Remembering Midwestern College
by Al Ruscio
It was the summer of 1965. Though John F. Kennedy was gone, there was something of his youthful optimism in the air. New colleges and universities were opening up all over the country. Schools were actually hiring artists to teach art and musicians to teach music and mathematicians to teach mathematics.
It was in this environment that I received a call from Jake Dales, the executive secretary of the Screen Actors Guild. Jack explained that he had received a letter from the president of a new college opening up in Iowa – to be called Midwestern College. And they were looking for someone special to head up the theatre department – someone who actually had experience in film, television and radio.
As it happened, I was touring at the time in a production of “Don Juan In Hell.” We played in colleges and schools in California, Arizona and Nevada. After the play, we usually conducted a symposium where we discussed with the students the ideas explored in the play – Shaw’s concept of the life force and his ideas about Heaven and Hell and religion. This interaction between profession and student was very stimulating. And Jack knew of my interest.
After thinking about this challenge and talking it over with my wife and family, I called Jack and said “I might be interested.” And shortly after, I received a letter from the president of the college, inviting me to come to Iowa. In the envelope were two airplane tickets – one for Los Angeles to Omaha and the other for Omaha to Los Angeles.
So, on a hot summer’s day in July, I boarded a plane, heading for Omaha, Nebraska, and an uncertain future.
I met President Richard Simon and Dean James East, and we flew in the president’s private plane to Denison.
First they took me to the location of the new college. It was on a hill overlooking the city. A beautiful view. It was July and they hoped to be ready by September.
Then we returned to their office and we discussed the position – chairman of the theatre department, managing director of the summer fine arts festival and actor in residence.
I suggested bringing in professional actors and directors to work with the students. They agreed. I suggested that in our theatre classes, the students should be required to write a one-act play, and we would select the best and would produce the plays in a one-act play contest. They agreed. And we would invite the community to join us; they agreed again. And I also suggested that we select the most capable students to receive partial scholarships in their positions as student business manager, technical director and set designer. They agreed. In effect, they said the position was mine if I wanted it.
So I called my wife Jane Kate and she said, “I’ll start packing.” (She grew up in Ohio and missed the warm and friendly neighbors – not to mention corn and great steaks.)
We spent five years in Denison teaching at Midwestern College. We met some wonderful people. Our children blossomed. My wife became family editor at the Denison newspapers. She also assisted me in all my classes and lectures. And we were blessed with a group of young men and women who took to learning like starving people. They literally ate it up.
And they plunged into the mystery of theatre with great energy and enthusiasm. In those five years, they studied and acted, built sets, wrote plays, fell in love, and together we presented dozens of professional productions, many with guest actors from Hollywood who loved being in Iowa and working with our students. And we brought in professional directors. Charlie Goff directed “The Fantasticks” and then returned to direct “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum.” And we produced “The Caine Mutiny Court Martial” with the president of the college playing the head of the military court. It was a blast.
We also toured members of the theatre department to local cities and presented programs and scenes from plays and musical discursions and generally made Midwestern students available to towns outside of Denison.
We were a thriving, exciting new college with students from across America seeing and meeting Midwestern folk – farmers, plant workers, people who never dreamt of a college in western Iowa – all of them sharing this extraordinary experiment.
And we discovered that we had in our midst two actors who were to go on to success in film and television in Hollywood and New York – Anne Sward and Joseph Cortese.
And then, suddenly, without warning, the college closed. Lack of funds, they said. Students were transferred to a different college to complete their education and receive credit for their work. And we never had the opportunity to say “Goodbye” and “Thank You”.
I accepted a teaching post at the University of Windsor in Canada. From there we moved to Michigan to accept the position of artistic director at the Academy of Dramatic Art. And when the Academy closed, we moved back to Los Angeles, to resume my acting and teaching career.
Many years later and out of the blue, I received a telephone call from one of my favorite students – Lou Aronica, my student business manager. He called to tell me that he was organizing a reunion for all the Midwestern College people to take place at a hotel outside of Washington, D.C. And he asked me to be the keynote speaker. I must confess, I was overwhelmed, but I agreed to join them.
It was an extraordinary experience. All my students, now grown men and women – all successful in a variety of ways – teachers, actors, writers, businessmen, salesmen, restaurant owners – all of them successful. My grown up students thanking me for the experience at Midwestern College. Thanking me for believing in them. I was literally in tears – tears of joy and gratitude – to see the love.
I realized that something wonderful was accomplished at Midwestern. Yes, it was only five years but it will be forever remembered as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
And to the people of Denison who had the courage and vision and time and money and organized this college, I say “Thank You”. It lasted only five years but they were great years. The proof, they say, is in the pudding. And I saw at that reunion proof that all our hard work was successful and produced a terrific crop of successful boys and girls – and now men and women. The town of Denison can be very proud.
And finally they presented me with a beautiful statuette – my personal Oscar. It reads:
“Man of Midwestern”
Al Ruscio
Our Teacher — Our Leader — Our Friend
1965 -1970 – Forever
Midwestern College