WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.000 music 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:10.000 Welcome to the 2023 Mario and Alma Pastega event. 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:12.000 I'm so pleased to see all of you come out to 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:16.000 celebrate our colleagues and their achievements. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:18.000 These awards represent 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:21.000 Western Oregon University's highest recognition 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:24.000 for faculty and staff excellence. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:28.000 As you probably know, three awards are given annually to faculty. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:32.000 First, the Pastega Award for Excellence in Scholarship 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:35.000 recognizes significant and enduring 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:37.000 scholarly or creative achievement. 00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:40.000 Second, the Pastega Award for Excellence in 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:44.000 Teaching honors teaching that engages, 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:47.000 inspires, and educates our students. 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:51.000 Thirdly, the Pastega Award for Service recognizes 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:53.000 a faculty member who has made 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:55.000 significant impact on 00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:58.000 our campus community through their service. 00:00:58.000 --> 00:00:62.000 There's also the Staff Pastega Excellence Award, 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:06.000 which recognize classified or administrative staff who 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:10.000 demonstrate exceptional service to the university. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:14.000 This year's recipient is Rosario Peralta Cortes, 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:16.000 who will be recognized at the staff and 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:19.000 faculty luncheon on June 9th. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:28.000 We keep pretty good records on the Pastega Award winners. 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:30.000 Going back, I believe this is 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:35.000 our 44th year that we've had the award for scholarship. 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:38.000 Although in the very early days, 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:40.000 it was known as the faculty honors award, 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:43.000 but for many decades now it's been known as 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:46.000 the Mario and Alma Pastega Award for Scholarship. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:51.000 This is the 40th year we've had the Teaching Award, 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:55.000 and the fourth year that we've had the Service Award, 00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:60.000 and I just note that these are the primary areas for our faculty. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:04.000 We always talk about teaching, scholarship, and service. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:06.000 I think it's very appropriate that we 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:08.000 have these awards this way. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:10.000 These awards would not be possible without 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:12.000 the support of the Pastega family. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:16.000 I'm very pleased that Ken Pastega is here. 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:20.000 The Mario and Alma's son is with us today, 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:22.000 and we invite him to address us and 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:26.000 congratulate the winners. Ken Pastega. 00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:33.000 I was going to do 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:35.000 any speaking, but anyway. 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:39.000 Dad and mom were really passionate about the university. 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:43.000 Dad did a commencement speech 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:47.000 at my son's graduation from Western, 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:50.000 and it was probably in 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:56.000 But they were passionate about the school and dad being 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:58.000 on the foundation for 00:02:58.000 --> 00:02:61.000 I don't know how many years he was on the foundation, 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:03.000 but he really communicated 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:05.000 through the rest of the family to continue on 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:07.000 the tradition through the foundation and 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:11.000 support the school that he was so passionate about, 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:14.000 and we're bringing in the next generation to 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:21.000 also participate in this event with the school. 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:23.000 I brought my daughter. 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:27.000 I think the last time I came to one of these events was 2016, 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:30.000 but I bought my daughter Mika with me, and Gail, my wife. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:33.000 We're trying to make sure 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:35.000 the traditions continue on 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:37.000 that he was so passionate about. 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:43.000 It's exciting to come here and realize how passionate 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:47.000 the faculty and the staff from 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:49.000 the school and these traditions 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:51.000 that go on in this university. 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:55.000 Because I look at it from a business perspective. 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:57.000 We were in the Pepsi-Cola business for 00:03:57.000 --> 00:03:61.000 areas in Oregon, 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:06.000 and our success was because of our staff. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:08.000 They made it happen. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:10.000 We had a market share against 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:13.000 Coca-Cola, the billion-dollar company. 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:17.000 It was amazing because the staff was 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:22.000 as passionate about our business as we were. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:26.000 You can see that happening here today. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:28.000 The passion that the staff 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:31.000 and the faculty has for this university. 00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:36.000 I just want to to thank you for inviting our family members to continue on to 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:38.000 come to this event and recognize 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:42.000 everybody that has won an award today. Thank you. 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:52.000 Ken to come back up 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:55.000 and be joined with President Peters. 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:58.000 Now what we're going to do is we're going to go 00:04:58.000 --> 00:04:62.000 through the previous award winners. 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:05.000 We've got 2020, '21, '22. 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:08.000 We're going to hear more about the '23 winners. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:10.000 There's going to be a more extensive introduction. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:12.000 I will do a very short one, 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:16.000 and then we're going to hand out these plaques. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:19.000 Jesse and Ken are going to be moving quickly trying to read these plaques. 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:23.000 I don't know if we have them in the right order. I think we did. Up first. 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:26.000 This is for 2020. Things work is to imagine where we were 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:28.000 when these were announced in 2020. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:30.000 For excellence in Scholarship, 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:32.000 Dr. Ken Carano, 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:34.000 who was unable to be here with us today. 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:37.000 He got the Excellence in Scholarship Award. 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:40.000 His scholarship has been incredibly impactful, 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:44.000 improving pedagogy and global citizenship. 