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most recent issue of Bucknell World, matters that relate to university news or policies,
or that are of interest to a segment of our readership. Letters should be no
longer than 300 words and may be edited for length, clarity, and civility. Letters
can be mailed, faxed, or sent via email to bworld@bucknell.edu. Letters received
between now and Sept. 15 will be considered for the November issue. Additional
letters will be posted on the Bucknell World website. The complete letters policy can
be read at www.bucknell.edu/BucknellWorld.
MORE TO SAY
At Reunion Rally, I was one of
six members from the Class of
1956 to receive the Alumni
Association’s “Loyalty to Bucknell”
award. Each of us was deeply moved
by the honor, but it was correctly suggested
that we keep our acceptance
speeches short. Anyone who knows
me must have been stunned that I
actually did what I was told and spoke
for about 90 seconds, with a couple of
anecdotes and a heartfelt thank you.
I have more to say.
In my haste to break my all-time
record for keeping quiet, I accidentally
left out what I really wanted to say to
that great gathering of classes at the
Weis Center. First, there is no greater
place on earth than the Bucknell I
attended in the 1950s … unless it
would be the Bucknell of today.
Through all these years, I have
remained close to the University
because I strongly believe that higher
education is one of the most critical
elements of a free society. I also cannot
imagine what my life would be like
without Bucknell.
Bucknell has always been special
to my classmates and me. What we
have seen over the 50 years since graduation
is a phenomenal metamorphosis
from a small, rural institution to one
of the finest and most respected universities
in the nation. I believe this is a
decisive period in the history of our
University and that the next 5–10 years
will be incredibly dynamic. The Plan for
Bucknell accurately addresses our
strengths and aspirations. We have
everything in place to move our
University to the pinnacle of greatness.
Furthermore, we have a powerful and
passionate administration — led by
President Mitchell and Provost
DeCredico — determined to take us to
that next level.
From what I saw at Reunion, the
alumni are ready, willing, and anxious
to join this great venture. Speaking for
the Class of 1956, I believe each of us
cherishes the feeling we get every time
we return to campus and the pride we
share in being Bucknellians. It has
been an amazing journey. And I’ll
guarantee that when the members of
the Class of 2006 return for their 50th
Reunion, they also will look back in
amazement.
Art Kinney ’56
Lake Barrington Shore, Ill.
4 BUCKNELL WORLD • September 2006
THE GREEK
CONNECTION
The Alumni Association News
section in the June 2006
issue, titled “Bucknell Friends
Forever,” was very interesting. You
made note of how fraternity and sorority
alumni have kept in close contact with
their brothers and sisters through the
years after their graduation. I know
from my own experience that I get
together with my own fraternity brothers
much more frequently than I do with
fellow classmates with whom I resided
as a freshman or sophomore. I have
much more in common with my
fraternity brothers. I was a chemistry/
economics major and have not seen
any classmates since graduation except
my fraternity brothers or members of
other fraternities I associated with
socially. I even spend time with fellow
brothers who did not attend Bucknell
until after I had graduated.
Additionally, in the same issue,
Bob McKernan’s ’48 letter titled “Greek
for Life” expresses the same thoughts.
Greek life just made college more
enjoyable by teaching us how to grow
and not just hit the books and study, as
we did when getting our MBA degrees,
when our only association with other
students was in class or the library.
James Hurtt ’52
Stuart, Fla.
MAKE A SPACE
FOR ART
This letter is a follow-up to
Richard Zandler’s ’73 letter,
“Campaigning for the Arts,” in
the April issue.
Bucknell has a proud tradition as
a leading liberal arts university,
providing an environment that fosters
development of each individual’s
critical intellect, as well as social and
historical awareness. We, the undersigned
alumni, each a former graduate
assistant in sculpture, have used our
Bucknell experience to pursue careers
in the visual arts. As devoted advocates
of the importance of arts learning, we
know that the physical environment
for visual arts at Bucknell is scattered
across campus, has not improved much
over the years, and is so inadequate
that a new facility is certainly needed.
A comparison to Bucknell’s
“frame of reference” schools reveals
the following:
• Lafayette College boasts the
23,500 square-foot Williams Visual
Arts Building, which opened in 2001,
and “is one of the leading high-tech
facilities for art education and exhibitions
in the nation.”
• Colgate has the architecturally
distinguished new Schupf Studio
Building, providing studio spaces for
advanced students and faculty and two
teaching galleries.
• Skidmore features the Tang
Teaching Museum and Art Gallery,
“nationally known for both its architecture
and its holdings.”
The complexities and variety of
teaching in the creative arts requires
space beyond that of typical classrooms.
A new dedicated facility at a
single site would vastly improve the
learning context of the visual arts,
enabling art faculty and students
to achieve a broader and deeper
coherence and resonance in their
creative experiences while furthering
Bucknell’s fine reputation as a leader in
liberal arts education.
Bruce Lindsay ’83
Yardley, Pa.
Other signees include Allen C. Topolski ’86,
David Marshall ’75, Peter Bevis ’75,
Richard Zandler ’73, Georgia Gerber ’77,
William H. Bennett ’70, and Eric Troffkin.
SPEAKING OF
MUSIC ...
Ivery much enjoyed “The Singing
College” [April 2006], but I think
the writer short-changed Paul
Stoltz a bit. He was not the head of the
music department from 1908–13 but
from 1908–48. It was he who brought
Melvin Le Mon and William McRae
to Bucknell along with other distinguished
faculty members. He was
instrumental in my changing to a
music major in 1947.
As I recall, somewhere back in the
teens, the name was changed from the
School of Music to the Department of
Music. This could possibly account for
the wrong dates in your story. When I
graduated in 1949, the old house on
Third Street was still labeled School of
Music.
In the fall of 1942, I was a freshman
engineering student, but I played
trumpet in the marching band. I heard
older members of the band talk about
Melvin Le Mon, and I got the impression
that he left in the spring of 1942. I
don’t remember ever seeing him, and
Charles Stickney was the band director
when I was a member.
Speaking of Le Mon’s music, a
few years before I retired from
Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt
University in 1986, while browsing
through a secondhand music store, I
found a spiral-bound manuscript copy
of Le Mon’s folk opera, Down, Down,
Down. He used the folk and work music
of Pennsylvania anthracite miners as a
basis for his opera. A handwritten preface
states that all the research for it was
done between 1933–39, which covered
most of his time at Bucknell. The piece
itself apparently was not completed
until 1957. I have no idea if it was ever
performed, but I still have the score.
Cliff Reims ’49
Fairhope, Alaska
Editor’s Note: Bill Le Mon ’54, Melvin Le
Mon’s son, responds. “Mr. Reims got most of
his facts right. My father collected the songs
of the coal miners while he was working on
his Ph.D. at Eastland. His intention at the
time was to get a record of the folk music,
not write an opera, which he did not do
until 1960. My father left Bucknell in 1943,
and his opera was performed at Alfred
University in 1964.”
“Dear President Mitchell, I had planned to send you thought-provoking and
probing feedback regarding The Plan for Bucknell. Unfortunately I am forced to
send a check instead. I’ll try to do better next time.”