On Tuesday, February 2nd, 2023. I got the privilege to sit in on Transylvania’s first-ever Esports match. Sitting in the basement of Thomson on a Tuesday night does not sound like an ideal place to find an eventful evening, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Transy’s Esports team made their debut this semester and will be partaking in a conference against other schools. Games are played in a best-of-5 style, meaning that the team who wins 3 matches first wins. The Pioneers played Overwatch 2., a 5 v 5, first-person shooter, against Mount Saint Joseph Universities’ Esports Team. The game started with a coin flip in which the winner got to choose the map played, and the loser got to choose whether they wanted to attack or defend first.

Starting off strong, Transy won the coin flip and chose to play on the map “Nepal”. MSJ chose to attack first and started out of the gates strong by winning the first round. Little did MSJ know that this would be their only win of the night. The next two rounds would go to the Pioneers, winning them the first map of the night.

MSJ got to choose the next map, King’s Row, and Transy decided to defend first. A quick, clean victory from Transy raised morale in the room and in the chat room of the live stream. With MVP of the game being awarded to our own Janzen Santos, aka “CatBoyMaid.”

The final match was played on Dorado, chosen again by MSJ. Transy defended the objective and ended up winning the third match, completing Transy’s first-ever Esports match with a sweeping victory. 

All in all, it was a very exciting experience getting to sit in on this monumental victory from the Esports team, a first in Transylvania University history. The next game will be played next Tuesday, once again in the Transylvania Esports facility in the basement of Thomson Hall.

On Sunday, January 29th, Transylvania’s One Team Hosted a Spikeball Tournament and invited the campus community to join in the fun. The organizer of the event, junior student Ysa Leon, took the time to discuss the event with me and shared their thoughts on its success, purpose, and more.

Spikeball is a unique, relatively new activity that consists of two teams of two “spiking” a ball onto a circular net. Despite the niche nature of the game, it has cemented its popularity on Transy’s campus, and Ysa could see the excitement surrounding it. The sport is “easy to learn,” stated Leon, making it appealing to those who are new to the activity. “While we didn’t have a huge turnout, the event was a success. We had fun together and brought new members into our club.”

This isn’t the first time that OneTeam has brought students together with fun activities. In the past, events such as trivia and bingo have been tools to gather the student body of Transylvania. While these are fun events to be a part of, Leon highlighted that the true goal of OneTeam goes beyond fun and focuses on community and connection. “One Team is Transy’s only student organization by and for queer athletes and allies,” they stated. “We hold events. . . in hopes of making our campus more educated on the issues that queer athletes face.”

Ysa and the rest of OneTeam host meetings on the last Sunday of every month at 4 p.m.. These meetings are geared towards inclusivity and education on being a queer athlete, both on and off the field, and invite all athletes and allies to come. For more, follow @TUOneTeam on Instagram, or contact Ysa at yeleon24@transy.edu

On the night of January 26th, the Transylvania Student Life staff hosted “Second Engagements” at the Campus Center, an event designed to re-energize the campus community ahead of the winter semester. Assistant Director of Student Success Corrine O’Bryan spoke with the Rambler about why this event was created, saying, “I think it is really important in the second semester to have some events and opportunities for students to connect with their campus community again.” O’Bryan also emphasized how important opportunities like this were for first-year students who, after the beginning of year events like First Engagements, maybe had yet to find a club or organization they could participate in. 

The event consisted of several areas throughout the campus center where various clubs and organizations had set up fun activities for students to participate in, and also get a sense of what joining said clubs might be like. In the game room, students enjoyed playing games such as Mario Kart and The Jackbox Party pack in an area sponsored by Transylvania’s relatively new Esports team. When asked what he hoped people would learn about the team through this event, Esports coach Dylan Osborne said, “ We’re a really inclusive program. We have programs available to everyone, even if you want to compete in one of our tournaments …and we have a lot of stuff to offer if you consider yourself a casual gamer and don’t want to be involved in high-level competition, we do offer everything for someone at Transy.” 

Beyond the Esports team, a large focus of the event was to highlight organizations and clubs based out of the multicultural center, such as the Transy Black Student Alliance, the Transy Muslim Student Alliance, TUnity, and several more. On the night of the event, stations for students to connect with these organizations, as well as a collaborative banner and opportunities to design mugs and coasters, were set up in the Multicultural Center. “We’re trying to highlight that area [the Multicultural Center] more. It is on the backside of the campus center, so we have tried to draw a lot of the events into that hallway to get students to go back there” said O’Bryan. Other notable features of the events were stations where students could learn more about Greek Life, and an arts and craft area set up by the Student Success staff where students could decorate journals, paint mini-canvases, and collect affirmation postcards. 

