{"id":1247,"date":"2019-05-03T14:31:37","date_gmt":"2019-05-03T19:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/?p=1247"},"modified":"2019-05-03T14:31:37","modified_gmt":"2019-05-03T19:31:37","slug":"robert-a-dufresne-performing-arts-center-dedication-gathers-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/blog\/2019\/05\/03\/robert-a-dufresne-performing-arts-center-dedication-gathers-community\/","title":{"rendered":"“Robert A. DuFresne Performing Arts Center” dedication gathers community"},"content":{"rendered":"

A crowd of more than 50 people gathered on Winona State University\u2019s campus on Monday, April 29, for the unveiling of the newly named \u201cRobert A. DuFresne Performing Arts Center.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Dufresne, who passed away in 2015, was president of Winona State from 1967-78, and was president during the construction of seven buildings on campus, including the PAC.<\/span><\/p>\n

The dedication event began with various speakers, and was followed by refreshments in the PAC lobby.<\/span><\/p>\n

University President Scott Olson spoke on the impact DuFresne had on the university as a whole, and on himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a friend and mentor to me, and he was also a hero to me,\u201d Olson said. \u201cIt\u2019s entirely fitting that we gather here to remember Bob DuFresne and everything he meant to this university, and at last recognize what he meant to us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
President Scott Olson speaks about the impact Robert DuFresne had on Winona State University at an unveiling event on Monday, April 29. The event was the official renaming ceremony of the building as the newly-named \u201cRobert A. DuFresne Performing Arts Center.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

DuFresne\u2019s wife and son, Barbara and Jeff DuFresne, also shared comments at the event.<\/span><\/p>\n

Barbara DuFresne spoke mostly about her husband\u2019s time as president of the university, as well as his time with Winona State after his presidency. <\/span><\/p>\n

Jeff DuFresne focused on how fitting it was for the PAC to be named after his father, stating that he \u201cwas always a great supporter of the performing arts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Barb DuFresne, wife of Robert DuFresne, speaks about Robert DuFresne\u2019s time as university president during the renaming ceremony of the \u201cRobert A. DuFresne Performing Arts Center\u201d on Monday, April 29.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The proposal for the name change, which had initially been brought up in December of 2017, was written by three former Winona State faculty members: Jim Reynolds, a retired sociology professor, Gary Evans, retired Vice President of University Advancement and George Bolon, a retired physics professor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a long overdue recognition, and entirely fitting honor,\u201d Reynolds said. \u201cThis is a legacy that I think should be honored and celebrated.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bolon also spoke on how fitting it was for the PAC to be named after DuFresne, not only for his love of the performing arts, but also because the PAC was the first building to be constructed during DuFresne\u2019s tenure as university president.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bolon concluded his speech with thoughts about DuFresne.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all better persons for having known Robert A. DuFresne,\u201d Bolon said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Following the speeches, the building was dedicated with the unveiling of a new sign by Olson, Reynolds and Barb DuFresne.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A crowd of more than 50 students, faculty and community members gather at the newly-named \u201cRobert A. DuFresne Performing Arts Center\u201d at the renaming ceremony on Monday, April 29.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A crowd of more than 50 people gathered on Winona State University\u2019s campus on Monday, April 29, for the unveiling of the newly named \u201cRobert A. DuFresne Performing Arts Center.\u201d Dufresne, who passed away in 2015, was president of Winona State from 1967-78, and was president during the construction of seven buildings on campus, including … Continue reading “Robert A. DuFresne Performing Arts Center” dedication gathers community<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":147,"featured_media":1251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5,467,95,85,3,49],"tags":[511,508,509,507,510],"class_list":["post-1247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus","category-campus-news","category-college","category-community","category-events","category-news","category-winona-state-university","tag-dufresne","tag-performing-arts-center","tag-robert-a-dufresne-performing-arts-center","tag-robert-dufresne","tag-university-president"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/Bailey_PAC4.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/147"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1247"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1252,"href":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247\/revisions\/1252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}