Saying Farewell
By Rachel Moulton '97
Victor Garcia | Harold
Wright | Marianne Whelchel
In 2004-05, Marianne Whelchel, Professor of Literature and
Women's Studies, Victor Garcia, Professor of Foreign Civilizations
and Language (Spanish), and Harold Wright, Professor of Foreign
Civilizations and Language (Japanese), will retire after a
combined total of 88 years of teaching. These three faculty
have spent the past 20 to 30 years creating and implementing
programs that simply did not exist at Antioch when they were
hired. The success of women's studies, literature, Asian studies,
and the study abroad programs in Mexico and at Kyoto Seika
University in Japan are due in large part to the work of these
faculty members. Although they are not graduates of the College,
their courage and contributions during some of Antioch's hardest
times would make Horace Mann proud.
Read their stories, reminisce, and help us thank them for
their victories.
Victor Garcia - The Next Big Co-op
"Victor is a committed and devoted teacher," writes
Indra Leyva-Santiago, Victor's former colleague at Antioch.
Indra has co-taught Spanish classes with Victor and volunteers
alongside Victor at Del Pueblo Inc., an organization helping
immigrants who move into the Dayton area.
Victor Garcia has been teaching at Antioch College since
1971 when he began as a half-time faculty member. Coming from
the University of Missouri, where he obtained his MA, to Antioch
was interesting for Victor. The teaching methods at Missouri
were much more traditional, very textbook oriented; Victor
is the first to admit that Missouri did not quite prepare
him for Antioch: "I was a bit nervous. I saw right away
that at Antioch there is a high level of student participation."
Victor changed the shape of his classroom, moving chairs so
that his students would be able to make eye contact with him
and with each other. By his third year, his classes really
began to take shape.
Victor, along with his colleagues Ivan Dihoff, Professor
of Languages and Linguistics, and Harold Wright collaborated
to propose and institute an intensive language program that
begins with 100 contact hours in which students use the classroom
as a forum for conversation and modeling. "We make sure
everyone in the class participates, and we make this learning
experience as interactive as possible by using life situations
and authentic language." The program is ideal for Antioch
students who may co-op and study in a culture where English
is not the first language. "Our students have been co-oping
in the Southwest, working with Salvadorian and Guatemalan
refugees in legal offices and places of asylum." Victor
is instrumental in working with other faculty members and
students to create stronger ties between co-op and the classroom.
Victor Garcia Victor's method of teaching not only prepares them for conversations
in the real world but it helps them function in the classes
they take at Antioch. Rosemary Linares '05 writes, "Victor
has been an incredible influence in my life, as a professor,
mentor, and friend. In the four classes I have taken with
him, I have learned many great things and for the first time
was able to express myself in Spanish in an academic setting.
Since then I have studied abroad in La Habana, Cuba and completed
a co-op in Quito, Ecuador - two opportunities that wouldn't
have been possible without Victor's help and guidance."
Victor has also taught pre-Columbian literature, where Latin
American literature should really start. "I wanted students
to appreciate and know this literature which was transmitted
in Nahuatl tongue from generation to generation as a form
of education in the Meshica schools in Tenochtitlan. Although
Spanish missionaries did translations of some proverbs and
songs, many Spanish and Latin American histories of literature
have failed to include this literature, " Victor says.
He wanted students to recognize that there was a literature
there, not in the sense of the traditional short story or
novel but in a different kind of narrative.
Victor is heavily involved in study abroad programs through
Antioch Education Abroad. He took his first group of students
to Mexico and Cuba in the early 70s. He was also involved
in teaching in Mexico during the summers, where he was able
to make contacts that could help him develop study abroad
programs for students. "Four weeks, in Cuba was a great
period of time. We were able to cover almost the whole island.
We visited hospitals, schools and saw the development of socialism
in Cuba." Due to the generosity of a grant, Victor was
able to take many faculty members to Cuba and Mexico, including
Dennie Eagleson '71, Assistant Professor of Photography, who
has since returned to Cuba to teach and exhibit her work.
Victor also helped to establish faculty exchanges with the
University of Mexico and the Director of Women's Studies,
Elena Urrutia, at the Colegio de Mexico. It was a rare and
profound opportunity to expand the knowledge base of the faculty.
"To have this experience of learning about another culture,
practicing the language, and to live with other colleagues
changes your view of the world. It allows you to see things
in a more holistic way." Victor had an opportunity to
work with the Flame Project at the University of Michigan.
The project produced a laser disc of a book called the El
Espejo Enterrado (The Buried Mirror). This project opened
more doors for Victor as he was asked to participate as a
consultant in the development and implementation of a Latin
American curriculum for the African American college's in
the United States.
