1. "If I had a hammer": the house the Veeps might build

Centre College students will have a hammer during debate week because they intend to raise the roof on a Habitat for Humanity house. The campus and town Habitat chapters secured a grant to pay for construction of the house. Their goal: to persuade the Vice Presidential candidates to hammer at least one nail to call public attention to homelessness and poverty. Contact: Ann Young, Centre director of volunteer services 859-238-5480 (youngann@centre.edu).


2. Our alumni are loyal, whether living or dead

Centre alumni have a reputation for their devotion to the college. In fact, the college leads the nation in the rate of annual alumni giving. The loyalty is so strong that one Centre alumnus continues to attend football games even though he died in 1953. "Dead Fred" comes to every home football game, thanks to the fraternity brothers of Phi Delta Theta. They are so proud of former U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson (Centre '09, a Phi Delt member) that they carry his portrait to the games. Contact: Mike Norris, director of communications 859-238-5718 (norris@centre.edu)


3. Some like it hot: about 2000 degrees

Centre professor Stephen Powell is recognized as one of the world's top glass artists. When he and his students head into the college glass studio, the furnace glows at 2000 degrees. Never mind the heat, though. You'll be mesmerized by the rainbow of colors that emerge in Powell's gravity-defying vessels. (This story has great visuals, either for print photography or video.) Contact: Steve Powell, Cantrell Professor of Art 859-238-5727 (powells@centre.edu).


4. PayDays for the President

Centre College President John Roush is known for several things. Affection for the tiny black mutt, Bea, who jogs with him on campus. Relentless good humor. And an addiction to PayDay candy bars. It was Roush who suggested that Centre apply to host a debate. Having been part of a prior debate as a VP at the University of Richmond (1992), he says of Centre: "When I saw the campus, I knew this college could do it." Contact: Mike Norris, director of communications 859-238-5718 (norris@centre.edu)


5. The Powerhouse Palace of Culture

Centre College's Norton Center for the Arts (actual site for the Vice Presidential debate) is an unusual facility for a small college and a small town. Five stories (two are underground), 85,000 square feet, an annual subscription series that lets audiences enjoy the Boston Pops, Itzhak Perlman, Wynton Marsalis, the Beaux Arts trio, the Moscow Symphony, and the New York Opera Company. The building was designed by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. The performance series is always sold out, and the center operates with a balanced budget. Contact: Debra Hoskins, Norton Center publicity director 859-236-4692 (hoskins@centre.edu).


6. You can look up to Lanham

Michael Lanham was just 18 years old when he was named a Rhodes Scholar during his senior year at Centre, making him one of the youngest persons ever chosen for the prestigious academic honor. At 6'9", he also may be among the tallest. Mostly, Michael is bright and affable with multiple talents in mathematics and music He'll use his Rhodes at Oxford, studying the concept of mathematical modeling as a way of understanding the spread of infectious diseases. He hopes to apply the idea to the problem of AIDS. Contact: Barbara Hall, professor of music 859-238-5431 (hallb@centre.edu).


7. Hemp house? Funeral home? The secret past of Centre's buildings

Situated in the heart of a historic small town, Centre College realized it could expand its facilities by saving and adapting old buildings. Among its success stories: a 1902 hemp and tobacco warehouse that now is a unique student center, a former funeral home that has become the bookstore, and a former chair factory that is an airy center for the visual arts. (Note: The Warehouse student center has tremendous visual appeal.) Contact: Patsi Trollinger, media relations 859-238-5719 (trllngrp@centre.edu).


8. Yes, we're in the country

What country do you have in mind? Centre maintains permanent, residential sites in England, France, and Latin America - and our short-term study programs head for places like India, Vietnam, Greece, and San Salvador Island. We also have an exchange program with a Japanese university. In our most recent graduating class, more than 60 percent of the seniors had studied overseas with a Centre professor. Contact: Milton Reigelman, director of international programs 859-238-5287 (reigelma@centre.edu).


9. All politics is local

And locally, politics is BIG! Who says college students are apathetic? Last year, Centre had the state's largest chapters of College Republicans and College Democrats. This year, the two groups are cooperating on a voter registration drive. Contact: Ann Young, director of volunteer services 859-238-5480 (youngann@centre.edu).


10. Expect the extraordinary

In 1903, Woodrow Wilson observed: "There's a little college down in Kentucky which in 60 years has graduated more men who have acquired prominence and fame than has Princeton in her 150 years." Centre has a tradition of turning out men and women of prominence, far beyond what might be expected of a small liberal arts college. Among its former students: Two U.S. Supreme Court Justices (including John Marshall Harlan, whose 1896 dissent on segregation later gave legal footing to the Civil Rights movement), two U.S. vice presidents, the founder of Advertising Age magazine, the developer of the octane system for rating fuels, founder of the Hard Rock Cafe, and an award-winning contemporary playwright. Contact: Diane Johnson, college editor 859-238-5717 (johnsond@centre.edu).

 

Centre Communications Office--859-238-5714
Centre College, 600 W. Walnut Street, Danville, KY 40422