Your Views

We Want to Hear from You!

H welcomes comments and thoughts from readers and alumni, and while we can’t print or personally respond to each letter or email, we promise that we do read and appreciate them. Comments published on this page express the views of the writers and not the University of Hartford or staff of H. Letters and emails are edited for clarity, space, and UHart style.

MAIL: H Editor, Office of Marketing and Communication, 200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06117 EMAIL: editor@hartford.edu

I’m sending a Hartt-felt thank you for your excellent and nostalgic article in the Summer 2021 issue of the University of Hartford magazine. For this Hartt School grad, the article brought back all kinds of memories. The arrival of Gerald Mack in the mid-60s helped determine my life’s course: three years playing accordion in the White House Strolling Strings unit, a Fulbright Award to London, three years at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music conducing the glee clubs, 38 years and professor emeritus at the University of Texas at San Antonio, 16 years at University Presbyterian Church, 38 years and counting as director of the San Antonio Symphony Chorus. Your article brought back a whole cast of characters, and you caught a lot of their special traits. Thanks for helping me to remember how important and special those formative years were for me.

—Dr. John Silantien ’68 (Hartt)

I am beyond humbled and sincerely grateful to be included on the cover of the Summer 2021 H Magazine. For more than a century, The Hartt School has been blessed with so many visionary and talented teachers, students, and administrators. Thank you for such a rich and beautifully created cover and article. Thank you, Steve (Metcalf), for again capturing the essence of this special place. Your foreword for the One Hundred Years of Hartt book created the perfect foundation for the article and the many stories and visuals in the book.

Because so many of the images featured in the book were also on the magazine cover and in the article, I would also like to acknowledge the extremely important contributions of UHart staff and faculty. Literally hundreds of hours were spent in the University Archives locating, researching, and selecting the book’s images, which are also featured on the cover and in the article. University Archivist Sean Parke provided exceptionally valuable time and expertise that was integral to this work. Hartford Art School’s Professor John Nordyke also spent hours upon hours preparing the images, many that needed a great deal of sharpening and coloration to be publication ready, in addition to overseeing and contributing to the book’s layout and design. Sean, John, and I received no remuneration other than the satisfaction of knowing that we had created a beautiful commemorative publication for Hartt’s 100th anniversary. I hope that in any future publications or celebrations, we will recognize the significant contributions of all those at UHart who made it possible to recount the history of Hartt.

—Demaris (Dee) Hansen, D.M.A., Professor Emeritus, Music Education; The Hartt School

I found the last issue of the University of Hartford’s magazine informative and most enjoyable.

The front-page montage of “Hartt associates” over the last 100 years was intriguing, creative, and memorable.

I realize the agony associated with choosing only 100 of Hartt’s finest, but two musical giants and decades-long alumni influencers certainly deserve an honored place in the Hartt pantheon of progress. 1. Vytautas Marijusious, international conductor extraordinaire and musical deity to many of us. 2. Arnold Franchetti, composer, theorist, pupil of Richard Strauss, and compositional pedagogue to generations of burgeoning international musicians.

Thank you for conjuring up such stimulating and fervent memories. Those of us who started our musical journey at The Hartt School on Broad Street were indeed blessed with a superb education, worldclass musicians, and probably the best musical maturation class of all: “Uncle Moshe’s (Paranov) Musicianship 101, Thursdays at 11 a.m., Auditorium. Don’t be late!”

—William “Bill” Iveson ’54 (Hartt)

I want to congratulate everyone on a superb edition of H magazine. The article that impressed me the most was Steve Metcalf’s heartfelt reflections on The Hartt School. I first entered the University in 1970, and Steve’s description of the atmosphere of Hartt at that time was also the atmosphere

that I experienced throughout the entire University.

The environment was open, inviting, and informal. But nearly every professor I had was not laid-back in terms of what he expected of you as a student. The professors engaged and challenged your mind so that you wanted to learn and to do your very best. I truly believe the atmosphere that Steve so well described became the style and unique culture of today’s University of Hartford. And every issue of H magazine reflects that culture in the most positive ways.

—Bob Ellis ’72 (A&S)

After 31 years of public service teaching young people, this recognition (being included in the featured article) brought a tear to my eye and great satisfaction. The Hartt School has given me more than you could know.

—Ken Boucher ’90 (Hartt)

This letter is to bring to you the highest praise possible for the Summer 2021 issue. What a stunning and elegant achievement it is! I started in 1964, shortly after the University was formed. So, I was there when the campus was only a few buildings and that large tract of land with so much promise.

As the years went by, I watched, first from Hartford, and then via your magazine, as the University expanded and grew. What a thrilling time it has been—and it’s now more than 50 years later—to watch “my” school fulfill the promise of all those decades ago and become the premier institution it now is! I remember vividly my professors and instructors of that time—Dr. Cecilia Welna, Dr. Goldstein, Dr. Cervo, and so many more. They’re likely all gone now, and I, who graduated at age 27, am now almost 82; but the University of Hartford has remained my bulwark of knowledge and erudition all these years.

Your spectacular issue just brought back so much of the excellence I experienced then. Thank you for this treasure, and thank you, U of H, for a lifetime of dedication to learning excellence.

—Stephen E. Backhus ’67 (A&S)

SOCIAL POSTS FROM THE SPRING SEMESTER

uhartdining

This is Rida, our amazingly talented barista and artist. She is a senior at UHart and is studying Fine Arts. Her favorite drink is an Iced Chai with pumpkin cold foam and a shot of espresso. Stop by and check out her incredible boards! #whatsyourfavboard

Rida

#didyouknow green sorrel is especially high in vitamin C?!? Come get a green sorrel smoothie at Commons right now with fresh sorrel from our @farmshelf #harvestedtoday

Sign for Homegrown Greens

Happy Valentine’s Day! You can #treatyoself to some chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate covered Oreos for sale today at Commons, GSU and the Village Market #vday

Chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate covered Oreos

FOR THE RECORD

Summer 2021 issue

Lisa Borres ’11 is a graduate of the dance program. Her area of study was listed inaccurately in the profile heading on page 21.

On the photo key located on the Contents page listing names of those pictured on the cover, the numbers 19 and 28 were reversed. Samuel Berkman was number 19 and Peter Boyer was number 28.

It wasn’t just an educational experience for me; it was a growth experience.

Amy Quigley ’93

Amy Quigley ’93

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