Greg and Jean Farrington

As the current academic year draws to a close, we’re already looking forward with great anticipation to an exciting new initiative that will officially launch in the fall.

ArtsLehigh seeks to spread the arts throughout the entire curriculum and student life at Lehigh. Thanks to the generosity and talents of so many members of the Lehigh family through the years, we are fortunate to have an abundance of truly wonderful arts here for our students and community. From our rich tradition of outstanding choral arts to our marvelous philharmonic orchestra; from our art galleries to our world-class sculpture collection; from our lively theatre productions to Friday afternoon poetry readings; and so much more—the arts are alive and flourishing at Lehigh.

ArtsLehigh will promote, integrate and facilitate the arts, creativity, and an aesthetic sensibility throughout the curriculum. Leading the charge will be our new ArtsLehigh Director, Silagh White, and University Distinguished Professor of Religion Studies and ArtsLehigh Co-Director Norman Girardot.

Our goal is to foster a “creative campus” at Lehigh. Creative thinking is essential to leadership in life and work, whatever you do. We want our students to leave Lehigh prepared to lead in their chosen fields. And that means being able to innovate and see creative opportunities where others see only problems.

More than that, art is fun, inspirational, beautiful, ugly, and quirky. It makes us happy, sad, awestruck, and angry. It makes us more alive. After all, we’re not here to learn how to grind out an existence. We’re here to open our imaginations and minds, not close them.

We will officially launch the new initiative with an arts pre-orientation program for incoming students and several new integrative partnerships involving the university and the community. To learn more about ArtsLehigh, read the article ArtsLehigh director named.

The arts should play a significant role in the lives of our students. The arts, simply put, make life three-dimensional. They bring a richness and depth to life that can’t be found in any other endeavor. And that’s what we want for our students. We want them to live three-dimensional lives.

Greg and Jean Farrington
Lehigh University President’s Office

May 2005