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:47.000 I've heard his name come up in statewide circles, 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:50.000 other universities, he's really making a great impact there. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:54.000 In 2020, our Pastega Excellence in 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:59.000 Teaching Award winner was Dr. Kristin Latham-Scott. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:08.000 Now, I can see why Kristin received this award. 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:11.000 She's incredibly student-centric in her approach, 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:14.000 and for those that you know Kristin, 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:17.000 you know that she asks very thought-provoking questions. 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:19.000 I can only imagine what the classroom is 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:22.000 like with your thought-provoking questions. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:25.000 Congratulations, Kristin. 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:31.000 Our 2020 Pastega Excellence Award 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:34.000 for Service is for Dr. Cindy Ryan. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:43.000 Cindy combined service with her teaching, 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:47.000 which as you all know, can be a powerful combination. 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:50.000 As an early childhood studies expert, 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:53.000 Cindy has ample opportunity to do just that. 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:55.000 Congratulations Cindy. 00:06:57.000 --> 00:06:60.000 For our 2021 Pastega 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:03.000 Excellence Award for Scholarship recipient 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:06.000 was Dr. Cornelia Paraskevas 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:08.000 who was unable to be with us today. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:11.000 I hope she is enjoying retirement after 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:14.000 many years of engaging in really, 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:16.000 I think we all can agree that Cornelia 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:19.000 engaged in life-changing teaching, 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:21.000 scholarship, and service, 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:23.000 so we recognize her. 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:27.000 Our 2021 Pastega Award for Excellence 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:31.000 in Teaching for Dr. Jaime Cloud. 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:38.000 Being in the same division 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:40.000 and department when Jaime came on, 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:43.000 I saw firsthand just how much time she put in the teaching. 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:46.000 I can still imagine you in your office working and we were 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:49.000 all just envious of these back then was Moodle sites. 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:51.000 These Moodle sites that she was 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:54.000 creating was really fabulous. 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:56.000 When I think of an innovative master teacher, 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:60.000 Jaime comes to mind, congratulations. 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:07.000 for Excellence in 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:11.000 Service went to Dr. Melanie Landon-Hays. 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:21.000 I'm struck by how there are a small handful of 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:24.000 just brilliant women on this campus 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:26.000 that keep this university running 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:28.000 and really make a positive impact. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:31.000 Frankly, I think they're all in this room right now, 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:34.000 but Melanie is definitely a part of that. 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:36.000 I know also the things that Melanie does. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:38.000 It's not just she the service, 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:40.000 she's almost always the leader of 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:42.000 whatever group is serving the institution. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:45.000 Congratulations, Melanie. 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:51.000 Our 2022 Pastega Award for Excellence 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:55.000 in Scholarship went to Dr. Gareth Hopkins. 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:60.000 I remember when Gareth was hired, 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:03.000 you hit the ground running on your research, 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:06.000 and I think his colleagues would recognize that. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:10.000 I also think this is not the type of award distinction you want, 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:14.000 but I think you were the first faculty member that 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:18.000 got permission to do field research during the pandemic. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:22.000 I think you were out there summer of few labs outside. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:24.000 That was really impressive, 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:27.000 and I think indicative of the scholarship that Gareth does, 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:29.000 and I have to tell another story. 00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:32.000 Just earlier this week, I was driving, 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:34.000 I gave my phone to my son, 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:36.000 and he found your app, 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:39.000 Oregon Turtles, and he was like, what is this? 00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:42.000 I was telling him, this is an app so we can log 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:44.000 where turtles are and this can help conservation. 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:46.000 Gareth has made quite an impact. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:48.000 Congratulations, Gareth. 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:55.000 Our 2022 Pastega Award for Excellence 00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:59.000 in Teaching went to Dr. Erin Baumgartner. 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:06.000 When I think of Erin, I think of a colleague that 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:09.000 lives with a student-centric perspective. 00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:11.000 She puts her heart and soul into teaching, 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:15.000 and the students respond to her enthusiasm and dedication. 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:17.000 Quick tangent, huge thanks to 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:19.000 the Pastega committee for 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:21.000 organizing this and the program 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:24.000 I think is one of the best I've ever seen. I was reading through that. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:27.000 I loved the quote that you have there that your mom 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:29.000 claims that you had declared your 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:32.000 major as marine biology in kindergarten, 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:34.000 and has kept that up since then. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:36.000 Congratulations, Erin. 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:45.000 Our 2022 Pastega Award for Excellence in Service, 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:47.000 I mean, do I need to say anymore? 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:49.000 She's up here doing service, 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:51.000 advancing the slides through our own slide, 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:53.000 and then going off to another thing, 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:56.000 at 05:00 O'clock, serving the institution. 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:58.000 To say Breeann is deserving of 00:10:58.000 --> 00:10:60.000 the Pastega Award for Excellence in 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:02.000 Service would be a gross understatement. 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:04.000 Breeann was one of the faculty members who helped 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:07.000 reformed Wu's general education program, 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:09.000 which in turn has led to 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:13.000 a significant increase in student graduation rates. 