Notes From Under the Oaks | January 2014

By Martha Calus-McLain '03 | Director of Alumni Relations

A sketch of the earliest building on the Forest Grove
campus

As I look ahead to 2014, only two weeks gone and the rest full of possibility, I have many resolutions. Among them is a hope to acknowledge people who make a difference. This week I am thinking about the great teachers I had throughout my education.

Over the past six months my husband has been reading the Little Housebooks to our daughter, who is completely enthralled with them. I recently overheard them reading a passage describing conditions in the one-room school house where Laura is teaching in negative forty degree weather.

“At half past three they were all so cold that she thought of dismissing school early. The mile that Martha and Charles must walk, worried her. On the other hand, she should not cut short the pupils' opportunity for learning, and this was not a blizzard.”

This passage brought to mind the spirit of the pioneers who founded Pacific in 1849 in the face of immense adversity.

It makes me think of the students who were so deeply committed to their education they found time for it among the competing responsibilities of frontier life.

It reminds me of the courage of teachers, both in 1882 when they commanded one room school houses throughout the west and today when they risk, and sometimes sacrifice, their lives to save the children in their care.

I shared this passage when I welcomed a dozen new students into our special ed program earlier this week. In a few years, these students will be alumni who spend their days dedicated to the success of young people. Based on the reactions of the students it was clear the passion and dedication Laura conveyed in her memoirs is still true of aspiring teachers.

Last night we hosted the Student Teacher Alumni Reception on the Forest Grove campus. During the evening we got to hear teachers speak earnestly and candidly about their experiences. Again, the passion and dedication was evident.

I hope none of our alumni are teaching kids who have to walk a mile in negative forty degrees, but I’m sure these alumni have a few stories of their own to share.

I’d love to hear from alumni who are teachers. What inspires you? Do you have a great story to share about students who walked a metaphorical cold mile for their education?

I’d also love to hear from alumni about the teachers who helped them. Who was your favorite teacher at Pacific, before or after? How did they inspire you? Did you ever walk a cold mile for your education?

Send us your stories and as always don’t hesitate to contact us if we can be of assistance.

Best wishes,

Martha Calus-McLain '03
Director of Alumni Relations

Notes from Under the Oaks | November 2013

By Martha Calus-McLain '03 

I've always been awed by the power of buildings to evoke
emotion. Buildings are simply timber and steel, bricks and
concrete, yet they have the ability to make us feel

I've always been awed by the power of buildings to evoke emotion. Buildings are simply timber and steel, bricks and concrete, yet they have the ability to make us feel.

Even fifteen years after I first laid eyes on Marsh Hall, I still feel an incredible sense of nostalgia and pride when I see those red bricks through the trees.

Although I was not yet alive when the Columbus Day storm raged through town, the photo above has the ability to take my breath largely because I am drawn into it by the glimpse of Marsh Hall behind the destruction.

Here in the Abbott Alumni Center, a cozy and sweet little structure, we’re all positively buzzing about a wonderful Homecoming last weekend when we had a record number of alumni back on campus. It is remarkable how many alumni who returned for Homecoming hadn’t been on campus since graduation and were stunned by the changes that have unfolded in the ensuing years.

If you missed Homecoming and haven’t been back in a while, I’d like to say, “Don’t be a stranger.”

One of the many reasons to revisit campus again and again is to integrate oneself in the change. During Homecoming we broke ground on a new residence hall. While enormously exciting, this groundbreaking was a poignant reminder of how progress brings change.

The first stage of construction for this building was the removal of sod on what was left of Tom Reynolds Field, where soccer was played until the addition of new fields at Lincoln Park. Many alumni remember this field as McCready Field, home of Badger (and later Boxer) football for nearly 100 years. In recent years, some of the field was replaced with new tennis courts.

While we’re all very excited about this change, which will eventually lead to the removal of Clark Hall and a complete transformation of this corner of campus, we took a bittersweet moment at the ground breaking to reflect on the long history of this soil.

Although the buildings remain long after we’ve graduated and moved on (or in my case moved on and then came back to work), it is alumni who truly hold the history of the University. McCready Field or Clark Hall or Marsh Hall amid the rubble of the storm mean nothing without the stories from alumni who bring those places to life.

Please, don’t be a stranger!

Come home and share your stories.Whether you join us for Homecoming 2014 or you stop by the Abbott Alumni Center for a cup of coffee on your way through town, we want to see you on campus and hear your stories.

I hope to see you soon!

Calus-McLain '03 is the director of Alumni Relations and was a media arts major at Pacific University. martha@pacificu.edu.