“If you have money to give, you want to touch as many lives as you can.”
Denise A. Seachrist, Ph.D., ’93, dean and chief administrative officer of at Stark, realized the importance of philanthropy and making it accessible at an early age; she was the recipient of several scholarships as an undergraduate student. However, one of those scholarships had so many requirements that it had not been awarded for six years prior to her receiving it.
“Sometimes, without meaning to, donors make their scholarships so restrictive that the money just sits,” she said. “Gifts that can actually be used ensure we impact the lives that go on after ours.”
Denise, who received a Ph.D. in musicology-ethnomusicology from , has given back in many ways, including through the establishment of a planned gift. The Denise A. Seachrist and Charles P. Wentz Endowed Scholarship at Stark honors her late husband and helps them both leave a lasting legacy. When she created this scholarship, Denise made sure it had very few requirements so it can be awarded as often as possible, in turn being as impactful as possible.
While Denise’s generosity did not begin with her planned gift, her philanthropy has always followed her heart. Prior to endowing the scholarship, she donated to the Fine Arts Building renovation at Stark, which has a practice room in the building named after her. She and Charlie also established The Denise A. Seachrist and Charles P. Wentz Kent Blossom Music Festival Visiting Artist Series. This fund will be used to bring talented performers to the Kent Blossom Music Festival for annual performances and master classes. This cause is meaningful to her as she has fond memories of evenings filled with music, fireworks and fun at Blossom Music Center summer concerts with Charlie and some of their closest friends.
“Charlie had a huge appreciation for music and, of course, music was my passion and vocation,” Denise said.
But Denise’s generosity does not stop there; the entire community has a special place in her heart as well. Over the past 33 years, her roles at have varied as she went from doctoral student to dean of Stark, including time spent as a faculty member, administrator and director along the way. These experiences made for a broad, insightful career in higher education.
“If it hadn’t been for the education I received at the School of Music, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” she explained.
Denise, who minored in piano and majored in vocal performance, grew up playing an enormous 19th century piano in her family’s Columbiana County home. But when Denise was in high school, her mother surprised her with a gift for which she had been saving: a Baldwin piano.
She enjoyed her childhood pianos, but after the School of Music became an all-Steinway school, Denise and Charlie visited a Steinway & Sons piano gallery. Shortly after that visit, Denise had one of her own.
“Charlie had said all along, ‘You need a Steinway.’ After touring the gallery, he finally wore me down,” Denise said with a laugh.
The couple purchased a Steinway M Series player piano that caught Charlie’s eye. The player piano has many features, including video, which may have been part of the draw for the retired aerospace engineer.
“You can play right along with classical pianist, Vladimir Horowitz,” Denise explained. “Charlie, being the engineer that he was, was fascinated with the technology. Plus, he could play it, too.”
And he did. The player piano brought Charlie much joy, especially throughout his colon cancer treatments.
“That instrument is very, very special, and he got much enjoyment out of it,” Denise said.
Just like their financial legacies, Denise wants this extraordinary instrument to continue to provide joy to others long after she is gone. She has arranged to donate the player piano as an in-kind gift to the School of Music in both her and Charlie’s names.
There is a saying, “legacies change lives.” Denise and Charlie established an ensemble of legacies that will impact and change future students’ lives in many ways, for generations to come. But this philanthropy quite possibly had an even more profound impact on Denise and Charlie themselves, as giving to something you believe in often does.
If you would like to learn how you can leave a legacy at by supporting something you believe in, please contact us at giftplan@kent.edu or 330-672-1000, or visit www.kent.edu/legacy.
(Special thanks and credit to Melissa Griffy Seeton, assistant director of communications, at Stark, author of a Stark article where some of the above information was obtained.)