Emory University News Release

Release date: March 9, 2004

Emory Sees Record Applications, New Provost, Presidential Inauguration

Contact:
Deb Hammacher: 404-727-0644, dhammac@emory.edu
Elaine Justice: 404-727-0643, ejustic@emory.edu

Momentum is everywhere at Emory this spring, from record applications to the hiring of a new provost and the April 2 inauguration of Jim Wagner as 19th president of the university. Student filmmakers are in a fast-paced competition to turn out winning original entries, and faculty and students across the university are engaged in the critical issues that will mark this 2004 election year. We offer this latest snapshot of the people, events and developing issues that are moving Emory forward.

Table of Contents:

1. Emory College Posts Record Applications
2. International Graduate Applications Buck National Trend
3. Emory Faculty Follow 2004 Election Issues
4. Earl Lewis Appointed Provost
5. Commencement Keynote: Former Irish President Mary Robinson
6. Emory Alumnus Spearheads Moviefest
7. Irish Studies Program Launched
8. Will "Under God" Remain in Pledge in Our Schools?

For more information, follow the links at the end of each story, or contact Nancy Seideman, director of Emory's Office of University Media Relations, at 404-727-0640 or nseidem@emory.edu. For more news from Emory, our news Web site is www.emory.edu/central/NEWS/.

1. EMORY COLLEGE POSTS RECORD APPLICATIONS
Applications to Emory College have hit a record high for the second year in a row. The number of applicants for the fall of 2004 are 11,155, an increase of 7.5 percent and 13 percent in the last two years. Dan Walls, dean of admission for Emory College--the university's primary undergraduate college--said there is no one definitive reason for another record year of applicants, but does give credit to the campus' new facilities and a broader recruitment effort.
For more, click here.

2. INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE APPLICATIONS BUCK NATIONAL TREND
Unlike many colleges and universities this year, international applications at Emory University's graduate schools held steady for fall 2004, with the exception of a steep drop in applications from China. A recent survey by the Council of Graduate Schools found that more than 90 percent of American colleges and universities have seen a drop in applications from international graduate students for the fall 2004 term, and the number of submissions has fallen 32 percent from last year.
For more, click here.

3. EMORY FACULTY FOLLOW 2004 ELECTION ISSUES
Emory faculty from several departments are serving as a valuable resource to journalists covering the 2004 election. A special Web site has been created to connect journalists with experts and their commentary. For education reporters covering election stories with a college angle, there is information about classes incorporating elections in the curriculum and students on the campaign trail.
To see the site, click here.

4. EARL LEWIS SELECTED AS EMORY UNIVERSITY PROVOST
Emory University has selected as its next provost Earl Lewis, dean of the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies and vice provost for academic affairs/graduate studies at the University of Michigan. Lewis' nomination was announced on campus March 2 by President Wagner and approved by the university's board of trustees. Lewis, the university's first African American provost, begins his tenure July 1.
For more, click here.

5. COMMENCEMENT KEYNOTE: FORMER IRISH PRESIDENT MARY ROBINSON
Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson will deliver the keynote address at Emory University's 159th commencement ceremony Monday, May 10. She also will be awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree. The three additional honorary degree recipients also will give brief remarks when each is presented with his or her honorary degree. They are medieval historian Caroline Walker Bynum, president emeritus of the U.S. Olympic Committee LeRoy T. Walker, and Emory trustee emeritus James Bryan Williams.
For more, click here.

6. EMORY ALUMNUS SPEARHEADS CAMPUS MOVIEFEST
An estimated 10,000 students at eight Georgia colleges are getting in touch with their inner auteur throughout March while vying for prizes and plane tickets in the Delta Campus Moviefest that will culminate with an Oscar-style event April 19 at Atlanta's historic Fox Theatre. Emory alum David Roemer started the filmmaking competition three years ago while a student, took the idea with him during a postgraduate year at the University of St. Andrews, and has expanded it across the state with visions of going national.
For more, click here.

7. EMORY LAUNCHES IRISH STUDIES PROGRAM
For years Emory has been known for having one of the top Irish studies programs in the United States. The irony is that no such program existed. Emory's reputation came from faculty strength in Irish arts, literature and culture, and the tremendous depth and breadth of the university's Irish literary holdings, particularly in contemporary poetry, most recently boosted by acquisition of a portion of Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney's archive in September. That has all changed: At an international conference on Irish studies taking place at Emory this month, associate professor of English Geraldine Higgins announced the formation of the university's Irish studies program. She serves as its first director.
For more, click here.

8. WILL "UNDER GOD" REMAIN IN PLEDGE IN OUR SCHOOLS?
Two interesting possibilities could result in the latest round of church-state battles when the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments this month in the so-called "Pledge of Allegiance" case, says Emory University constitutional law expert Michael Perry. During arguments in Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, scheduled March 24, the court will be asked to decide whether the Pledge of Allegiance, which millions of the nation's students recite to begin the day, can include the phrase "under God."
For more, click here