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:15.000 She's a powerful social justice advocate 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:18.000 in many different contexts. In the classroom, she's helped our students 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:20.000 understand how big data and 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:22.000 algorithms need to be understood in 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:25.000 the context of societal equity and fairness. 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:28.000 Congratulations, Breeann. 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:35.000 It is our pleasure to acknowledge our 2023 Award winners. 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:39.000 First, our 2023 Award Winner for Excellence 00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:43.000 in Scholarship goes to Dr. Isidore Lobnibe. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:54.000 unwavering scholarly productivity for 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:58.000 nearly two decades and I've just been really impressed 00:11:58.000 --> 00:11:62.000 with the consistency and the quality of your scholarship. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:05.000 Isidore has become a prolific scholar 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:07.000 and receive several prestigious fellowships. 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:09.000 Congratulations, Isidore. 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:16.000 This year, our 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:20.000 Teaching Award winner is Dr Misty Weitzel. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:27.000 As a forensic anthropologist and 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:29.000 criminal justice faculty member and gosh, 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:31.000 every time I think about you, I think about 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:33.000 the faculty development committee proposal I read. 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:35.000 I think you were trying to see how long 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:38.000 a pig takes to decompose, 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:41.000 a buried pig, something like that. 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:46.000 wondering about that? in a fascinating field. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:49.000 Her students really enjoy her courses. 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:52.000 She puts a lot into her teaching and our students are the beneficiaries. 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:54.000 Congratulations, Misty. 00:12:57.000 --> 00:12:60.000 We have one plaque left, 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:03.000 and that is for the 00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:08.000 for Excellence in Scholarship, and our recipient is Dr. Leigh Graziano. 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:16.000 Like other award winners we've honored today, 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:20.000 Leigh is a part of that club that is really keeping the university 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:23.000 going on in a really powerful way 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:26.000 and supportive of our students. She's been active in general education, 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:29.000 recently served as faculty senate president, 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:32.000 in addition to her work supporting the first-year writing program. 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:34.000 Congratulations, Leigh. 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:41.000 Wow, that's a lot and we have 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:44.000 some fabulous faculty on our campus. 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:48.000 Join me please in one more round of applause to all. 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:56.000 Next, Dr Hillary Fouts, 00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:60.000 Dean of Graduate Studies in Research, will introduce our 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:03.000 in Teaching Award recipient. 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:08.000 know if I can top 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:11.000 those personalized introductions that 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:14.000 go way back because I'm in my third year. 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:16.000 I have some things to say about 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:19.000 the presenters to TS up here, 00:14:19.000 --> 00:14:21.000 but I really loved hearing all those stories 00:14:21.000 --> 00:14:23.000 and congratulations to everyone. 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:27.000 Our first presenter is Dr Misty Weitzel, 00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:30.000 the recipient of this year's Pastega Award for Excellence in Teaching. 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:32.000 Dr Weitzel is a professor of 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:34.000 criminal justice as you just heard and 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:39.000 is finishing her fifth year 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:41.000 as Graduate Program Coordinator, 00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:44.000 so our office we work very closely with Misty. 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:47.000 She is also a forensic anthropologist 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:51.000 and joined WOU in 2012. 00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:53.000 One thing I thought was really interesting 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:56.000 is before even coming to WOU, she was an early adopter in terms 00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:58.000 of online learning and has 00:14:58.000 --> 00:14:61.000 received accolades over the years for 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:04.000 this continual improvement and innovation around her teaching, 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:06.000 so I feel like this is a nice culmination of that, 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:10.000 but this is a long track record of time here. 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:12.000 In fact, during COVID, 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:14.000 in the early times during quarantine, 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:16.000 she extended her educational outreach 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:20.000 and created a podcast with her colleague, 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:23.000 Dr Cartales, I don't know if I'm getting that pronunciation right and 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:26.000 launched a podcast called Cabin Femur 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:29.000 in the Age of Quarantine. 00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:31.000 I actually think this is 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:33.000 a fantastic exemplification of 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:36.000 that commitment to educational environments, 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:39.000 both in the classroom and outside the classroom, 00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:42.000 and really getting creative in times where we had 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:45.000 very limited ways to outreach that way. 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:47.000 It's my great pleasure to 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:50.000 congratulate and introduce Dr Weitzel. 00:15:59.000 --> 00:15:63.000 Here we go. I just want to thank everyone. 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:06.000 I want to congratulate all the other previous winners, 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:09.000 and especially just a shout-out to my colleague, 00:16:09.000 --> 00:16:12.000 Isidore, who I've worked with for a while. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:16.000 I'm just so glad that he won this award 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:19.000 because he's such a great scholar 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:23.000 and in such an unassuming way, so he's really deserving of that award. 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:27.000 It's a banner year for anthropologists. 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:30.000 I got this idea, I was thinking, 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:34.000 wouldn't it be awesome if WOU had an anthropology major? 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:37.000 What do you think, Isidore? 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:40.000 I want to thank the Pastega family 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:42.000 and the Pastega committee members too 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:47.000 for this award and acknowledgment of my work. 00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:51.000 Yes, I am using a 1964 movie reference to 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:56.000 demonstrate how in touch I am with the students of 2023. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:58.000 But it's pretty fitting, 00:16:58.000 --> 00:16:60.000 I think because my confession 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:03.000 is that I never wanted to be a teacher. 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:07.000 I did not see myself as a teacher ever, 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:11.000 I was an anthropology major. I knew that's what a lot of anthropologists end up doing, 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:14.000 but I tossed that in my back pocket 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:18.000 and just was in denial for a long time about that. