Graduate Assistants and Student Staff

Ashley Cooper

Graduate Student, M.F.A., Theatre Arts and Leadership, School of Performing Arts

"As a part of this position, I have had the opportunity to be in a lot of different rooms and in conversations that I probably would not have had the opportunity to be in thus far in my career. I’ve listened to the way that center leadership are considering the needs, values, concerns, and goals of units all across the university and thinking about how we as an arts presenter can best fit those needs. That skill, that compassion, that listening — all of those things are things that I’m going to take with me further into my professional career, and I hope that I will be able to live up to the standard that has been modeled for me here at the center."

AJ Crowell

Graduate Student, M.A., Material Culture and Public Humanities, School of Visual Arts

"Whenever you go to college, it's really easy to feel like you're in a bubble of a lot of the same information that you consume or that you're surrounded by. You’ll never know how far you can extend that boundary until you're challenged and until you're shown things that surprise you or excite you; that you didn't even know existed. And that's one thing that the center does particularly well is introduce things to you that are new, challenging, and exciting and that have the capacity to help you grow as a person."

Abigail Bagnoli

Art History major, fourth year

"When patrons come into the galleries, I talk to them about the art, answering any questions that they have and facilitating dialogues between classmates that come in, because it’s a lot of students. It’s cool to be part of a culture that’s fueling an interest in art, because this is a STEM school, so being able to have a gallery on campus — even two galleries — and an event center on campus is a big deal, and it’s a huge opportunity to spread the love of art."

Emily Southern

Journalism major, third year

"I learned a lot about technical skills … but I’ve honestly learned the most about teamwork. There’s a large crew and we have to work together a lot to … be able to support all of the productions and companies that come to the center. We have a high standard of work that we put out, and our crew works very well on meeting that standard every time we do something. The job has also set me up for my career in a lot of ways. Though it’s not TV production, it’s a reputable job that’s given me a really credible experience. I’ve made a lot of connections, and I feel like it’s been a really valuable experience."

Riley Petersen

Public Relations major, fourth year

"I think my favorite part about working here would have to be that I am still able to maintain a connection to the arts in my college life. I was really involved with theatre in high school, and I think one of my fears going into college, especially a college that has so much emphasis on STEM, was that I would lose that connection that I had to the arts being someone who’s not a theatre major. The center has provided such an incredible opportunity to still interact with the arts in my everyday life. I love seeing the community of people that come together, who have this shared interest of caring about art and wanting to see it. Postgrad, I am going to be doing sales, which is super exciting. I never thought I would go into sales, but it's  funny because I look at the skills that I use here and it’s all just been about problem-solving, communication, and being quick on your feet. I realized how transferable those skills were to sales when I did an internship this past summer."

Erin Krug

Music Education major, class of 2025

"I’m a music major and I’m going to graduate in May, and it’s been just so formative to my experience here ... I’ve gotten to experience so many different groups and different cultures that I wouldn’t have gotten to experience otherwise, so I’m really thankful for that. Getting paid to do that is really cool, too. All of the music we’ve had here has shown me how great music can be as something that brings people together. That’s really the whole reason why I want to be a music educator, because of the power of community that it has. Also, just getting to see how much the audience connects with each other when they’re watching one of our shows is just beautiful and it reaffirms why I’m doing what I’m doing."