Life
Page 6
May 2, 2015
Spring academic awards Bechtell Award Anna Lehman Business Department Senior Excellence Award Reagan Cerisano Philip Carpenter, Sr. Math Award Ashley Miller and Zachary Wheeler Elinor Caruthers French Prize Sarah Horton and Peter Riley Allen Crombie Prize Chesterton Cobb Dawes Prof. Engineering Award John Binion J.P. Hassler Award Jared Billings
Grayson Quay News Editor
After 39 years as a professor and 37 years as chair of the English Department, Dr. James Dixon is ready to embark on the new adventure of retirement. Dixon’s retirement closely parallels this year’s performance of “The Tempest,” in which Shakespeare announced his retirement from theatre in the guise of the aging magician Prospero giving up his magic. Dixon described performing Shakespeare’s final play in his final year as “the fulfillment of a career-long dream,” but admitted that for a time, he was undecided as to whether or not to undertake the arduous task of memorization, rehearsal and performance. “Do I really want that much work in my final year?” he remembered asking himself. On the afternoon of the final performance of “The Tempest,” Dixon attended a special dinner celebrating his long history at the College. About 150 alumni were in attendance, spanning five decades. As the representative of the 1970s, President Paul J. McNulty ’80 wore a Travolta-esque leisure suit and recounted his experiences with Dixon in 70s jargon. McNulty played the part of Lucky in Dixon’s first production at Grove City College, Samuel Beckett’s absurdist drama “Waiting for Godot.” Dixon, who sat on the search committee that eventually chose McNulty as the College’s ninth president, joked that the role helped prepare McNulty for “the theatre of the absurd that we call Washington, D.C.” Looking back on the role of Lucky, McNulty said that his lines consisted entirely of a “four-page single-spaced gibberish monologue.” He admitted that he was often tempted to ad-lib, figuring that the audience would not notice the difference, but
Ross Foster Scholarship Fund Benjamin Crelin and Matthew Geary
Frederick Kring Leadership Award Elijah Coryell
David McKillop Scholarship Benjamin Leavitt
Senior Woman of the Year Chloe Smiley
Phi Alpha Theta History Prize Cara Cristenberry
Music Education Award James Allison and Sarah Lapp
Dr. John T. Shaw Memorial Emily Tharnish
Kappa Delta Pi Award Kathleen Silvashy
Hilda Adam Kring Award Mary Grace Brown
Permelia Baldwin Shoemaker Drew Cypher
Franklin Ketler Math Award Ashley Miller
Jonathan B. Ladd Award Paul Sundman
Edward and Sara Naegele Award Jonathan Hoyt and Abigail Mathes
Andrew S. Korim Family Heritage Endowment Elizabeth Parsons and Samara Wild
Lambda Epsilon Delta Award Megan Peaco
PICPA Excellance in Acct Award Kathryn Claudy
Robert H. Sister Memorial Award Laura Booher
Senior Biology Award Allison Buchalter
Sportsman of the Year Peter Riley
Richard Leo Scholarship Ian McAlister
Senior Molecular Biology Award Derek Shirey
Syd McCormick Memorial Award Julia Menarchek
Senior Man of the Year Chesterton Cobb
Institute of Management Accts Mary Milheim
Thelma Baltz Morrow Award Daniel Chapman, Julia Connors, Erin Pechacek and Grayson Quay
Sportswoman of the Year Emily Rabenold James D. Thorne Education Award Hannah Sansom
The final bow
soon found that “Dr. Dixon didn’t want me to say my nonsense; he wanted me to say Samuel Beckett’s nonsense.” McNulty also played the role of Gollum in a Children’s Theatre production of “The Hobbit,” which Dixon also directed. When interviewed by The Collegian about the experience, McNulty briefly quoted a few lines in his Gollum voice, an occurrence that unfortunately was not caught on camera. Another highlight of the reception for Dr. Dixon was a special performance of “One Day More,” by the cast of “Les Misérables,” last fall’s musical. Except for Collette Sackman ’14, all of the original leads were present, including Emily (Peterson ’14) Merow who returned from New Jersey to reprise her role as Cosette. Senior Emma Sibilla sang Eponine’s part in place of Sackman. In addition to the testimonies given by representatives of each decade, each table was able to appoint one person to share a favorite memory of Dixon. “The whole afternoon was just a mind-blowing experience … Normally you don’t get those kinds of tributes until after you’ve died,” Dixon said, adding that it was a rewarding and humbling experience to see how many lives he had touched over the years. At the actual performance of “The Tempest” that evening, hundreds of additional alumni packed Ketler Auditorium’s central seating section for Dixon’s final performance, which was an emotional experience for cast, crew and audience alike. Senior Ethan Mitchell, who played Ariel, altered the blocking of his character’s final farewell to Prospero, embracing Dr. Dixon rather than bowing to him. Dixon reported that he could “hear sniffling in the audience” as he performed his final soliloquy.
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Dr. Dixon plans to take advantage of retirement to do more traveling. He and Dr. Diane Dixon are planning an eight-week, 10,000-mile road trip to various national parks beginning in late August. He is also considering narrating audiobooks, an occupation that several students have urged him to take up over the years. He has already recorded paraphrased versions of the stories of “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” to serve as bedtime stories for his young grandchildren, who live in Seattle, Washing-
ton. Dixon cites his background in theatre and his experience in teaching Oral Interpretation of Literature as having inspired this passion for storytelling, although he admits that his life could have gone in a different direction. At Dixon’s alma mater Wheaton College, Dixon’s freshman year was the first year in which students were allowed to attend the theatre and participate in theatrical productions. “I love to make literature come alive … to make it reveal all of its imaginative potential,” Dixon said.
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Dr. Dixon as Prospero.
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