2009 Monmouth Spring Magazine

V O LU M E 24 | N U M B E R 1 | S P R I N G 2009

M O N M O U T H CO L L E G E M A G A Z I N E

A L S O I N S I D E:

MC’s ‘dramatic’ observance of the Lincoln Bicentennial The day Lincoln came to Monmouth Historian Stacy Cordery on Mrs. Lincoln Guarding Lincoln’s Tomb

Looking

Monmouth has a surprising number of ties to the famous president

for Lincoln

monmouth | spring 2009

i

4

cover photo: Ralph Whiteman

A “major” academic development takes center stage at Monmouth College.

’52, shares his passion for the 16th president with Lauren Firchau ’09 (left) and Brenda Mottaz ’02. Story, page 10.

17

President Lincoln earned high marks. His wife? Not so much. MC’s expert on First Ladies explains.

PHOTO BY KEN EXUM

A map of Abraham Lincoln’s visit to VOLUME 24 | N0. 1 | SPRING 2009

Monmouth College Magazine is published by the Office of Development and College Relations for alumni and friends of Monmouth College.

All opinions expressed in signed articles are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial staff or the college.

Editorial Board

J. Lance Cavanaugh Vice President for Development and College Relations Jeffrey D. Rankin Director of College Communications





Barry J. McNamara Associate Director of College Communications Lucy Kellogg Thompson ’99 Director of Alumni Programs Magazine Staff

Editor: Jeffrey D. Rankin Associate Editor: Barry J. McNamara Designer: Nancy Loch 700 East Broadway Monmouth IL 61462-1998 alumni@monm.edu (e-mail) www.monm.edu (Web) 309-457-2323

correction: In the previous issue of Monmouth College Magazine, there was an error in the Deaths section of Clan Notes. The married name of the late Glenna Lu Angove Mitchell ’46 was incorrect.

 &

Right: A folk art sculpture of Lincoln inside the entrance to the Warren County Public Library directs patrons to the collection donated by Ralph Whiteman ’52.

LINCOLN IN MONMOUTH: Although he had probably passed through Monmouth on several

earlier occasions as a surveyor and a lawyer, Abraham Lincoln’s only extended visit occurred on Monday, October 11, 1858, during his campaign for the U.S. Senate. At the time, Monmouth College was but five years old, and it is likely that a large percentage of its 150 students and seven faculty members heard Lincoln speak that afternoon.

24

30

The Fighting Scots football team wasn’t the only squad to earn MWC hardware last fall.

The ability to adapt and a willingness to risk has allowed Roy Skillicorn ’71 to flourish.

Campus News . . . . . . . . . . . 3 People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Homecoming . . . . . . . . . . 20 Scots Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Clan Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Monmouth on October 11, 1858  Lincoln arrives on a morning train from Burlington, Iowa.

TO THE EDITOR:



Congratulations on the most recent issue of Monmouth College Magazine. It is most impressive in every way.

Having held various editorial and public relations position[s] during my career, I’ve read and reviewed a wide range of informational and promotional printed materials. With outstanding photography, artistic layout and design, and a wide range of Monmouth-related features, the most recent issue of your magazine is one of the best I’ve seen.

I found especially interesting the magazine’s focus on the non-traditional relationship of a small liberal arts college and Midwestern agriculture. Also of special interest was the information about John Niblock, who I believe roomed adjacent to me in Fulton Hall during my sophomore year. It’s good to read success stories.

Though I attended Monmouth College for only two years before obtaining my undergraduate degree from The University of Iowa, I retain respect and warm memories for your institution. In the summer of 2007, I returned for the luncheon and program recognizing the class of 1957’s 50th anniversary year. It was an enjoyable time on a rainy summer day.

It’s good to know Monmouth College has not only survived, it has grown and is thriving in the competetive liberal arts field of postsecondary education.

Lincoln is greeted at the C.B. & Q. depot by circuit clerk William Laferty, who offers him a carriage, but Lincoln declines the ride.

 Instead, Lincoln walks with Laferty

approximately seven blocks to the Baldwin House, where he has dinner with supporters.

 At 1 p.m., an audience gathers at Henry’s



Letters

lumberyard to listen in the rain to a threehour speech by Lincoln. The speech had been scheduled for the Public Square, but was moved because the area was a sea of mud.

 Shortly after finishing his speech, Lincoln

visits the ambrotype studio of William Judkins Thomson on the Public Square and has his image taken. Lincoln then takes Thomson’s 6-year-old son next door to Nathaniel Rankin’s general store, where he “fills him with candy and figs.”

 Lincoln attends an informal two-hour reception at the home of William Laferty.

 Lincoln probably spends the night at the

Baldwin House, before journeying to Macomb on Tuesday, on his way to Quincy, where on Wednesday he will meet Stephen A. Douglas for their sixth senatorial debate.



—Bob Elliott ’58 Original Monmouth College Building

On the map above (published in 1869, but the earliest map available), we have marked Lincoln’s movements that day, based on various historical accounts. The map is looking toward the southwest.

TO THE EDITOR: The magazine that arrived a week ago was fascinating. Who would ever have guessed that the location of Monmouth College—which has in the past been a negative factor for student recruitment—might suddenly turn into a bonanza because of agriculture? I am impressed with the variety of ways that Monmouth faculty and students are/will be involved in looking toward the future.

What more could anyone expect of a fine liberal arts college?

—Janet Fishburn ’58

monmouth | spring 2009

1

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

I

when the big, green boxes arrived at the rural elementary school I attended. These contained tattered books that were fresh (for us) reading material on loan from the public library in the nearest town.

REMEMBER WELL THE EXCITING DAYS

The only other supplemental reading material that I remember was the set of age-appropriate biographies of memorable Americans. Each classroom had its own copies on a back shelf, lined up chronologically from Christopher Columbus to Franklin Roosevelt. Like me, many of you probably remember the childhood joys of reading about Nathan Hale, Patrick Henry, Daniel Boone and so many others. I immersed myself in those loosely historical accounts of the childhoods of national heroes. I imagined what it must have been like for George Washington to have so many silver dollars that he was willing to prove that he could throw them all the way across the Potomac River. I dreamed of the excitement of some day leading Roughriders into battle with as much gusto as Teddy Roosevelt. Not from the biographies, but from current events of that time, I wondered what it would be like to spend pre-teen days sailing along the sandy shores of Cape Cod. Somehow it was easier to imagine piloting a PT boat against a destroyer and then leading my imagined crew on a 12-hour swim to shore after being torpedoed.

Clearly, there was an editor, sometime in the middle of the last century, who knew that if young people like me were going to read biographies of presidents, explorers and generals, those leaders would need to have a childhood similar to Tom Sawyer or Becky Thatcher. Accounts of adult life would need to compete with the excitement of the Buck Rogers tales that were also vying for my attention.

But somewhere slightly past the mid-point of the shelf of biographies was one that didn’t fit the model. Abraham Lincoln’s story couldn’t be cast in the format that seemed to work so well for our other heroes. There was nothing romantic or stirring about life in a partially enclosed shelter in the woods of southern Indiana. Having given it a half-hearted try, I could attest that there was nothing exciting about splitting rails for a fence. Engaging in passionate yet civil debates in small towns around Illinois didn’t seem nearly as interesting as stealing cannons from Fort Ticonderoga.

Yet, in its stark contrast to the romanticized stories of so many other figures, there was something about Abraham Lincoln that grabbed the attention of so many of us who grew up in Indiana or Illinois. Deep down, we knew that we would never have the ability or the financial wherewithal to toss silver dollars across a river. Only in our “Walter Mitty moments” did we really believe that we might sink an enemy destroyer from a plywood patrol boat. But we could easily imagine following in Lincoln’s footsteps and walking miles to borrow a book and then reading it late at night. And we had no trouble imagining opportunities to engage in passionate, yet civil arguments aimed at providing equal opportunity for all.

There was and is something uniquely American and particularly Midwestern about Lincoln’s life. Every one of us can realistically imagine for ourselves a lifestyle like his early years. Our hometown and our family standing are certainly no more humble than Lincoln’s. As I think of Monmouth College’s longstanding tradition of serving best those students who are willing to work hard—regardless of economic standing or previous opportunities—I can imagine that we would have been an ideal place for a young Lincoln had we been founded three decades earlier!

Each fall, students arrive at our college with remarkable abilities and memorable personalities. Some can throw a football a city block, some can deliver a stunning oration, and some can charm their way out of a parking ticket.

Others have been to leadership camps, traveled through Europe, taken advanced placement courses in chemistry and calculus, and can sing, act, play the violin and hit a golf ball. We love these students and you read about them in our magazine or on our Web site. But we are equally proud of those many young people who come to Monmouth without a catchy storyline. To establish themselves in the classroom, they may need to read and write long after their classmates have gone to sleep. To appear on the theater stage they may need to practice longer and with more enthusiasm than their friends. To earn playing time on the field they will need to be in the weight room earlier than others. To graduate they will need generous scholarships and favorable loans. To change the world they will need to work harder and with more integrity than seems possible.

We are proud of all of our students. But it is the way in which we treat students who come to our college with little, who partake of all we have to offer, and who leave with every benefit possible that makes us worthy of claiming the legacy of the great president from Illinois.

A college that Lincoln would have loved

Mauri A. Ditzler

2

monmouth | spring 2009

CAMPUS NEWS

Scots’ Connection programs unite alumni, students A FAMOUS AUTHOR once claimed that all he really needed to know he learned in kindergarten. Those involved in higher education would disagree, especially those who participated in a recent panel discussion titled “Everything I Needed to Know I Learned at Monmouth College.”

That discussion was part of a two-day college-to-career conference on campus.

Titled “Scots’ Connection: Engaging Alumni Across the College,” the event put MC students and alumni together to talk about various issues and opportunities in the professional workforce. Issues included how women and minorities are treated, and roundtable discussions were held on careers involving law, business, medicine and science.

“I am incredibly proud that we were able to pull off such a successful first-time event.

The feedback from participating alumni and students has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Michelle Shawgo, director of the college’s Wackerle Career Development Program.

Alumni participating were Regina Bannan-Johnson ’01, a teacher from Galesburg; Frank Clark ’02, a medical student from Chicago; Mary Alexander Corrigan ’82, an attorney from Peoria; Dan Cotter ’88, an attorney from Chicago; Kellie Kohler Esters ’86, a fund development executive from Bettendorf, Iowa; Michael Frantz ’99, an investment manager from Chicago; Addie Dallas Hebard ’98, a sales specialist from Knoxville; Jeff Miller ’84 of Indianapolis, Ind.; and Dan Schisler ’94, an accountant from Roseville. The program was developed by Monmouth’s offices of career development and alumni programs, and there will be more to follow. In fact, six alumni, including Hebard, were on campus early in the spring semester for a program on leadership. Others participating were Susan Twomey ’76, Aaron Jensen ’89, John Herman ’90, Eric Hanson ’98 and Mary Stenander Vick ’98.

At the initial Scots’ Connection event, Miller led a roundtable discussion titled “I Don’t Want to Be a ‘Scientist’! What Other Options Do I Have as a Science Major?” He told the dozen students in attendance about his professional career, which started by staying close to his MC major of geology but has evolved into a purchasing position with Rolls Royce North America.