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:21.000 It took me a while to come around. 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:25.000 The universe works in mysterious ways and sometimes 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:27.000 it's making decisions that you don't 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:31.000 even know or in your best interest. Here I am and I'm happy to say that I can't see 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:33.000 myself doing anything other 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:35.000 than this at this point in time, 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:37.000 but it took a long time for that. 00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:41.000 Rather than me talk about my work or pedagogy, 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:45.000 I wanted to use the time I have to just thank 00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:49.000 those people who have really inspired and mentored me along the way, 00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:51.000 particularly since I've been here at Western. 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:54.000 That's what I'm going to do. 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:57.000 First and foremost is my family. 00:17:57.000 --> 00:17:59.000 My husband Larry, who's here. 00:17:59.000 --> 00:17:62.000 He's the smartest person I know and really the voice of 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:05.000 reason for me and my awesome daughter, 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:09.000 Francesca, too because she teaches me something every single day. 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:13.000 I have to thank my division. 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:16.000 You all are probably really sick and tired of 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:19.000 people in criminal justice saying how much we love each other, 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:21.000 but we really do. 00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:25.000 There's Miyuki. We're surrounded by genuinely, 00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:28.000 just kind people that are 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:30.000 doing amazing work in criminal justice, 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:32.000 and that matters so much. 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:35.000 The reason I can do a better job 00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:39.000 being an educator is because I'm surrounded by those people. 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:42.000 It's not just the faculty, but it's people like Michelle and 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:45.000 Casey too that are only recently part of our team, 00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:49.000 but they have helped us so much. 00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:53.000 Also, they're just positive people to be around. 00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:56.000 They clearly like what they do too, 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:60.000 and all of that really matters, so I just have to thank my division. 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:06.000 I have to point out this person that Hillary mentioned, 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:09.000 Jerielle Cartales, who is my colleague. 00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:12.000 She teaches forensic anthropology as well 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:14.000 and she is my co-host on Cabin Femur. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:16.000 But Jerielle was the first of 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:19.000 my cohort in forensic anthropology. 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:22.000 She was my student when I first started the minor 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:25.000 here and has come back and now is a colleague, 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:27.000 and she is a fantastic educator, 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:30.000 and she is growing to be 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:33.000 a great forensic anthropologist in the community too, 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:36.000 so I have to shout out to her as well. 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:39.000 I have to point out this guy, 00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:41.000 Dr Terry Gingerich, 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:43.000 just because I remember 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:45.000 the very first phone conversation we had together 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:47.000 where he suggested I 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:50.000 teach forensic anthropology in criminal justice. 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:52.000 Really, he's the person I think 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:57.000 is most responsible for bringing me here in the criminal justice division. 00:19:57.000 --> 00:19:60.000 But I admire this guy for another reason too, 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.000 and that's just that. He reminds me that 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:06.000 we can have different opinions about things. 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:08.000 Terry and I have 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:11.000 very different big-picture worldviews, I think, overall. 00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:14.000 But I think that's so important. 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:17.000 We talk a lot about diversity in academia. 00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:19.000 But one thing we don't talk as much 00:20:19.000 --> 00:20:21.000 about but we have in our division a lot, 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:23.000 I think, is diversity of ideas and beliefs. 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:26.000 I think we're just so enriched when 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:29.000 we can allow for that, not only amongst our colleagues 00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:34.000 but in the classroom too, so I respect Terry for that as well. 00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:42.000 You all know this woman. She's going to kill me. 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:44.000 Truly, if there's one person I 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:46.000 can point to as being the most 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:48.000 influential in my journey 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:50.000 down this path of being an educator, 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:52.000 it's Dr Vivian Djokotoe. 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:55.000 God, I'm going to tear up here. 00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.000 But she is just wisdom, 00:20:59.000 --> 00:20:62.000 diplomacy, just someone that I 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:06.000 truly respect and has had a great influence on me. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:09.000 When I speak about our division and how 00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:11.000 happy we all are in our division, it's no coincidence. 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:13.000 It's not like we just got a bunch of 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:16.000 awesome people together and we're all doing a great job, 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:18.000 it's under the leadership of Vivian 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:23.000 that we are able to do that because she has led with kindness and caring, 00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:25.000 and we wouldn't be able to succeed 00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:28.000 in the way that we have without that. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:31.000 She's an awesome division chair. 00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:36.000 If she had a dollar for every single piece of advice she's given me or more 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:39.000 importantly walked me back from maybe something 00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:42.000 I was going to say or do and shouldn't have, 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:45.000 she would have a closet full of Louis Vuitton bags, 00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:48.000 which I wish I could give to her, 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:51.000 but it's just going to be a thanks for today. 00:21:57.000 --> 00:21:60.000 we're here are our students and I say mine because I 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:02.000 take possession of them. They're my students. 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:04.000 There are some really exceptional ones like 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:07.000 Blu Hunt, one-half over here. 00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:10.000 Who during COVID and just after 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:13.000 COVID just brought me back out of the slums 00:22:13.000 --> 00:22:16.000 because this person just excelled 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:18.000 in so many different ways and 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:20.000 just makes you want to jump on board. 