TROY News Center

TROY – An internationally acclaimed Chinese martial arts troupe from Beijing will bring their kung fu show to Montgomery and Troy this week, hosted by the Confucius Institute at Troy University.

The group will perform at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 25 in Sartain Hall on the Troy Campus, and at 7 p.m. Friday, April 26 in Davis Theatre on the Montgomery Campus. Both shows are free of charge, but tickets are required for the Davis Theatre performance. They may be acquired at the theater.

Tickets are also available at the Confucius Institute office at 307 Whitley Hall; King Buffet at 2727 Bell Rd., Seoul Market at 1841 Eastern Blvd., and at Hibachi Sushi Buffet at 181 Eastern Blvd.

No admission tickets are required for the Sartain Hall performance.

The Confucius Institute at Troy University is the only such institute in Alabama with a state-wide mission to promote language, cultural and economic development exchange.

MONTGOMERY—Troy University's Symphony Band will present a tribute to legendary TROY bandmaster Dr. John M. Long with a pair of concerts in Troy and Montgomery celebrating the career and achievements of the University's director of band's emeritus.

The first “Tribute to Dr. Long” concert will be held on the Troy Campus on Thursday, March 21, at 7 p.m. inside the Claudia Crosby Theatre. This will be a joint concert with the Pearl City High School Band from Honolulu, Hawaii, featuring guest conductors Mike Nakasone and Paula Crider, who are close friends of Dr. Long. The band will perform some of Dr. Long's favorite music, and close with the “1812 Overture” in his honor. Admission is free and open to the public.

The second concert will at the Montgomery Campus on Thursday, March 28, at 7 p.m., inside the Davis Theatre for Performing Arts. Tickets are $10 and are on sale now. The program will include a selection of Dr. Long's favorite classic overtures, works by American composers, great marches and patriotic music, and a stirring rendition of John Philip Sousa's "The Stars and Stripes Forever" conducted by Dr. Long himself.

Dr. Long, who served as director of bands at TROY from 1965-1996, is a past president of the American Bandmasters Association and is a member of the National Band Association's Hall of Fame of Distinguished Band Conductors and the Alabama Bandmasters Hall of Fame.

Under his direction, the University's "Sound of the South" marching band represented the state in four presidential inaugural parades and served as the official band for two presidential visits to Alabama. During his 31-year career at TROY, Dr. Long also served the University in various capacities, including chair of the music department, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences and dean of the School of Fine Arts.

Two buildings on the Troy Campus bear his name - John Maloy Long Hall and the Hawkins-Adams-Long Hall of Honor, which houses the NBA's Hall of Fame.

Under the direction of conductor Dr. Mark Walker, The Symphony Band is Troy University's premier wind band, featuring the top 55 musicians in the John M. Long School of Music. This nationally recognized ensemble is open by audition only at the beginning of each semester and gives numerous concerts year-round. Additionally, the band records and tours extensively throughout the Southeast during the spring semester.

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TROY – For Troy Mayor Jason Reeves (BSCJ 2001), Walk Hard isn’t so much about the walking as it is about honoring the memory of a former faculty member.

Reeves was on campus Thursday to meet with a group of Alpha Tau Omega students who are readying for the fraternity’s now-annual philanthropic fundraiser in which brothers hike from the Troy Campus to Panama City Beach in an effort to raise money. This year’s beneficiaries are Special Olympics of Alabama and Florida, and Camp ASCCA, the Easter Seals camp for special needs children and families.

“The ATOs came to me asked for my support, and for me it’s a way to pay tribute to Virginia Watson’s work with Special Olympics,” he said.

Watson, a physical education instructor at then Troy State University, was Reeve’s next-door neighbor and mother to his best friend. She was responsible, he said, for bringing Special Olympics to the University and the city.

“Special Olympics is just very important to me,” he said.

Too, Reeves may feel a kindred spirit with the ATO brothers. Although a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, the past Student Government president participated in a fundraiser and awareness campaign where his fraternity dribbled a basketball from the steps of the State Capitol to the steps of Bibb Graves Hall.