Miller explained how he relies on his Monmouth education every day, most often for the presentations he is asked to give. He

Pictured at a Scots’ Connection leadership conference early in the spring semester are, from left, Michelle Shawgo, Eric Hanson ’98, Susan Twomey ’76, Aaron Jensen ’89, Mary Vick ’98, Addie Hebard ’98 and John Herman ’90. PHOTO BY GEORGE HAR TMANN

told the story of how history professor Bill Miller closed by emphasizing a final reaUrban stopped him before class one day to son why he has never regretted his decision ask if he had done the assigned readings for to attend Monmouth. At the same time he a course. He replied that he had, and Urban was in college, one of Miller’s cousins was said, “Great! You’re teaching today!” at the University of Illinois. She told Miller “The message was, ‘You’ve done the read- that she attended a class with 450 students. ings—now what are you going to do with On the first day, the students were told by it?’” said Miller. “There’s a popular saying the professor to look to their left and look to that ‘luck is where their right. The “The message at Monmouth was different. opportunity meets professor said They weren’t going to wash us out. preparation.’ I used to two of the three They were going to make us better, think it was corny, but students would Monmouth College not be in the and those opportunities I received really prepared me class by the end have benefited me every day.” to think on my feet. of the semester.

—Jeff Miller ’84, Commodities Specialist, I give presentations “The message Rolls Royce North America every day, even if it’s at Monmouth only during a phone call. Things change on was different,” said Miller. “They weren’t a daily basis, and they even change over the going to wash us out. They were going to course of a phone call. How do you respond make us better, and those opportunities I to that? My experiences at Monmouth received have benefited me every day.” taught me to prepare for my day at work Jacob Mefford, a junior from Wataga, every day.” was among the group of students who Although he majored in the sciences, attended Miller’s session.

Miller offered another example from a history “The conference did a great job of showclass that helped shape his professional life. ing that there are endless opportunities after “I took an independent study course on graduation,” he said. “Although you majored the Revolutionary War,” he said. “The reading in one subject you may find yourself in a list was extensive, but I was supposed to do career completely unrelated.” those readings and report back on them to “I think the alumni enjoyed coming the professor. Thank God I took that class, back to campus, reminiscing and making because it taught me how to consolidate a new acquaintances,” said Lucy Kellogg large amount of data and report on it. I was Thompson ’99, director of Alumni Programs. challenged in that class, but I’m really glad I “Most important, though, they really seemed went through it.” to enjoy helping the students.” monmouth | spring 2009

3

Theatre professor Doug Rankin and senior Drew Johnson repaint flats for Our American Cousin.

BY BARRY McNAMARA Associate Editor

theatre professor Doug Rankin ’79 has

firsthand knowledge of much of the history of Monmouth College and the stage. Growing up in Monmouth, he attended Crimson Masque productions in the 1960s, starred in them in the ’70s, promoted them in the ’80s and, since 1989, has been a full-time member of the college’s theatre faculty.

His complete theatre experience can perhaps best be summarized by the first production at the college’s new Wells Theater in 1990. Opposite soap opera star and MC alumna Helen Wagner Willey ’38, Rankin portrayed King Henry II in The Lion in Winter. In addition to playing a lead role, he also designed the sets and costumes.

“The sets were a miracle of two angled turntables,” wrote Willey in a 1991 Scots Newse article.

Whether or not his students will one day find themselves sharing a stage with a nationally-known actress remains to be seen.

What is certain is that Rankin and the other members of MC’s theatre faculty—professor

4

monmouth | spring 2009

Bill Wallace and assistant professor Janeve West—hope their students will be similarly

well-rounded when it comes to theatrical experiences. That is the prime objective, Rankin said, of the college’s new theatre major.

“We’d been seeing more interest in a theatre major,” he said. “What we decided is, with the way our CATA (communication and theater arts) major was set up, it wouldn’t take much more to make it a full-fledged major.”

During the spring semester, the MC faculty took it one step further, voting to approve separate departments for the theatre and communication departments.

Previously, the two were linked under the umbrella of Monmouth’s CATA department.

“This change advances the work of two areas that are vital for a vibrant liberal arts program,” said Jane Jakoubek, vice president for academic affairs. “Communication studies has advanced significantly as a

discipline in recent decades, and the college can showcase this discipline better now.

Theatre deserves status equal to art and music, each of which is a separate department. The collaboration among the fine arts will be strengthened by the change.”

Rankin feels the addition will be a “good recruiting tool” for the college, as it will set it apart from other schools.

“We think we’ll be able to serve our current majors much better,” he said. “They’re going to learn a lot more skills than they would have. Every theatre major is going to cover all the bases. That’s pretty rare. You won’t find many liberal arts colleges that offer that many skills.”

Specifically, Rankin referred to a pair of courses that offer exciting opportunities.

He described “Theatre Performance” as “an upper-level course that majors are required to take once and that they can take twice.

The students help with the scenery, lighting, costumes and make-up for whatever production is being done that semester.”

CAMPUS NEWS

Rankin added, “It’s somewhat flexible, in that they can provide whatever help is needed that particular year. It lets them cover more areas and have a more extensive study of theatre than what a normal course would allow. The students who do take it a second time will likely work on two totally different types of productions.”

Another unique twist to the theatre major is the bi-annual offering “Theatre Repertory Company.”

“The class will do the entire production—publicity, acting, lights, costumes,” said Rankin of a course that neatly mirrors many of his MC experiences through the years.

“They’ll be in charge of all the major decisions that need to be made.”

The diversity of experiences was intentionally designed into the curriculum, Rankin explained.

“All of our majors are required to maintain an electronic portfolio, and these experiences help ensure that their portfolios will be first-rate.”

Rankin said the new major would not have been possible without consistent support from donors throughout the years.

“All of this is tied to faculty salaries.

Various endowments have been set up by generous donors to help provide for some of those salaries and for some of our equipment.”

For his part, Rankin said, “I teach in such a way that theatre is a craft and a learned skill. Anyone can master it. Once you learn how to manipulate it, there’s no one right way or one wrong way.”

As for Rankin’s skill at creating scenes, MC emeritus professor Jim De Young wrote, “In the years he has been designing sets in Wells Theater, he has found a space that can truly cope with his fertile imagination and striking sense of painted décor and threedimensional detail.”

De Young made reference to the fact that the Wells Theater provides much more room than its predecessor, and that was a theme that was also touched on by Willey in her 1991 article about The Lion in Winter.

“The Monmouth College theater is no longer the Little Red Barn plus a dream,” she wrote. “It is a reality, a teaching theater, and you have just seen the first semester’s product.”

Nearly two decades later, that “teaching theater” has been taken to another level.

Monmouth’s first semester with a theatre major is complete, and Rankin, his faculty colleagues and MC’s students are excited to see what lies ahead.

Theatre happenings at MC A group of four students entered the lobby of Monmouth College’s Stockdale Center, right before lunch.

They gathered with their backs to each other and circled counterclockwise, having four very loud conversations into phones.

Foot traffic came to a halt, and more than a few quizzical looks were made.

In just a few moments, the four students were gone, and the daily routine of congregating in the busy social area continued.

What just happened?

Simply put, a

“happening.”

MC theater professor Janeve West elaborated.

“Along with directing a production of The Shape of Things. (in October), I’ve coordinated a group of eight students who are creating ‘happenings’ across campus,” she said. “The purpose for these one-or two-minute happenings is to spur a discussion of art, what constitutes art and the role of the artist in today’s society,” all topics which tied into The Shape of Things.

The group’s first happening was like one seen recently on a television ad.

At precisely 11:55 a.m. on a school day, the eight members froze their position amongst the hurried rush of the changing classes.

“They became a living installation,” said West, “reaching for bags, checking the cell phone or leaning against a wall. Passers-by quickly began to comment and question the moment. At 11:57 a.m., the artists broke their position and dispersed.”

Other happenings included an Alice in Wonderland-inspired tea party, an “air-cowbell” concert and performers rolling down the hill wrapped in curtains or blankets.

Though the structure was fairly loose, each event had to be “artistic in some manner, slightly spontaneous and unpublicized,” said West.

Participants included Marcus Bailey, Mark Woessner, Kristina Heinzma, Kelsey Cole, Ryan Burns, Felicia Roberts, Ashley Musser and Jim Travnik.

Officially, the term “happening” is credited to artist Allan Kaprow, who coined it in 1959 to describe “a form of art, often carefully planned but usually including some degree of spontaneity, in which an artist performs or directs an event combining elements of theater and visual arts.”

“Though much more tame than the happenings of the 1960s, these students used many of the same techniques of those artists in the creation of performance art,” said West.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The above articles contain both the British and American spellings of “theater.” Because professional theater prefers the British spelling, the new academic major has intentionally adopted the traditional spelling “theatre.”

monmouth | spring 2009

5

ATO earns kudos

Rollin’ on the river

members of the Epsilon Nu chapter of

Alpha Tau Omega were recently recognized by the national fraternity’s chief executive officer, Wynn Smiley.

The MC chapter was singled out for success in new member recruitment, a “cow pie” philanthropy event at Homecoming and an annual lobster boil the organization holds to benefit the Holt Health Education Center in Peoria.

“It really means a lot to be recognized at the national level,” said chapter president Beesan Hryckiewicz. “It’s not like it happens every day. We’re working on going above and beyond to help those in need and contribute to the campus, the community of Monmouth and even those outside the community.”

He added, “Our chapter brotherhood and morale has made us who we are. We struggled last year and were faced with challenge after challenge, and we wouldn’t be where we are without the help from each individual member. It wasn’t just one person doing all the work—it was each member creating specific goals from recruitment to social and philanthropic events.”

Calling all MC artists in cooperation with Monmouth

College, the Buchanan Center for the Arts in Monmouth is sponsoring an annual national juried art show intended to draw entries from artists around the country. MC alumni artists are especially invited to submit entries.

Nationally-known artist Preston Jackson, who is the juror for the show, will be present to conduct a workshop for selected MC art students during a two-day period coinciding with the opening of the exhibit in August.

The purpose of the show is to highlight quality visual art works from across the U.S. in the 2,400-square foot Buchanan Center gallery. Jackson’s remarks will launch a series of community-wide educational programs in the gallery that will encourage open dialogue among visitors to the show.

Categories of eligibility for entry include painting, watercolor/pastel/drawing on paper, sculpture, mixed media, photography, fiber and ceramics. Entries will be accepted through May 2009.

For more details about entry information and prizes, please visit bcaarts.org or call the Buchanan Center’s executive director, Susan Twomey ’76 at 309-734-3033.

6

monmouth | spring 2009

Several alumni and friends joined President and Mrs. Ditzler on a week-long paddleboat cruise on the Mississippi last fall. The group departed from Dubuque, Iowa, on the luxurious riverboat American Queen and disembarked at St. Louis. Gathered on the boat’s grand staircase are Row 1, from left: Cherry Lauder McIlvain ’47, Addison and Marion Austin Jones ’50, Genevieve Felt (friend), Marlowe Cowley ’68 and Marjorie Munson Wunder ’53. Row 2: Louise Lauder Roos ’48, Jackie McGinnes Shoemaker ’49, Mary Foldi (friend), Nichole Hofmeister ’06, Amy Hofmeister (parent) and Bette Davis Vance ’50. Row 3: Judi Ditzler, President Mauri Ditzler and John Romine ’55.

College steps up security measures students, faculty and staff are benefiting from substantial improvements to

the campus safety and security program, which were implemented prior to the 2008-09 academic year.

“We are pleased to announce round-the-clock security coverage,” said Mohsin Masood (left), associate dean of students and director of residence life. “Security officers are now available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

Masood said the college has also developed a campus-wide emergency response plan, tailored specifically to address emergency situations. While recent shootings at Virginia Tech University and Northern Illinois University were a major reason behind the enhanced security measures, other factors also contributed, including weather situations like the storm that blew through campus in 2007.