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:23.000 What do you want to do? How can I help you do it? 00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:26.000 Because they are so awesome. 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:29.000 But it's the challenging students too, 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:33.000 I think because times are really tough. 00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:35.000 Even those challenging students 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:37.000 remind us that we just need to 00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:39.000 have some grace and 00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:43.000 work with them so my students as well. 00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:45.000 That's all I wanted to say. 00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:48.000 I just thank everybody. This means a whole lot to me, 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:50.000 especially as someone who didn't 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:52.000 ever see themselves in this position 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:55.000 so I thank you and because 00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:57.000 I am taking on more administrative roles, 00:22:57.000 --> 00:22:61.000 I can mentally go into that a lot better now with 00:23:01.000 --> 00:23:05.000 this acknowledgment. Thanks a lot. 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:09.000 something really important. 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:13.000 I should never go speak after a misty white soul. 00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:15.000 Got me all choked up there. 00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:17.000 It's such a privilege. 00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:19.000 I just got to introduce one anthropologist from 00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:23.000 one anthropologist to another anthropologist here today. 00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:27.000 He's looking away, I know he's going to look back here in a second. 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:31.000 Our next presentation is from Dr. Isidore Lobnibe. 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:34.000 He is also the recipient of 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:37.000 the Vestigo Award and for Excellence in Scholarship. 00:23:37.000 --> 00:23:40.000 Dr. Lobnibe is a professor of 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.000 anthropology and joined Western Oregon University in 2007. 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:49.000 He is a renowned and active scholar known 00:23:49.000 --> 00:23:51.000 throughout his field and has served as 00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:53.000 a peer reviewer worldwide for journals, 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:56.000 conducts international field research, 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:60.000 and has authored numerous presentations and publications, and has received numerous 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:02.000 distinguished research fellowships. 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:04.000 In fact, he recently co-authored the book, 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:07.000 Imagining Futures Memory and 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:09.000 Belonging in an African Family, 00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:11.000 a collaborative study that turned the lens on 00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:14.000 his own extended family exploring 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:19.000 how active memory-making binds globally dispersed kin. 00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:21.000 It is my great pleasure to 00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:26.000 congratulate and introduce Dr. Lobnibe. 00:24:39.000 --> 00:24:42.000 In my field, typically 00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:45.000 I want to speak for maybe 10 minutes. 00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.000 This is unusual of an anthropologist, 00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:53.000 but because we tell stories about people, 00:24:53.000 --> 00:24:56.000 other stories, but I will try 00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:60.000 to stay within the timeframe. 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:02.000 Let me take this opportunity to 00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:04.000 also register my appreciation 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:10.000 to my social science colleagues. 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:13.000 We had a very wonderful department of 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:17.000 colleagues and who welcome me, embrace me. 00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:21.000 I've enjoyed myself here in Western. 00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:25.000 I just want to show my debt of 00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.000 gratitude to my former colleague, 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:33.000 Dr. Robin Smith, Professor Emerita. 00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:36.000 She generously agreed to hold down 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:38.000 the department whilst I did 00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:41.000 a lot of international travels. 00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:46.000 Then you have my colleagues, Dr. 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:50.000 Emeritus Professor John Rector, 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:52.000 a Latin Americanist, 00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:57.000 but he has been interested in all the things that I do. 00:25:57.000 --> 00:25:59.000 Any article I write, 00:25:59.000 --> 00:25:62.000 he's ready to look at it and I appreciate that. 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:09.000 My friendship with Dr. McGlade and Dr. Jukutu. 00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:16.000 I just want to indicate my appreciation for this. 00:26:17.000 --> 00:26:22.000 Maybe a few remarks on the title of 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:25.000 my presentation and intellectual genealogy 00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:28.000 of a native anthropologist. 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:30.000 What I intend to do in 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:33.000 this brief presentation is 00:26:33.000 --> 00:26:36.000 to share with you the broad contours of 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:39.000 my scholarship and research interests 00:26:39.000 --> 00:26:42.000 or what body of knowledge and 00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:45.000 disciplinary debates and theories guide 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.000 and shape my academic engagement. 00:26:51.000 --> 00:26:55.000 One is the history of anthropology, 00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:57.000 especially its role in 00:26:57.000 --> 00:26:61.000 knowledge production in and about Africa generally. 00:27:01.000 --> 00:27:05.000 It's no secret that anthropology has 00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:08.000 a very bad name in many third-world countries. 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:10.000 Part of the reason is because of 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.000 its complicity in the colonial project. 00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:17.000 In many African countries, 00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:19.000 anthropologists tend to shy away 00:27:19.000 --> 00:27:23.000 from identifying themselves as such and 00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:26.000 sometimes those in certain departments 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:30.000 prefer to classify themselves as sociologists. 00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:36.000 The reason is that 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:40.000 and I will not go into this because of the polemics. 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:42.000 But what happens when 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:47.000 anthropology play a very significant role in writing 00:27:47.000 --> 00:27:51.000 in or incorporating my own culture 00:27:51.000 --> 00:27:53.000 into a network of colonial knowledge 00:27:53.000 --> 00:27:55.000 and ethnographic discourse? 00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:57.000 This is a question I wish to address 00:27:57.000 --> 00:27:61.000 perhaps if time allows. 00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:04.000 During the interwar period, 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:07.000 right up to the 1960s, 00:28:07.000 --> 00:28:09.000 the part of West Africa I come from 00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:12.000 was a beehive of anthropological research. 00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:14.000 It was in this region and 00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:18.000 field-side that very important theoretical debates, 00:28:19.000 --> 00:28:23.000 an empirical data were generated on 00:28:23.000 --> 00:28:27.000 culture contact, ancestor veneration, kinship, 00:28:27.000 --> 00:28:29.000 and descent theories, 00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:36.000 dev and property rights, rural development, and informality. 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:39.000 Informality, that is the informal economy 00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:44.000 by two of the giants of British social anthropologists. 