‘Your job is to become fine at what you do and your craft.’
COLUMBIA, KY. (04/15/2025) Lindsey Wilson College students enjoyed an hour-long conversation Monday evening with a world-renowned artist who has made his mark on the stage, screen and TV.
Award-winning actor, director and writer Ruben Santiago-Hudson talked with Lindsey Wilson students and faculty members via Zoom on Monday, April 14, in W.W. Slider Humanities Center Recital Hall. The event was led by a pair of Lindsey Wilson students — English major Morgan Bryant ’26 of Shelbyville, Kentucky, and theatre major Leeshawn Johnson ’26 of Louisville, Kentucky.
During a wide-ranging conversation, Santiago-Hudson recounted his road toward becoming an actor, director and writer; people who influenced his career; and his long friendship with the legendary playwright August Wilson. He also offered advice to students interested in pursuing a career in show business.
He reminded them that “being an artist is selling something people think they don’t need.”
“Your job is to become fine at what you do and your craft,” said Santiago-Hudson, whose multitude of awards and honors include a 1996 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for his role as Canewel in Wilson’s Seven Guitars. “You cannot let anyone else define you. Other peoples’ ideas of you belong to them.”
Santiago-Hudson’s talk was co-sponsored by the Lindsey Wilson chapter of Sigma Tau Delta English Honors Society and the Theatre Program.
Lindsey Wilson College is a vibrant liberal arts college in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson has an enrollment of more than 4,000 students, and the college offers 28 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The college’s 28 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.
Lindsey Wilson College theatre professor Robert Brock, standing, welcomes award-winning actor, director and writer Ruben Santiago-Hudson to a conversation with Lindsey Wilson students and faculty members Monday evening in W.W. Slider Humanities Center Recital Hall.
Lindsey Wilson College college students Leeshawn Johnson ’26, a theatre major from Louisville, Kentucky, and Morgan Bryant ’26, an English major from Shelbyville, Kentucky, interview award-winning actor, director and writer Ruben Santiago-Hudson Monday evening in W.W. Slider Humanities Center Recital Hall.
Award-winning actor, director and writer Ruben Santiago-Hudson speaks to Lindsey Wilson College students and faculty members Monday evening in W.W. Slider Humanities Center Recital Hall.
(Duane Bonifer – Lindsey Wilson College)