“For weather emergencies, the college is making a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week radio broadcast available through the Monmouth College cable network to the campus community,” he said. “Weather information is now broadcast on MCTV Channel 7, 24/7.”

The campus community can now also learn of emergency situations through a campus-wide public broadcasting system and an additional system that will alert them via their cell phones and college e-mail accounts.

A new SUV, outfitted with appropriate security equipment, has been purchased by the college for its security officers and has become a regular sight on campus. Students can also use a security escort service around the clock to travel between campus locations, including college-owned parking lots.

Concluded Masood, “All the security upgrades are testimony to the fact that Monmouth College really cares about its students.”

CAMPUS NEWS

Students attend academic conferences last fall, psychology and physics students attended academic conferences in their respective disciplines.

Fourteen psychology students presented research posters at the 18th Annual Tri-State Undergraduate Research Psychology Conference at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Among the topics covered by the students were the impact of exercise on the levels of stress and “Sensitivity: Does It Really Make a Man?” “The student presenters reported insightful feedback, interest and questions from both faculty and student conference attendees,” said assistant professor of psychology Corrinne Lim-Kessler, who accompanied the students along with psychology instructor Marsha Dopheide.

Ten Monmouth students attended the 2008 Quadrennial Congress of Sigma Pi Sigma, the physics honor society. Titled “Scientific Citizenship: Connecting Physics & Society,” the conference was held at Fermilab in Batavia, Ill. Held every four years, the event was billed as “not your average physics conference.”

Students spent a packed weekend interacting with distinguished speakers, debating common concerns for the discipline and society, and touring locations at Fermilab, which was originally named the National Accelator Laboratory when it was commissioned in 1967.

“It was a wonderful trip for our students, and I’m so glad that they had the opportunity to experience this conference once in their college careers,” said physics professor Chris Fasano.

It’s official: Phi Delta Theta is back

Survey says: MC students engaged while “student engagement” has

recently become a popular buzzword among college administrators, it has long been a way of life at Monmouth College, where 93 percent of the student body resides on campus and a strong emphasis is placed on learning outside the classroom.

According to the recently-released 2008 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), Monmouth scored above the national average in several categories among the 774 institutions participating in the survey.

Monmouth students are encouraged to become active in co-curricular activities and many are involved in several—often with such unlikely combinations as theater and athletics or marching band and income tax assistance. Monmouth did particularly well in this category, with 11 percent of the student body participating in 16-20 hours of co-curricular activities per week, compared to a national average of 4 percent.

Designed to measure “how undergraduates spend their time and what they gain from attending college,” the survey queried thousands of first-year and senior students at institutions in the United States and Canada.

The survey is divided into five benchmark categories, which include: level of academic challenge; active and collaborative learning; student-faculty interaction; enriching educational experiences; and supportive campus environment.

in what is believed to be record time, the men of MC’s Illinois Gamma chapter of

Phi Delta Theta have received their charter from the national organization.

The members were initiated into the fraternity in November at a private ceremony at the Stewart House and their chartering ceremony was held the following day. Among the speakers at the latter event was president Mauri Ditzler.

“Phi Delt headquarters and Monmouth College have been so helpful,” said chapter president Joe Moran of the group’s rapid rise from special interest group to chartered fraternity. “We are so proud to be a part of this fraternity and the college Greek system.”

Already, the chapter reports the highest GPA on campus among Greek organizations, and one-third of its members are executive officers in campus organizations.

“We came together as fellow students looking to better ourselves, and we now live as brothers looking to better each other,” said Anthony St. Clair, who serves as the chapter’s historian and philanthropy chairman.

Also known as Phi Delt, the fraternity has initiated more than 228,000 members in its 160-year history. It currently has 160 chapters, with more than one-fifth of that total being added since 2000. Among its most famous alumni are President Benjamin Harrison, Lou Gehrig, Frank Lloyd Wright and Neil Armstrong.

The fraternity had an active chapter at Monmouth from 1871 to 1884.

More than 300 randomly selected Monmouth students were surveyed, and they came to strong agreement on several points, including the college’s “substantial” emphasis on studying and spending time on academic work.

“We are also pleased with the percentage of students who are reporting high rates of satisfaction with their overall experience at the college,” said Jacquelyn Condon, MC’s vice president for student life. “In particular, students report significant opportunities for participating in community service or other volunteer work.”

Another area of strength was the number of students who have participated in some type of meaningful internship or off-campus experience by their senior year. Nearly all the students surveyed reported that they had talked with advisers or faculty members about their career plans. monmouth | spring 2009

7

Sturgeon receives $54,000 grant assistant professor of chemistry Brad Sturgeon will receive a grant totaling

$54,000 over the next two years from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement after a proposal he wrote last year earned one of the organization’s Cottrell College Science Awards.

“What is awesome about this is that I have funding not only for supplies to do some very interesting science,” he said, “but I can pay students a very nice salary for working on this project over the summer.”

That interesting science will focus on “ESR investigation of the peroxidase activity of modified cytochrome c.”

Sturgeon explained that cytochrome c is a molecule in the human cell that shuttles electrons from one place to another. He likened its role to an armored car that moves money. But just like an armored car could have another purpose—such as breaking through a wall, Sturgeon suggested—cytochrome c has a “gain of function” which allows it to be involved in the signaling process for apoptosis which, he explained, means “cell suicide.”

Through electron spin resonance (ESR), Sturgeon and two student researchers that he’ll hire this spring will be able to study the peroxidase activity of cyt c and, as he wrote in his grant abstract, “observe directly the free radical products resulting from the cyt c oxidation of liquids. Free radicals serve many functions critical to normal human physiology; in addition, they foster many disease-related conditions.”

Thanks to the cooperation of the University of Iowa and its ESR facility director, Gary Buettner, Sturgeon and his team will have access to the university’s instrumentation on six occasions during the coming year to conduct their experiments.

In addition to funding salaries and travel, the grant will also help Sturgeon and a faculty colleague, physics professor Chris Fasano, secure Web-based Gaussian computational software. Once it is installed on a parallel computer recently constructed by Fasano, the software will not only be used on Sturgeon’s research but will also be a valuable tool for other science classes at the college.

8

monmouth | spring 2009

Andrews takes new sounds to Vietnam among nations that are “Surprisingly Hip,” Vietnam

probably wouldn’t be high on the list.

After a week visiting there, however, music lecturer Julia Andrews might have helped the Asian country rise a few spots.

In addition to teaching at Monmouth, Andrews is also on Knox College’s faculty, manages the Galesburg Community Chorus and regularly performs across the Midwest with a jazz trio called Surprisingly Hip. She said her trip to Vietnam in November changed her outlook, both artistically and as a person, and she hopes the feeling was mutual.

“I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” she said. “It was worthwhile for the perspective I was able to bring back to the college and, hopefully, for the perspective I was able to bring to Vietnam. It’s an artistically conservative nation. They don’t hear a lot of new music. I think we were able to show them something they probably had never seen or heard before.”

The main purpose of Andrews’ visit was to premiere a work by American composer Dirk Stromberg, who lives in Vietnam and teaches at the Saigon Institute of Technology, an offshoot of Alabama-based Troy University. The two go back to their days as undergraduates at Texas Tech University, where Andrews earned bachelor’s degrees in piano and music and theory and was the highest ranked undergraduate in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Besides her concert, another highlight came at Saigon’s jazz club, where Andrews jammed with celebrated jazz saxophonist Tran Manh Tuan. “Any jazz artist that comes to Saigon—that’s where they go,” she said. “Tuan is a very celebrated musician.”

The MC musician also taught a master class at the conservatory and worked with Chinese-American composer Bright Sheng, who is respected as one of the foremost contemporary composers.

“It was a lot of fun and was really a great experience for me,” Andrews concluded.

“I basically got to play music for an entire week, which is something I rarely get to do here in the U.S.”

Urban pens another Briarpatch ‘whodunit’ the college’s faculty and administration can only hope that the subject of

professor William Urban’s latest books remain fictional.

Urban, the Lee L. Morgan Professor of History & International Studies, is known for his non-fiction books, many of which deal with Baltic history. But lately, Urban has turned into a murder mystery author, with his ill-fated subjects employed at a small liberal arts college.

In his 2007 debut novel, The Dean Is Dead, the victim was the dean of Briarpatch College. Last fall, Urban released The Dean Is Still Dead, and it was followed a few months later by The Dean is Dead Again.

It seems Briarpatch is the type of college where if it can go wrong, it will.

“It’s an institution so dysfunctional that it has all the faults that other American colleges have only partially,” said Urban. Of the book’s cover, which features a postcard of Briarpatch with an ugly green sky, he quipped, “That catches the spirit of Briarpatch perfectly. They can’t even put out a good postcard.”

“I have a total of seven plots,” said Urban of the mystery series. “The next one is titled Is the Dean Dead Yet? The registrar is going to be in trouble.”

Of the rest of the series, Urban added, “It all comes together in the end.”

“These books have been very enjoyable to write,” Urban said. “I’ve had graduates from 50 years ago recognize individuals and situations, and readers from other colleges say the same thing.”

The series is available from the Monmouth College Bookstore and can also be ordered from Amazon.com.

PEOPLE

Bruckman invited to physics conference senior Jonathan Bruckman was invited to

participate at the 2008 Annual Fall Meeting of the Division of Nuclear Physics of the American Physical Society, where he presented a poster.

The event was held in October in Oakland, Calif.

Bruckman was awarded full funding for travel and lodging to the conference by the Conference Experience for Undergraduates organization, whose director, Warren F. Rogers, wrote, “The award decision is based on the high quality of your research abstract and contribution to the general group effort.”

While participating in the Research Experience for Undergraduates program, Bruckman’s research was conducted last summer at Ohio Wesleyan University under the guidance of physics professor Robert Kaye.

He and his group performed a data analysis of an experiment conducted at Florida State University in 2005.

Bruckman’s poster was titled “Evolution of Collective Structure in Odd-Odd 70As1.”

The “As” in the title refers to the chemical symbol for arsenic.

“It was received very well,” said Bruckman. “It’s not a hot topic in nuclear physics right now, but plenty of people stopped by and asked really good questions. People from Yale were especially interested.”

Bruckman explained that gamma ray spectroscopy is a special interest of the Ivy League school, and the university looks to recruit individuals who do those types of projects. While Yale might be an intriguing option for Bruckman’s graduate work, he said he is more interested in staying in the Midwest to complete his “five or six years” of instruction in nuclear physics. When his course work is completed around 2015, Bruckman will have a Ph.D. and will be a prime candidate “to be a physics professor at a small liberal arts college like Monmouth.”

Halpin named 2008 Lincoln Laureate senior Paige Halpin was one of approximately 50 students

honored by the Lincoln Academy of Illinois in October at the Old State Capitol in Springfield.

Each year, an outstanding senior who exhibits overall excellence in curricular and extracurricular programs is selected from each of the four-year, degree-granting institutions of higher learning in Illinois.

An English major and history minor, Halpin was also honored at the beginning of her Monmouth College career as the Freshman Female of the Year, and the Alpha Xi Delta member was last year’s Greek Woman of the Year. She is president of the Associated Students of Monmouth College, and other activities have included Panhellenic Council president, Scot Ambassador, dormitory head resident, member of the president’s advisory committee and student chaplain. She currently serves as a writing tutor, academic coach and teaching assistant.

Last semester, Halpin was the creator and director of an Alternative Spring Break event in Monmouth and she has also assisted with Habitat for Humanity.

