An outlet for creativity: The arts on campus
An outlet for creativity: The arts on campus
Virginia Tech Magazine Winter 2007
By: Jennifer Henderson
"There's a type of brain that comes with the ability to invent--a highly analytical one," says Kevin Dunetz (electrical engineering '89). "Music provides a balance for that analytical side and an outlet for creativity." David C. Welch (industrial and systems engineering '91) agrees, noting, "I think a lot of engineers on campus feel the same way."
As students, Dunetz, who plays trumpet, and Welch, who plays French horn, were members of the Quintessential Brass Repertoire, the brass quintet that Welch founded at Virginia Tech in 1988. "I wouldn't have come to Tech if there hadn't been a music program; if Allen Bachelder hadn't been a trumpet teacher here," Dunetz adds.
The pair's professional success may prove their theory about the need for a creative outlet: In 2001, Dunetz and Welch--along with mutual friend Doug Rutherford--co-founded Rivermine, a company whose software and services have saved many Fortune 1000 companies and government agencies millions of dollars per year.
Welch and Dunetz are representative of the many alumni who believe that the arts are an integral part of Virginia Tech, including one highly visible alum, President Charles W. Steger (architecture '69). During Steger's inaugural address, he announced plans to create a fine and performing arts center on campus, stressing that the study of the arts is important because an institution of higher education must always strive to educate the whole person. "We owe the student more than a preparation for life at work," Steger noted. "We owe students the opportunity and means to educate themselves beyond work and after work."
That alumni embrace this sentiment is evident from gifts made by such donors as Bruce C. Carver (finance/business '83), CIO for Dana Corporation in Toledo, Ohio, who recently gave $250,000 to create the Bruce C. Carver Multicultural Fund to support diversity in the arts. Or from the pledge by Tom Ackiss (architecture '64) that provides for unrestricted planning and programming funds. "As an architecture student, I had one foot planted in the arts and the other in engineering," Ackiss notes. "They are complementary disciplines driven by creativity, invention, and expression. It's this connection that enables us to stand in awe of a great building, to be touched by a great painting, or to be moved by great music."
It's obvious that Welch and Dunetz feel the same--when looking back at their time at Tech, they say, their best memories are of playing music here. That's one reason Welch created the James D. McComas Student Chamber Music Ensemble Fund in 1998 and established a bequest to benefit the fund in 2004. Welch wanted to honor the former university president, whom he credits with making a difference in the quality of his experience at Virginia Tech. "Dr. McComas and his wife, Adele, were so great about helping our brass quintet," he recalls. "They'd hire us for gigs, rent us a van, that sort of thing."
A T. Marshall Hahn Scholarship recipient, Welch firmly believes in the importance of giving back. "It's an obligation--a good one," he says.
These gifts illustrate that alumni of all majors are interested in seeing Virginia Tech develop a stronger arts presence on campus. They also signal a hopeful future for the Center for the Arts as a centerpiece of a larger university plan that will increase access to the arts and encourage more participation by students, faculty members, and the greater region.
At a university so highly esteemed for its analytical education, the arts are a vital way to provide balance and offer an outlet for creativity to an entire community.
Jennifer Henderson is a writer for the Office of University Development.
Source: Virginia Tech Magazine Winter 2007
