graduation.

Next year I plan to be among those graduates, marching once again to receive another diploma from this old and honorable institution.

Hollins was established in 1842 (20 years before the American Civil War) and initially called Valley Union Seminary. It became a women's college 10 years later and received the Hollins name at that time. It was the first women's college in Virginia.

The buildings reflect the architecture of the time. I think they are some of the loveliest structures in the area.

The backside of Botetourt Hall.

Main and the chairs out front as graduation nears.

Main again, home of the Green Drawing Room, site of many poetry readings.

Bradley Hall. When I was an undergraduate, this was the home of the English Department. Just walking into this building could fill me with inspiration.

The main administration building.

The chapel.

The front of Botetourt.

Spring at Hollins

My alma mater and current university as I pursue my master's degree is one of the prettiest campuses. I love the blend of nature and older buildings. Even newer structures have class. My favorite times on campus are spring and fall - both are absolutely lovely.

The willow trees along the campus drive near Eastnor.

 

The Wyndham Robertson Library

 

The chapel.

The Quad, showing the backside of East and the front of West.

I took this shot from the third floor of Pleasants.

A group of visiting young women took delight in the writings on the chalk kiosk outside of Pleasants.

The creek that runs between the Theater building and the library.

Hollins Reading

Last night I slipped out to Hollins University to hear two men read their work. Apparently it was meat night in the storytelling realm; maybe big guys eating lots of protein? I don't know.

The first reader was Thorpe Moeckel, an assistant English professor at Hollins who apparently lives near Purgatory Mountain, which is in my county.

According to the college faculty listing, this gentleman's "first full-length collection of poems, Odd Botany, won the 2000 Gerald Cable Award and was published in 2002 by Silverfish Review Press. Chapbooks include Meltlines, The Guessing Land, and Making a Map of the River. He earned his M.F.A. in 2002 at the University of Virginia, where he was a Jacob K. Javits and Henry Hoyns Fellow."

He read from his just-published book entitled Venison. I was sorry my husband wasn't there to hear this as he would never have believed someone could write poetry about killing and skinning deer. The poem - it is a single poem -  is 72 pages long and is written in couplets.

The authors did not have books for sale at this event. I would have brought home a signed copy of this for my husband if there had been.

The poem flowed well and read well but I think it was something I would like  see and perhaps read aloud myself in order to get a better feel for the work.

The second reader was Pinckney Benedict. Benedict formerly taught at Hollins but is now elsewhere. (Note: I never took classes from either of these professors as I was there long before they were.) His fourth book, Miracle Boy and Other Stories, also was just published. Apparently this book has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. I should put that in big letters: NOMINATED FOR PULITZER PRIZE.

Benedict read for perhaps 20 minutes. I could not decide if the story was set in older times and was plausible or if it was a bit of realistic science fiction, something along the lines of the twilight zone.

The story, told in first person, was of a young boy who was helping his father exterminate cows that had some kind of epidemic that required them to be killed.

I enjoyed listening to this story and now will spend some time wondering how it ended, for he did not read all the way to the end. What a tease, eh?

When I was an undergraduate at Hollins, I attended readings all the time. When I finished school, I went back frequently at first, but eventually my return to hear these authors dwindled to the point where I can scarcely remember the last one. I have been lucky if I made it once a year but I would like to do better in the upcoming school year.

But I must point out how lucky I and other area writers are to have an institution that brings in writers who are potential Pulitizer Prize winners. I have been to some great talks and readings at Hollins and I urge every writer to take a look at the college's events calendar and take note of what is coming up. These things are open to the public and free. There is a wealth of opportunity there.

While it is much more fun to attend these things when you know someone (I did not know a single person at this event, which really was unusual, I usually see somebody I know), I find them to be a little inspirational (and a little frustrating sometimes, too) but generally good for me. They make me think, they get me out of the house, and they put me out amongst people again. Those are all pluses.

So hooray for Hollins. Hooray for readings. Hooray for summer nights that let me venture out before it is dark!

Thursday Thirteen: I love Hollins

My alma mater is Hollins University, though it was Hollins College when I received my diploma in 1993.


The administration building at Hollins University.

Here are 13 reasons why I love this school:

1. Women who are going places start at Hollins. Never was there a truer motto. Hollins gave me a sense of self, a feeling of strength, and a sense of personhood.

2. Attending classes bestowed upon me a sense of worth that I sorely lacked.



3. The campus is truly lovely. A visit to campus will restore my spirits quicker than Prozac.



4. Professor Jeanne Larsen. Jeanne took me under her wing for much of the time I was there and fostered my writing. (You can see a picture of her here.)



5. The library. Hollins has a great library, although it is now in a different building than it was when I attended school. The picture of above is where the old library stood; now it is a museum.



6. They only ask for money once a year!



7. I have fond memories of my time on campus, even though I was not a traditional student.



8. The Horizon program, Hollins' route for non-traditional age women. I was 22 years old when I entered this program; actually a bit young for it, but that is how I went in nevertheless. I was able to work and go to school part time.



9. It took me eight years to obtain my four-year diploma, so I have spent a lot of time on campus.




10. They offer many events to the public. If I were inclined I could spend some time on campus every week at some free event or another.



11. Completing my B.A. in English gave me a sense of purpose and pleasure that nothing else has matched (excepting maybe my marriage).

12. The writing courses at Hollins taught me how to refine my writing abilities. While I often suspect I am a disappointment since I haven't written a book, I know that I am a better writer for having attended the college.

13. Hollins has fostered some famous people: Ann Compton ’69, who was (is?) chief Washington correspondent for abcnews.com. She has covered every president since Gerald Ford and has reported on seven presidential campaigns. Sally Mann ’74, M.A. ’75 was named “America’s Best Photographer” by Time magazine in 2001. Writer Annie Dillard ’67, M.A. ’68 won the Pulitzer Prize for Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Lee Smith ’67 is widely known for her novels and short stories, including Me and My Baby View the Eclipse, Fair and Tender Ladies, Oral History, The Devil’s Dream, and The Last Girls. Not to mention Betty Branch, whom I wrote about yesterday.

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; you can learn more about it here. My other Thursday Thirteens are here. This is number 108!