The University of the Arts to Celebrate the Inauguration of President Sean T. Buffington

Business Wire, April 2, 2008

PHILADELPHIA -- The University of the Arts (UArts) will celebrate the inauguration of former Harvard University arts administrator Sean T. Buffington as its president with an investiture ceremony on Friday, April 18, 2008, at 11 a.m. in the Merriam Theater (250 S. Broad St.). A member of the Philadelphia Art Commission, Buffington assumed the UArts post on August 15, 2007, and is the third president of the University, an institution with roots dating back to 1868.

The University's Transfusion and Big Band ensembles will perform jazz versions of standards in addition to original compositions. The University will bestow an honorary doctorate of fine arts upon one of its most distinguished alumni, jazz legend Stanley Clarke. A native of Philadelphia, Clarke studied double bass at the Philadelphia Musical Academy, now The University of the Arts, and went on to earn to earn a Grammy Award, several other Grammy and Emmy nominations, and a place at the top of numerous reader and critic polls during his nearly 40-year career as a bass virtuoso. He's also become one of the most in-demand composers in Hollywood.

Following the ceremony, the University's Second Line New Orleans Ensemble will lead a recessional of dignitaries, students, faculty and staff south on Broad St. to Gershman Hall for a celebration. In addition to the spirited jazz music, the post-inauguration events will feature giant puppets constructed by UArts students and Spiral Q Puppet Theater.

A native of La Plata, Md., Buffington graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and American literature and Afro-American studies. He was a Harvard College National Scholar and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. A Regents Fellow, Buffington earned his Master of Art degree in American culture from the University of Michigan in 1994.

Named Harvard's Associate Provost for Arts and Culture and Director of Cultural Programs in 2005, Buffington oversaw arts activities and planning for the cultural elements of Harvard's new campus in Allston, Mass. As the University's principal representative to arts and cultural institutions in the Boston region, he was responsible for overseeing Harvard's Tony-award winning American Repertory Theatre; the Harvard University Art Museums; and Villa I Tatti, Harvard's Center for Italian Renaissance Studies.

The University of the Arts is the nation's first and only university dedicated to the visual, performing and communication arts. Its 2,300 students are enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs on its campus in the heart of Philadelphia's Avenue of the Arts. The institution's roots as a leader in educating creative individuals date back to 1868.

For more information, visit www.uarts.edu/inauguration or email inauguration@uarts.edu.