"Victor has been very supportive of me and other students,
especially with his participation in Unidad, the student group
for Latino and Indigenous students," comments Rosemary.
As it quickly becomes clear to any observer, Victor is an
individual who likes to keep busy. In addition to teaching
at Antioch, his involvement in Antioch groups and committees,
and his work abroad, Victor is very involved in the Hispanic
community in Dayton. He shares this understanding with his
colleagues, his students and with the organizations he helps
develop and sustain. He was president of the Mexican Social
Club, was an active participant in the Latin American Cultural
Society, and has participated in the organization of numerous
fundraising events. He supports many activities going on in
the area and consistently works to engage Antioch students
with these activities. Currently he is deeply involved in
the board of Del Pueblo, Inc. When asked if he has had trouble
balancing his work at Antioch with his interest in the arts
and activism, Victor quickly says no. "To work in these
organizations is really an extension of what I do at the College.
It's wonderful to be able to engage my students in these organizations."
He hopes that in his final year at Antioch (2004-2005) he
will continue to challenge his students and to send them out
into new environments. "Antioch students make an incredible
difference. They mature quickly on co-op and begin to see
life in a more meaningful way." Victor hopes his years
after Antioch allow him to start out on a co-op of his own.
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Harold Wright - The First Faculty Member
to Go on Co-op
"Harold Wright has been a blessing to the completion
of my degree. He is a dedicated professor, skilled at his
work. I would not have my degree without his support,"
said Tyler Schlecker '04, a self-designed major in Systems
Theory, a major that combines his interests in linguistics,
mathematics and computer science.
Harold came to Antioch as an adjunct in the spring of 1973.
He had spent time hiking in Glen Helen and had heard about
the politics of Antioch long before he arrived on campus as
an employee. He had even been advised by a friend to consider
teaching at Antioch, if he should ever consider teaching.
His teaching career, however, led him to Ohio State University
first. Fortunately for Antioch, Harold found teaching at a
large state university so frustrating that he decided to give
up teaching altogether. As Harold began to announce this decision
to friends and family, they would respond with surprise and
ask: "Won't you miss teaching?" Harold's response
was always the same: "If I could teach at a place like
Antioch, I would be interested in teaching again." Shortly
thereafter, Harold received what he calls a karmic phone call
from Antioch.
As an adjunct Harold had a rather rocky introduction to Antioch.
His first term coincided with the strike of 1973, a time in
which there was a great deal of upheaval and discontent. Harold
recalls that his office, located in Main Building, was impossible
to access. During that time, Harold and a handful of other
faculty began to meet with their students secretly off campus.
"There were even groups wandering around trying to find
scab classes. It was really an intense period." Harold
was one among a handful of serious faculty who kept on teaching
despite harsh conditions. His reaction to this chaos was quite
unique: "I decided that Antioch was a very exciting place.
The students were absolutely amazing."
After that first term as an adjunct, Harold was ready to
sign on for the long haul, but there was a hitch. He was told,
in no uncertain terms, that Antioch could not keep him. It
was a time of staff and faculty cuts. Positions were being
eliminated not added. Fortunately, it turned out Frank Wong,
head of the history department, had a small and separate budget
for Asian studies that would allow Harold to stay.
Harold Wright Harold eagerly accepted the extra term and was not discouraged
by the lack of funds.
In the 1980s Harold began to work intensively on realizing
a dream - he wanted to take a group of students to Japan to
work and study. At that time, the College didn't believe it
could afford to send students to Japan so the students signed
up for a self-designed co-op and Harold asked for a leave
without pay. They all went to Tokyo and the students found
jobs while Harold translated poetry. The students, Harold
found, had better paying jobs then he did. Harold asked the
students if they would hook him up with a company that taught
English. Harold got a job teaching the top executives at the
Nissan Corporation, and this three-month stint to Japan would
earn Harold the reputation of the first faculty member to
ever go on co-op.
The next time Harold went to Japan was on a National Endowment
for the Arts grant awarded so that he could work on translations.
It was at this time that the study abroad program with Kyoto
Seika University (KSU) first started to take shape. Harold
knew someone on the faculty at KSU, a man who translated many
of the Beat poets, and was invited to a poetry reading on
campus. That night Harold looked around at the crowd and thought:
"If there is any place in Japan that would create a partnership
with Antioch it would be KSU." As a result of his efforts,
the first student exchange occurred in 1991. Harold now leads
a group of 8-12 students to KSU every summer.
