A bridge connects two shores; it unites; it facilitates freedom of movement, new experiences, advancement. I want to build bridges.
The Music Industry Studies Program is a joint venture between the College of Music and the College of Business Administration. It is a distinction that makes the MIS Program unique in the country: it truly is a joint effort of two highly-rated schools. No other MIS program can claim this. This bridge makes both colleges stronger. We are also developing a relationship with the School of Law and City College.
The series of master classes we have called Louisiana Masters is another example of a bridge. The idea is to bring the elders of the creative community – beginning with music, since music so defines, and is defined by, Louisiana – to the Loyola campus to present master classes, to interact with students, to share a life’s time of experience and knowledge.
We filmed our first master class, which featured the great American music artist Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown. It has been accepted for broadcast by Louisiana Public Broadcasting, and PBS in New York City has also endorsed the idea. In an attempt to produce an even higher level of production, the MIS program plans to co-produce the series with the communications department, which is a unique opportunity for students from both departments.
Producing the Louisiana Masters series will also build bridges between the university and the local community. Building bridges such as these contributes to the greater good of the community – something we are duty-bound to do as residents of a Jesuit institution.
The MIS program already has a relationship with the communications department since all of our students are also taught courses in communications, but the goal is to strengthen the bridge between these two nationally ranked programs.
The MIS program is also planning a production that will not only unite the five colleges, but also substantially contribute to the reputation of the university. Although it hasn’t been discussed this with all of the prospective participants, this may be as good a time as any to approach the subject. We want to produce and videotape a seminar on ethics and stream it on the Internet to our fellow Jesuit universities, and eventually to all people and universities who wish to see it. We already have a commitment from LPB to broadcast it.
Ethics is a concern in all fields and in all five colleges of the university, and we have ethicists in every corner of the university faculty and staff. We have our Jesuit ethicists, and we have our president, the Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J., who is a bioethicist. We have medical ethicists and political science ethicists. And all of these great men and women have their own points of view as to what ethics is and how it applies to their fields.
Imagine what it would mean for our university to be the first in the nation to present such a program in a video format, freely available on the Internet. And think of the bridges that we would be building between our five colleges. Think of what we could build with our fellow Jesuit universities – to all universities.
Then there is the bridge to the past, to the tradition of Loyola. This university has an illustrious history and many illustrious graduates. We have a tradition of which we can be proud. This bridge to the past is important because it makes us realize that we are part of community that is bigger than us, giving us nourishment, support and responsibility. The reason students come here and faculty are honored to teach here is because we know, we can see, we respect this tradition – this dedication to the Jesuit values of truth, justice, and service, this character of accomplishment and dedication to the greater good.
Our alumni are living examples of these values and the tradition of Loyola, and we intend to videotape our alumni and the elders of the Loyola community, documenting their memories and experiences at Loyola.
We would welcome the participation of any and all students and faculty from our fellow colleges in this endeavor. When you think about it, all of our activities are about uniting, communicating, creating an honest and fair exchange of ideas, finding our mutuality and glorifying what we have in common. Building bridges makes us human; it makes us creative, productive, and unified.
I want to build bridges – beautiful, artful bridges that make all those who build them proud and all those who traverse them beneficiaries of those who came before them and caretakers of all those who come after them.
To me, that is Loyola. I am proud and fortunate to be a member of this community.
~ John Snyder is the Conrad N. Hilton Eminent Scholar in Music Industry Studies. Dr. Snyder has helped produce records for numerous musicians, such as Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley.
