Clarksville, TN – Dr. Michael Licari begins his tenure as Austin Peay State University’s 11th president today, but he’s already getting acquainted with the APSU community and campus traditions.
On Wednesday night, Licari visited Johnny’s Big Burger and enjoyed a helping of Johnny’s Bun and Cream.
Austin Peay State University’s Board of Trustees named Licari, formerly provost and vice president of Academic Affairs at Indiana State University, as the APSU president during a special meeting on December 21st.
Licari and his wife, Kirsten, are excited about their move to campus.
“Kirsten and I are thrilled to join the Austin Peay family, and we are looking forward to getting to know everyone on campus and in the wider community,” Licari said after getting the job. “Everyone has been so welcoming! We are excited to call Clarksville ‘home’ and to get involved in the community!”
See a special opening message from Licari below:
You can follow what Austin Peay State University’s new president is up to this week on Austin Peay’s official social media platforms.
COVID-19 vaccination site to open on Tuesday
On Tuesday, March 2nd, Austin Peay State University’s nursing faculty, and students will officially begin administering the Moderna COVID-19 Coronavirus vaccine to members of the Montgomery County community.
The University will dispense the vaccine following Tennessee’s phased vaccination plan, and anyone who wants to receive the vaccine at APSU needs to sign up for an appointment through this link.
The Tennessee Department of Health recently designated Austin Peay as a standalone vaccination site within Montgomery County, increasing the number of vaccines available to members of this community.
To schedule an appointment at Austin Peay, visit the link above or https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d4daea628a5f4c43-first.
Individuals registered to receive a vaccination must enter lot 11 by traveling east on Main Street. Traffic will not be allowed to enter from University Avenue.
For more information on the state’s vaccination program, visit https://covid19.tn.gov/covid-19-vaccines/.
First-ever Womxn’s Empowerment Week begins today
The first week of March will bring a new event to Austin Peay State University – a week devoted to empowering women. The first-ever Womxn’s Empowerment Week will be filled with events for students and employees.
Each day will feature in-person and Zoom programs, such as a local, women-owned business vendor fair, along with various speakers. Visit Austin Peay State University’s events website for more information about featured events.
Yanaraliz Barnes, coordinator for the Hispanic Cultural Center, and Ashley Kautz, coordinator for Adult, Nontraditional & Transfer Student Center, have worked tirelessly to plan the week. Several campus organizations are collaborating to support the campus-wide event.
“I hope it really sparks conversation and that it not only empowers women but also sparks conversation relating to women’s issues and barriers women face on campus,” Kautz said.
While Austin Peay State University has hosted women-related programs and events on campus before, there have never been any quite this large.
“We’ve never done anything that’s disrupted everyday thoughts and the barriers,” Kautz said. “Hopefully this will create a discussion that makes people in the future think a little more about what our students, faculty, and staff face who identify as women.”
For more about Womxn’s Empowerment Week, read this story.
World-renowned graphic designer Paula Scher to deliver free Visiting Artist lecture
The APSU Department of Art + Design, with support from The Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, is pleased to host world-renowned graphic designer Paula Scher to continue an incredible 2020-21 CECA Visiting Artist Speaker Series season.
“Paula Scher is one of the most influential graphic designers in the world,” said Michael Dickins, chair of the CECA Visiting Artist Speaker Committee. “I cannot express the breadth of influence that Scher has on not just the graphic design community, but on American popular culture. Iconic, smart, and accessible, her images have entered into the American vernacular.
Scher’s lecture will be at 6:00pm Tuesday, March 2nd, via Zoom. Registration is required and is available at http://bit.ly/PaulaScherAPSU.
The lecture is free and open to the public.
Follow this link for a fuller story about the event and Scher.
Two free theatre masterclasses this week
The Austin Peay State University Department of Theatre and Dance, with the support of the APSU Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, is pleased to present two masterclasses this week, one of which will explore anti-racist practices in theatre.
“Directing” and “Anti-Racist Theatre” will be hosted by Jeff Award-winning Chicago actor, director, and activist Wardell Julius Clark. “Directing” will be at 11:00am March 2nd, and “Anti-Racist Theatre” will be at 6:00pm March 2nd.
“Wardell will be talking about anti-racist theatre practices and how we can actually back up what we say we do,” said Talon Beeson, associate professor of acting and directing at Austin Peay.
“My hope is through the anti-racist workshop that we can get students to start thinking about it not just as something to talk about but something to actively do, and to recognize what needs to change in the theatre,” Beeson said. “I hope they can take this workshop and have it be the starting place for them to keep working.”
The classes are free and open to the public.
To register for either of these events, visit https://www.apsu.edu/theatre-dance/masterclass_registration.php.
Science on Tap to celebrate March ‘Math-ness’
Austin Peay State University’s Science on Tap lecture series continues virtually on March 2nd when Dr. Brad Fox will discuss March “Math-ness.”
The event will be at 7:00pm and will be free and open to the public.
Fox – an associate professor of mathematics at Austin Peay State University – will explore the intersection of mathematics and sports, focusing on the math and probabilities involved in ranking sports teams and predicting the NCAA basketball March brackets.
For more information and for a link to the event, click here. Please note: The link to the Zoom event will not go live until the time of the event.
To learn more about Fox, click here.
‘Entangled Entities’ continues at The New Gallery
The New Gallery, with support from The Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts and the APSU Department of Art + Design, is pleased to present Entangled Entities, a new exhibition by bio-artist Laura Splan, to continue an exciting 2020-2021 exhibition season.
“Entangled Entities is an exhibition that combines biomedical research with aesthetics,” said Michael Dickins, curator, and director of The New Gallery. “With her work, Splan choreographs poetic confrontations with science inside the gallery to foster deeper engagement with science outside the gallery.”
The exhibit runs through March 26th.
A 360-degree virtual walk-through will accompany this exhibition for those who wish to view the work from the safety of their homes. The walk-through can be found on The New Gallery’s webpage and can be accessed via www.apsu.edu/art-design.
In addition to the exhibition in The New Gallery, Splan’s body of work, Unraveling, will be featured in The Terminal Gallery, the APSU Department of Art + Design’s gallery for 21st Century video/animation/time-based media art, throughout March.
For more information on this exhibition, which is free and open to the public, contact Dickins at dickinsm@apsu.edu. To read more, click here.
APSU competing in ‘Campus Race to Zero Waste’
On January 31st, Austin Peay State University joined the “Campus Race to Zero Waste,” with APSU competing against other universities in the medium category. The competition lasts through March 27th, which gives Austin Peay eight weeks to track the university’s recycling and composting weights.
Multiple competitions exist within the CR2ZW, such as electronics recycling, composting, and case studies. Austin Peay will compete in the Per Capita Classic because recycling is already in place on campus. The University also will participate in the “Electronics Recycling” competition, which allows community involvement.
Here are Austin Peay State University’s Week 4 recycling results:
- Cardboard – 1,663 pounds
- Cans – 1,138 pounds
- Plastic – 307 pounds
- Paper – 260 pounds
Recycling Facts: Plastic grocery bags can be recycled by returning them to Publix, Kroger, Lowe’s, Food Lion or Walmart.
To learn more about APSU’s sustainability efforts, visit https://apsu.edu/sustainability/.
Other events on campus
- For the latest on APSU Governors athletics, visit https://letsgopeay.com.
- To see other happenings on campus, click here.