“Each Lincoln Laureate represents the best of the best both curricularly and co-curricularly at each college in the state of Illinois,” said Jacquelyn Condon, MC’s vice president for student life and dean of students. “The ‘best of the best’ certainly describes Paige. She is not only accomplished academically but has been an outstanding student leader and a tremendous asset to the college and to the community.”

As Monmouth’s Lincoln Laureate, Halpin was selected to address her graduating class at the 2009 commencement.

Lupton joins staff Patrick Lupton of

Lake Forest, Ill., has joined MC’s staff in the new position of regional director of admission.

Lupton has a strong background in higher education, having worked at Ellis College, Lake Forest College and Kendall College in recent years.

Lupton has been charged with increasing Monmouth College’s out-of-state enrollment, in particular the states bordering Illinois and areas of the Southeast and Southwest.

“It’s important for the college to be able to bring the experiences of out-of-state students into the classroom,” said Lupton, who earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Benedictine University in 1971. “That allows for a more diverse conversation. That diversity of thought has a rippling effect, carrying through the conversations the students have in their dormitory life and across campus.”

At the same time, Lupton said, the out-ofstate students benefit by being connected to a “phenomenal liberal arts college.”

Tooley fills two positions Brenda Tooley, a

former faculty member and academic administrator at Colorado College and Cornell College, has been named director of the grants program and associate dean at Monmouth College. Tooley previously served as associate dean at Colorado and as dean at Cornell. Both colleges are, like Monmouth, consortial members of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest.

Tooley began the current academic year at Monmouth as an administrative fellow in the office of the dean, working on a variety of faculty and administrative projects. Her new role is consistent with her wide teaching and administrative experiences at the other ACM schools. She joined Colorado College in 1991 as a tenure-track faculty member in the English department, serving as associate dean of faculty from 1999 to 2005. She served as vice president for academic affairs and dean at Cornell from 2005 to 2008. monmouth | spring 2009

9

Library’s land of Lincoln Coection donated by Ralph Whiteman ’52 Ralph Whiteman ’52 holds the Western Stoneware bust, while Lauren Firchau ’09 and Brenda Mottaz ’02 look on.

10

monmouth | spring 2009

BY BARRY McNAMARA Associate Editor

M

uch has been made recently of two of the 19th century’s greatest men—Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin—having been born on the same day, February 12, 1809.

Closer to home, there is another man who celebrates a February 12 birthday, and that special date served as a catalyst for his interest in all things Lincoln.

“I used to get my birthday off from school,” said Ralph Whiteman ’52, who donated his substantial collection of Lincoln memorabilia to the Warren County Library in 1992.

“At some point, I started getting Lincoln items as gifts for my birthday and at Christmas. The folks at the bank (Monmouth’s Security Savings, from where he retired as president and CEO after 35 years) were pretty good about doing that. All of these things were in my basement, and I thought it was appropriate to turn them over to the library so the community could enjoy them.”

Whiteman not only donated his collection, but also designed and funded custom-built showcases to house it.

Of personal pride to Whiteman is a letter from his grandfather, Tom Zimmerman, written 10 days after Whiteman’s birth. Its message instilled the value of reading and having role models such as Lincoln.

“My grandfather only had a sixth-grade education, but he was a more educated man than I’ll ever be,” said Whiteman, who noted that Zimmerman and Lincoln acquired their knowledge in similar fashions.

“It’s inspiring to think of what Lincoln accomplished from the background he had. The determination, dedication and energy he devoted to educating himself is pretty admirable. He wrote phenomenal prose that is recognized as some of the best in our history.”

Zimmerman’s letter is included in the collection, and other highlights include a framed original edition of the April 15, 1865, New York Herald, announcing Lincoln’s assassination; a rare and valuable portrait of Lincoln by Kurz and Allison; and a copy of a Lincoln photograph taken in Monmouth in 1858 at the ambrotype studio of W. J. Thomson (see article on page 13).

“It’s regarded to be the most life-like photograph of Lincoln,” said Whiteman of the image, which shows Lincoln without a beard. The original is displayed at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. The collection also includes an assortment of busts, plates, stamps, postcards, photographs and coins. Other items include a rare ceramic pitcher, glass bottles in Lincoln’s image that contained, among other things, cologne and maple syrup, and Lincoln dolls.

Some of the items are more lighthearted than others. For example, Whiteman chuckled while he pointed out a drawing by a fifth-grade student from 1992. He had deemed it the winning entry in an impromptu contest he held while serving as a visiting art presenter in a local classroom. The drawing shows Lincoln chopping down a cherry tree, merging the stories of the two famous presidents born in February.

“Her art was better than her grasp of history at that moment,” Whiteman said of the student. “She went on to graduate from college with honors, so she worked things out.”

Whiteman, an emeritus trustee who first joined the Monmouth College board in 1977, is also fond of a book from Japan about Lincoln, which he says shows his “universality.”

“I was talking with a Monmouth College student from Nepal, and he said that Lincoln is used in his

The book Lincoln As I Knew Him (below) includes many first-person accounts, including a relative who tells of a young Lincoln working three days making hay to pay for a borrowed Life of Washington damaged in the rain.

A rare Lincoln bust (above center) was cast at Monmouth’s Western Stoneware by ceramic artist Dong Soo Chung. Only two were initially made—the other belongs to former Illinois governor Jim Thompson.

monmouth | spring 2009

11

country as an example in their “Laur is an exceptional ethics classes,” said Whiteman. organizer who picked up where “The admiration for Lincoln Brenda left off and came up knows no bounds.” with the good idea of making a Although Whiteman has guide to the collection, so that done the collecting, two anyone dropping by would Monmouth College students understand the artifacts, their have played pivotal roles in orgaimportance, and their context,” nizing and cataloging the items. said Cordery.

The first was Brenda Mottaz ’02, “Both women loved working an unlikely individual, given her with Ralph, whose passion for major area of study.

Lincoln is infectious. Brenda and “I was asked to help with this, Laur knew they were utilizing but I was not a history major at their talents to help make this all,” said Mottaz, who graduated important collection available with degrees in psychology and to a wider audience, while art. “I needed a work-study job, simultaneously building their Lauren Firchau retrieves an item from a display case that Whiteman and working with the archives résumés and helping the college designed and had custom-built. sounded fun.” to give back to the city.”

Mottaz said her focus on psychology gives Of the man behind the collection, Mottaz “My dad was a history teacher, so it was her a slightly different take when she thinks embedded in me early,” she said. “Everything’s said, “Ralph is one of the most genuine and about Lincoln. most wonderful people I’ve ever met.” got a history. It ties everything together.”

“I’m very interested in the man he was, Whiteman returned the compliment.

When she took over the archiving responand why he did what he did,” she said. “He “They were tremendous,” he said of sibilities, Firchau created a numerical system suffered from depression, and for someone for Whiteman’s collection to help identify the Mottaz and Firchau. “Brenda was quite a like me who grew up around a bipolar parscholar, and she really bought into the objects. She also devoted much of her time ent, that’s what I find fascinating. I enjoy philosophy and admiration of Lincoln. to writing a 23-page report that features a learning who he was as a person and how he brief description of each of the collection’s Laur’s descriptions of the pieces in the felt as he carried the weight of the world on collection will really help people understand 102 items. his shoulders during his presidency.” it and bring some of the inanimate objects Even when her time in the college to life.”

“This is a community archives was officially completed, Mottaz Whiteman, who also credits continued to help.

Kim Brassfield ’08 and MC faculty member resource, and we want to “I realized all the projects that needed to Tom Best for their work with the collecmake sure it’s known be done,” she said, “so I would go there in my tion, hopes people in Monmouth and the that it is available free time to keep working on things.” surrounding area will continue to take “Brenda was a hard-working, enthusiastic advantage of it. for scholarly research and self-starter who threw her heart and soul “That’s our main challenge,” he said. recreational enjoyment.” into the Lincoln project,” said MC history “This is a community resource, and we —Ralph Whiteman ’52 professor Stacy Cordery, curator of the colwant to make sure it’s known that it is availlege archives. “She took delight in the daily able for scholarly research and recreational discoveries of the Lincoln artifacts, and she enjoyment.” used her background in art and psychology One entry reads: “An original brick from The collection was in the spotlight during to create a wonderful display.” the home of Abraham Lincoln on 8th and National Library Week in April. That’s when The history faculty was so impressed by Jackson Street in Springfield, Ill. This is brick the winners of an annual Lincoln-themed her commitment that it presented Mottaz number 01977, and it was part of the only essay contest—which was conceived by the its Davenport Prize for work in history at the home Lincoln ever owned. The brick has a Whiteman family, who continue to fund annual honors convocation her senior year. certificate of authenticity and was removed it—were announced. Previous speakers have The collection has continued to grow by a Springfield mason by the name of included appraisers and Lincoln scholars since she graduated seven years ago.

Elmer Jorgensen during the Lincoln Home and impersonators.

“It’s incredible, and it’s nice that it’s in a Remodeling Project.”

While Whiteman has enjoyed the many public library for the community to see and In addition to the artifacts, there are fine Lincoln impersonations he has seen enjoy,” said Mottaz who hopes to be in a more than 300 books in the collection. over the years, he and his grandfather both library herself in the near future, as she purWhiteman admits that only makes a small believe that donning a stovepipe hat and sues a master’s degree in library science. dent in the overall number of works on beard are not essential for revealing the true History and education major Lauren Lincoln, which he says is more than 15,000.

Lincoln. Two hundred years after his birth, Firchau has picked up the slack since Mottaz “I’ve had a lot of fun working on this,” left campus. Unlike her predecessor, the said Firchau. “It definitely allows me to see a it’s Lincoln’s morality, humility and humanity senior said she’s had a strong interest in hisside of history that most people don’t know that should continue to serve as a model to tory all her life. about.” us all.

12

monmouth | spring 2009

Lincoln was here:

Abe’s day in Monmouth

leaving the railroad depot behind, an unusually tall man walked north along the muddy street. On this Monday, Oct. 11, 1858, the man undoubtedly paused along his route to greet passers-by in a casual but somewhat high-pitched voice. Abraham Lincoln was in Monmouth.

In this year of the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth, it is worth retelling Monmouth’s brush with Lincoln during the famed 1858 LincolnDouglas senatorial election.

Lincoln’s first connection to Monmouth may go back as far as his surveying days on the prairie lands of western Illinois. One story told is that Lincoln picked up some work as a surveyor due to the recommendation of one of Warren County’s earliest pioneers and a fellow surveyor, Peter Butler.

However, by 1858, Lincoln’s visit here had a greater significance. People were now more concerned about the fate of western territories and the expansion of slavery. They wanted to hear Lincoln’s position on this volatile issue.

Now, four days after his debate in Galesburg, Lincoln arrived within what was now a booming Illinois service center for farmers from the southlands and Midwest and many recently arrived entrepreneurs and laborers from the northeastern states and Europe. Monmouth College, still in its infancy, was led by President David Wallace, who preferred to keep the college away from partisan politics and rejected student attempts to stage their version of the debates on campus. As a representative of the fledgling Republican Party against the powerful incumbent senator, Stephen Douglas, Lincoln was the underdog.

Nevertheless, despite the drizzly weather that Monday, Lincoln passed up lawyer William Laferty’s offer of a carriage and used his “shanks mares” (legs) that morning to walk seven blocks downtown to the recently built Baldwin House hotel (the site of Security Savings). Observing that a speech on the square (where Douglas had just recently made his own pitch to the citizens) appeared unfavorable, Lincoln’s address was moved a few blocks to the south to Henry’s lumberyard.