Harold's love of language began at an early age. He grew
up in an Appalachian family and became aware of differences
in dialect fairly early on. Due to undiagnosed learning disabilities,
Harold never considered studying literature or language in
high school. Instead he studied shop, assuming that he would
become a carpenter like many of the men in his family. It
never occurred to Harold to go to college until his junior
year when he took an IQ test and received the highest score
in the school. "After that someone mentioned college
and I thought yeah, I could do that."
After one year of studying engineering, Harold enlisted in
the Navy in order to beat the draft. He was stationed in Japan.
It was a fateful day when Harold got off the ship in a Japanese
Harbor in 1952. He saw some carpenters building a boat, and
he was amazed by the beautiful construction. He had never
seen anything like it. Harold went up to them and said in
English, "That's really great!" They, of course,
didn't understand Harold. "I realized at that moment
that these Japanese people had something to teach me. I didn't
know what it was, but I knew I couldn't figure out what it
would be until I learned the language." Within nine months
Harold had a good grasp on the spoken language. He stayed
in Japan for three years.
Harold, along with Victor and Ivan, has been instrumental
in creating the language program at Antioch. "I'm amazed
at how much Japanese our students can learn here in the short
time they're exposed to it." In beginning Japanese class,
they start with a concept of self-introduction, "When
these students get to Japan, they're going to have to stand
up and talk about themselves." Harold has his students
give talks in Japanese that prepare them for this. "By
the time they get to Japan they can stand up at any time and
talk about themselves, as well as travel the country alone,"
Harold says.
KJ Kabza '04, a creative writing major, has taken classes
and traveled to Japan with Harold. His contributions to KJ's
education have been significant: "I always enjoyed Harold's
classes because every morning when he'd come in to teach he'd
come in smiling. He always has fun with what he teaches."
Harold's love for his work is contagious, and it has influenced
generations of Antioch students.
Harold will continue teaching at Antioch for another year
before retiring. After that, he hopes to travel with his wife,
Jonatha Wright, around the country, telling and hearing stories
- both are avid storytellers. Harold has also discovered or
invented a new form of poetry that he calls the chonnet -
a combination of a sonnet and an ancient form of Japanese
poetry called the choka. He's working on a book of them.
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Marianne Whelchel - Redefining Literature
and Women's Studies
Dr. Marianne Whelchel began teaching at Antioch College in
the fall of 1977, and, nearly 30 years later, the impact she
has on her students is just as strong as it was during her
first semester teaching. Liz MacDonald
'04 says: "Marianne's Letters, Diaries and Oral
Histories is one of the most important classes I took at Antioch.
Not only was it interesting to learn about women's history
through the words of the women themselves, it also gave me
a strong foundation in interview and research methods. I am
thankful to Marianne for all that I've learned from her, and
the quiet way in which she pushed me to do high quality work."
Earning her PhD while at the University of Connecticut, Marianne
planned to write her thesis on four separate poets until she
found out Adrienne Rich was coming to visit. Marianne crammed
for Rich's visiting, reading as much of Rich's work as she
could, and then contacted Rich prior to her reading to find
out if she might schedule an interview with the writer. Rich's
schedule was tight so Marianne quickly offered to drive her
back to New York City. It was a fateful trip for Marianne,
one that would help shape not only her thesis but years of
teaching.
Marianne was among the first to write criticism of Rich's
work and, since the early 80s, has designed and taught a course
that focuses solely on Rich: "It's been interesting over
the years to teach her poetry as she continues to write more
books. Students have really responded strongly to her work."
Like Harold, Marianne had a quick and somewhat rocky introduction
to Antioch. She was chair of the literature department within
her first year and quickly became integral to the development
of women's studies at Antioch. A proposal had been written
in the early 70s to start a concentration in women's studies
but the strike in 1973 had put all that on hold. When Marianne
arrived, the push was beginning again. After working for a
year and a half, a dean-appointed task force developed a program,
which the faculty passed with a large majority. In 1979, they
were ready to invite their first candidate for the position
of Director of Women's Studies to campus. The candidate, however,
was literally on her way to campus for her interview while
faculty and staff were being asked to teach and work without
pay so that the seniors could graduate. It was the beginning
of the payless paydays. Despite the hardship of this time
only a few people left and the rest, like Marianne, stayed
on, continuing to teach in order to graduate the senior class.
"There was a sense of camaraderie. People believed in
this school."
Marianne Whelchel In the 80s women's studies at Antioch got back on track and
Antioch was able to hire a temporary full-time director for
six months; the rest of the time the program was run by a
committee of faculty and students. The committee worked throughout
that time to get the College to hire more faculty with credentials
in women's studies no matter what their discipline. The committee
also pushed to hire more women, and finally got a tenure track
position in women's studies in 1992. "The College has
come a long way on both these fronts," comments Marianne.
