Event Spotlight Stories

The Office of Campus Experience and Events (CEE) at Saint Mary’s College, located within the Moreau Center for the Arts, is part of the lifeblood of campus. Diligently, the office works handling large internal and external events. Additionally, CEE handles box office ticket sales, summer camp programming, and promoting the performing arts to the greater community. 

CEE is a constant hub of collaboration, problem-solving, creativity, and planning. Here, you are in the right place to learn more about all the incredible things happening within the Saint Mary’s Community. These Event Spotlights will give you the inside scoop and a behind-the-scenes look at life on campus beyond the day-to-day functions of Saint Mary’s College. Check back frequently for updates on the latest excitement here at Campus Experience and Events and learn more about how we serve our community.

May 3, 2023 New Summer Programs Foster Innovation Six new programs have been added to the Saint Mary’s summer camp roster this year, including explorations in healthcare, music, fitness, and innovation. Two of the six focus on entrepreneurship for aspiring businesswomen of all ages and will utilize Saint Mary’s new Spark Lab, a 5,000-square-foot, fully equipped makerspace located on campus in the Haggar College Center. April 26, 2023 Students Perform 'Wholeheartedly' Sincerity and commitment are the words that are explored through movement in the Dance Ensemble Workshop spring concert, “Wholehearted Artists.” Each year, the Program in Dance stages a production featuring students of all majors and class years. Dancers audition for the concert, attending weekly rehearsals where they learn choreography from guest artists and faculty members. March 31, 2023 Theatre Reaches Young Audiences Mysteries, fables, and fairy tales, all told by the flickering light of a campfire. This is the setting for the Program in Theatre’s spring production. Directed by theatre faculty member Michaela Duffy, By Campfire and Candlelight is performed by a storytelling ensemble comprised of students with differing majors, backgrounds, class years, and interests. March 17, 2023 Summer Programs Empower Young Women As a legacy, Saint Mary's College was already on my mind while deciding which college to attend. Both of my sisters were already students, but they never visited campus before attending. My mother thought the Embody Theology Summer Institute would be the perfect opportunity for me to get to know Saint Mary’s, and help me with my college decision. She was right. Not only was I able to get a sneak peak of campus life, it made my transition to college much smoother. February 27, 2023 Opera Scenes Teach Leadership and Vocal Technique From handbell choir to women’s choir, there’s a plethora of musical opportunities open to students at Saint Mary’s College. One unique opportunity presented to students is taking part in an opera workshop for course credit. Students learn vocal technique, and the campus community gets to enjoy the fruits of the student’s hard work at the Opera Scenes performance held in Dalloway’s Clubhouse on February 24 and 25. January 11, 2023 A Note From the Cloakroom: An Avenue for the Arts Saint Mary’s College has two entrances on the east side of campus. The road that enters the campus by the Inn at Saint Mary’s is Brother Andre Drive. The main entrance, a little further to the south, is a tree lined road known simply as The Avenue. It is a polite nod to the history of the College and a view that carries meaning, memory and sentiment for most alumnae. December 1, 2022 Madrigal Dinners: Celebrating 50 Years of Holiday Cheer For 50 years Saint Mary’s College has put on the Classic Christmas Madrigal Dinner. This cherished tradition never fails to put guests and performers in the holiday spirit. The Christmas Madrigal Dinner is an intimate dinner-theater event held in Rice Commons, where singers, dancers, actors, and musicians perform right in front of audiences. Rice Commons is transformed to a renaissance style banquet hall, complete with a roaring fire, candles, spruce, pine, wreaths, and holiday decor to whisk the community away into a story of the Christmastide. November 8, 2022 Legally Blonde Opens at Saint Mary’s Legally Blonde The Musical hits the O’Laughlin Auditorium stage this November with a dedicated cast of 50 students. A musical of this size and caliber is a coordinated effort between the Music, Theater, and Dance programs at Saint Mary’s College under the direction of Mark Abram-Copenhaver, professor of Theatre. Putting a large-scale production together requires the creativity of dancers, singers, actors, set designers, and costume designers. Not only is this a learning opportunity for student performers, it is an exciting gift for the greater community to be entertained by this production. October 21, 2022 Discovering Diverse Talent The Moreau Center for the Arts has been a home for the performing and visual arts for over 50 years. Offering a selection of live theatre, concerts, recitals, and lectures each year, Moreau has brought a variety of artists to campus through the Shaheen/Duggan Performing Arts Series, including Duke Ellington, The Royal Shakespeare Company, Maria von Trapp, George Winston, and Dance Theatre of Harlem. The Shaheen/Duggan Performing Arts Series was endowed to Saint Mary’s in 1987 as a way for students to meet and learn from rising talent. The endowed series continues to bring talent to campus each year for students and the Saint Mary’s community alike. October 10, 2022 A Note From the Cloakroom: In the Wings Saint Mary’s College is constantly making improvements to the buildings and grounds of campus. Among these improvements, the College recently purchased new “soft goods” for the Little Theatre stage at the Moreau Center for the Arts. This included borders (the horizontal curtains near the top of the performance space, legs (the tall vertical side drapes), a cyclorama (white backdrop at the rear of the stage) and a mid stage traveler (a black curtain that can be pulled to divide the stage). September 21, 2022 Theater Group Breaks Bread at Saint Mary’s The circus is coming to Saint Mary’s College! The bold Bread and Puppet Theater is making its way down The Avenue on Saturday, September 24 with a free show titled “The Apocalypse Defiance Circus.” The College welcomes the political theater group through the Margaret Hill Endowed Visiting Artist Series as a way to offer new performing art experiences for students, faculty, and staff. August 25, 2022 A Note from the Cloakroom: The Straits of Fall In this community spotlight, Campus and Community Events Director Richard Baxter reflects on his own childhood, and draws parallels to the first day of classes for Saint Mary's students. June 30, 2022 The Summer Camp Legacy It is common for our summer campers to eventually become students at Saint Mary’s College. Some, however, do not stop there. A number of our former campers have continued on to become counselors, night time supervisors, instructors, assistant directors, and directors of Fine Arts Camp. May 12, 2022 Summer Camps Help Students Imagine Life at Saint Mary's Sarah Hautzinger '20 and Claire Linginfelter '21 became roommates at Saint Mary’s long before they moved in as students their freshman year. Hautzinger and Linginfelter first met as randomly placed roommates at Embody Summer Theology Institute when they were seniors in high school. March 25, 2022 Culture, Passion and Creativity: Saint Mary’s Catering Partners Saint Mary’s offers a variety of catering options that often go overlooked. In recent months, the College established relationships with new catering companies. Each of these companies are locally owned and operated.