Marty Egna emailed this message to all the SL (alumni, current, friends) email addresses he had available to him on Tuesday, April 27, 1999--about 45 people.
Additional comments in red I added after the initial email.
Jump to "What can you do?"
Jump to find out what else you can do?
Go to consolidated list of where to send letters
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Dear Singing Lion alumni, current members, and friends,
Singing Lions Alumni Web Site: https://members.tripod.com/singinglions
I am sending you this email because you either signed in at the dinner Saturday night or have been part of an email list associated with the Singing Lion reunion. My name is Martin Egna (SLs 1987-90, Pres. 1989-90) and I know or met many of you at the reunion.
As Robert Yacyshyn ("Yac"), the current president, told us during the show on Sunday, the Singing Lions need our help to keep the group alive. We must make our voices heard now. If we do not act immediately in the face of Yac's request and Monday's Centre Daily Times article ( https://members.tripod.com/singinglions ), the Music Department will assume the continuation of the Singing Lions has little support.
The SL alumni reading this have a particular responsibility above everyone else because our numbers are small. Although we are about 265 strong (including the Bill Noyes years), I only have about 30 of your email addresses. So we need everyone reading to help with this initial push.
I know what you're thinking: "I don't have time for this. I'll do it later."
Margee and I are very busy too. We landed in Chicago, our home, Monday morning at 8 AM, found our refrigerator on the fritz and filled with melted and moldy food. We both were at work by 9 AM Monday, and Margee went to her Monday night class for her master's degree program--all on just four hours sleep. Margee left Tuesday morning for a Kansas work trip & I have to take care of the refrigerator with multiple work deadlines looming.
So, we put the refrigerator repair/replacement on hold and will eat out of a cooler filled with ice cubes for week or more if necessary. We have also rearranged several meetings. Why? Because we MUST mobilize Singing Lions alumni support for the continuation of the group now. It simply cannot wait. The spring semester is drawing to a close and the fifteen or so continuing Singing Lions do not know if they will exist in the fall let alone when they will meet for class rehearsal.
Think about what it felt like to stand on that stage singing to Pete on Sunday. Think about all the hours you rehearsed and all the shows you prepared for and loaded in when you were a Singing Lion. Think about how you would feel if, after one, two, or three years of hard work and endless dedication, it all started to evaporate before your eyes and you, as a student, could do nothing to stop it. As I type this email, my hands shake and I choke up at the prospect.
At a minimum, please send a one paragraph letter to the director of the Music Department today (all alumni should write, the eight SLs making up the four SL couples should each send a letter, all current SLs should send a letter (Yac please forward this message to current SLs) , and we would greatly appreciate SL friends sending a letter).
Don't put it off. You owe it to Pete, you owe it to yourself, you owe it to the Singing Lions. As I recently overheard Red Skelton saying, "The Singing Lions may be wounded with the departure of their beloved director Pete. But the show will go on. They have survived and performed with hematomas the size of Texas and with dislocated thumbs. Their jazz hands remained big and bright and strong despite innumerable riser stumbles. They will perform in the 1999-2000 season despite this wound."
Dr. Richard Green, Director
Penn State University
School of Music
233 Music Building 1
University Park, PA 16802
email: rgreen@psu.edu
phone (814) 863-4421
fax (814) 865-7140
[after consultation with Pete: also do send a copy to:]
Dr. Graham Spanier, President
Penn State University
201 Old Main
University Park, PA 16802
Email gspanier@psu.edu
phone (814) 865-7611
Please also send me a copy by email, fax, or regular mail (any method is fine, regardless of the way you send it to Dr. Green).
Marty Egna
fax (630) 604-4857 (it's better to send me a copy of your Green/Spanier letters by attaching a Microsoft Word document to an email or simply copying and pasting your text into an email. Please only fax Green/Spanier letters if you can't email the text or document to me. Emails are easier to process for web posting).
314 Alles Street
Des Plaines, IL 60016
What should I write?
Identify yourself by:
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"WOW! THIS EMAIL IS SO LONG. I DON'T HAVE TIME."
That's OK, You got all the important stuff. Continue reading if you wish to do more. Or just start writing that important letter.
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What if I want to write more than a paragraph?
Wonderful, just be careful not to exceed one page. Our strength is in our numbers and our passion not in our individual abilities to hold a note for a long time (so to speak). Good focal points are the SLs' service to alumni and the opportunity for education. Some ideas: You could identify how the SLs helped you with your confidence or with your people or communication skills. How it taught you the value of hard work and preparation and how such preparation enabled you to tackle the unexpected with confidence.
Can I email or fax my letter to Dr. Green?
[I'm having second thoughts about my advice here folks. We seem to be preferring email over regular mail. And I guess, since Penn State is so wired, there might not be much of a difference in the effectiveness of a regular letter as compared to an email. And we do get the benefit of immediacy with email. So it's up to you. Don't let me dissuade you if you really prefer to email Drs. Green and Spanier. But don't forget to send me a copy so we have a record and so alumni and friends will be buoyed by your wonderful words.]
