BSC presented its fourth major public symposium Nov. 3-5 with a retrospective of the 1960s. Nearly 200 people attended "The ‘60s: Turmoil and Transformation" which covered the period between the assassination of President John Kennedy and the fall of Saigon. Speakers included Pulitzer Prize-winner Lawrence Wright on growing up in the 1960s, author Rick Perlstein on the Nixon presidency, journalist Andrew Chaikin on the space race, and documentary producer Lynn Novick and military historian Geoffrey Wawro on the Vietnam War.
The Embracing Diversity committee brought John Dau to campus in October to speak of his experiences as a lost boy from war-torn South Sudan.
ArtsQuest 2016, an annual ambitious, wide-ranging celebration of the arts, brought guest speakers, artists, famous creatives, inspiring musicians and the talents of our students, staff and faculty to the community. This year’s highlights included:
- “Legally Blonde: The Musical”
- Collage concert
- Choral concert
- BSC Wind Ensemble concert
- Juried Student Art Exhibition
- Student Music recitals
- Chamber Ensembles concert
- BSC Jazz Ensemble concert
- Graphic Design Spring Show
- ArtsQuest Campus Arts Crawl
- Festival of Short Plays
- Community Raku
- Bronze sculptor Steve Lillegard
- Jim Bonney, guitarist, composer and sound designer.
- Michael Uslan, renowned executive producer of the Batman movies, “Catwoman” and “The Lego Movie,” and noted comic book historian and author.
Above and beyond ArtsQuest, BSC offered 15 concerts, six art exhibits, five Conversations at BSC, four plays and another dozen events offering new ways of thinking, historical insight and/or pure entertainment as part of the college’s focus on bringing humanities to the community.
On Sept. 22, BSC hosted an open house and ribbon cutting to celebrate the completion of the Student Union remodel, and the completion of LEA Hall, as well as Ritchie and Gate City Bank Residence Halls.