Welcomed with an original song performed by the Monmouth Glee Club, Lincoln was introduced by Philo Reed, the editor of the Republican-aligned Monmouth Atlas. As he delivered a three-hour long oration before one supporter’s estimate of more than 3,000

BY TOM BEST

Above: A period lithograph shows Thomson’s studio as it appeared on the day Lincoln spoke in Monmouth. Thomson escorted the candidate into the studio from the speaker’s stand that stood directly in front of the building. Top right: This original ambrotype photograph of Lincoln taken in Monmouth on Oct. 11, 1858, hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Bottom right: This metal plaque is mounted on a granite block on the southwest corner of South First St. and East Fourth Ave. in Monmouth.

people, Lincoln’s jabs at “Dug” were wellreceived by this enthusiastic gathering, wrote a partisan Chicago reporter. Indeed, the crowd was said to be “perfectly wrapt [rapt] in attention, and that in power, pathos, and eloquence, I have never heard it equaled.” This report concluded with Lincoln leaving the stage to the toss of hats and rousing hurrahs.

A Democratic editorial, under the headline “The Abolition Pow-Wow,” put a different spin upon Lincoln’s performance. Claiming that a sorrowful looking crowd of but 200 turned out for “the greatest joke and fizzle of the season,” this version stressed Lincoln’s feeble attempts to link conspiracies between Douglas, the Supreme Court and southern slaveholders. To their biased evaluation, Lincoln clearly lacked the “abilities of a statesman.”

Finally, before departing, Lincoln was invited to have his likeness captured by a local photographer. Remaining copies of

that print show a confident and beardless Lincoln. His shoulders look square under a dark coat, tie and neat white shirt. Originally shot in an ambrotype format in the studio of photographer William Thomson on the southeast side of the square, this image left the people of Monmouth with a lasting memory. This was that tall man they saw on a rainy day, who within two years would evolve from the respected Springfield attorney to the president of the United States.

Tom Best is a lecturer in the history and educational studies departments at Monmouth College.

He teaches full-time at Monmouth-Roseville Junior High School.

monmouth | spring 2009

13

MONMOUTH COLLEGE STAGES



BY BARRY McNAMARA Associate Editor

REENACTMENT  of last play lincoln ever saw: Our American Cousin

hile the nation celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of its most beloved presidents, Monmouth College took a slightly different approach this spring. The college’s theatre group recreated the play that Abraham Lincoln was watching at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., when he was assassinated

by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865.

14

monmouth | spring 2009

Opposite: An illustration from Harper’s Weekly shows the scene at Ford’s Theatre moments after Booth had shot Lincoln and leapt to the stage, abruptly ending the performance of Our American Cousin. Monmouth College’s recreation of the period comedy paused briefly at that point in the show, but gave modern audiences the opportunity of seeing the play in its entirety. Above left: Professor Bill Urban discusses Lincoln conspiracy theories at a symposium prior to the opening-night performance. Above right: The Orpheum’s magnificent stage contributed to the authenticity of the production.

On April 4-5, Monmouth’s Crimson Masque presented Our American Cousin at The Orpheum Theatre in Galesburg, Illinois.

“We tried to help the audience understand what a performance would have been like at that time,” said the play’s director, theatre professor Bill Wallace, referring to technical elements, costumes and acting styles. “We wanted it to be as historically accurate as possible as we recreated for the audience what it would have been like in 1865.”

Part of that accuracy came from specific elements of the play as it was performed on the fateful spring evening, Wallace explained.

“In reality, the Lincolns were late that night. We had a pit band that our music director, Steve Richter, was kind enough to put together for us, and we stopped the production while they played Hail to the Chief as the president enters.”

Wallace said that MC students played the roles of the President and Mrs. Lincoln, as well as their guests that evening, Maj. Henry Rathbone and his fiancée, Clara Harris.

“Their box was decorated with red, white and blue bunting and a U.S. Treasury flag and, at the point of the assassination, we called attention to it with a gun sound effect.

We cut the lights on the box, but then we continued the play and moved forward.”

Accuracy also came from the set itself.

Theatre professor Doug Rankin ’79, the production’s designer and technical director, and a dozen of his students recovered and repainted about 20 original stage flats dating to The Orpheum’s 1916 opening in a further attempt “to replicate as much of the feel as we could.”

“The flats are amazing,” said Rankin of he said. “We had a technical rehearsal that the scene sections, which are 16-feet long night like a professional theatre group would and 5-feet, 9-inches wide. “We could not have. Our students really got to see what life build them today. You can’t buy lumber that would be like if they were going to get into long and straight.” the business.”

In its early days, Rankin said The Orpheum Wallace said the actors rehearsed in was a stop on the vaudeville circuit. It was several different locations to get a feel for part of a chain of theaters, which had the playing to an audience in the balcony. same stock flats. Approximately three-fourths “At The Orpheum, we played a much of the flats have survived, despite not being bigger house than what we normally do (in used for more than 80 years.

MC’s Wells Theater),” he said.

“They are paint on canvas, and some have As for the three-act play itself, Wallace as many as 15 layers of stencils,” he said of called Our American Cousin, which was the flats, which were built by Twin Cities written by Englishman Tom Taylor, a “very Scenic Studios of Minneapolis. broad comedy and farce, making fun of the When assembled, British aristoc“This was an excellent learning the flats recreate the racy,” some of look of various backopportunity for our students—not just whom believe grounds, including a that typical the ones involved in the production, drawing room, foliAmericans are but also our history and political age and a city skyline.

“17 feet tall, science students. We think it’s a Rankin said that some dressed in buckwin-win all the way around…for our skin, hunting of the flats were used department, the college, The Orpheum buffalo.” “as is,” while others received a new canvas Wallace said and the general audience. I think it or new coloring. the “American was also valuable as an educational While performing at cousin, ” Asa outreach to the community.”

The Orpheum, Wallace Trenchard, is —Bill Wallace, theatre professor and director said that the college’s somewhat “a bull Crimson Masque was in a China shop.” treated like any other visiting ensemble.

He claims to be the heir to a wealthy English “We were touring,” he said. “The Orpheum estate, then falls in love with the grandhandled the promotion and the ticket sales daughter of one of his aristocratic relatives. and helped us pay for the production.”

In addition to the two public perforAlthough some routine details were off mances, there were two free shows for area of the department’s “to-do” list, Wallace said schoolchildren. that a completely different slate of responsi“This was an excellent learning opporbilities replaced them. tunity for our students—not just the ones “On the Sunday before we opened, we involved in the production, but also our loaded up the set, costumes and props onto history and political science students,” said Wallace. “We think it’s a win-win all the way a truck and took them over to Galesburg,” monmouth | spring 2009

15

‘YOU SOCKDOLOGIZING OLD MANTRAP!’

I

F YOU WERE A THEATER-GOER IN THE 1860s, one of the shot. Already a risky proposition due to the slanted floor below, the hottest tickets in town was Our American Cousin. It was a Civil jump became more dangerous for Booth when he caught a spur in a War-era version of today’s long-running standards such as Cats Treasury Guard’s flag hanging over the front of the box. As he landed, or Wicked, and on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, it played he broke the fibula bone, just above his left ankle. for the 1,000th time at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, Lincoln, who had been shot in the back of the D.C. The production—and the theater itself—went head, was taken across the street to a boarding out with a bang that evening, when Confederate symhouse, where he would die nine hours later on the pathizer John Wilkes Booth assassinated President morning of April 15. Booth, who had been able to Abraham Lincoln. escape out of the theater’s backstage area during Theatre professor Bill Wallace, who directed April’s all the confusion, eventually made his way to the Monmouth College production of Our American Maryland home of Dr. Samuel Mudd, who set his Cousin, said that Ford’s Theatre was not used for public broken leg. performances again for more than a century following Ironically, Booth nearly had the opportunity to the night’s tragic turn. He also noted that the play’s assassinate two “presidents” that day, as the Lincolns popularity served a role in Booth’s plot. had asked Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his wife to join “Booth, of course, was a professional actor (who them at the play. The Grants begged off, citing travel earned today’s equivalent of $500,000 annually), and plans. Booth and his co-conspirators also planned although he never appeared in Our American Cousin, to assassinate Vice President Andrew Johnson and he received his mail at Ford’s Theatre. He knew the play Secretary of State William Seward in what was very well, and he timed his gunshot to coincide with described as “a desperate bid to help the tottering what he knew would be a big laugh line,” ending with Confederacy’s cause.” While the attempt on Johnson the words, “you sockdologizing old mantrap.” wasn’t made, Seward was stabbed at his residence, Booth frequently appeared in Ford’s Theatre but he survived and would live another seven years. productions, including one just a month before the The same cannot be said for Booth. After nearly assassination. In fact, Lincoln had seen Booth perform two weeks on the run, he was trapped in a barn in there less than 18 months earlier, sitting in the same Port Royal, Va., and, despite an order to the contrary, box he would occupy at Our American Cousin. was shot and killed by Union soldier Boston Corbett.

Booth took measures to avoid security on the fateful While Ford’s Theatre did not continue as a perfornight, including securing a getaway horse and barmance venue, Our American Cousin, which made the A reproduction of the ricading the door to the president’s box behind him. careers of Laura Keene, Joseph Jefferson and original playbill for the However, he also had elements working in his favor. A E.A. Sothern, held the stage in the U.S. and England April 14, 1865, performance U.S. president had never been assassinated, so a guard for more than three decades following the assassinaof Our American Cousin. who was posted outside the door had wandered off. tion. It finally died out at the turn of the century Security was also lax, said Wallace, because the nation as, said Wallace, “melodrama lost its appeal, as it was in a “euphoric” state following Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender at was deemed ‘old-fashioned.’”

Appomattox less than a week earlier, effectively ending the four-year On April 14, 1956—ironically, the 91st anniversary of the assasCivil War. sination—the last living witness to the event, Samuel J. Seymour, died Because Booth had barricaded the door, he was forced to jump at the age of 96. The five-year-old had attended the play in 1865 with nearly 12 feet down from the president’s box after delivering the fatal his godmother.

 around…for our department, the college, The Orpheum and the general audience.

I think it was also valuable as an educational outreach to the community.”

Lincoln-related memorabilia from the Warren County Public Library’s Abraham Lincoln collection was on display in The Orpheum’s lobby, and the educational element also included a series of talks by four MC faculty members, titled “And How Was the Play, Mrs. Lincoln?” Held at The Orpheum prior to the first performance,

16

monmouth | spring 2009

the talks included “West Central Illinois Participants in the Civil War” by Tom Best and “Conspiracy Theories Surrounding the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln” by William Urban.

Stacy Cordery, bibliographer at the National First Ladies Library, spoke on “The Life of Mary Todd Lincoln,” and Wallace gave “A Production History of Our American Cousin.”

The Illinois Humanities Council awarded Monmouth College, the Warren County Public Library and The Orpheum Theatre

a grant of $1,920 to help defray expenses related to the symposium and exhibition.

“It’s one thing to see the play at which Lincoln was assassinated; it’s another to be able to surround a tremendous theatrical experience with historical context,” Wallace said.

“The IHC grant ensures the symposium and exhibition are free and open to the public, regardless of whether attendees hold tickets to Our American Cousin,” said Kate Francis ’92, president and managing director of The Orpheum.

P

OOR MARY TODD LINCOLN languishes, year after year, at the bottom of the Siena

Research Institute Poll of First Ladies. In 2008 she ranked dead last in “Value to Country,” “Accomplishments,” “Leadership” and “Public Image.”