00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:51.000 We have Meyer Fortes who conducted research on 00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:55.000 the Tallensi in Northeast Ghana 00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.000 and he was a pioneer of African anthropology. 00:28:59.000 --> 00:28:62.000 Thanks to the research he conducted among these people. 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:06.000 This group of people, 00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:11.000 the Tallensi were close not far from my own home region. 00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:15.000 He became a towering figure 00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:19.000 and helped professorship in Cambridge and Oxford. 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.000 His own student was Jack Goody, 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:27.000 who also prompted him to conduct research on 00:29:27.000 --> 00:29:32.000 my own people in the Northwest region and 00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:37.000 he was credited or identified as one of 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:40.000 the most important thing 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:43.000 as produced. 00:29:43.000 --> 00:29:48.000 He lived well into just some few weeks before 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:55.000 his 100th birthday and he died in 2015. 00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:57.000 One of my research concern 00:29:57.000 --> 00:29:59.000 has been the evolution of my discipline 00:29:59.000 --> 00:29:63.000 through a critical lens from my own lived experiences, 00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:05.000 background, and growing up in West Africa. 00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:09.000 This makes me a native anthropologist. 00:30:09.000 --> 00:30:14.000 Before the cultural turn of anthropology in the 1980s, 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:16.000 every graduate student most likely read 00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:19.000 about the Tallensi on my own people, 00:30:19.000 --> 00:30:23.000 kinship, and social organization. 00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:25.000 In the west of one anthropologist, 00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:30.000 the Tallensi and Ludanga my own tribe were 00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:32.000 minor anthropological celebrities who 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:35.000 were placed on the well ethnographic map, 00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:38.000 thanks to the structural-functional school 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:40.000 of Meyer Fortes and Jack Goody. 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:43.000 These two scholars. 00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:46.000 Through their research, the two anthropologists also 00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:49.000 waitingly or not ruled themselves 00:30:49.000 --> 00:30:51.000 into the fabric of the past of 00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:54.000 my people and their representation 00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:56.000 as the primitive order. 00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:59.000 Structural functionalist anthropologists 00:30:59.000 --> 00:30:64.000 were merely interested in explaining harmony and coherence in their fieldwork. 00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:06.000 They wanted to account for 00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:08.000 what kept the society together, 00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:10.000 especially in the absence of 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.000 strong government or centralized political control. 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:16.000 In the process, however, 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:19.000 they tended to ignore the historical processes 00:31:19.000 --> 00:31:23.000 and change a theoretical interest of mine. 00:31:23.000 --> 00:31:26.000 At the time the two anthropologists conducted 00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:30.000 their research and fieldwork in my home region, 00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:33.000 there were ongoing profound changes 00:31:33.000 --> 00:31:36.000 brought on by the colonial occupation, 00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:40.000 conversion to Catholic Christianity, migration, etc. 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.000 of wage labor, and limited access to school education. 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:46.000 Yet the great bibliographers paid 00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:49.000 little attention to these agents of change in 00:31:49.000 --> 00:31:52.000 line with the prevailing structural functional theory 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:55.000 that placed emphasis on the here and now, 00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:58.000 or the synchronic aspect. 00:32:01.000 --> 00:32:04.000 This was Meyer Fortes 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:07.000 side-by-side with one of my grandfathers during 00:32:07.000 --> 00:32:12.000 the interwar period and he's 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:16.000 known worldwide as the most distinguished anthropologist 00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:18.000 that there has been. 00:32:18.000 --> 00:32:22.000 You can see he was a South African Jew whose parents 00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:26.000 intended to migrate to the United States on the eve of the First World War, 00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:28.000 but they ended up in South Africa. 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:31.000 He studied psychology but relocated 00:32:31.000 --> 00:32:36.000 to Britain and studied anthropology. 00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:40.000 He ended up in London School of Economics and in 00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:42.000 Oxford and founded 00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:45.000 the Department of Anthropology in Cambridge. 00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:56.000 and he became a very significant social scientist, 00:32:56.000 --> 00:32:58.000 a global historian and at 00:32:58.000 --> 00:32:61.000 the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, 00:33:01.000 --> 00:33:04.000 there's the Jack Goody lecture series instituted in 00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:07.000 his honor and very few, 00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:09.000 highly selected people are invited to 00:33:09.000 --> 00:33:12.000 speak in that lecture. 00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:19.000 You can see the importance 00:33:19.000 --> 00:33:24.000 of the scholarship that was generated in my home region. 00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:29.000 I had the pleasure of going to work with Goody, 00:33:29.000 --> 00:33:32.000 thanks to a grant I obtained from 00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:35.000 the Wenner-Gren Foundation for anthropological research in New York, 00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:38.000 and he hosted me for quite a while at 00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:41.000 St. John's College at Cambridge University. 00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:45.000 This is just to give you a sense 00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:47.000 of the area I'm talking about. 00:33:47.000 --> 00:33:49.000 This is West Africa. 00:33:49.000 --> 00:33:51.000 You see, this is Burkina Faso in the 00:33:51.000 --> 00:33:54.000 light green and Ghana here. 00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:58.000 This region Ouessa is located 00:33:58.000 --> 00:33:61.000 right on the border between Ghana and Burkina Faso, 00:34:01.000 --> 00:34:04.000 and this was my ancestral village. 00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:09.000 But because of the draconian French colonial policies, 00:34:09.000 --> 00:34:12.000 they moved into the Ghana boarder side 00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:15.000 and settled in a small village called Hamile, 00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.000 which is not on the map. That is my ancestral village up-to-date. 00:34:19.000 --> 00:34:24.000 One of the important interests 00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:26.000 that I've been looking at is to 00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:29.000 look at the ways in which the colonial border 00:34:29.000 --> 00:34:31.000 reconfigured existing relations among 00:34:31.000 --> 00:34:34.000 families including my own, 00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:36.000 as very close relatives were 00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:39.000 separated by the border and how local's 00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:42.000 perception of space in the post-colonial era 00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:45.000 intersect with the community present economic strategies 00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:47.000 and social identities. 00:34:47.000 --> 00:34:50.000 I also examined the embedded power dynamics that 00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:52.000 underwrote the relationship between 00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:54.000 the early European anthropologist, 00:34:54.000 --> 00:34:56.000 my anthropological ancestors, 00:34:56.000 --> 00:34:60.000 the Goody and Fortes that I just talked about, 00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:03.000 and African subjects, 00:35:03.000 --> 00:35:08.000 my native or putative ancestors they studied. 