Expansive Thinking and High Ideals

Several years ago when Las Vegas was named America’s first City of Asylum, I was delighted by the development but not surprised by the rest of the world’s apparent skepticism about locating the refuge for dissident writers here in Las Vegas. As president of a dynamic university that seeks a world-class reputation for its teaching, research, scholarship, and creative activity, I am keenly aware of the world’s perception of Las Vegas; it seems many people refuse to abandon the stereotypical image of our city, despite knowing that it is a thriving metropolitan area with more than a million people pursuing diverse interests, including many serious intellectual ones. Yes, I was quite aware of the thinking that produced headlines belaboring the unlikely pairing of Las Vegas with the distinction of being the nation’s first City of Asylum.

On two levels – both as an American literature scholar and as president of UNLV – I was heartened to see our town entrusted with this important role and felt intuitively that it would bring a whole host of other positive connections to the campus and the community. I had no idea just how much good it would bring. A great deal of credit is deserved by those forward-looking individuals who brought us this program and made possible the ensuing creation of the International Institute of Modern Letters – not the least of which is our generous benefactor and friend Glenn Schaeffer of the Mandalay Resort Group. Glenn, who founded the institute, and English/creative writing professor Richard Wiley can be largely credited with having the foresight and commitment necessary to bring these prestigious programs to Las Vegas. It was the support of Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, however, that I believe made a powerful, even pivotal, difference in making these virtually simultaneous events a reality. Without his endorsement, I wonder, would we have had the boldness to aspire to become a leader in the international literary community? Perhaps, but having a Nobel Prize winner believe in us helped us believe in ourselves with greater certainty. As I watch these programs flourish and bring fresh literary inspiration to our community, I am grateful to Wole for his support and for his willingness to share his genius with our campus.

The moral of this story is one that extends to the entire university. I would speculate that in years past, many UNLV faculty members (and no doubt some students and their parents as well) have thought of the seeming incongruity of serious intellectualism residing in a city so widely known for – and so decidedly dedicated to – providing many forms of and opportunities for leisure. I have been told that at one time UNLV suffered from a bit of an inferiority complex about its scholarly reputation, which some attributed to the dissonance felt about creating a respected academic institution in, of all places, Las Vegas.

We have come so far since those days. We have grown dramatically in size and in sophistication in recent years, as has our city. We are a nationally recognized doctoral-degree granting institution now, acknowledged as such by objective, external standards, such as those of Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and our accrediting body, the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges. Serious intellectualism not only dwells, but flourishes, on our campus. Respected faculty members disseminate knowledge to their students in the classrooms and laboratories but also to the world through scholarly publications. And they study not only the traditional academic subjects, but emerging ones as well – many of which grow out of, ironically, the unique culture of Las Vegas. Recent years have brought to light more and more examples of broad-ranging research and programs that were designed to support Southern Nevada, and those efforts continue to be encouraged.

So how, you may ask, did a modest college, created just under a half century ago in a dusty patch of desert off Maryland Parkway, achieve this? I believe we can thank many individuals who have gone before us, as well as those still here continuing the charge. We can thank the excellent scholars and teachers, researchers and artists who, in the early days of the university, remained devoted to their disciplines despite nagging doubts about their institution’s location. We can thank the administrators who recognized the value of supporting these early scholarly endeavors and who doggedly pursued greater funding to build infrastructure. We can thank a generous community, filled with donors and friends of UNLV, who have understood all along the genuine importance of establishing a strong academic institution for the greater good of the city and of the state. And we can thank our students, past and present, for choosing UNLV and going on to proudly proclaim their alma mater’s success. They all were and are open-minded about our prospects, committed to seeing bright and compelling possibilities for UNLV, much as the founders of the International Institute of Modern Letters are.

So it is with great pleasure that I introduce in this issue the wonderful visionaries behind the institute. I believe you will find their personal stories, as well as their thoughts about literature, democracy, art, freedom of expression, and creativity, simply fascinating. I also believe you will admire them for having the strength of conviction to answer, “Why not?” when asked “Why Las Vegas?” They carry on the spirit of the many individuals who gave the same answer when the progress of our university was at stake at various times over the course of the last five decades. And, ultimately, they represent the expansive thinking and high ideals that make UNLV what it is today.