In an evening of music and performance, the audience at NMSU’s College of Arts and Sciences’ spring celebration, “Shine On: Shining Stars of the Past, Present and Future,” weren’t just entertained, they were introduced to the talents, research and achievements of the extraordinary people in the university’s largest college.

College of Arts and Sciences Dean Christa Slaton originally approached NMSU Senior Fellow Mark Medoff about planning the fundraiser to promote the college and identify each department.

“I knew we had to think outside the box in terms of fundraising,” Medoff says. “I realized the best way to approach planning this event was to look at it as an introduction of the college to the public through personalizing individuals often seen as a generalized professorial entity.”

Medoff met with the college’s 24 department heads last fall, explaining his ideas and requesting each department have one person to represent their program.

“I asked them to give me someone from their department willing to write, speak, attend workshops and rehearse what we would eventually present live. At first, some were hesitant, but thanks to Associate Dean Ken Van Winkle, who did a great deal of the ‘not-so-much-fun’ organizational work, we got everyone on board,” Medoff says.

Medoff had the volunteers write one to two sentences about how they came to be where they are today. From there, they developed short monologues that provided insight into their journey to academia and the people and events in their lives that shaped their careers.

“Once we went around the room and everyone shared, most realized they didn’t know each other,” Medoff says. “I knew then that this would work, that everyone in attendance would really get a sense of the people who are in the college.”

The celebration itself began with a reception where guests browsed remembrance displays of college faculty who have retired or passed away, all created by Master of Fine Arts student Peggy Chapman. A barbershop version of the “Aggie Fight Song” ushered the audience into dinner. In addition to the monologues, the audience was treated to a live musical performance with 100 singers and several videos, including an animated short created by Creative Media Institute students and faculty.

Medoff recruited CMI system analyst Jose Sanchez and instructor Rajeev Nirmalakhandan, who ran sound and video for the show. CMI student Carrie Williams acted as Medoff’s assistant throughout the planning and event process.

“This event was the culmination of great team effort,” Medoff says. “We had a lot of people involved and we were totally dependent on each other. The result, I think, was gratifying for everyone. For me, the experience was incredible.”