When asked what would be considered a success for Second Engagements, O’Bryan responded, “My idea of success is an opportunity for the students to have a good time. I want to make sure that I am seeing students interacting with each other, laughing, and interacting with people they maybe haven’t seen before. Anything under that umbrella would be a success in my book.” Second Engagements had a large turnout among the student body, and only time will tell if new connections were made through the event.

Every year, the Kentucky Institute for International Studies (KIIS) offers many study abroad opportunities for students attending Kentucky universities. This summer, Transy’s own Dr. Ken Slepyan, along with a few other professors from the state, will lead students to Prague. Courses offered include History of Art Since 1300, Special Studies in Art History, Prague during World War II and the Cold War (taught by Dr. Slepyan), and Memory and Cityscape in Eastern Europe, which is taught by Dr. Karen Petrone, professor at the University of Kentucky and Dr. Slepyan’s wife. Find more at kiis.org/programs/prague.

Dr. Slepyan hopes to have a lot of Transy students join this exciting opportunity. I had the pleasure of sitting down with him and asking him some questions about the trip.

What made you decide to take students to Prague?

Slepyan: I have taught several times in Poland, Ukraine, and other countries in Eastern Europe. KIIS wanted to know if I would be interested in going to Prague. It has been a major tourist destination in Europe since the end of the Cold War and it’s very unique because unlike a lot of cities in Central Europe, it was barely touched during the war. 

Can you tell me a little about the class, maybe some things students will be learning or excursions that are involved? 

Slepyan: The class is centered on Prague during World War II and the Cold War but we will also be thinking about Czechoslovakia and Central Europe as a whole. I’m hoping to give students an understanding of the political and social life of the Cold War. We’ll talk a lot about the crisis of 1938, what daily life was like under occupation, the holocaust, and we’ll also take a tour of a show concentration camp made for the Red Cross during World War II. Another site we’ll see is the village of Lidice, where a high ranking Nazi official was killed and the entire village was then massacred. Regarding the Cold War, we’ll also talk a lot about daily life under communism, 1989, and the dramatic peaceful revolution and the overthrowing of the communist regime. 

What do you feel students can take away from the trip?

Slepyan: On one level I think just being able to see Prague and to see what a Central European city looks like, the culture, the vibe, the environment, etc. In terms of the courses, having a deeper understanding of life under occupation or during war time, the importance of a state like Czechoslovakia in these events, the decisions that people had to make on a daily basis weren’t easy. Students will gain a more complicated understanding of what life was like for a citizen of Prague during these times. 

What can you tell me about some of the other classes?

Slepyan: There are a few art history courses which are super important because Prague was relatively untouched during the wars, all of the architecture is still intact. The memory and cityscape course will look at how the changes in government and regime have impacted the memory of these regimes and how they’re reflected across the city. 

How difficult is it for students to apply/how competitive is it to be accepted?

Slepyan:  Apply even if you’re semi-interested. It’s not necessarily competitive, if you have a good faith interest in going abroad there’s a fairly high chance of acceptance. Don’t worry about competition, if you’re interested just apply, the goal is for people to come, not to find reasons not to. 

Why is it important to take opportunities to study abroad during college?

Slepyan:  Study abroad fits perfectly into that kind of self-knowledge that one gets in college. It’s an opportunity for students when their responsibilities are a little more limited than they will be in the post-college world. It’s a chance to see something that is different than students are used to seeing. To be exposed to these things gives students the chase to think about other places and gain perspective. In my own personal experience, in terms of teaching, being abroad really helps to clarify and enrich perspectives.

Overall, this course is an amazing study abroad opportunity and experience. Even if it doesn’t specifically fit into your major or minor, each class will count for Transy credit. The early admission deadline is December 1, and if you apply by this date you’ll receive $100 off the program fee, the final admission deadline is February 5. If you have any questions or would like more information about the program, you can email Dr. Ken Slepyan at kslepyan@transy.edu. 

This past Thursday, Transylvania welcomed the United States’ new Poet laureate, Ada Limón. Early in the day, select classes were able to have an open discussion with Limón, and later that night she hosted a reading of her poetry. This is Transylvania’s second poet laureate in 2022; the previous laureate of the U.S. Joy Harjo visited last May.

The talk opened with English professor Maurice Manning, who gave a short speech on what poetry is. Following this, Senior English student Laura Martin ‘23  introduced Limón, who was met by a warm round of applause from an eager audience.

The Kentuckian poet stated that she was glad to be back in the bluegrass after a long period of traveling for various events. Limón would read 10 of her own poems, starting with the fitting “State Bird,” a poem about moving to Kentucky. These poems were selected from her six published collections, three of which were written in our state.

In between her poems, Limón opened up about her lifelong struggle with scoliosis, love for her Cheeto-eating dog, and exciting travels as Laureate so far, including impressive destinations like the Whitehouse. The crowd got a sense of her quirky personality as she wasn’t afraid to be herself on stage. 

The talk ended with a reading of “The End of Poetry,” followed by a Q&A session and book signings.