SEMO OFFERS LYCEUM TO MARK ANNIVERSARY

In 1906, the then-Normal School presented its first Lyceum, a program of singing, dancing, lectures and dramatic interpretations comparable to the summertime chautauquas held inside tents.

Lyceums long since have been replaced on university campuses by straight lectures, but Southeast Missouri State University is resurrecting the creature to help observe its 125th anniversary.

Dr. Roseanna Whitlow has compiled, directed and will appear in the Lyceum to be presented at 8 p.m. April 10 in the hallway at Academic Auditorium. The show will be presented on the steps leading up to Academic Auditorium. The public is invited.

Whitlow compared the event to a reader's theater. "They were the predecessors to the convocations students were required to attend," she said.

The term comes from the grove of trees where Aristotle taught young Athenians near the temple of Apollo Lycius.

All of the content is taken from work done by Southeast faculty and students through the years. Among them is an essay by the late Dr. Harold Grauel from his book, "The Inimitable Professor H.O. Grauel: His Essays on This and That," edited by Dr. John C. Bierk.

Other primary sources are "Normal to University: A Century of Service" by Arthur H. Mattingly along with the Capaha Arrow newspaper and Sagamore yearbook.

Whitlow chose the performers from Southeast alumni dating back the 30 years she herself has been associated with the university. They include Tana Spinner Howard, Patrick Abbott, Bill Dunn, Tim Thompson, Megwyn Sanders, Vicki Long and DancExpressions, the last the dance club sponsored by Southeast's Dance Program.

Sanders is not alumni but a current student "representing the future of the university," Whitlow said.

Jim Buindo, assistant to the president for university relations, also will give a special performance, reciting his own poem, "Creating Tomorrow."

The program will last less than one hour. Seating will be provided.

"This is our way of bringing our history to life," Whitlow said.