Javier Cevallos earned his Ph.D. from what was generally regarded to be one of the premier Spanish, Italian and Portuguese departments in all of higher education. "We had so many distinguished scholars visiting all the time,” says the now-president of Massachusetts' Framingham State University.
But when he thinks back to his time here — he earned his doctoral of music arts in 1978, his Ph.D. three years later — it isn't academics that come to mind.
“I have always loved all kinds of music, and Illinois was music paradise. I remember the amazing concerts at the Krannert Center, from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to Vladimir Ashkenazy to Luciano Pavarotti. Or the rock bands at Assembly Hall, including Bruce Springsteen, Linda Ronstadt, Emerson Lake and Palmer. Or the folk music at the Red Herring Coffee House.
“All these concerts added to the great cultural wealth of the university and made my time there both academically and culturally enjoyable."
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