Endowment Launches Careers for 25 Theatre Students
What started out with a $100 gift turned into lasting way for 25 ÐÓ°ÉÊÓÆµ students to launch their careers. Since 1993, the Rex Rabold/Oregon Shakespeare Festival Fellowship Endowment has provided a paid summer residency at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for a graduating student in the Department of Theatre Arts. Many donors contributed to the endowment in memory of U of I and OSF alumnus Rex Rabold, and in doing so, inspired the future of so many Vandals to come.
In the words of the 2015 fellow, Jeremy Gallardo:
The Rex Rabold Fellowship has been fundamental to my success since leaving the ÐÓ°ÉÊÓÆµ. There’s not a lot of programs that offer experiences like this – an opportunity to work at the largest regional theater on the West Coast. What was a year of gainful employment has now turned into me finishing my third year at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
To any donors that are thinking about giving to this cause, I implore you to do so. This fellowship has changed my life. My time at the ÐÓ°ÉÊÓÆµ helped me shape the tools I needed to succeed, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival showed me how to use them. I hope that future generations of actors, directors, writers and theater makers all have the opportunity that I did.
I could not be more thankful for the faculty and the donors at the ÐÓ°ÉÊÓÆµ who helped make this possible.
make opportunities like the Rex Rabold Fellowship available for students in the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences like Jeremy.