HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) - Longtime Hastings College linchpin Robin Koozer has relinquished his role as chair of the music department to assume yet another noteworthy role on behalf of the fine arts.
Koozer, 62, who has anchored the music department for 29 years, handed off the baton to professor and Hastings Symphony Orchestra director Byron Jensen on Jan. 31 and to turn his attention to a fundraising role for the fine arts, the Hastings Tribune (https://bit.ly/2l0fOCz ) reported.
Regarded by many as the face of Hastings College’s music department, Koozer has been instrumental in maintaining the town and gown mentality established by his predecessors.
From involving students in local church choirs and student-teaching positions and helping launch South Central Nebraska Children’s Chorale in residence on campus some 25 years ago, to hosting such community events as “Messiah” and “Melody Roundup,” the college’s rich tradition of giving back has continued to flourish under his watch.
“The Presbyterians started our college in 1882 and we’ve been integral in the sacred music programs in town since,” he said. “Our students not only sing at the Presbyterian Church, they play in bell choirs and direct youth choirs. That whole piece of servicing a greater purpose is something I hope we’ll always have as part of our program.”
His community-oriented mindset regarding a college’s role in the community, which melds perfectly with Hastings College’s own philosophy on the topic, is rooted in his upbringing as the youngest of three sons reared by Robert and Frances Koozer in small town Broken Bow.
Raised with a profound respect for his parents, their influences continue to impact his life in both big and small ways.
A candy dish of Tootsie Roll pops on his desk hearkens back to the wholesale candy and tobacco business owned by the family. His longtime practice of sending uplifting hand-written notes of encouragement to friends, family and students continues a habit practiced by his mother.
His down-home disposition is one of the reasons he was attracted to pursuing a career at Hastings College over medicine - his second choice - following in the footsteps of former music chairs Millard Cates and Hayes Fuhr.
It is also why - per an agreement with his father - he included a business minor as a safeguard in case his musical pursuit didn’t pan out.
“We stand on the shoulders of great people,” he said. “The foundation has always been there at Hastings College for quality music. That’s very important to me to maintain and build on that legacy. We owe that to these people, but also to people of the future.
“I’ve tried hard to enable others to succeed, be it finding opportunities for students and faculty. We were able to take the choir to Japan, Scotland, England, and the saxophone quintet to Russia, and I think those are very important things as far as giving students educational opportunities away from campus.”
In his new role, he will look to help garner support for a dedicated performing arts space on campus to reinvigorate the tired and hallowed halls of Fuhr Hall, an addition he believes will further Hastings College’s “renaissance movement” launched earlier this year by the completion of the Jackson Dinsdale Art Center.
“Fuhr Hall was built over 60 years ago,” he said. “It has served a wonderful purpose and will continue to - the halls are alive with the sound of music - but we need a facelift. Hopefully, that will be something I can help the college with as we move forward.”
Faculty members who’ve worked with and known Koozer for years said the music department won’t be the same without him. His incalculable value to the department is reflected in the lives of the hundreds upon hundreds of students and faculty he has mentored and supported in word and deed through the years.
Fritz Mountford, the college’s director of choral activities, first befriended Koozer in high school while they were attending a summer music camp at University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Later, as a sophomore, he would share a room with the then-freshman Koozer at Bronc Hall. As Mountford recalls, that’s when shenanigans began to occur.
“On Sunday evenings, we didn’t get food service on campus, so Robin initiated that Bronc Hall guys go around and belly up to the buffet at 50th anniversary receptions, birthday receptions and other receptions in town,” Mountford said. “Another time, after getting some of the guys to watch a local cooking show on television, he wrote a fan letter to the host and included a recipe he invented. The host naively read the ’nice letter from the boys at Bronc Hall’ on the air.”
When Christmas trees were banned in dorm rooms on campus, he defied the rule and was harshly disciplined for chopping down and decorating a pine tree from the then-president’s yard for Bronc Hall, Mountford said.
On two occasions, gags he helped initiate disrupted honors convocation ceremonies at French Memorial Chapel. The first involved leaving a Dumpster full of cement blocks on stage; second, blocking the chapel doors with automobiles borrowed from unwitting students on campus.
“The things I remember were never actually destructive or mean-spirited,” Mountford said. “Just clever and fun. The stuff we got away with then the whole college would just go up in smoke today.”
After graduation, Koozer took over for Mountford as a music teacher at Superior High School when the latter decided to pursue a career as a professional entertainer.
Koozer later recruited him to fill in for Chip Smith, Hastings College’s choir director, who was headed out on sabbatical. Mountford has held the position for more than 17 years.
“Robin just naturally is the ringleader,” he said. “If a ring doesn’t already exist, he’s going to go out and find people to be a ring to go do stuff. His mind is spinning all the time at inventing the new experience, the new adventure. He has always said our purpose here - and he inherited this from Dr. Fuhr and Millard Cates - is to create memorable experiences for the students.”
Joy Gerdes, Hastings College’s music office manager, attended college with Koozer and Mountford in the mid-1970s. Having worked alongside him for more than nine years, she considers Koozer one of the most sincere people she has ever known.
“He cares about all of us, and the students especially,” she said. “He has a lot of patience and a lot of caring.
“He’s brought the students in here for everything they’ve needed, celebrating their successes and doing anything he could do to help them. It’s been neat to see all these years.”
Debra Rhodes was hired as a music professor by Koozer in 1991 as a graduate student at the University of Northern Colorado. From the get-go, she said she has felt supported by Koozer, considering him a mentor and friend above all else.
“What I’ve appreciated about Robin is just his caring,” she said. “He always knows the right thing to say, when to send a card, when to make a phone call, or when to show up at your door with chicken soup when you’re sick. And that’s so rare in the world today.
“Robin is one of the most sincere, genuine people in this world. Our lives are so blessed and so much richer because of what he has done and what he continues to do in this community. The word ’impossible’ does not exist in his vocabulary. I’m very excited to see what his next steps are, because they’re only going to be even better. I think we have great things ahead.”
Patty Kingsley is a philosophy teacher who works in technology at the college. Her association with Koozer dates to 1977 when he taught her music class in junior high school. He has remained a constant in her life through the years, both as a student at Hastings College and later as choir director at First Presbyterian.
“I’ve known him most of my life,” she said. “He’s phenomenal. He’s one of the most joyful musicians I’ve ever seen. Find music in Hastings and there’s going to be some tieback to Robin Koozer.”
A boxful of hand-written letters received from Koozer exemplifies his ongoing effort to communicate support to those inside his circle of acquaintances, she said. And not just her, but also her two daughters, both area musicians.
“He knows exactly what to say,” she said. “There wasn’t a concert that he didn’t write to my daughters congratulating them on a solo or if they made first chair. Nobody else in this community writes a better note of appreciation.
“When I think of Hastings College and Hastings as a community, I’m so grateful that Robin has agreed to continue on and start raising money for a performing arts center. You couldn’t have a better ambassador for the arts and what it is to be a Nebraskan who loves music.”
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Information from: Hastings Tribune, https://www.hastingstribune.com
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