Alumni & Friends

Lutz Gift Benefits Spartan Marching Band Drumline, New Music Building

Michigan State University is a subject Merritt Lutz (’65; ’67) loves to talk about. “After all, MSU is where my wife, Candy (’66), and I met,” he said. Merritt is quick to add that his days at MSU were some of the best years of his life. They are thankful that many of their closest friends today are a result of their contact with the School of Music.

John Whitwell, Merritt Lutz, Roy Simon, and James Forger

The Lutzes recently pledged leadership support for The Spartan Championship Drums Endowment Fund as well as the proposed new facility for the School of Music where they have chosen to name both the School of Music director’s office and the percussion faculty office. Merritt was a snare drummer in the Spartan Marching Band (SMB) from 1963-66 and led the drumline his last three years. “I wanted to be in the Spartan Drumline from as far back as I can remember. Why? Because they were the best,” he stated. “So I was accepted to MSU, I played in the drumline, I received a music scholarship even though I was not a music major, and I marched under Leonard Falcone. I was living my dream.”

That dream continued when he and the band went to the Rose Bowl, marched in the World’s Fair parade in New York and performed in the presidential inaugural celebration in Washington, D.C.

The Spartan Championship Drums Endowment Fund was the brainchild of discussions between Merritt and some of the other 1966 drumline alumni. “SMB Director John Madden always says that you can’t have a great marching band without a great drumline. Some of us felt that it was important to provide support specifically for the drumline program at MSU. It’s the best and we want to ensure that it remains that way,” said Merritt.

After consulting with Madden and Jon Weber, the percussion instructor who works with the drumline, Merritt facilitated establishing the fund and also personally contacted others to ask for their support. The endowment provides money annually for scholarships, drumline competitions and exhibitions, and travel expenses for the Spartan Marching Band Drumline and the Competition Drumline. Merritt encourages anyone who has enjoyed the Spartan Marching Band or drumline to add to the endowed fund so that others can continue to share this wonderful experience.

“Merritt Lutz’s long standing emotional and financial support has enabled us to continue the great tradition of marching percussion at MSU,” said Madden. “Merritt is committed to MSU’s growth and the growth of the Spartan Marching Band. He remains very proud of the current SMB, however, I believe he is most proud of the continuing excellence of the current drumline and its talented members. He cares immensely about the drumline’s quality and commitment to state-of-the-art excellence.”

Merritt is quick to point out that music is and always has been a part of his life, and Candy’s. Besides being a member of the Spartan Marching Band, Merritt also played in the top concert band while attending MSU.

The Lutzes now reside in New York City. Merritt has been with Morgan Stanley for 11 years where he is Advisory Director, Chairman, MSIT Holdings, Inc. He is a director on the boards of three public and two private companies. The couple are season subscribers to Carnegie Hall, York City Opera, and two Broadway Series of not-for-profit theater. “New York is a great place for great music and we take advantage of that every chance we get,” he remarked.

Merritt serves on the School of Music Advisory Board at MSU. The reason behind his commitment to the new facilities project for the school is a simple one. “We have a world-class School of Music here that has simply outgrown its facility,” he stated. “We cannot continue to attract the most talented students and distinguished faculty when competing institutions can offer them a state-of-the-art learning environment.”

The Lutzes’ appreciation of their educational experiences at MSU prompted them to make gifts that will allow future students and faculty to learn in a state-of-the-art facility and provide scholarship money to

Gullivers Honor Father by Establishing Music Scholarship in His Name

Offer a tribute to his father – that’s what Robert Gulliver wanted to do when he and his wife, Jo Anne, decided to establish a named endowed scholarship at Michigan State

Robert Spaulding Gulliver and Remus Webb

University. Their goal was to fund a scholarship in Gulliver’s father’s lifetime, and this was accomplished in academic year 2005-06 when performance major, Remus Webb, was the first recipient of the Robert Spaulding Gulliver Scholarship in Music. “It was probably the best tribute we could give my father,” said Gulliver. “The joy of receiving the letter from the first recipient was overwhelming.”

