2008 Woodie Awards
Western mindset, program drives broad achievements
Issue date: 4/15/08 Section: Editorials
Fanciful, I know, to imagine the eyes in Helen Peabody's portrait, mounted on the first floor of the hall that bears her name, gazing at Western and on what Western has become. But imagine that this were so-that the ghost many believe still inhabits a building where Helen Peabody lived and worked for 33 years sees the halls, gallery, theater, offices, seminar rooms, student rooms, archives and learning centers that grace a hall nearly as old as Western College itself. Surely there is much to impress and inspire should her gaze fall upon what is actually two Westerns-the private women's college founded in 1853 and the School of Interdisciplinary Studies of the state-assisted Miami University that acquired Western in 1974.
A member of the faculty since 1969, I know both Westerns. As dean of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies for the past five years, I have seen at close hand how the powerful, inspiring legacy of intellectual independence that characterized a private women's college has been preserved by the young men and women of the Western College Program, has been enlarged by its faculty and staff, and has been tirelessly supported by both alumnae and alumni. Anyone who has seen the amazing interactions between Western alumnae-when they return to their campus home-and our current students, can attest to that legacy; and nearly anyone who has had the good fortune to teach Western students can attest to that legacy, too. Even the architecture of the Western campus illustrates important connections; the Freedom Summer Memorial, dedicated by Miami in 2000, commemorates an event in the history of the American civil rights movement that took place at the Western College for Women in 1964.
Helen Peabody would be proud of the achievements of Miami's Western students. Year after year, Miami's smallest division sends 80 percent of its graduates to professional and graduate schools. Nearly every year, Western students receive the President's Distinguished Service Award and the Provost's Academic Achievement Award. In the past six years, Western students have been awarded the prestigious Joanna Jackson Goldman Prize three times. Western alumnae have been more than generous in their support of Miami: in 2006, the School of Interdisciplinary Studies was closer to its goal, in percentage terms, than any other academic division in Miami's Love and Honor capital campaign.
A member of the faculty since 1969, I know both Westerns. As dean of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies for the past five years, I have seen at close hand how the powerful, inspiring legacy of intellectual independence that characterized a private women's college has been preserved by the young men and women of the Western College Program, has been enlarged by its faculty and staff, and has been tirelessly supported by both alumnae and alumni. Anyone who has seen the amazing interactions between Western alumnae-when they return to their campus home-and our current students, can attest to that legacy; and nearly anyone who has had the good fortune to teach Western students can attest to that legacy, too. Even the architecture of the Western campus illustrates important connections; the Freedom Summer Memorial, dedicated by Miami in 2000, commemorates an event in the history of the American civil rights movement that took place at the Western College for Women in 1964.
Helen Peabody would be proud of the achievements of Miami's Western students. Year after year, Miami's smallest division sends 80 percent of its graduates to professional and graduate schools. Nearly every year, Western students receive the President's Distinguished Service Award and the Provost's Academic Achievement Award. In the past six years, Western students have been awarded the prestigious Joanna Jackson Goldman Prize three times. Western alumnae have been more than generous in their support of Miami: in 2006, the School of Interdisciplinary Studies was closer to its goal, in percentage terms, than any other academic division in Miami's Love and Honor capital campaign.
Be the first to comment on this story