For many students, Stanford is the place where they first experience the transforming power of the arts. For me, it was the mesmerizing beauty of Yeats's poetry, some verses of which have been seared into my being. I was fortunate to pursue my interest in this artist's life and work in class and in the writing of a senior thesis, under the guidance of thoughtful, passionate teachers.

My hope is that through the Arts Initiative, all Stanford students will be afforded similar opportunities.

For art transforms life, making of the basic facts of existence something meaningful and lasting. Art honors the individual expressions of our shared human experience and, by so doing, provides the lens of another person's perspective. Through art, we respond to the universal questions that Gauguin highlighted in the title of his masterwork: Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?

As Stanford seeks solutions to the world's most complex problems, we cannot claim to educate the leaders of the 21st century without exposing all our students to the immensity and richness of our cultural heritage or providing them the opportunity to appreciate the varied artistic languages of melody, verse, and visual image by which to create the arts of our time.

Please join me in supporting Stanford's efforts to bring the arts to the center of a great university.

	Sincerely,
	Roberta Denning, '75, MBA '78 Steering Committee Member,   The Stanford Challenge