Webb, a senior in the School of Music whose instrument is the euphonium, was nominated to receive this award by Philip Sinder, professor of tuba and euphonium. “What a fabulous way for a son to honor his father – by providing support, in perpetuity, to worthy and talented students who have worked hard through challenges they have faced,” said James Forger, director of the School of Music. “It was a joy for me to be present to see Robert Gulliver, together with his son and daughter-in-law, meet the talented and grateful Remus Webb, who has the distinction and honor to be the first recipient of this endowed award.”

Robert Spaulding Gulliver, father of Robert Ray Gulliver, played in the MSU Band when he was a student in the early 1940s. He left MSU to attend pharmacy school and became a pharmacist before serving in World War II on a Navy hospital ship, the USS Benevolence. He was the proprietor of Gulliver’s State Drugs on Grand River Avenue just east of campus for many years. The elder Gulliver’s love of music, coupled with his training in the School of Music and his participation in the MSU Marching Band and, have given him more than 50 years of joy and fulfillment playing his clarinet.

When Robert and Jo Anne worked to establish the scholarship, they decided one key factor in selecting award recipients should be to award those students who have musical talent and a deep love for music, but who may not have secured exemplary grades in high school. “Many students may be late bloomers like I was,” the younger Gulliver explained. “During my few years in the Navy, I realized that a college education was something I desired. I attained it. I want to see people earn a college education who have the willingness, fortitude, maturity, and strong desire to overcome previous low motivations in their studies.”

Robert and Jo Anne Gulliver have committed $30,000 to fully endow the Robert Spaulding Gulliver Scholarship, which will generate annual investment income of approximately $1,500. This named scholarship will last in perpetuity, providing future scholarship awards to generations of talented musicians. In addition to their current funding, the Gullivers have generously documented in their estate plans a future gift that will be directed to the Robert Spaulding Gulliver Endowed Scholarship. “We want to emphasize that ordinary MSU graduates, not just the multi-millionaires, can do this.” Gulliver said. “encourage others to establish gifts sooner rather than later in their lifetime. To establish a scholarship in my father’s lifetime has been a rewarding experience beyond words for both him and us.”

For the 2006-07 academic year, the Gulliver Scholarship was awarded to Benjamin Cobb, a senior in trombone performance.

Mackey Gift to Benefit Voice Students

Thanks to a gift from former MSU President and First Lady Cecil and Clare Mackey, the voice area in the School of Music will have perpetual funding for talented students pursuing degrees in the vocal arts. In November 2006, Dr. and Mrs. Mackey established the Clare S. Mackey Endowed Fund in Voice. “This generous gift from the Mackeys will enable our voice faculty to recruit and retain voice performance majors of the highest quality,” said Director James Forger.

Their endowment was established in honor of Clare S. Mackey, recognizing her lifelong professional accomplishments, her love of music, and her commitment to the musical arts. An accomplished singer and flutist, she earned a B.S. (with highest honors) and an M.S. in music education, both in 1955, at the University of Illinois. She taught music

in the public schools. Subsequently, she earned a master’s of music degree in voice at MSU in 1987. She has been a tireless supporter of vocal arts on the MSU campus and in the broader community. She has been a vocal soloist in the mid-Michigan area, a longtime member of the MSU Choral Union, and was the alto soloist at Peoples Church in East Lansing for 16 years. An active proponent of the arts, Clare has been an effective liaison between Wharton Center and the School of Music, facilitating a talented group of pre-concert speakers. In her role as first lady of MSU, Clare, together with her husband, Cecil, MSU’s 16th president, provided strong and supportive leadership that enabled the musical arts to thrive at Michigan State.

“Clare and I wanted to do something that would serve as a lasting acknowledgment of what Michigan State has contributed to our lives and those of our entire family,” said Cecil Mackey. “A very special relationship with the School of Music – its faculty and its students – over the years has added greatly to the quality of our lives. By establishing the Clare S. Mackey Endowed Fund in Voice we can assure that talented students will be able to study with outstanding faculty as they pursue their goals in vocal performance. It is our hope that the students who benefit from this endowment will find the same measure of joy and satisfaction in their study of voice that Clare found in her graduate study with Ethel Armeling at MSU.”