By Chris Mackowski
Bradford, PA – In 1974, the University of Pittsburgh campus in Bradford, Pennsylvania, just a hop across the New York state line, was just eleven years old.
While the college had a number of ways it recognized the academic achievements of its students, Professor Robert Laing noticed that student endeavors in the creative and performing arts were going unnoticed.
Bob Laing decided to change that.
Bob was a professor of English--a small man...kind...respectful of his students. A consummate gentleman.
He wanted the rest of the campus, and the rest of the community, to take note of the arts. Because to him, the arts mattered--and the work that students did in the arts mattered even more. It was always about the students.
So in 1974, he established the Robert C. Laing Creative Arts Awards to recognize student work in music, studio art, theatre, and writing. The Laing Awards have since gone on to become one of Pitt-Bradford's most beloved traditions.
Each year, Bob would get out his checkbook and write a check to each award recipient. "Every little bit helps," he'd say.
Even after he retired in 1981, Bob continued to support the artistic work of Pitt-Bradford's students.
And it went on like this for years until, in 1999, past award recipients, former students, faculty members, and friends of the college got together to permanently endow the Laing Awards. Enough people shared Bob's vision that he no longer had to write the checks. But he still came to the awards ceremony and delighted in the adventures he heard about the students and their work.
But Bob's vision translated into more than mere dollars and cents for the endowment. He inspired dozens and dozens and dozens of award recipients who, in turn, have gone on to practice their music and their art and their writing and their theatre in their own hometowns, long after graduation. The vision of one man has been passed on and magnified in a way that has touched the lives of thousands of people.
And that's not even considering the hundreds of students Bob inspired during his seventeen years in the classroom. Take THAT and magnify it the same way.
In 1989, I was lucky enough to receive the Laing Award for Theatre. I was a sophomore. To this day, it was one of the nicest things to ever happen to me. It inspired me to continue on with my craft and to use it in a way that enriches the larger community around me. The arts can sometimes be a terribly selfish thing, but as Bob Laing taught us, good art transcends the self and touches everyone around it. As an artist, I'd been given a gift, but it was only a worthwhile gift if I shared it.
This year, the Laing Awards turned thirty-one years old. The annual ceremony was held just last week. But for the first time, Dr. Laing wasn't there. He passed away, after a long illness, just two days before the ceremony.
But for Bob, it was always about the students, so he certainly would've said "The show must go on" -- for their sake. So, Pitt-Bradford held the ceremony, and it honored the students and celebrated the arts and remembered the legacy this fine man has left behind.
THAT is how one person can make a difference.
Chris Mackowski is a professor of journalism and mass communication at St. Bonaventure University and the president of Bradford Little Theatre.