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November 21, 2006
Alumni Column
The Oracle contacted me to write for this column. I've got plenty to do without this assignment, but thier long list of questions intrigued me.
What drew me as a student in ’64? I wanted a quality college in the “national liberal arts” category. I applied to Hamline and Mac (my home then was Milwaukee). I visited both, and came here because the faculty was more impressive.
What drew me back as a prof in ‘74? The Twin Cities. I first taught at Gustavus Adolphus after finishing my Ph.D., enjoyed it, but wanted the diversity of the metro area.
Most significant changes at Hamline? One is the increased diversity on campus. Can we go further and become an anti-racist institution? Second, the Law and Grad Schools-neither were here in the ’60s. Another obvious difference is that back then people got together to talk, in offices, hallways, over coffee; now most are chained to computers, tapping away in offices. Oh, and we’ve torn up a lot of perfectly good sidewalks and replaced them with brick paths.
How does HU look different as a faculty member as compared to a student? I was shocked-SHOCKED-to learn that faculty meetings could be as petty as HUSC meetings.
HU faculty culture compared to other institutions? Here, there’s a culture of commitment to students, to our disciplines and to one another the likes of which I’ve not experienced elsewhere.
Student sentiment during the war in Vietnam compared to the Iraq war? There is little comparison. The draft focused student attention on the war in Vietnam and galvanized a massive anti-war movement, even at Hamline. When I graduated (’68), everyone coming to campus for commencement was greeted by a mini-cemetery, modeled after Arlington National, installed on the mall overnight by a few students. There were rows of white crosses, each with the name of a male graduate. For commencement the flag flew at half-mast for Bobby Kennedy. By comparison, after 9/11/01 President Bush stood in the rubble of the World Trade Center and told Americans to go to the mall, otherwise the terrorists would win.
What have I liked and disliked from both perspectives? For me, part of Hamline’s charm is part of Hamline’s problem: Folks are bright, most work hard, and many are capable well beyond their own expectations of themselves. So, wečand I’d include students, faculty, and staff in this “we”čdon’t think overly-highly of ourselves. This conspicuous lack of arrogance strikes me as charming, a charm missing at several of our competitor schools. At the same time this modest self-image is a bit of a problem. We don’t want to be caught bragging, so we often under-sell ourselves and doubt our own capabilities. Hamline is a better institution than its self-image conveys, and than its public image.
I came, and I stayed, because there are very few quality liberal arts colleges in reasonably livable major metropolitan areas. For me, those are still the best reasons to be at Hamline, though I wonder about the future of both.
Duane Cady
Professor of Philosophy
Posted by dwright at November 21, 2006 08:07 PM
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