Mary Todd Lincoln:

When bad things hapn…

BY DR. STACY CORDERY

The Siena Poll is a surlower salaried former vey of professional U.S. slaves. She asked the historians and, since White House gardener the poll began in 1982, to pad his bills and Mary Todd Lincoln has return the difference resisted rehabilitation by to her so she could those historians and by repay Congress for the the popular media. renovation. The press It is a historical oddcastigated her for undue ity that one of America’s influence in politics. most sainted presidents Sometimes, she reviewed was married to the the troops without the Three views of Mary—from left, at age 28, the year her husband was elected to Congress; her country’s all-time worst first year in the White House (taken by Matthew Brady during a trip to New York); and dressed in president. And of course, mourning, following the death of her son Willie. PHOTOS: LIBR ARY OF CONGRESS First Lady. Her life was Mary Lincoln suffered not idyllic, but even sartorial criticism just with a sympathetic understanding of her troubles, objectifying Mary like every other First Lady: her necklines were too low, the colors Todd Lincoln’s effect on her husband and his administration remains weren’t appealing, the cut was dated. Worst of all, critics accused her difficult. of being a Confederate spy. She was a Southerner, after all.

Mary Todd, an aristocratic Kentuckian by birth, suffered through But Mrs. Lincoln had borne the unimaginable burden of the death her mother’s death and the encroachment of a hated stepmother and of two sons, one before the presidency and one during. Her husband, the nine step-siblings who vied for her father’s attention. Taking refever more preoccupied with the war, could not comfort her. She uge in her schooling, she developed an interest in politics, but wasn’t eased her grief by staying in contact with her dead children through happy until she escaped to her sister’s home in Springfield, Ill. There, séances. People whispered about Mrs. Lincoln’s madness. Even Mary fell in love with the gangly attorney, Abraham Lincoln. She bore Lincoln urged her to grieve in a more seemly fashion. Most horrific of four sons, maintained the household and was the family’s spiritual all, she watched as her husband was shot in Ford’s Theatre. This did center. But these expected duties did not satisfy her. Mary became not help her mental stability.

Lincoln’s political partner and helped develop his career, beginIn her own era, Mary Todd Lincoln was considered an insane, unpaning with a wholesale clothing and etiquette makeover. She sorted triotic, Negro-loving Confederate spy. She was called an adulteress and his colleagues into two lists: those for and those against him. Mary a political meddler who profaned the White House with séances and wrote politicians to clarify his policy positions. When Lincoln earned cavorted at balls while Union boys died on the battlefields. election to Congress in 1846, she moved herself and the children to Neither time nor awareness of Mary Todd Lincoln’s psychological Washington and attended congressional debates. Mary vetoed the distress have muted such criticism. While historians can usually idea of Lincoln becoming governor of the Oregon wilderness. And, in separate fact from fiction, we cannot imagine what Lincoln’s presi1860, when all their hard work had paid off, Lincoln ran to her crying dency might have been like had his wife been an ideal partner. Thus, “Mary, Mary, we are elected!”

Mrs. Lincoln will likely remain at the bottom in all assessments of The presidential years were the happiest and the saddest of her American First Ladies. life. She was the first First Lady to have that title. She set fashion trends and renovated the derelict White House. Her parties were FOR FURTHER READING: Jean Baker, Mary Lincoln: A Biography (1987); legendary. She influenced political patronage. She reviewed the Jason Emerson, The Madness of Mary Lincoln (2007); Catherine troops. She tended publicly and selflessly to the destitute freed slaves Clinton, Mrs. Lincoln: A Life (2009); Elizabeth Keckley, Behind the Scenes (1868); Daniel Mark streaming into Washington.

Epstein, The Lincolns: Portrait of a Marriage All this was controversial. Clothing stores preyed on her desire to (2008); and Mark Neely and Gerald McMurtry, be fashionable, giving her expensive goods so she would carry their The Insanity File: The Case of Mary Lincoln (1986). concerns to Lincoln. The costly White House renovation did not use local materials. She shopped in New York, attended by another man, Stacy Cordery, associate professor of history at sparking rumors of an affair. As her spending increased, critics said Monmouth College and curator of its archives, is the money should have been spent on the war. To make amends, she bibliographer for the National First Ladies Library in Canton, Ohio. sold off White House furniture and manure and replaced staff with monmouth | spring 2009

17

GUARDIAN OF THE TOMB: Lincoln collector, curator and raconteur,

An elderly Herbert Wells Fay stands guard over Lincoln’s Tomb, shortly before his retirement in 1946. PHOTO: ABRAHAM LINCOLN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

DAV I D J O N E S ( C R E AT I V E CO M M O N S )

BY JEFF RANKIN Editor

Were he alive today, one Monmouth College alumnus would likely dethrone historian Doris Kearns Goodwin as the media’s favorite interview during this bicentennial observance of Lincoln’s birth. Herbert Wells Fay, MC class of 1880, was arguably the world’s greatest admirer of the 16th president. It has been said that, as the foremost collector of Lincoln memorabilia and as the longtime caretaker of the Lincoln tomb, Fay was responsible more than any other individual for perpetuating the Lincoln legend and preserving it for future generations.

18

monmouth | spring 2009

Monmouth’s Herbert Wells Fay His extraordinary devotion to Lincoln, along with his P.T. Barnum-like enthusiasm for promotion, made Fay himself a legend in Springfield. Born and raised on a farm 60 miles west of Chicago near the town of Hinckley, Fay entered Monmouth College in 1876 as a “sub-freshman,” enrolling first in the classical course, before switching to the scientific course. For reasons unknown, he left after his junior year and failed to receive a diploma.

After teaching school for a term, Fay became a partner in 1880 with two brothers in publishing Hinckley’s newspaper. Two years later, he bought out the brothers’ share of the business and continued to expand the size and reach of the paper. In 1887, Fay sold the paper and bought half interest in the much larger De Kalb Review, a partnership that would last 19 years, until the newspaper plant was destroyed by fire in 1906. Following the fire, Fay bought out the interest of his partner and built a new plant for his thriving newspaper.

Fay’s affinity for publishing was exceeded only by his love for collecting. At the age of 10, at a time when newspapers seldom published images of public figures, he began a collection of historical portraits that would eventually total 50,000. Realizing that new publishing technology would create a demand for such images, he created the first photographic archive service for newspapers.

He also became associate editor of the National Cyclopedia of American Biography, for which he furnished 500 portraits.

An important part of Fay’s collection was 200 images of Abraham Lincoln and 200 other pictures related to the Great Emancipator, who had been his boyhood hero. (Fay’s grandfather, Horace Fay, had served in the Illinois legislature with Lincoln and had later been killed at Vicksburg. Fay, who inherited three letters written by Lincoln to his grandfather, was an impressionable boy of 6 when Lincoln was assassinated.) To Fay, collecting Lincoln memorabilia was as natural as a later generation of boys collecting baseball cards.

As the country’s most respected Lincoln collector, Fay was the logical candidate for custodian of Lincoln’s tomb in 1921, following the death of its previous caretaker. In those days, the rotunda of the tomb had been used as a museum for Lincoln artifacts, and Fay, eager for the opportunity to display his own collection of relics, accepted the position. Fay’s collection soon became the focal point for visits to Lincoln’s tomb, and his entertaining lectures about the objects became legendary.

Not everyone approved of Fay’s exuberant style, however. Many of his mementos had little to do with Lincoln, such as a photo he titled “Someone’s dog at the Lincoln Home.” Visitors complained about Fay’s handwritten signs pasted on the marble walls, one of which read “Lincoln’s blood, ask how and when it came here.” Fay’s anecdotal lectures, designed to elicit laughter, were for many visitors disrespectful to Lincoln’s memory. One Springfield citizen quipped that Fay would make a “splendid lecturer in a ‘chamber of horrors’ or as a barker for a slide show.”

Following the dedication in 1922 of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., Fay complained that too much attention was being

was a one-man dynamo.

Herbert Wells Fay was a successful young newspaper publisher at the turn of the 20th century.

PHOTO: ABRAHAM LINCOLN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

given to that monument and not enough to the deteriorating condition of Lincoln’s tomb. In the Springfield press, he called for the construction of a gigantic Lincoln shrine near the tomb that could be seen from a distance of 20 miles. It would feature a colossal statue of Lincoln on a towering pedestal, with a combined height of 500 feet—nearly as tall as the Washington Monument.

Atop the statue he envisioned “a powerful searchlight to guide air-mail pilots.” Not surprisingly, Fay also called for a massive museum complex to house his personal collection.

Despite Fay’s enthusiasm, the Illinois Department of Public Works had different plans, specifying a renovation that would remove all relics from the tomb. In 1931, a newly-built tomb was to be dedicated

by President Hoover. Officials warned Fay that there would be no more lectures, no more loud talk, and especially no more mementos despoiling the dignity of the tomb.

Just weeks after the dedication, however, Fay’s museum suddenly reappeared. The marble walls were once again covered with mementos and a utility corridor was converted into a miniature museum. The lectures also resumed, and continued despite repeated orders that they stop. Having personally welcomed four million visitors to the site over a quarter of a century, it was apparently just too difficult for Fay to stop doing what had become his life’s mission.

Finally, citing them as a fire hazard, the state forced Fay in 1946 to remove every item of his collection from the tomb. Two years later, his son, Earl Owen Fay, was appointed the new custodian of the tomb.

Following his retirement, the elder Fay continued to visit the tomb daily, and during the last few months of his life, it was not uncommon for visitors who missed him at the tomb to call on him at home, just to hear his stories. Until the day of his death, Fay’s mind remained keen and he never stopped working on his beloved collection.

When Fay died at the age of 90 on Oct. 25, 1949, his death was announced in a banner headline across the front page of Springfield’s daily paper, the Illinois State Journal, and Time magazine published his obituary, citing his extensive collection of more than a million Lincoln items.

In 2002, a large collection of rare newspapers, political memorabilia, photographs and Lincoln-related material amassed by Fay was donated to the Illinois State Historical Library. It included more than 300 letters; 40 broadsides and posters and 150 photographs. The majority of his collection, however, including an original negative plate of a Lincoln portrait valued at $50,000 in 1949, resides in museums and private collections throughout the world.

Atop the Lincoln statue, Fay envisioned “a powerful searchlight to guide air-mail pilots.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Monmouth College Magazine is indebted to researcher Nancy Hill, whose article “The Lincoln Landscape: The Transformation of the Lincoln Tomb,” (Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association Winter 2006), provided many of the details for this story. Special thanks also to Jane Ehrenhart ’77, supervisor of reference and technical services at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum, who provided copies of the Illinois State Journal and the photographs accompanying this article.

monmouth | spring 2009

19

A LOT IS NEW AT ‘OLD M.C.’ no matter how long ago it was when students did their

“sling-a da ink and push-a da pen” routine at Monmouth College, once thing’s for sure—many want to go back to old MC. Last fall’s Homecoming One such winner was provided a great opporDr. Frank Fitch ’51, who was tunity for alumni to gain inducted into the Monmouth some knowledge about College Hall of Achievement, Monmouth College, spethe highest honor the cifically old MC’s new side, college bestows upon its which includes three new graduates. Fitch is the residence halls on the westAlbert D. Lasker Professor ern edge of campus and Emeritus of Medical other recently constructed Sciences at the University of or renovated facilities.

Chicago, where he taught Another development at full-time for 39 years.

Homecoming was the first He pioneered medical set of “cluster” reunions. technology involving monoThe college welcomed back clonal antibodies, which the classes of ’02 and ’04 serve as complementary eleand the classes of ’77 and ments in the areas of genetic ’79 to help their old friends research, immunology and in the classes of ’03 and ’78 therapeutic applications. In celebrate. Also new was the 1995, the Frank W. Fitch opportunity for attendees Monoclonal Antibody Facility to purchase long-sleeved was created to promote this Homecoming shirts. The red technology and make such shirts featured lyrics from services available to the This design, which appeared on the back of the official Homecoming shirt, featured the popular song University of Chicago comlyrics from a popular old Monmouth song.

