The Fine Arts Program

Scott Righter, was hired in the late summer of 1970. His career position was for the Fine Arts students, to teach core classes in musical arts. In order to interest his students, he decided to make a student-ran program. Scott Righter decided in order to give his students a fulfilling experience as well as jumpstart in their careers, that the program itself would be student-run entirely. He expected it to have minimal professor intervention, and set down guidelines to make sure the group ran smoothly. His hopes for the school program was to make the school have a competitive edge, and give his students a real life experience with running a music program.

Scott Righter petitioned the program to the board in 1982, it was expected to fall into chaos within the first year. Scott took it upon himself to implement a plan for the students to follow in leadership, as well as to make sure the group was inclusive to all who wanted to join. When he retired in the year of 1985, at the age of 59, the program was passed to the next musical director to help run it.

Scott Righter was an eccentric man, and his idea itself was comical to the staff. He gave his students an allowance to self-run the music program for the school competitively, as well as the theater program alongside it. He helped secure funding for them, and keep track of group events. Scott’s students provided the ideas and direction, and he provided them with stability in running the program.

The program itself runs over several of the college classes, for example Stagecraft or Music Theory. The program runs events that are coordinated with the college courses students are involved in. The program itself is not a requirement for students to participate in, but the program directly coordinates events for these courses.

Official Guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tckNbBccxjwgJSfk5iRk-du1lZgduGiydDoQxnS5wFo/edit#heading=h.mb43ax1kgrib