See us in a different light

Friday, September 6, 2024

Dedicated students, distinguished colleagues and dear friends,

Happy Friday!

Margaret Thatcher, Yo-Yo Ma, Henry Kissinger, William Shatner, the Bolshoi Ballet, Arianna String Quartet, Condoleezza Rice, The Bach Society, Gerald Ford, F.W. de Klerk, Wynton Marsalis, Colin Powell, Oscar Arias Sanchez, Itzhak Perlman, Anna Moffo, Shlomo Mintz. Just to name a few of the artists, statespeople, Nobel laureates, singers and orators who have enlightened our S&T lives as a part of our Campus Performing Arts Series and Remmers Special Artist/Lecturer Series. And there is more to come. A lot more!

As early as the 1960s and 1970s, our successful and foresightful alumni recognized that the specialized technological education they received at S&T (or UMR or MSM) allowed for better understanding, deeper exploration and informed experimentation. Their technical education was their passport to great business and scientific success as it continues to be today. They also realized that they lacked some of the softer, more common cultural and intellectual traits needed for stronger societal solidarity, coexistence and effective communication. This recognition led alumni like the late Walter Remmers and his wife, Miriam, to establish the Remmers Special Artist/Lecturer Series in the late 1970s, to support world-class speakers and artists to present varied perspectives on contemporary issues, to highlight the benefits of cultural differences and to present the virtues of human patrimony, including accepting and overcoming our inherent imperfections.

Thanks to the support of Walter and Miriam Remmers, and now their grandson John and his wife Catherine, the invited artists and speakers have sensitized our students’ consciousness to topics way beyond specialized classroom learning. This year’s Remmers performer, the American violinist and conductor, Joshua Bell, is another example of great exposure to the world of enriched culture and creative art.

In a complementary and parallel effort, S&T’s Campus Performing Arts Series premiered at S&T (UMR) this week 33 years ago. Since then, our state-of-the-art Leach Theatre has hosted Broadway shows, orchestra concerts, comedy acts, campus addresses and film festivals. The Bolshoi Ballet performed to a sold-out audience during the theater’s opening gala in 1991.

The New York Times series on the importance of art and why it matters is enlightening in thought-provoking ways. The series reflects on the importance of art and artistic expression within the context of Broadway closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. In “Art Is How We Justify Our Existence,” the author highlights that “our technologies are our tools but creative works carry the wisdom of the world.” He goes on to say “… I contend that art and culture are the most important vehicles by which we come to understand one another. They make us curious about that which is different or unfamiliar, and ultimately allow us to accept it, even embrace it.”

As our 2024-25 Campus Performing Arts Series gets underway, I encourage our campus community, particularly our students, to participate and learn to view the world from different, but not paradoxical perspectives. This year’s lineup includes a wide variety of acts including comedy with Second City, the music of Carole King by Tapestry Unraveled, the Dallas String Quartet, the hit dance show STOMP, and holiday-themed entertainment with Who Brought the Humbug? Theatrical performances include Astronaut Group 1 and Dracula.

In the age of artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic and autonomous systems, we must ensure that we are not just about human doing, but also about human being. Not just engineering, but also “imagineering.” Our artists fill our voids and help us focus on our life-affirming experiences, wonderments, bewilderments and the stretching of our imaginations. Or, at least, help us avoid impoverishment of our finer senses.

So, join us. Savor a show, enjoy a performance and see us in a different light.

Warmly,

-Mo.

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Mohammad Dehghani, PhD
Chancellor
mo@mst.edu | 573-341-4116

206 Parker Hall, 300 West 13th Street, Rolla, MO 65409-0910
chancellor.mst.edu