The Players - LaKettra Bennett
The Players: LaKettra Bennett '07
McKendree senior Lakettra Bennett feels at home on the stage of the Russel E. and Fern M. Hettenhausen Center for the Arts. The multi-talented performer is a church music major emphasizing in vocal studies; she also plays the clarinet, piano and French horn.
“When I first saw the Hett I was in awe,” said Bennett. “It’s so big and beautiful and the acoustics on the stage are just unbelievable.”
Off stage, but not out of the spotlight, Bennett has performed with McKendree’s cheerleading team for the past three years. She moves center field at half-time to fall in line with the Marching Bearcat Band. Bennett said she has grown through her studies in the music program at McKendree. She said, “I feel I have become a better musician. I definitely can appreciate a wider range of music.”
A life-long resident of Lebanon, Ill., Bennett has enjoyed her time at McKendree. “My McKendree experience was, and still is, a great one,” she said. “Even though I haven’t
lived on campus, I’ve made wonderful friends that will last a lifetime.”
After graduation next spring, Bennett hopes to apply both her church music major and management minor.
In addition to her core classes, she said the wide variety of classes in McKendree’s liberal arts curriculum prepared her for her post-graduate plans by teaching “valuable skills to get through life.” Bennett’s plans include helping in the music department at her father’s church and obtaining a job in management.
Until spring, Bennett said she will continue to enjoy the benefits of her chosen major—including the new facility in which her classes are housed. “Since moving to the Hett I think the department has been revitalized—everyone has an extra drive. The level of potential just went through the roof!”