Executive Director Patty Wang recently had the opportunity to speak with new UMCPF Trustee Randy Lord, ‘77 and his husband Steve Fessler. Randy and Steve are passionate advocates for the arts and education and have been Founder’s Legacy Society Donors since 2014.

Patty: Tell us about your student experience at Maryland and how your college education here helped you get a start out in life.

Randy: Perfect. I had a wonderful student experience there. As a theater major, I was able to perform in so many campus shows, and not just on the main stage. I was in a lot of workshops and black box productions, and meanwhile, I was able to perform at area theaters to pay my way through college. My training included character analysis, understanding of human nature, and elocution. I also had a lot of physical training. I took fencing, social dancing, and ballet. I took everything.

Decades later, the thing that really struck me most is that my experience at Maryland taught me how to analyze characters, figure out what makes people tick, and figure out how to approach different situations with an open mind and pivot if I needed to. So when I moved from being an actor to being a lawyer, I was able to analyze how those jurors might feel and figure out what the judge might need to hear. I could figure out what a witness was going to say and how to convince them to tell the truth.

Steve: His memorization skills were so great too. When he went to law school, he graduated first in his class at University of Florida.

Patty: It sounds like Maryland really helped you with some lifelong skills.

Randy: Oh yes, it did. And I graduated with zero debt. I was able to move to New York afterwards with zero debt.

Patty: Thank you for including the UMCPF in your estate plan. Can you both tell us what inspired you to invest in UMD’s future, and what you envision your future gift will accomplish?

Steve: Our goal is to help students graduate with little or no debt. That's our goal. We have committed 1.5 million to the College of Arts and Humanities to fund graduate assistantships.

Randy: Steve was recently honored at his Alma Mater—he’s on the Board of Directors there. His closing quote from his remarks was “if you want to touch the past, touch a rock. If you want to touch the present, touch a flower. If you want to touch the future, touch a life.”

Patty: Speaking of, what are your life passions and how do they motivate or influence your philanthropy?

Randy: The arts are our true passion in life because we do believe that the arts are the great equalizer, bringing people together and building community.

Steve: You know, it's so important in both of our lives, but Randy's been an artist his whole life, and we've seen the impact that the arts make on everybody.

Randy: We really think that providing students with performing opportunities is the most valuable thing. I also know that Maryland has pulled back to one musical every two years. Which means you basically have one chance during your entire college career to be in a musical. Steve and I have also set up a current use fund for the School of Theater, Dance and Performance Studies. And the nice thing about that is it gives complete discretion to the director to do what she thinks is appropriate. They recently used our money to help produce The Prom at the Clarice.

Steve: You must have the diversity piece too. And when we say diversity we mean everybody, because sitting around a table, we are all different. We are all diverse. We all have a different background. So DEI means it must allow for accessibility.

Patty: Are there any other university initiatives or objectives you are passionate about championing?

Steve: In addition to the Board of Trustees, Randy is now serving on the Dean’s Advisory Council for Arts for All.

We were talking to Dean Shonekan while we were up there recently about the performances and how much they cost. At my university down here in Florida, all performances—no matter what performance—theater, dance, art, it's all free. The reason we do it is because we want to make it accessible and affordable for all people, no matter your perceived status.

Of course it's not free to the University because they have to pay for the space, employees, and more, but that's where we come in and that's what we're trying to do here. We're going to try to help. I think it is very valuable that everybody has that opportunity to go to a performance and just to see themselves represented on stage.

Randy: And by the way, I heard a report recently about what students really wish they could do with more money. And the first thing was to eat better food. But the second thing was access to the arts so that they could go to a live performance or go to a concert. Something they can't regularly afford to do. So that's an interesting concept.

Steve: Yes, yes, yes. I do a lot of thinking about this because we're so involved in the arts community both in Florida and in Maryland. We really want to make sure that every person has the chance to engage in the arts. We think that it changes their life. It brings friends into their life that they wouldn’t otherwise have. People don't care what your status is. They don't care how poor you are, or how rich you are when you're enjoying music or dance or theater. We all just come together and I think that is something that's really a focus of ours. In a world that is so much in turmoil, the arts is one thing that we can all agree on, you know, we can all come together and enjoy it.

Patty: And you can sit there in an audience in the theater. At the Clarice. And you can be right next to a Republican on this side, a Democrat on that side. And you can all be mesmerized by the performance.

Randy: Yeah, it all drops off. It doesn't matter your religion, your background, your gender, any of that stuff. And that's the one thing the arts will do.

Patty: I think it's very clear that integrity has always been part of your decision making in what you do. I think that's what makes the work that you're both doing so meaningful. Thank you so much for everything that you're doing for Maryland. This is what we need more of right now and you are both just lovely people. We are very honored to have had this opportunity to chat with you up close and personal.

Arts for All is a campus wide initiative to ensure that the arts are woven into the very fabric of life at the University of Maryland. It supports partnerships that foster creative and scholarly excellence and that engage all parts of the campus and local communities. Learn more about Arts for All.