00:35:09.000 --> 00:35:12.000 You can see some of 00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:15.000 the animating thematic concerns 00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:19.000 that underwrite my own scholarly project. 00:35:19.000 --> 00:35:22.000 This is the Hamile border, 00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:25.000 the border crossing on the Ghana sight of my hometown. 00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:27.000 Now, you have bypassed 00:35:27.000 --> 00:35:30.000 a safe journey going to Burkina Faso, 00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:34.000 on the other side you have [inaudible]. 00:35:34.000 --> 00:35:39.000 This was the historical contexts 00:35:39.000 --> 00:35:44.000 that hard profound impact 00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:49.000 on the area but all of these had been taking place by 00:35:49.000 --> 00:35:55.000 the great anthropologist who are my ancestral colleagues. 00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:58.000 This is one of 00:35:58.000 --> 00:35:64.000 the interests that I've been engaging with. 00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:06.000 With Goody's permission, 00:36:06.000 --> 00:36:09.000 I had been looking at these power dynamics and he 00:36:09.000 --> 00:36:12.000 was really putting an input, 00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:16.000 but unfortunately he passed away in 2015. 00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:21.000 When I went on sabbatical in Berlin, his former student, 00:36:21.000 --> 00:36:24.000 who is Director of Adam Max Planck Institute, 00:36:24.000 --> 00:36:31.000 invited me to give a talk and to reflect on Goody's rule. 00:36:31.000 --> 00:36:35.000 It turns out that article of mine has been 00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:39.000 the most cited and widely read scholarship 00:36:39.000 --> 00:36:47.000 that I've produced, so at least I owe them a great debt. 00:36:47.000 --> 00:36:49.000 On the processes of change, 00:36:49.000 --> 00:36:51.000 my published research articles 00:36:51.000 --> 00:36:53.000 have sought to address the question of 00:36:53.000 --> 00:36:55.000 West Africa's changing social organization 00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:58.000 and how that affects the rural household economy, 00:36:58.000 --> 00:36:60.000 social relations, and 00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:03.000 the rural-urban migration and connections. 00:37:03.000 --> 00:37:05.000 In what ways, for examples, 00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:08.000 are emergent struggles over land-based resources, 00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:11.000 tenure systems, gender relations, 00:37:11.000 --> 00:37:13.000 migration of labor implicated in 00:37:13.000 --> 00:37:15.000 local responses in the transition of 00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:17.000 African rural strategy from 00:37:17.000 --> 00:37:21.000 colonial capitalism to neo-liberal globalization? 00:37:21.000 --> 00:37:23.000 More recently, I've been 00:37:23.000 --> 00:37:26.000 concerned with African family history. 00:37:26.000 --> 00:37:29.000 How an analysis of change in memory practices, 00:37:29.000 --> 00:37:32.000 and remembering might improve 00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:35.000 our understanding of the key social transformation 00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:37.000 of the larger society. 00:37:37.000 --> 00:37:39.000 What I've been trying to do with 00:37:39.000 --> 00:37:43.000 my other cohorts at the University of Mainz, 00:37:43.000 --> 00:37:45.000 who is also the president of the Goody Institute, 00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:51.000 is to look at how the family history and their change in 00:37:51.000 --> 00:37:55.000 memory practices can serve as a window to 00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:59.000 understanding changes in the larger society. 00:37:59.000 --> 00:37:62.000 What we do is to look at the narrative or 00:38:02.000 --> 00:38:08.000 the memory practices before 00:38:08.000 --> 00:38:12.000 there was literacy in that community. 00:38:12.000 --> 00:38:17.000 How did African families remember the past, 00:38:17.000 --> 00:38:21.000 and how did they transmit 00:38:21.000 --> 00:38:23.000 memories of the past to the younger generation? 00:38:23.000 --> 00:38:25.000 These entailed narratives of 00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:29.000 the ancestral migratory routes, and settlement history. 00:38:29.000 --> 00:38:32.000 They relate these account to their people. 00:38:32.000 --> 00:38:34.000 They recite ancestral genealogies 00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:37.000 during ritual occasions such as funerals, 00:38:37.000 --> 00:38:40.000 initiation rights or marriage arrangements. 00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:43.000 They also make sure they transmit 00:38:43.000 --> 00:38:46.000 the path of the family history to 00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:50.000 the younger generation in case there are struggles over 00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:55.000 land boundaries or struggles over chieftaincy titles. 00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:58.000 The transmission of these paths, 00:38:58.000 --> 00:38:61.000 memories were made easy or facilitated by 00:39:01.000 --> 00:39:06.000 the close knit habitation of the people. 00:39:06.000 --> 00:39:08.000 As people lived together, 00:39:08.000 --> 00:39:11.000 they easily could hear or pass down these memories. 00:39:11.000 --> 00:39:14.000 But what happens as people move 00:39:14.000 --> 00:39:19.000 away from the common homestead arrangement and so forth? 00:39:19.000 --> 00:39:21.000 Of course, we will also notice that there were 00:39:21.000 --> 00:39:23.000 also strategic silences that 00:39:23.000 --> 00:39:27.000 peasant families or related families 00:39:27.000 --> 00:39:32.000 maintained so as to not tear the family apart. 00:39:32.000 --> 00:39:37.000 These were some of the things that we examined. 00:39:37.000 --> 00:39:40.000 Looking at history through 00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.000 the lens of family history has been 00:39:44.000 --> 00:39:46.000 a very productive research that I'm 00:39:46.000 --> 00:39:51.000 engaging with and I think on the 25th, 00:39:51.000 --> 00:39:53.000 I'm actually on my way to Cologne for 00:39:53.000 --> 00:39:57.000 a conference on this particular topic. 00:39:59.000 --> 00:39:63.000 the book chapters in 00:40:03.000 --> 00:40:05.000 edited volumes or monogram forms 00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:07.000 that my scholarship have yielded. 00:40:07.000 --> 00:40:10.000 From the titles, you can see 00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:13.000 what the scope of my research interest. 00:40:13.000 --> 00:40:16.000 Thanks for listening. 00:40:16.000 --> 00:40:19.000 I wanted to, at least for the first time 00:40:22.000 --> 00:40:27.000 together here to visit me. 00:40:38.000 --> 00:40:41.000 Our final presentation will 00:40:41.000 --> 00:40:43.000 be given by Dr. Leigh Graziano, 00:40:43.000 --> 00:40:48.000 who is the recipient of this year's past Degas Award for excellence in service. 00:40:48.000 --> 00:40:50.000 Dr. Graziano is an associate professor 00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:52.000 of English and Director of 00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:54.000 first-year writing and joined 00:40:54.000 --> 00:40:58.000 faculty of Western Oregon University in 2017. 00:40:58.000 --> 00:40:60.000 When I was going to summarize this, 00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:02.000 I was really in all of 00:41:02.000 --> 00:41:04.000 this relatively short amount of time, 00:41:04.000 --> 00:41:06.000 just double the amount of time I've been here 00:41:06.000 --> 00:41:08.000 just almost six years, 00:41:08.000 --> 00:41:12.000 and the long list of not just service, 00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:14.000 but leadership positions in service 00:41:14.000 --> 00:41:16.000 and so I'm going to list some of them off, 00:41:16.000 --> 00:41:18.000 but it's really not the full list, 00:41:18.000 --> 00:41:20.000 which is really telling you something. 00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.000 She has really shown distinct dedication, 00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:26.000 I would say to serve in these past six years, 00:41:26.000 --> 00:41:28.000 including serving as Chair 00:41:28.000 --> 00:41:30.000 of the General Education Committee, 00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:38.000 student-led Freedom Center, 00:41:38.000 --> 00:41:42.000 representatives for western on the statewide Oregon 00:41:42.000 --> 00:41:45.000 Council, co-chair of the 00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:47.000 numbering subcommittee, 00:41:47.000 --> 00:41:49.000 in addition to 00:41:49.000 --> 00:41:52.000 numerous other committees as well as search committees. 00:41:52.000 --> 00:41:54.000 I just came off of a search committee, 00:41:54.000 --> 00:41:58.000 the provost search committee with Dr. Graziano. 00:41:58.000 --> 00:41:61.000 As you can see, this is more than 00:42:01.000 --> 00:42:03.000 a well earned award and so it is 00:42:03.000 --> 00:42:05.000 my great pleasure to congratulate 00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:08.000 and introduce Dr. Graziano. 00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:13.000 children, my sister and 00:42:13.000 --> 00:42:15.000 I looked forward to December. 00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:18.000 December not only meant a long break from school, 00:42:18.000 --> 00:42:20.000 but also the daily ritual 00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:23.000 of opening our family advent calendar. 