Bob Grobman
If you have wandered into the Theatre & Dance Dept. office since the beginning of the 2003-04 academic year, then you have noticed that the office previously occupied by Ken Butler now contains the fabulous Mr. Robert F. Grobman, know affectionately by most as Bob. Bob graduated from Muhlenberg in 1999 with degrees in Theatre and English, and has returned to his alma mater to serve as administrative coordinator for the Department of Theatre & Dance now that Ken has become the Presidential Assistant and moved across campus to the Haas building.
After graduating from Muhlenberg, Bob got his first post-college job out of the online job engine, ArtSearch. He worked at the Orchestra of St. Luke's for a period of time, where he worked 10AM-6PM everyday and enjoyed his job, but he felt as though he wasn't "growing-up." Bob then decided to enter the Dot.com boom and moved to SoftWatch, a software company that worked with the pharmaceutical industry to help them build their customer relations and to sell medications to ill people confined to their homes. Bob worked from the bottom up at SoftWatch, beginning as an executive secretary and moving up to what Bob calls "the guy." He was in charge of accounts payable and the office manager, among other important administrative jobs. Bob found that his success at SoftWatch was directly related to his Muhlenberg education. He says that, corny as it may sound, Charles Richter's liberal arts-minded mantra, "We make people better people," is real. While working on numerous shows with the MTA and the theater department at Muhlenberg, Bob learned the power of an ensemble to work together and create something; he learned how to keep a group of people working through conflict, people from different backgrounds and with different motivations and opinions, just as the cast and crew of a show must progress collectively to make a production happen.
After three years with SoftWatch, Bob eventually realized that as much as he was succeeding, he did not really believe in what he was creating and doing. He says that, "You have to believe in what you do," and that he will always be the type of person that devotes 90 hours a week to his job - be it sweeping floors or running an office. So if he ultimately does not believe wholeheartedly in his work, what then is the point of continuing it? Consequently, Bob came back to the 'Berg to work with a product that he has faith in: the students.
When asked to compare the Muhlenberg of today with the one that he left in 1999, Bob referred back to the last night of ACTF this past January. He says that this program has grown immensely in five years, from acquiring the Trexler Pavilion to expanding the MTA e-board from just a couple members to the eleven that we just elected, but that he still felt the same family energy during the ACTF staff dinner that he felt during his time as a student here. Bob expresses that it was very weird to return here in many ways. A lot of things have changed, he says, but so many things haven't. He finds old file folders with his handwriting on the labels and items that he remembers purchasing with Ken while Bob was a work-study student; the conversations that he hears in the office now are variations on the same ones that he had with his friends five years ago.
Bob says that he considers himself lucky to still have Ken, his mentor and predecessor, still on campus. He also finds that his transition back to Muhlenberg has been made infinitely easier by the students that work under him in the office, the box office, and the department in general. Without people like Matt Freeman '06, who has the job that Bob had while a student at the 'Berg, Lauren Shetler '07, Crystal Smart '05, and all the students with whom he has had the pleasure to work this year, Bob maintains that he would never be able to function. Also, he truly believes that enjoying the company of those you work with is essential. He says that it is one thing to not want to come to work because you have too much to do, and it is another thing to not want to come because you hate the people with whom you work. Anyone in the office can testify to the fact that even if Bob is stressed out or having a bad day, he always tries his best to make his co-workers laugh and smile.
In terms of his plans for the future, Bob states that there are a lot of changes that he feels need to be made in the department and that implementing those changes will provide him with "enough work to be here for awhile." Eventually, though, Bob has hopes of returning to stage work as a director at Muhlenberg. Bob directed while a student here, including a production of Blood Brothers in his senior year, and has not done any theatre since the summer after graduation. He says that he misses it, the thrill of creating art, but that he has always known that if he goes back to it, he only wants to do it in a place like here with young people and that same collaborative setting that he had and from which he learned so much.
Finally, Bob has a few messages for those current students at the 'Berg. Firstly, he stresses the importance of discovering your dreams and then taking the steps to make them happen, saying, "There are thousands of opportunities available to [the students], but ultimately it still depends on them saying, 'I want to do this, I want to make this happen.'" At the same time, Bob also emphasizes that students, and everyone else for that matter, should learn as soon as possible, that they should take time to have fun rather than spend all their time working. He says that while at Muhlenberg, Bob spent so much time working that he did not take the time to make the kind of social connections that he wanted and that he now regrets that. And lastly, Bob underscores the need for all involved in the Dept. of Theatre & Dance to take pride in the program and appreciate the quality of the education students are receiving and the talent of those students and faculty around them from whom they are learning. Muhlenberg's reputation for its theatre program, in particular, has become very well-known amongst the nation's fine arts colleges and universities. Bob takes even more pride in being a part of it now than it he did as a student, and he wants the students here now to be grateful for what they have at this school. Bob is very happy to be back, and we at Muhlenberg are very lucky to have him.