I Want to Go Back to Old MC, munity. including the “ink and pen” Fitch, who grew up the The elegant Friday evening event was held reference. Through its alumni office, the colson of a doctor in nearby Bushnell, studied for the second year, and besides providing lege plans to offer shirts with a new design at Monmouth from 1947 to 1949 before earna venue for an address on the state of the for this fall’s Homecoming, Oct. 9-11. ing three degrees in pathology from the The President’s Homecoming Gala is also college by President Mauri Ditzler, one of its University of Chicago, including his M.D., purposes is to recognize award winners. a fairly new part of the weekend’s festivities. with honors, in 1953 and his Ph.D. in 1960.

A table setting for the President’s Homecoming Gala.

20

monmouth | spring 2009

President Ditzler, left, welcomes Stanley Watkins ’78 and his wife, Angelia, to the Gala.

Dr. Frank Fitch ’51 and his wife, Shirley, were guests of honor at the gala, where he was recognized for being inducted into the Hall of Achievement.

HOMECOMING 2008

Adorned in red and plaid uniforms, the Fighting Scots Marching Band lends a splash of color and sound to the Homecoming Parade.

He has served as a teacher, a leading immunology researcher, a practicing physician, an administrator and a science advocate in Washington, D.C., all while living in the Hyde Park area of Chicago.

As a researcher, Fitch received numerous honors, including a Commonwealth Fund Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship to support sabbatical years in Switzerland and a Lifetime Service Award from the American Association of Immunologists. His advocacy work in Washington helped fund important scientific projects.

Also honored was political science professor Ira Smolensky, the third and final recipient of the 2008 Hatch Academic Excellence Awards. Funded by W. Jerome Hatch ’57, the awards were established in 2004 to recognize outstanding work by MC faculty in the areas of teaching, scholarship and service. For the first time, nominations for the Distinguished Teaching Award, which Smolensky won, were solicited exclusively from alumni.

Earlier in the fall, biology professor Ken Cramer was named the recipient of the Distinguished Scholarship and Research

Microsoft executive Steven Skinner kicked off Homecoming weekend with the annual Wendell F. Whiteman Memorial Lecture.

Alumni gather on the front lawn of the Admission & College Relations Building for a parade-watching party.

Award, while physics professor Chris Fasano received the Distinguished Service Award.

The gala audience was also treated to a professionally produced video program for the college’s $40 million campaign to build a new academic complex, the Integrated Learning Center for the Sciences and Business.

The next day began with the induction ceremony for the newest class of M Club Hall of Fame members: football-track standout John Warfield ’89, three-sport star John Jacobs ’94, champion distance runner Dan Schisler ’94 and All-American sprinter Heather Furrow-Herchenroder ’98 Following the traditional Homecoming parade down Broadway, Fighting Scots football fans were treated to the most dramatic game of the regular season. On a touchdown pass with less than two minutes to play, Monmouth rallied to defeat Ripon 38-35, which proved to be the key victory of the team’s 10-0 regular season.

Concerts by the Monmouth Chorale and the Scotsmen and an alumni mixer at the American Legion concluded the day’s busy schedule.

Alumni from several eras participated in the Homecoming alumni volleyball game. Clockwise, from top left: Rose Thompson Boaz ’83, Shelley Brown Postin ’89, Dr. Sherry Williams ’88, Jessica Travis ’08, Ashley Yeast ’08, Kendra James ’08, Lynn Utter Ewing ’98, Stacey Kreps Carlson ’00, Kari Bailey Shimmin ’97, Colleen Wilkin ’08, Kristen Hodgeman ’05 and Shelly Coats Merritt ’79.

The Scotsmen, a popular student a capella group, entertained following the chorale concert.

Inducted into the M Club Hall of Fame were, from left: Heather FurrowHerchenroder ’98, Dan Schisler ’94, John Warfield ’89 and John Jacobs ’94.

Dorothy Ricketts, Cynthia Pettinger and Traci Abbott wave from the Class of 1983 reunion float.

monmouth | spring 2009

21

HOMECOMING 2008

Former 1968 classmates Don Bockler, left, and John Evermon reunited at the pre-Homecoming game picnic.

Among the Class of 1973 members celebrating their 35th reunion were, clockwise from top left: Tom Kratochvil, Dennis Plummer, Tim Owen, Ann Boley Parker, David Elmer and Ted Briscoe.

The Classes of 1977, 1978 and 1979 shared a cluster reunion.

Row 1, from left: Terry Dober ’79, Steve Ehrenhart ’79 and Audie Durand ’77. Row 2: Mark Kopinski, Brian Kimmel ’77, Kathy Clark Kimmel ’78 and Wendy Johansen ’78. Row 3: Cindy Chavez Marsan ’79, Kristine Stone-Rainey ’79, Shelly Coats Merritt ’79 and Terry Brooks Campbell ’78.

The Class of 1983 gathered on the steps of Quinby House at Homecoming for its 25th-reunion photo. Row 1, from left: Carol Siebers Cornwell, Cynthia Lantz Pettinger, Lisa Berg Hines, Terri Pieper Van Hagen, Rose Thompson Boaz, Martie Eckhard Anderson, Betsy McGraw Cooper, Dan Burbank, Steve Van Kell and Bob Sheehan. Row 2: Kevin Curran, Leslie James-Cook, Tony Pounds, Susan McInerney Sund, Regina Gilson, Sue Merema O’Flaherty, Judy Bradley Stevenson, Jane Campagna Shimmin, Mark Driscoll, Laura Stella Pearson and Barbara Churchill Cozzi. Row 3: Steve Bloomer, Kim Waters Tompkins, Steve Smick, Mike Petruzzi, Traci Whyte Abbott and Mary Anderson Holte. Row 4: Rob Banta, Lance Zedric, Mike (Johnson) Quagliano, Joel Hillison, Jim Ensalaco and Dorothy Aszman Ricketts. Row 5: Roger Becker, Dennis Lehr and Jim Braun.

Celebrating their 10th reunion were these members of the Class of 1998.

Clockwise, from top left: Kelly Sutton Everding, Courtney Bonnett Maher, Amber Heinz Mavradas, Heather Haines Roseman, Lannette Barkley Jennings, Cari Klein Cook, Annamarie Cima Pionke and Sarah Botkin.

22

monmouth | spring 2009

Among alumni attending a five-year cluster reunion at Homecoming 2008 were, from left: Justin Johnston ’04, Jessica DeVore Johnston ’04, Kristin Whitver Fouts ’03, Jonathon Williamson ’03, Amy Fraser Sowinski ’03, Cari Goff ’03, Annie McLaughlin ’03 and Geoff Edwards ’03.

A

nd now for some monmouth college trivia:

Which student group has the most members—the football team or the marching band?

If you guessed the football team, you are correct, but you might not be by next fall. Steve Richter, director of the Fighting Scots Marching Band, says change is in the air.

“My hope for the future is to have more students in the band than on the football team,” he said. “We seem to add about 20 members every year. I think next year will be the year we do it.”

A former member of the Marching Leathernecks at Western Illinois University and an assistant with the band at the University of Connecticut, Richter said, “I’m a huge aficionado of marching bands.

Love ’em! My professional training is as a clarinetist, but I’ve enjoyed working with this group and learning all the ins and outs of it.”

This year’s playlist featured songs from the ’60s by bands such as The Beatles, The Yardbirds and The Kinks. The Fighting Scots Marching Band not only shared the field with the football team on Saturday afternoons but, at 100 members, has a triple-digit roster size, as well.

Richter said the band has come a long way since it first formed in 2003.

“We started that year with just 15 kids playing in the stands,” he said. “That was like herding cats. It was difficult to get everybody together. But it’s really caught on, and we’ve experienced growth every year since.”

Richter said students are drawn to the band for several reasons.

“Most small colleges don’t attempt to have a marching band, so this is a huge recruiting tool,” he said. “Prospective students know they want to go to a small school, and Monmouth is a place that offers them the size of school they want and allows them to continue an activity they enjoy.”

Other students appreciate Richter’s philosophy on practicing.

Rather than running students through hours of daily sessions, the director limits his practices to one per week.

“We respect their time to be in other academic activities,” he said.

“We want to keep the schedule very doable for them.”

Band member Aubrey England, a freshman from Dunlap who participated in marching band throughout high school, said, “We went to competitions, but it was too complex, and it often wasn’t an enjoyable experience. So when I found Monmouth, I decided to give band a try and see how I liked it. Not only would I get the experience, but I would get scholarship money for it as well. So far, it has been exactly what I was looking for—a band that is hard-working,

but doesn’t claim that being the best is the most important thing.

Working as a team, making good music and having a good time are the most important aspects of the marching band program here.”

England and his band mates do experience one jam-packed week of activities, but Richter explained that comes before classes begin.

“We have band camp in the week leading up to the start of school,” he said. “We go over marching fundamentals, all the music for the semester and the drill for the halftime show.

Steve Richter It’s from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day, and it’s pretty rigorous. There’s a lot to learn.”

Once the school year begins, the students settle in to a routine of Monday night practices from 6:30 to 9 p.m., as well as performances at Fighting Scot home football games, and a trio of parades, including the Prime Beef Festival and Monmouth College Homecoming events.

“We also participate in the Veterans Day celebration at the VFW,” said Richter.

“That’s something we started the first year, and we’ve been doing it ever since.”

Currently, the band’s practices are being held in the Huff Athletic Center, but Richter is “hugely excited” that the second phase of the football stadium renovation will allow the band to practice under the lights on the facility’s field turf next fall.

“That’s going to make a huge difference,” said Richter, who remembers years past when the student had to be bused to Sunnylane Field for evening practices. “I am thrilled that those lights are on the way.”

Richter not only sees lights at the end of the tunnel, but he also envisions a band that will only continue to improve over time.

“This year, for the first time, we stayed for the entire football game,” he said. “We want to continue to improve the quality of our performances, and I would also love to see us be more visible as a recruiting tool for the college.”

The head drum major for the Fighting Scots Marching Band was senior Brian Jordan. The other drum majors were sophomores Anna Bradac and Nora Carleson. Tony Oliver, a member of MC’s music faculty, also serves as one of the band’s directors, and he and Richter are assisted by Daniel Reck, a member of Monmouth’s residential life staff.

—BARRY McNAMARA

And the beat goes on: Band grows to 100

monmouth | spring 2009

23

FALL SPORTS REVIEW: Best football season ever?

Only members of the 1972 Fighting Scots—and, possibly, relatives of players from the 1906 team—could argue that the 2008 season wasn’t the best in the long and storied history of Monmouth College football.

The 11-1 Scots posted their most-ever wins, won the Midwest Conference title outright and recorded the program’s first-ever NCAA playoff victory. Only a heartbreaking 30-28 loss, which saw visiting Wartburg score the winning TD with seven seconds remaining, prevented the Scots from recording a 12th victory and hosting a third consecutive playoff game, which would have been a national quarterfinal against defending champion UWWhitewater.

Although the Wartburg loss stung, it could not diminish a season that was one for the record books. A senior-dominated defense kept the Scots high in the national rankings

on that side of the ball, particularly in terms of fewest points allowed and turnover margin. The Scots finished 11th nationally with an average of 14.2 points allowed and their +21 turnover margin was second on the list of 235 schools.