The ideal is a letter by regular mail. Letters are still perceived as more thoughtful and planned than email or faxes--they are quite simply given more weight. You also will not run into any formatting or readability problems if you send a hard copy by regular mail. But if it comes down to either you sending Dr. Green a letter by email or nothing at all, by all means send the email.
Should I send a copy of the letter somewhere else for maximum impact?
Yac and I are trying to determine the best political strategy. I will keep you informed as best I can at the alumni web page ( https://members.tripod.com/singinglions ). I don't want to continually send email because many of us receive email at work and may run into trouble if I send a lot. It certainly would not hurt to send a copy of the letter to the university president if you felt it appropriate.
Penn State University
201 Old Main
University Park, PA 16802
Email gspanier@psu.edu
phone (814) 865-7611
What are you and Yac doing?
During the next week or so Yac will be trying to tap influential sources in State College--Joe Paterno, The Collegian, others--to enlist their support or coverage of the issue. (The Singing Lions delayed officer elections until the fall, so that they weather this storm with the strength of experience. So I will continue to work with Yac who retains his position until then)
I am drafting a letter to Anne Riley, President of the Alumni Association, with whom I spoke over the weekend at an alumni reception. I will speak of the tens of thousands of alumni Singing Lions has performed for over the years (all the tailgates, SBS shows, alumni chapter shows) and the dedication of Singing Lions as Penn State ambassadors. I will post the letter at the SL alumni web site when it's done.
I will also tap some contacts in the PSU administration to gather advice on the best political moves to further our cause. I will also inquire about the most visible and influential way make donations for the continuation of the Singing Lions should anyone wish to do so.
I will also write a "letter to the editor" of the Penn Stater, the alumni magazine published every other month. I will call on the help of alumni nationwide who have ever seen a Singing Lions show to help keep us alive. Unfortunately, the May/June issue is already locked up. I spoke to a magazine representative and learned that it takes as long as two or three issues to get a letter in print. Though the delay might be shortened if timing is an issue. I will post the letter on the alumni web site after I submit it. If you are really motivated, you can also send a letter to the editor of the Penn Stater. Hopefully, with a lot of alumni noise about it, the Penn Stater will print a letter in the July/August issue.
Singing Lions was very important to me. What else can I do?
Because the current Singing Lions are still students, they still have to deal with school and spring finals, which are upon them. So it's really up to the alumni to see this through. Alumni should also try to tap any contacts they have (in the alumni association, the administration, the faculty, the university board, Penn State donors, media) to enlist support or get advice on how to further our cause.
Remember be tactful and be respectful of the Music Department. Disparagement of the Music Department would serve only to antagonize the people we seek to persuade. This is all politics and the art of persuasion. We must be perceived as what we are: passionate alumni seeking to retain valuable experiences and education for Penn State students.
Do you have contact information for Singing Lions alumni not listed below or for parents or friends or SL audience members? We need your help. Yac and I can't do it alone. Please get a hold of them and forward this message. And also send me their name and email if you have it. I will not be using regular mail for communication amongst ourselves--too expensive and time consuming. Any SLs without email will need to visit the alumni web site to keep abreast of the Campaign to Save the Singing Lions. I will also not be sending such long emails again. If I have anything lengthy, I will send a short note to visit the site.
The names below correspond to the email addresses where I sent this message. There are a few more email addresses above than names below because I have incomplete information. PLEASE HELP CONTACT other SL Alumni and SL Friends.
Sincerely,
Marty Egna
mailto:egnam@cch.com
w (847) 267-2259
h (847) 699-2594
fax (630) 604-4857(it's better to send me a copy of your Green/Spanier letters by attaching a Microsoft Word document to an email or simply copying and pasting your text into an email. Please only fax Green/Spanier letters if you can't email the text or document to me. Emails are easier to process for web posting).
314 Alles Street
Des Plaines, IL 60016
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(please forgive the spelling errors)
Sue & Glenn Everdyke
Jeff Rezer
Jay Dzigas
Danean Williams
Karl & Nancy Smith
John & Marsho Marko
Troy Reish
Tim & Courtney Hall
Keith Spencer
Jayaram Srinivasan
Shannon Darby
Monica Winkel
Jeff Nauman
Amanda Marko
Hugh & Janine McPherson
Lori Modico
Phil Greve
Howard & Mary Neff
Jessica Shelley
Tia Carey
Robert Yacyshyn
Terri Gilbert
Tom Petty
Erin Markovich
Deena (Walters) Heikkinen
Dave & Sue Garman
Mauri Buetzow
Margee Wolff
Jill (Cocchiola) Williams
Devon Dobro
Jack Gooch
Eileen Savage
Traci Starr
Sue Brill
Jamie Nelson
Jason Shoaf
Kathy Cox
Kevin McMahon