“As a college, we’ve always looked outward. We believe the world has as much to teach our students as the classroom does.”
The Sunday New York Times ran a major feature on the Poverty Project, “Taking a Look at Poverty from an A√uent Suburb,” and the Chicago Tribune ran a 1,500-word piece on Sandra Day O’Connor’s visit and her campaign to stop the election of judges. Beyond the impact in print and on TV and radio, the speakers have galvanized interest on campus. The Poverty Project inspired students to form a Global Poverty Club and resulted in a series of essays on Chicago Public Radio, including one by President Ray and three by Elmhurst undergrads. An art student, Danielle Dobies, produced a series of portraits, “Faces of Sustenance,” based on numerous visits to the Northern Illinois Food Bank. Faculty often assign a lecture as part of the year’s curriculum, and many speakers visit classes for informal discussion. Before her Hammerschmidt talk, O’Connor fielded an hour’s worth of questions from a select group of students and faculty in the Blume Board Room, providing a rare intimate look at the court’s stubbornly feisty icon. When one woman asked about the most memorable cases she presided over, O’Connor snapped, “I didn’t ‘preside’ over any cases—but I certainly participated!” Responding to another student who asked if she didn’t think the Roberts court had become “politicized,” O’Connor shot back, “I wouldn’t say so. Would you? And if so, why?” Implementing the Strategic Plan led to a number of other changes. Administratively, two separate departments were combined to form the O≈ce of Communications and Public AΩairs. Online media were given a new priority. Resources were shifted from expensive forms of Collegewide promotion, like billboards and bus advertising, to more targeted measures, such as the packaging and promotion of what became known as the Cultural Season. To publicize the speaker series, a lively brochure FYI/Fall 2013
was designed and inserted twice a year into copies of The New York Times and also mailed to local subscribers of The New Yorker and The Atlantic. That strategy not only drew a fresh audience to venues such as Hammerschmidt Chapel; it also proved an eΩective means of building the Elmhurst brand. “If we went into The New York Times with some ad about what a nice little school we are,” says Winters, “nobody would really care. But the Cultural Season got people’s attention. From a strategic point of view, it helped us position the College. It spoke to the core values of Elmhurst. It allowed us to express what the school stands for, whether it’s social justice or intellectual inquiry.” Best of all, with the support of a targeted endowment and a few gifts from external sources, Winters’s department was able to fund the entire Cultural Season with no additional budget dollars. And that included speakers’ fees, which topped out at a high end of $40,000. Most, however, cost a fraction of that figure. Many speakers, including O’Connor, agreed to appear without charge. The 2013–2014 Cultural Season promises to be every bit as exciting as the last few years. Famed historian Taylor Branch will speak on “The Shame of College Sports,” and journalist Peg Tyre on “The Trouble with Boys.” Other names include Richard Florida, Krista Tippett, Paul Vallas and Camille Paglia. As announced by Julia Keller, who will also speak next year, the world is indeed coming to Elmhurst College.
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