Fall 2021
Dear Class of 1979,
It has been a long time since I have written. The COVID-19 kerfuffle has sent all of us into a dither. I would love to tell you I came through unscathed, but July 2021 was not good to me as I tested positive despite being vaccinated. Fortunately, we knocked it down with the BAM infusion and I have (supposedly) recuperated. Time will tell if there are long term effects. For those of you who have had a harder time with COVID-19, know that I pray for you, known and unknown, for restoration to health.
My elder son student-taught last year in his ninth semester, as did his significant other. Grace was hired mid-student teaching in my wife’s home school district. Two weeks later, the boy was hired in a neighboring school district as the Spanish department. Because of his “student” status, I was on the receiving end of much mail from Luther as Luther navigated the world of education amid the ravages of a pernicious disease. Kudos to the adaptability of the college to meet the educational needs of students.
Adaptability seems to have become a way of life for many of us. We adapted to changing work environments. Some adapted to more formal home offices. Some opted out of the rat race and adapted to that “R” word. Others adapted to being the only ones working from the office and keeping things going. Teachers among us adapted to online and offline instruction, sometimes at the same time! Bravo to each of you for showing adaptability. As one of my first employers following college adjured us, “Be flexible!” And we were.
As many of us have turned 64 in the last year and look ahead to 65 around the corner, we will continue to show adaptability. That is supposed to be one of the hallmarks of the liberal arts education experience we had at Luther. While we majored in one area, our lives may have taken us into many other directions. Our education enabled us to have a set of tools by which we went about learning our new jobs. My PhD advisor asked me after my dissertation defense, “Well, how does it feel to have a doctorate in liberal arts?” “Well, that’s about what I have given the curriculum of this program!” I’ve been adapting ever since.
Luther is still actively adapting to the surrounding situations. President Ward has shown herself adaptable in her short time among us. She nor the search committee could have foreseen the issues which would confront her in the first years of her tenure. Adaptability has been one of her first tools unpacked. The escalating costs of education have faculty and administrators adapting to stretch resources while maintaining quality. Some have been painful adaptations as curricular options have closed. Others show Luther’s continuing response to the needs of the world around as new programs are devised.
What impact do you and I have on Luther? Our gifts to Luther allow the college to adapt and change with the flow of time. The recipient of our class scholarship this past year was in the theater program with my elder son (yes, Spanish and theater). We helped to enable her to complete her degree this spring. I look forward to seeing her name in programs as she moves into the world of professional theater. Even if she does not stay in the field, the critical thinking skills she acquired with her theater degree will serve her throughout her life. She will adapt to the circumstances of her world and become successful; I have no doubts.
I recently completed paying off my pledge to our 40-year reunion campaign. Within days of retiring that pledge, I called Luther to set up a new pledge to help students get that Luther education that I have valued so highly now for 42 years. You may not have seen me or heard much from me until I became the Class Agent, but my Luther education was always important to me, even if I could not express it with gratitude. Some of us have stayed in the larval or pupal stage of life a bit longer than the rest! We worked through our issues and adapted to our situation much like the caterpillar. Have I become the butterfly? Probably not yet, but I see the colors of your wings and I am inspired to go through the metamorphosis that I may attain mine.
May your adaptability continue!
