Richard Brauer, former director of the Valparaiso University Brauer Museum of Art which bears his name, was inducted Friday afternoon as an honorary member into the university’s chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, considered the nation’s most prestigious academic honor society.
It was a ceremony that cherished the values not only of a liberal education but those who strive for excellence within that learning. VU’s Eta of Indiana Chapter President Joe Creech said, “It’s liberal because it signifies emancipation from ignorance.” Fifteen students were also initiated as Members in Course.
Phi Beta Kappa was founded by five students at the College of Willliam and Mary on Dec. 5, 1776. Stacy Maugans, historian of VU’s chapter, told the audience gathered in the Duesenberg Recital Hall at VU’s Center for the Arts that those early students held discourse on history, politics, and societal issues including slavery that played an integral, though shameful, role in the nation’s higher education at the time.
She told those gathered that the society’s motto is “Love of learning is the guide to life.” Brauer’s educational journey embodies that.
He said he attended VU on the GI Bill for one year in 1947 but, “I realized I needed to learn more about art than VU offered.” He transferred to the Institute of Design of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago where he earned both a B.A. and an M.A.
Brauer didn’t give up on VU though. By 1961 he was back as a newly hired professor tasked with coming up with an art exhibition. That exhibition became the museum that Brauer directed from 1962 until 1996.
“VU’s Brauer Museum of Art is arguably what it is today because of Brauer,” Creech said. Its collection of over 1200 works is focused on American and international religious art.
“His legacy of not only teaching the arts but making sure that it carried forward as part of the symbol of the university,” was the reason Brauer was unanimously voted for initiation by the Eta Chapter, said Anna Stewart, director of the Institute of Leadership and Service at VU.
“He assembled quite a collection for a small university without a big budget,” she said. That collection includes works by American greats such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Andy Warhol and Ansel Adams.
As recently reported in the Post-Tribune, a controversial plan to use the proceeds from the sale of three key pieces to finance freshman dorm renovations amid declining enrollment leaves the fate of the works unclear. The three pieces are: O’Keeffe’s “Rust Red Hills,” Frederic E. Church’s “Mountain Landscape,” and Childe Hassam’s “The Silver Vale and the Golden Gate.”
When given the floor, Brauer thanked and acknowledged those who worked with him on the Collection Committee. “I enjoyed working and learning with so many different people,” he said, adding another highlight of his career which included teaching students about American painters and museum studies, was the creation of more than 300 bulletin covers by his students for services in the Chapel of the Resurrection that are preserved in the university archive.
Brauer was touched by the nomination. He began his speech with a brief history of his family’s German Lutheran roots and the value they placed on learning.
“It is indeed a high honor,” Brauer said. “I cherish it.”
Brauer’s former colleague, retired music professor Marcia Lewis, has a long history with Brauer and his family, having given voice lessons to his daughter Lydia. “We moved into this building when we were both on faculty,” she recalled.
“This building is a tribute to him as well. We’re thrilled that he’s getting this honor.” She described Brauer as “a really warm individual who cared so deeply for the arts – all arts – not just the visual that he was in.”
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
