MISSON STATEMENT

To advocate and support activities which reflect the “learning by doing” educational experience available to students participating in the Theatre Program of the Cal Poly Theatre and Dance Department.

FANS Scholarships

Kathleen Fisher Memorial Scholarship
This scholarship was established within the first three years of the origination of FANS to honor the memory of Kathleen Fisher. Kathy was one of the founding board members of FANS and an active theatre student while attending Cal Poly. This scholarship honors her dedication to the program and is awarded annually to an exemplary Theatre Arts major.

J. Murray Smith Scholarship
The J. Murray Smith Scholarship was created in the Spring of 2005 and is named after one of the founding faculty members of the Theatre Program at Cal Poly. Smith taught theatre and speech at Cal Poly from 1960 to 1981. The scholarship is designated for a lower division student who is committed to promoting all aspects of theatre as art.

Who We Are . . .

In the summer of 1996, Karen Brosi sent a very special letter to about 2 dozen contemporaries from her Cal Poly Theatre days. Her message was simple—the Cal Poly Theatre Program needed their help.

Through the efforts of those first individuals, FANS—Friends and Alumni Network of Supporters for the Cal Poly Theatre Program—was formed, its purpose: to be a voice of advocacy and support to the students within the Cal Poly Theatre Program.

Who are FANS? In our college days, we may have trod the boards in the Cal Poly theatre, hammered a nail in a set or slapped paint on a flat. We may have ushered, managed the house or sold tickets for the shows. We may have taken a theatre class or simply enjoyed the Cal Poly productions. In some way we were a part of Cal Poly Theatre—and it became a part of us.

These days, we are accountants, lawers, business owners, working and stay-at-home moms, volunteers, entertainment industry professionals and Oscar-nominated and Emmy-Award-winning artists. We have come together again for a common cause: to be an ever-present support to the students of the Cal Poly Theatre program, insuring that the quality experience that so greatly influenced our lives, continues to influence the lives of students at Cal Poly.