Alumni donate $2 million to new music center

Two Tufts alumni, Stephen Distler (LA '74) and his wife Roxanne Kendall (LA '75) have pledged $2 million towards the construction of a new music facility at Tufts. The project has so far received $10.5 million in funding, and requires another $2.5 million before construction can begin.

The fate of the new music center, deemed a high-priority project by the administration, has been uncertain in the past few years because of fundraising difficulties.

Distler (LA '74) said he owes Tufts for his "high quality education," the TuftsJournal, an official University publication, reported. Wanting to actively give back to the Tufts community, Distler is "trying to help the new president and the University as best [he] can," he told the Journal.

The Music Department, currently cramped in a house on Professors Row, has long needed expanded facilities. Practice, performance, and classroom spaces in the basement of the Aidekman Arts Center are limited and not properly soundproofed, while instruments stored in the basement are aging faster than they should because of insufficient climate control.

Freshman Thomas Keidel takes a music theory class held in the Aidekman basement. "Right now there are only three rooms available for music classes," he said. "The location and quality of these classes don't really inspire you to go practice." Keidel said a new music center would make students feel like the University cares more about the arts.

The proposed music facility will house Tufts' music library, now located in the Aidekman basement, and will provide ample space for learning and performing. The center will be built on the corner of Professors Row and Packard Ave., where the Zeta Psi fraternity house now stands.

The facility's performance hall will bear the Distler family name, the Journal said.

Distler's donation will significantly speed up the music building project. Ground will be broken for the building's construction once the University has gathered $13 million for the project, but an additional $3 million will be needed for the building's completion. The University also wants to fundraise for a several-million-dollar endowment to support the center's continuing operation and maintenance.

Eric Johnson, of the University's fundraising and development department, said fundraising for the project is "an ongoing effort," but that the department is optimistic about the efforts. "We have been in contact with alumni, parents, and friends interested in [Tufts] music for a while now," he said. "The more support we have, the more quickly we can bring fundraising to a close."

Distler, who completed his degree in three years, met Kendall as an undergraduate. He has also been involved with the Experimental College since he graduated, creating the popular Ex College course "Innovation in the Workplace."

Ex College Director Robyn Gittleman, who worked with Distler in developing the course, found him "absolutely delightful and flexible." He "has a good sense of what he wants," she said. Gittleman believes Distler's contribution "will generously reward the Music Department, as well as the whole University."

Distler is from Princeton, NJ and is responsible for private equity investments in education for Warburg Pincus & Co. in New York. He received his MBA from New York University.

He has spoken enthusiastically about the future of Tufts under its new president, encouraging the University to take advantage of this "great opportunity with a great leader," the Journal reported. "I think [Bacow's] arrival is just what Tufts needs to further its evolution into one of the premier educational institutions in the country," he told the Journal.

An advocate of alumni support, Distler hopes friends of Tufts will take an active role in improving the University. "To stand back there and hope that the school does better isn't going to get it done," he told the Journal. "People ought to meet Larry Bacow and see what they can do to help.