Welcome to the first edition of the College of Arts & Letters Alumni Update. We've launched this quarterly electronic newsletter to keep you informed about all the great things happening in the College and to help you stay connected with your fellow alumni. You are receiving it because of your affiliation with the College or because you support the arts and humanities at MSU. We hope you find it informative, useful, and enjoyable to read. You can also follow College activities online at www.cal.msu.edu, which features up-to-the-minute news, feature stories on College people and programs, and a calendar of Arts & Letters events, including performances, exhibitions, lectures, conferences, and symposia.

We welcome your comments and suggestions; to contact us, send an e-mail message to resch@msu.edu or call (517) 353-4725. If you would rather not receive the e-Update, or you wish to receive it at another e-mail address, please see “Update Your Contact Preferences” below.

Celebrating the Sesquicentennial, 1855-2005: MSU is celebrating the 150th anniversary of its founding this year, and the College of Arts & Letters is taking a prominent role in the festivities. The Department of Theatre presented a season of “Great American Plays for a Great American University” that included "Carousel" by Rodgers and Hammerstein and "Blues for Mr. Charlie" by James Baldwin. In recognition of the university's twenty-first century outreach mission, the School of Music is presenting a series of concerts throughout the state. From October 23 through December 17, Kresge Art Museum will present “Pewabic: A Century of Michigan's Art Pottery,” an exhibition focusing on the pottery's innovative artistic and technical achievements and MSU's role in saving the pottery in 1966. At the MSU Museum, visitors can enjoy “Memories of MSU” through December 30.

As part of the sesquicentennial celebration, the College of Arts & Letters is developing a special web site to commemorate the experiences of its students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends. If you have a story or memory to share, we'd like to hear from you. We also invite you to send photos (.jpg format preferred). For more information, contact Kristan Tetens at (517) 355-5633 or tetenskr@msu.edu. For a complete list of MSU sesquicentennial events, visit www.s150.msu.edu.

The MSU School of Music and the Shenyang Conservatory of Music in China are partners in a new U.S. – China music exchange program that will include a joint vocal music concert to be performed in East Lansing on October 6 and in Shenyang and Dalian, China, between October 8 and 16. The concert will feature eight MSU students and eight students from the Chinese conservatory, with MSU faculty members Richard Fracker, Melanie Helton, Molly Fillmore, and leading international baritone Haijing Fu in a “masters” program of opera arias, duets, trios, and quartets. Visit www.music.msu.edu for information.

A new Web site created by Kresge Art Museum explores examples of New Deal art and architecture on the MSU campus, including six buildings, four murals, and three sculptures created by artists and architects for the Works Progress Administration during the depression years of the 1930s. The site offers an online virtual tour as well as a printable guide for walking tours. Visit http://artmuseum.msu.edu/wpa/WPA/default.htm for information.

Three alumni and two friends of the College of Arts & Letters will be honored for their contributions to the university and their communities at the MSUAA Grand Awards Ceremony in October. David Hollister ('64, MA '69), former mayor of Lansing and current director of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth, and Charlotta Klein Ross ('62), cellist and Symphonette conductor, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award. Audrey Leslie ('50, MA '60) and her husband, John, will receive the Philanthropist Award, as will Milton Muelder, vice president emeritus of research and graduate studies at MSU.

Khaled Hosseini's novel "The Kite Runner" is the 2005 “One Book, One Community” selection. The “One Book, One Community” program encourages the MSU and East Lansing communities to read the same book over a six-week period and to come together to discuss it in a variety of settings. It is required reading for all incoming MSU freshmen. Hosseini visited campus to speak to the entering class about the novel and its themes during Academic Welcome events. Visit www.onebook.msu.edu for information.

New academic programs offered by the College this year include Classical Studies (Department of French, Classics, and Italian), Second Language Studies and an undergraduate specialization in cognitive science (Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages), and a graduate specialization in ethics and development (Department of Philosophy).

For more news, visit http://www.cal.msu.edu/newspage.htm.

This section of future editions of Alumni Update will feature short items on the professional and personal accomplishments of our alumni. We'd love to include yours! Please click on the “Get in Touch” button above and tell us what you've been up to. Be sure to include your name, address, phone, e-mail, major at MSU, and year of graduation.

The College of Arts & Letters Alumni Association (CALAA) sponsors tuition and book scholarships for outstanding Arts & Letters students, annual awards for distinguished Arts & Letters students and faculty, and the annual Arts & Letters Homecoming Tent Party. Members receive invitations to special events and trips related to the College's programs, such as Arts Weekend at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island and jazz concerts in Detroit and Chicago. Annual single membership dues are $45; joint membership dues are $55. For more information, visit http://www.msualum.com/. Be sure to select “Arts & Letters” as your “Constituent Alumni Association” on the membership form. For assistance, call (517) 353-4725.

CALAA is seeking motivated, dynamic people to fill vacancies on its Board of Directors. To express an interest in joining the Alumni Board, please contact Brenda Cummings Resch at (517) 353-4725 or resch@msu.edu.

To change your e-mail address, send a message to alumni@cal.msu.edu