It was on the other side of the ball, though, where Monmouth really made a name for itself. A no-huddle offense, first employed at the start of the 2007 season, gained momentum with each game that its leader, sophomore quarterback Alex Tanney, played. It became so proficient that Aurora head coach Chris Duncan, whose Spartans were defeated 42-13 by the Scots in the first round of the playoffs, said, “I’ve coached against Mt. Union, I’ve coached in the Wisconsin state school league.

Offensively, they were as good a team as I’ve seen.”

They were certainly as good an offense as Monmouth has seen in its gridiron history, which dates to 1888, and they were the top-scoring unit in Division III for the year. The Scots’ school-record average of 46.8 points per game led the nation, and

Tanney posted numbers that would make an NFL quarterback jealous. He completed 318 of his 462 passes for 3,624 yards, shattering MC’s previous single season record in all three categories. His record 50 touchdown passes were offset by a mere eight interceptions.

SCOTS SPORTS

The scoreboard tells the story as Fighting Scots quarterback Alex Tanney launches the pivotal pass of the season. When the ball came down 35 yards later, it was in the hands of receiver Matt Shepherd, and Monmouth had emerged with a thrilling 38-35 Homecoming victory over Ripon to keep its unbeaten regular season alive.

monmouth | spring 2009

25

SKILLICORN continued from page 30 Said one Web source about his company in connection with an ad for Adidas, “Skillicorn and Stribley’s backgrounds, artistic eye and relative innocence to the business of commercial production allowed them to bring a fresh approach that was sorely missing in the market at the time. They were willing to take chances where others were not, which separated them from the pack and gave them a distinctive edge.

Backyard takes pride in its incomparable track record of spotting potential young talent and taking chances on developing new directors.”

Four years ago, Skillicorn started Transistor Studios, which is based in New York City and does animation, as well as design for digital media, motion and Web sites.

The following year, he opened Seed, which creates branded entertainment for TV, Web sites and in-store programming. An example, Skillicorn said, is Bud.TV. “It’s a ‘Wild West’ area,” he said of the work Seed does. “Commercials are scarcer now. We’re forerunners in the Web-based and interactive advertising market.”

Asked to describe a typical day at the office, Skillicorn replied, “I’m in charge of marketing, PR and sales for all three companies. I talk to directors and clients on a regular basis and essentially serve as the liaison between the creative artists and the community.”

An example of a day out of the office came this summer, when Skillicorn traveled to Asia.

“I recently returned from China, Japan and Singapore, where we are currently focusing our sales effort. I brought back our first Chinese project, a commercial for the Ogilvy and Mathur agency in Shanghai.”

As he nears retirement age, Skillicorn has no thoughts of stopping.

“I like what I do,” he said. “I probably won’t ever stop. Even if we were to sell our companies, I’d like to stay on in some capacity.”

And, in keeping with the evolving nature of his career, the successful businessman said that, lately, his interests have turned to music. That’s in part because of the career aspirations of his daughter, Jessica Rae, who’s a singer/songwriter living in Nashville (www. myspace.com/jessicaraemusic). Elizabeth also helps with her daughter’s career in addition to continuing to work as an artist in several mediums.

Once destined for an assembly line job, Skillicorn constantly adjusted to life’s twists and turns, sought out higher education, took risks when opportunities arose and dared to be different, enriching his life in the process.

34

monmouth | spring 2009

Weddings 1993

Jacquette Johnston and Floyd Boykin Jr.

2002

Brianne Blout and Brian Satoriusnd Brian SatorJune 23, 2007ius Lacey Sunderland and Benjamin Fishel June 21, 2008 Misty Saline and Matthew Lerner ’03 May 5, 2007

2003

Lindsay Piersee and Jeremy Carrier Lindsay Sackville and Rob McKay

Oct. 20, 2007 April 26, 2008

2004

Marie Webster and Robert Weaver

Aug. 31, 2008

2005

Morgan Ross and Philip Johnson

June 27, 2008

2006

Rachel McCombs and A.J. Bartoluzzi

Nov. 8, 2008

2007

Tiffany Ludwig and Tyler Southwood ’05 Heather McCubbin and Chase Ruby Kelli Wefenstette and Jimmy Thomas ’05

June 21, 2008 Sept. 22, 2007 June 14, 2008

2008

Jennifer Hackworth and Ryan Bland

July 19, 2008

August 2006 June 23, 20 June 21, 2008

Jennifer Hackworth ’08 and Ryan Bland ’08

Jacquette Johnston and Floyd Boykin Jr. ’93

Rachel McCombs ’06 and A.J. Bartoluzzi ’06

Tiffany Ludwig ’07 and Tyler Southwood ’05

Misty Saline ’02 and Matthew Lerner ’03

Brianne Blout ’02 and Brian Satorius

CLAN NOTES

Future Scots

Rayna Nichole White

Aubrey Marie Johnston

Lydia Elizabeth Van Leeuwen

Andrew Steven Whitman

Floyd J. Boykin III

Lucy Elizabeth Bockler

1981

Millicent Knight and Harvey Echols

a son, Matthew Lewis Knight

Sept. 8, 2008

1992

Kristen and Nick D’Alfonso

a son, Will Robert

Dec. 19, 2008

1993

Jacquette and Floyd Boykin Jr. Rebecca Stotler Sefton and Kevin ’90

a son, Floyd J. III a son, James

Nov. 16, 2007 Nov. 2, 2008

1995

Melinda Cudney Howard and Bill Jill Flouhouse Tersteeg and Joseph Shannon Elmer Whitman and John

a daughter, Regan Jamie Marie July 28, 2008 a daughter, Meri Emma Sept. 24, 2008 a son, Andrew Steven Sept. 11, 2008

1997

Karen Creek Brown and Michael Marlene Hatmaker Bockler and Tyler ’95

a daughter, Alanna a daughter, Lucy Elizabeth

May 10, 2007 Aug. 7, 2008

2000

Tara Olson-Beeler and Scott ’98 Gena Fry Hasten and Josh

a daughter, Claire a son, Jake William

Sept. 15, 2007 Sept. 22, 2008

2001

Theresa Hamm Burt and James Julie Roth Hessler and Pat Mindy Hibbs Watkins and Sam

a son, Avery James a daughter, Sadie Carol a daughter, Alaina

Sept. 14, 2008 July 3, 2008 Feb. 1, 2007

2002

Lisa Seemann Johnson and Ryan Robyn Gores White and Kevin Brandi McCoy Van Leeuwen and Bill ’99

a son, Alexander Thomas a daughter, Rayna Nichole a daughter, Lydia Elizabeth

Mar. 19, 2008 Apr. 18, 2008 Dec. 25, 2008

2004

Jessica DeVore Johnston and Justin Allison Douglas Pentti and Dan Tasha and Matt Troha

a daughter, Aubrey Marie a daughter, Emmyrson Jean a son, Caleb Matthew

Sept. 19, 2008 Sept. 17, 2008 Jan. 20, 2009

2005

Jackie Bell Kyriazes and Nick

a daughter, Alexandra Violet

July 21, 2008

MC

Audra Sostarecz, assistant professor of chemistry, and Michael Sostarecz, assistant professor of mathematics and computer science

a son, Alexander Michael

Dec. 16, 2008

Alexander Michael Sostarecz

Claire Beeler

Will Robert D’Alfonso

Matthew Lewis Knight

Sadie Carol Hessler

Caleb Matthew Troha

Emmyrson Jean Pentti (and the 2009 MC softball team)

Regan Jamie Marie Howard

monmouth | spring 2009

35

THE LAST WORD

T

Charles Darwin, reluctant revolutionary

BY DR. KEN CRAMER

wo centuries ago, a curious naturalist was born to a rich family in early 19th-century England. Fifty years later, he published a revolutionary book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, which contained the seeds of an idea that shook the foundations of Western thought.

Though he is often seen as aged, silver-bearded and somber, many Americans still resist the idea, it impacts Darwin’s journey around the world on the Beagle would put the wild- their daily lives. Evolutionary thinking is transest youthful adventurer of today to shame. At 22, he embarked on a forming the fields of medicine, agriculture, two-year trip that lasted five, spending most of his time at sea retcheconomics and even psychology, sociology and ing, attempting to read, or sleeping fitfully in his swaying hammock political science. Offering testable hypotheses above the chart table in the tiny cabin he shared with two other sailto explain phenomena as diverse as morning ors on the 90 × 24-foot ship. sickness, the use of spices, adoption, morality But the geological and biological observations young Charles and investor behavior, evolution is an idea that made on his excursions ashore germinated into the radical idea that enriches our understanding of life. all of life is one family, a giant While Darwin’s devoutly genealogical tree stretching back Christian wife Emma worried While many Americans still resist the idea, almost 4 billion years. The evithat they wouldn’t be united in it impacts their daily lives. Evolutionary dence that life had evolved was the hereafter because of his loss and is overwhelming, but what thinking is transforming the fields of medicine, of faith, the theory of evolution set him apart from his predecesis no more intrinsically atheisagriculture, economics and even psychology, tic than the theory of gravity. sors who had proposed ideas of transmutation was a clear expla- sociology and political science. Offering testable While the idea of a universe nation of how organisms could where humans are an accident evolve—via a process he named hypotheses to explain phenomena as diverse as appearing in the last blink of natural selection. morning sickness, the use of spices, adoption, cosmic time and demoted to Shortly after his return, mere animals strikes some as morality and investor behavior, evolution is an disheartening, others see the Darwin had conceived of, but not shared, this idea. Scholars idea that enriches our understanding of life. same story of our appearance debate what caused his famous as conscious actors in the long —Ken Cramer, professor of biology delay, but all agree that an unanpageantry of life as inspiraticipated letter in 1858 from tional and miraculous, a view Alfred Wallace, another young British naturalist, spurred him to write expressed by Darwin himself: “There is a simple grandeur in the view what he called his “big book.” In a remarkable case of convergence, of life with its powers of growth … being originally breathed into Wallace, half a world away in Malaysia, had struck upon precisely the matter … that from so simple an origin … endless forms most beautisame mechanism for evolution as Darwin, even using some of the ful and most wonderful have been evolved.” same language. After a delay of two decades, but a mere 17 months after the jolt from Wallace, Darwin published Origin of Species, in FOR FURTHER READING Dr. Cramer suggests The Reluctant Mr. Darwin by November 1859.

David Quammen and Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea by Carl Zimmer.

While the reality of evolutionary change was accepted quickly by Monmouth College’s biology department and 19th-century studies most scientists, Darwin’s explanation of how organisms evolved was minor are sponsoring Darwinpalooza, a year of Darwin appreciation never embraced during his lifetime, mostly because the causes of and understanding, that began on Feb. 12, 2009, the bicentennial of variation among organisms were not understood. Not until the redis- Darwin’s birth. covery of Mendel’s experiments on peas almost two decades after After presenting the three well-received “Darwinpalooza” lectures in Darwin’s death in 1882 and the emergence of modern genetics in February, MC biology professor Ken Cramer the mid-20th century was natural selection solidified as the primary crossed paths with Darwin again. His research agent of evolution. on brown recluse spiders and some of their relaOver the past century and a half, evidence of evolution has tives was used by The Tree of Life Web Project, continued to mount from nearly every scientific discipline: geola collaborative effort of biologists from around ogy, astronomy, biochemistry, biogeography, anatomy, physiology, the world. On more than 10,000 Web pages, the ecology, genetics and molecular biology. Darwin would have been project provides information about the diversity stunned and overjoyed to see such repeated confirmation of his of organisms on Earth, their evolutionary history work, some from fields that did not even exist in his lifetime. While (phylogeny) and their characteristics.

40

monmouth | spring 2009