Aug. 22, 2024
‘Legacy of Opportunity’ documentary premieres at Ferris State on Aug. 28, highlighting a 140-year history while looking ahead
There’s a reason Ferris State University is the only public institution in Michigan named after its founders, says filmmaker and professor Nick Kuiper.
Kuiper worked with his students on a new documentary, “Legacy of Opportunity,” that tells the story of Woodbridge and Helen Ferris’ goal to provide a quality education to anyone willing to learn, and how the founders’ vision is still the university’s guiding principle.
“I’m excited to show our audience ‘Legacy of Opportunity’ because it’s the culmination of nearly a year of work for myself and our students,” Kuiper said. “It’s also an amazing opportunity to celebrate the university’s successes and show our stakeholders and those who know little about Ferris’ history how important Woodbridge and Helen’s legacy remains 140 years after Ferris was founded.”
Kuiper, an award-winning filmmaker and a professor in Ferris State’s Television and Digital Media Production program, joined the student team to showcase the university’s history through a feature project highlighted by more than 40 interviews with students, alumni, faculty and staff.
Joining Kuiper on the project were now graduated TDMP students Chad Andres, of New Lothrop; Nolan Harris, of Seattle, Washington; Kelsey Meyers, of Charlotte; and Alex Valentini, of Thompsonville.
Together, they have produced a finished product featuring diverse stories, reflecting and looking ahead, debuts on campus on Wednesday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. in the David L. Eisler Center on the Big Rapids campus.
In the Hollywood tradition, the premiere night will feature a red carpet, photo opportunities in front of a Ferris State backdrop, theater-style popcorn, candy, beverages and more. The event is free and open to the public.
“Viewers can follow students through their current college experiences,” Kuiper said. “We identified several interesting ‘characters’ for our story. People will see them struggle, learn and succeed. This is all with a backdrop of a moving exploration of Ferris State’s history of providing ‘education for all.’ This concept wasn’t just a talking point. Woodbridge and Helen put it into practice.”
“Education for all” comes to life before viewers’ eyes in “Legacy of Opportunity.”
“Woodbridge and Helen Ferris offered education to women when very few schools did,” Kuiper said. “They provided a place for African Americans to learn when they couldn’t in the Jim Crow south. They offered an educational step up to lumberjacks, farmers, pharmacists and others who wanted to increase their knowledge.”
“Legacy of Opportunity” further highlights a unique aspect of Ferris State as a four-year public university in the state of Michigan.
“There’s a reason Ferris State is the only public institution in Michigan named after its founders who had a goal to provide opportunity to anyone willing to learn,” Kuiper said. “This is a principle we still follow today.”
Producing a feature chronicling Ferris State’s 140-year history, while looking ahead to the future, is the product of more than 300 hours of writing, recording, transferring, backing up, and editing – not to mention sifting through 2,000-plus archived photos, reviewing more than 17 hours of interviews and pulling together nearly six terabytes of 4K footage.
Starting early with a game plan made those numbers less daunting for the production team.
“Our students met in late-August/early-September and we worked together to create an outline for what we needed to cover,” Kuiper said. “Our goal was to make something that all audiences could learn from and enjoy.”
Kuiper and his TDMP 466 student team started the project in late-August 2023, focusing on engaging storytelling. Logan Jones, dean of the College of Business, suggested the project after viewing the senior student-produced Mystic Michigan series.
As for what people attending the premiere should expect, Kuiper has thoughts.
“We believe the audience will learn about roadblocks that attempted to prevent that opportunity from being realized,” Kuiper said. “Through it all, Ferris State University continues to be a unique school that continues its founders’ vision.”
This is not Kuiper’s first time telling an important Ferris State story through film while working with students.
Kuiper’s last major Ferris State-focused project, “A New Normal,” highlighted the university’s response to the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak. Kuiper began filming for a nine-month project in February 2021.
“A New Normal” aired on PBS in 2022 and remains widely available for viewing.
Besides being a Ferris State professor, Kuiper is a Class of 2006 alumnus. Like “A New Normal,” Kuiper has taken pride in “Legacy of Opportunity” standing as not only a documentary of university history but also as a teaching and learning tool for students who are assisting his production.
Kuiper won a Michigan Emmy Award for his 2011 feature-length documentary, “Preemie,” which highlights a group of premature babies struggling to beat the odds for survival. The documentary included interviews with three families chronicling their struggles, the pain of having a preemie while revealing the extraordinary strength of the smallest babies.
Click “Legacy of Opportunity” to view the trailer released on Aug. 19.