Williams Center’s “AQB” to step down in June

Allison Quensen Blatt, longtime Director of Operations and Patron Services at the Williams Center for the Arts, will leave that position on June 30.

Since her arrival at Lafayette in 2000, Blatt has been responsible for managing operations for some 75 events a year for the Performance Series, Departments of Theater and Music, and student organizations. She has served as advisor for the Arts Society and Marquis Players, and has received the college’s Distinguished Service Award and the Hoff Awards’ Unsung Hero recognition.

“It’s been a delight and an adventure to work alongside Hollis Ashby—and Ellis Finger before her—as well as other colleagues, to bring such consistently wonderful performances to the college and community,” Blatt says. “I’ve enjoyed getting to know many of our patrons and helping them have the best experience at the Williams Center and Buck Hall.”

She continues, “And I am so very proud of and grateful for the generations of students who’ve worked so hard to revive and grow the Arts Society and make it such a vibrant part of the Lafayette experience.” The Arts Society produces a number of popular annual events, such as the Block pARTy, Evening of A Cappella, and Favorite Poem Reading, and has recently established the Lafayette Arts Alumni Network and the J. Larry Stockton Scholarships for private music lessons.

“Allison is the foundation and the roof of the arts at Lafayette,” comments Hollis Ashby, Artistic and Executive Director of the Performance Series. “The tent pole and the tent of our Big Top. Lafayette owes her an enormous debt of gratitude for her steadfast dedication and service; for the many hats she wears, which increase every year; and for mentoring, training, and becoming a friend and advisor to countless students over the past 23 years, who hold her in very high esteem.

“I was so fortunate to find Allison in the Operations office when I arrived,” Ashby continues. “Since then I have discovered the depth of her talent, her ability, and her character. Allison has never uttered the words ‘It’s not my job,’ or ‘I don’t have time,’ and she’s never met a challenge she didn’t accept. It’s accurate to say ‘I couldn’t do it without her,’ but more importantly, I wouldn’t want to do it without her.”

Blatt plans to return to her home state of West Virginia to raise hell and praise Dolly.