Professor expands cultural access

rowing up in a musical family, Wayne Law Professor Stephen Calkins, enjoyed playing trumpet in a band with his eight siblings back home in Buffalo, New York. “People have loved music in my family for a long time,” said Calkins, whose passion for music rivals his fondness for the students at Wayne State’s Law School.

Now, the law professor is beating a drum to provide cultural opportunities to his students through the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s (DSO) Soundcard Student Membership program.

“We have things that don’t exist in Ann Arbor and East Lansing,” Calkins said. “This is all about trying to encourage students to stay on campus and to appreciate the artistic advantages that Wayne State has that the University of Michigan and Michigan State do not have.”

Each cardholder can attend 120 concerts all season long at Orchestra Hall, including classical, jazz, pops, chamber and children’s music. Calkins wants first-year law students to stay on campus longer by attending concerts and perhaps visiting the neighborhood bars and restaurants before or after shows.

Soundcard holder Sophie Raimi, a third-year Wayne Law student, finds the DSO experience to be meditative.

“It is so magical,” she said. “It truly moves me. It tells a convincing nonverbal and emotional story, which is like meditation for the mind.” When asked what she would tell friends or classmates about it, Raimi said, “It is indescribable until you go, but it was life-changing.”

Although Calkins has committed to funding the card program through 2027, he hopes its ongoing success will gain enough support to create an endowment that allows the program to continue in perpetuity.

“It all stems from my love of the symphony, my love of Midtown Detroit, my love of my law students,” Calkins said. “It was a way at relatively little cost to do something that was good for the artistic community, good for Midtown and good for the Law School.”