MSU RCAH seeks to contribute to “the common good”

<p>Steve Esquith is dean of Michigan State University’s <a href="http://rcah.msu.edu">Residential College in the Arts and Humanities</a>. He talks with MSU President <a href="http://president.msu.edu">Samuel L. Stanley, Jr. MD</a> and Spartans Athletic Director Bill Beekman about the “common good” mission of the college.<br> <br> “We think there are some basic things that the arts and humanities can contribute to society,” says Esquith. <br> <br> He talks about the college’s excellent placement rate. “Parents are often pleased to hear about our graduation and placement rates,” he quips. <br> <br> For each of the past six years, 100 percent of RCAH graduates have found jobs or enrolled in grad school. That percentage is best among colleges at MSU.<br> <br> Esquith says RCAH greatly exceeded its fundraising goal in the university’s recent campaign. And he details the advantages offered by a residential college.<br> <br> “In living together, the students encounter people who are different from themselves. A mark of our success in the college is our diversity. Richness of other cultures is not just something they read about in textbooks.”<br> <br> “What you’re doing is such a powerful answer to the question of how the humanities are relevant to what’s going on in the world,” says Stanley. “You provide a powerful answer to that question.”<br> <br> <a href="http://goo.gl/jIt5b"><em>MSU Today</em></a><em> airs Sunday mornings at 9:00 on 105.1 FM and AM 870. Find MSU Today on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts.</em></p>