“I might know about doing these types of unusual things to draw attention to a cause,” he said.

Walk Hard 2013 will begin on the Quad on March 8, and finish six days later and 140 miles to the south at Panama City Beach’s Pier Park. The fraternity is soliciting corporate and individual donors for the philanthropy. The effort began in 2010 when students Kyle Crabtree and Austin Bivins saw a man dressed as Superman walking down U.S. Highway 231 carrying an American flag. Curiosity sparked, they set out to organize a hike from Troy to the beach and began recruiting more participants. When the offer came to a mutual friend, they learned that despite the friend’s physical fitness he couldn’t participate due to having Type 1 diabetes. That set the stage for the group to raise money for Camp Seale Harris, a summer camp for children with diabetes that takes place at the facilities of Camp ASCCA, and exposed the fraternity to the special needs children.

To become a sponsor of Walk Hard, or for more information, contact Austin Moser at 334-808-6401.

Reeves will join the ATO brothers hiking as they exit the city.

Troy University’s chapter of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity will kick off its fourth annual Walk Hard philanthropy initiative on March 8. A dozen brothers will hike 140 miles over six days of their spring break in an effort raise money for Special Olympics in Alabama and Florida, and Camp Seale Harris, a camp for children with diabetes. Joining the ATOs in their walk through Troy is Troy Mayor Jason Reeves, who as a Sigma Alpha Epsilon member while a student at TROY, helped bounce a basketball from the steps of the State Capitol to the steps of Bibb Graves Hall. Walk Hard organizers are, from left, Parker Reiss, Mayor Reeves, Brandon Stoudenmier and Austin Moser. (TROY photo/Kevin Glackmeyer)

TROY – A 14-year old has been arrested and charged with robbery first degree in connection with an armed robbery on the Troy University campus in Troy.

The juvenile petition was submitted by Troy University Police, with the assistance of the Troy Police Department, and the juvenile is currently being held in the city’s Juvenile Detention Center at the Troy City Jail. Because of the juvenile status of the suspect, his name is not being released by law enforcement.

 “Being able to make an arrest in this case so quickly has required a lot of team work and coordination between Troy Police and University Police, and I greatly appreciate the efforts of Chief Jimmy Ennis and his department,” said University Chief John McCall. “It’s yet another example of the close working relationship we have in Troy and Pike County to fight crime at all levels.”

Early Monday evening, a 20-year old male student was robbed outside Alumni Hall. Two suspects remain at large, and the case remains under investigation by police.

TROY--Troy University’s Department of English will present readings by poet Alice Friman, Georgia’s Author of the Year Award winner, on Feb. 20 and 21 in Montgomery and Troy.

The Montgomery Campus event will be held in the Rosa Parks Museum auditorium on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m. Friman will be on the Troy Campus in the Hawkins Hall auditorium, room 122, on Thursday, Feb. 21, at 4 p.m.

Friman is Poet-in-Residence at Georgia College in her hometown of Milledgeville, Ga., and her most recent poetry collection is “Vinculum” (LSU Press). She won the 2012 Georgia Author of the Year Award in Poetry and is a recipient of a 2012 Pushcart Prize, along with numerous other awards for her literary creations. She has been published in fourteen different countries and a new collection, “The View from Saturn,” is forthcoming from LSU Press in 2014.

She also has a podcast series entitled “Ask Alice” which is sponsored by the Georgia College MFA program and can be seen on YouTube.

“I first met Alice 19 years ago at one of her readings,” said Dr. Patricia Waters, assistant professor of English on the Troy Campus. “She has this remarkable ability to capture the attention of her audience, through her voice, her message, and her personality. She meets students on their level and brings them into art, awakening them both to the possibilities of art and to what it can do, and they can do through it.”

Both events are free and open to the public. For more information about the Montgomery reading, contact Dr. Sara Kosiba at (334) 241-9792. For the Troy reading, contact Dr. Patricia Waters at (334) 670-3301.