By Lily Yengle ’13

“Imagine every other week you could go down to the Williams Arts Campus and see a classic film.”

Although he is leaving, President Weiss still has high hopes for the Arts Campus at the bottom of the hill.

“One of the first things he did when he got here was to do a strategic plan,” said Director of Williams Center for the Arts Ellis Finger, who has worked at Lafayette since 1973. “The arts is one of the topics that he worked on, and the outcome of that was to do an expansion of the Williams Center.”

During Weiss’ eight years, the arts program has expanded out of the Williams Center for the Arts. The Williams Visual Arts Building at the bottom of the hill was completed in 2001 after a donation from the Williams family, and with an additional state grant, plans began for the rest of North Third Street.

“I think that’s been the direction of his energies in the arts, and a lot of it is behind the scenes,” Finger said.

While Weiss has backed the development of the arts programs, he has not attended as many faculty and student performances as presidents of the past.

“He’s supported it, but he hasn’t come here a lot,” he added, mentioning how Weiss’ predecessor President ArthurRothkopf frequented the Williams Center events.

“A lot of it depends on their family,” said Finger, adding that between the five presidents he had worked under, those with grown children seem to be the most avid event attenders.

He has, though, been largely responsible for the development of the Williams Arts Campus, which he said is “a bold experiment” in developing the connection between the college and Easton.

“It would be a more contemporary arts center,” Finger said. “It would compliment the work that happens [at the Williams Center], which is more in music and gallery programs.”

One building would be a screening room where films could be shown for educational purposes, a boost for the budding film & media studies program. It could also be used for recreational purposes, as has been done in the Limburg Theater.

“I would love to see a healthy film series,” Weiss said. “Something you can count on all year long.”

Another building will house a large black box theater for live performances.

There is the issue of student involvement and attendance at events that are down the hill, but it is precisely this off-the-hill location that the arts department wanted.

“There are many colleges like Lafayette, situated in older cities like Easton, where there’s more tension and frustration between the campus community and the city,” Finger said. “The arts, particularly in theater, present an ideal juncture…to bring Lafayette into the city of Easton, and to encourage the city of Easton to take part in the arts program at Lafayette.”

“It creates a beautiful gateway to the city,” Weiss said.

Though Weiss will not be here to see it, he suggested a tentative end date of roughly three years. The board will review the final design plan in two weeks.