"I think some of my most exciting and rewarding work
has been in building the Women's Studies program."
Marianne was also the only Americanist in the literature
program and so was given the charge of developing the American
Literature program. She was hired at Antioch, in part, because
of her commitment to the project of transforming US literary
studies - a project begun in the 60s by people in black studies,
women's studies, ethnic studies and working class studies.
"The Antioch literature faculty and students were receptive
to these transformations that meant a more inclusive curriculum,
as well as to the more interdisciplinary approach developing
in the study of literature," Marianne recalls. She talks
about the development of that program as interesting, compelling
and challenging. Marianne has continued to be deeply involved
in both the literature concentration and the women's studies
concentration, and she is constantly finding connections between
the two.
Marianne has taught an upper level course - Letters, Diaries,
Oral Histories - for the past 20 years. It began in the spring
of 1980 as Literature by Women of Southern Ohio. Katie
Herzfeld Singer '82, author of the novel The Wholeness
of a Broken Heart, recalls the extensive list of potential
interviewees and townspeople who could be consulted as resources.
"These women had fascinating, little known histories
and attics and garages filled with letters that were over
50 years old. Diaries, letters, conversations at the post
office, what a mother shared with her daughter about menstruation
- all of these suddenly became vibrant and worthwhile."
For Singer, the definitions of 'resources' and 'literature'
were transformed.
"My teaching at South Boston High, my novel and even
my writing about women's health all have roots in Marianne's
class. Her delighted enthusiasm for our work also still reverberates,"
says Singer.
Letters, Diaries and Oral Histories was influenced by a group
of people affiliated with the Modern Language Association
who were pushing the idea of making literature inclusive of
a wider range of voices. "People were saying we need
to look at oral histories and letters and diaries as non-traditional
literary texts," Marianne recalls. "I wanted to
get local material to be part of the curriculum. There were
women's caucuses and pilot projects that were urging you to
find out as much as you could about local history to bring
that into the course." It was a hard course to develop
due to the extraordinary amount of material so Marianne worked
with one of her students, Phaye Polickoff-Chen
'80, over the course of several terms to develop the
material for the course. "Phaye helped me by going to
the archives at Wilberforce, Antioch, and Central State and
wrote up accounts that would be useful to the course."
Local historians are also frequent visitors to the class.
Marianne saw the course as a way to engage the texts, the
people in the community and the archivists in Antiochiana.
Marianne has gained great insight from students and views
them as motivated self-starters. "At Antioch I've been
able to really see students through their whole academic career.
You see, some times, a student starting out who has a lot
of potential and then you see them as a senior doing work
he/she would not have dreamed of being able to do as a first
year. Antioch students do really well at bringing outside
information into the classroom. Their reading is informed
by other classes and their own experiences on co-op."
Marianne wrote and published two articles about Rich's work
in the 80s and gave a number of presentations. One of these
articles was published after her 1982-83 sabbatical when she
was supported by a fellowship from the National Endowment
for the Humanities. That year also gave her time to do the
interdisciplinary reading that prepared her to teach Introduction
to Women's Studies for eight years. In the summer of 1987,
Marianne participated in a two-week seminar at London University
called "Women and the Politics of International Development."
In the summer of 1994, Marianne was among the faculty who
traveled with Victor to Cuba and Mexico. Marianne says that
one of the things she's valued most about Antioch is the opportunity
it has provided her to do interdisciplinary work.
Marianne has a long-term project in progress that focuses
on the letters of Alice Carr, a 1904 graduate of Antioch College.
Carr was, among other things, a teacher, beautician and nurse.
She went to France in World War I with the Red Cross and after
the war continued her work with them for several years in
Poland, Serbia, and Czechoslovakia. From 1922 to 1941 she
nursed and did public health work with the Near East Foundation
in Greece. In 1989, Marianne gave the faculty lecture based
on her work with over 60 years of Carr's letters, and an article
on the same subject was published shortly thereafter. It's
an ongoing project for Marianne that she hopes will take her
to Greece after retirement to track down more material on
Carr.
For many, it is difficult to view Marianne's retirement as
anything other than a loss for the Antioch Community. Amanda
Rodriguez '04 articulates this best when she says,
"Marianne is an irreplaceable figure that has helped
shape this community. I speak on behalf of the entire community
(staff, students, and faculty alike) when I say, 'Thank you,
Marianne. The numerous gifts you've given to Antioch College
are invaluable. You will be missed and never forgotten.'"
Read a special tribute
to Marianne wrtitten by Jean Gregorek, chair of Languages,
Literature, and Cultures and Assistant Professor of Literature
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