00:42:23.000 --> 00:42:26.000 Every door held a new surprise, a toy, 00:42:26.000 --> 00:42:29.000 candy, and if we were really lucky, extra allowance money. 00:42:29.000 --> 00:42:31.000 My sister and I alternated days, 00:42:31.000 --> 00:42:33.000 and as you can imagine, 00:42:33.000 --> 00:42:36.000 the stakes were extraordinarily high. 00:42:36.000 --> 00:42:38.000 If it was your day, 00:42:38.000 --> 00:42:41.000 you got to pick the thing you wanted first. 00:42:41.000 --> 00:42:45.000 It was an activity fraught with drama. 00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:47.000 Looking back though, there were 00:42:47.000 --> 00:42:49.000 some days more rewarding than others, 00:42:49.000 --> 00:42:52.000 although I didn't necessarily appreciate it at the time. 00:42:52.000 --> 00:42:56.000 Some days didn't have the surprise we were expecting. 00:42:56.000 --> 00:42:58.000 At least once per week, 00:42:58.000 --> 00:42:60.000 the door opened and the prize was 00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:03.000 a sticky note that said service. 00:43:03.000 --> 00:43:05.000 When we were very young, 00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:08.000 this often meant that we looked through the charities that came in 00:43:08.000 --> 00:43:12.000 the mail and ultimately donated some money to adopt a polar bear. 00:43:12.000 --> 00:43:14.000 As we got older though, 00:43:14.000 --> 00:43:17.000 it meant learning more about charity organizations, 00:43:17.000 --> 00:43:19.000 working at sanctuary farms that rescued 00:43:19.000 --> 00:43:22.000 injured wildlife and liberated farm animals, 00:43:22.000 --> 00:43:24.000 and for me, it eventually meant 00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:26.000 volunteering to teach Sunday school at my church, 00:43:26.000 --> 00:43:28.000 which I did throughout high school. 00:43:28.000 --> 00:43:30.000 There was a reward I didn't 00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:33.000 realize until I was older in those service days. 00:43:33.000 --> 00:43:37.000 For my parents, I think the reward was sharing 00:43:37.000 --> 00:43:41.000 their own values about service of giving because we were able. 00:43:41.000 --> 00:43:44.000 My father donated his time and talent to 00:43:44.000 --> 00:43:46.000 play the piano for the church 00:43:46.000 --> 00:43:48.000 I grew up in every Sunday morning. 00:43:48.000 --> 00:43:50.000 My mother spent her entire life as 00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:52.000 a neonatal nurse caring for and 00:43:52.000 --> 00:43:54.000 serving families in some of 00:43:54.000 --> 00:43:58.000 the most emotional and heartbreaking situations. 00:43:58.000 --> 00:43:60.000 For me though, the reward 00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:02.000 came in the form of personal growth, 00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:05.000 of discovering a genuine desire to serve, 00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:08.000 uplift and positively impact others. 00:44:08.000 --> 00:44:10.000 I think about our advent calendar a 00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:13.000 lot when I think about service work. 00:44:13.000 --> 00:44:15.000 Not just because it's where I think 00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:17.000 my commitment to a life of service began, 00:44:17.000 --> 00:44:19.000 but because it provides a frame for 00:44:19.000 --> 00:44:22.000 how I think about the value of this work. 00:44:22.000 --> 00:44:24.000 Just like the joy and anticipation that 00:44:24.000 --> 00:44:27.000 each door of an advent calendar brings, 00:44:27.000 --> 00:44:30.000 my work as a servant leader has been filled with mystery, 00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:33.000 surprises and valuable lessons. 00:44:33.000 --> 00:44:35.000 The advent calendar helped to bring 00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:38.000 my family closer to the mystery of a special holiday. 00:44:38.000 --> 00:44:42.000 Similarly, I believe service work has the potential to 00:44:42.000 --> 00:44:45.000 bring us closer to our shared goals as a community. 00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.000 This is what I keep centered when I serve on a committee. 00:44:49.000 --> 00:44:51.000 In my work co-chairing 00:44:51.000 --> 00:44:53.000 the common course numbering subcommittee for writing, 00:44:53.000 --> 00:44:55.000 I used to just focus on 00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:58.000 shared goals to move us past spending 00:44:58.000 --> 00:44:60.000 our meeting time grieving the aspects of 00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:03.000 this legislative mandate that are unfair. 00:45:03.000 --> 00:45:05.000 I validated those feelings because they 00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:08.000 matter and deserve to be empathized with, 00:45:08.000 --> 00:45:10.000 but I also asked us to think collectively 00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:13.000 about what we wanted to accomplish with this work. 00:45:13.000 --> 00:45:15.000 I asked us to consider how we 00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:17.000 could use it as an opportunity 00:45:17.000 --> 00:45:20.000 to learn more about each other's pedagogical approaches, 00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:23.000 the diverse needs of Oregonian students, 00:45:23.000 --> 00:45:26.000 and the curriculum that would support them. 00:45:26.000 --> 00:45:29.000 At every point in our work, 00:45:29.000 --> 00:45:33.000 I redirected us to that shared vision for what this work could do, 00:45:33.000 --> 00:45:35.000 even within the frame of 00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:38.000 working conditions that were deeply inequitable. 00:45:38.000 --> 00:45:41.000 Keeping our work focused on a shared vision helped us 00:45:41.000 --> 00:45:45.000 overcome individual desires and to compromise more, 00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:47.000 and I was surprised to discover how 00:45:47.000 --> 00:45:51.000 satisfied we were as a group with that final product. 00:45:51.000 --> 00:45:55.000 One lesson that I have learned through my work as 00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:58.000 a servant leader is the importance of not just active listening, 00:45:58.000 --> 00:45:61.000 but listening into action. 00:46:01.000 --> 00:46:04.000 Like opening a door of an advent calendar 00:46:04.000 --> 00:46:07.000 listening allows me to uncover the perspectives, 00:46:07.000 --> 00:46:09.000 ideas, and concerns of my colleagues. 00:46:09.000 --> 00:46:12.000 By genuinely listening, I create 00:46:12.000 --> 00:46:16.000 a safe and inclusive space where everyone feels valued and understood. 00:46:16.000 --> 00:46:18.000 But that alone isn't enough. 00:46:18.000 --> 00:46:21.000 Most of our committees here are representative. 00:46:21.000 --> 00:46:23.000 That means that if you are serving as 00:46:23.000 --> 00:46:25.000 the representative of your division, 00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:28.000 you are in a position to be a servant leader, 00:46:28.000 --> 00:46:31.000 to not just listen to the concerns of your colleagues, 00:46:31.000 --> 00:46:34.000 but to voice and advocate for them. 00:46:34.000 --> 00:46:36.000 One thing that my co-chair and I 00:46:36.000 --> 00:46:39.000 prioritize when we presented our final decisions to 00:46:39.000 --> 00:46:42.000 the transfer council was to read aloud 00:46:42.000 --> 00:46:46.000 the rationale of the single individual who voted no. 00:46:46.000 --> 00:46:49.000 One no vote wasn't enough to trigger 00:46:49.000 --> 00:46:51.000 a formal alternate report 00:46:51.000 --> 00:46:53.000 for the transfer council to consider. 00:46:53.000 --> 00:46:56.000 But we still wanted to hold space for 00:46:56.000 --> 00:46:58.000 this colleague and make sure that 00:46:58.000 --> 00:46:61.000 their valuable perspective was on the record. 00:47:01.000 --> 00:47:04.000 No matter our role within the campus community, 00:47:04.000 --> 00:47:07.000 service work benefits from truly prioritizing 00:47:07.000 --> 00:47:11.000 everyone's voices and embracing diverse perspectives. 00:47:14.000 --> 00:47:19.000 brought my family together in the shared ritual and excitement of opening a door each day, 00:47:19.000 --> 00:47:23.000 servant leadership encourages teamwork and cooperation. 00:47:23.000 --> 00:47:26.000 In fact, I see little point-to-service work unless 00:47:26.000 --> 00:47:29.000 we are striving to foster a culture of collaboration. 00:47:29.000 --> 00:47:31.000 I have witnessed the magic that 00:47:31.000 --> 00:47:34.000 unfolds when individuals come together, 00:47:34.000 --> 00:47:37.000 leveraging their strengths and supporting one another. 00:47:37.000 --> 00:47:39.000 I know for sure that we would not have 00:47:39.000 --> 00:47:41.000 accomplished anything during my year 00:47:41.000 --> 00:47:43.000 as faculty senate president without 00:47:43.000 --> 00:47:46.000 my vocal and supportive executive committee. 00:47:46.000 --> 00:47:48.000 We weren't able to stop 00:47:48.000 --> 00:47:51.000 the difficult decisions made that year, 00:47:51.000 --> 00:47:53.000 but we were able to slow things down, 00:47:53.000 --> 00:47:55.000 add additional steps, and 00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:57.000 provide a space for more conversation. 00:47:57.000 --> 00:47:60.000 I'm grateful to have served with 00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:03.000 such a strong group of colleagues who were never silent at 00:48:03.000 --> 00:48:05.000 our meetings and we're always willing to 00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:08.000 have difficult but compassionate conversations. 00:48:08.000 --> 00:48:10.000 What we achieved together 00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:13.000 surpassed what I would have been able to do alone, 00:48:13.000 --> 00:48:15.000 and I know that we can grow more as a campus if we 00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:17.000 genuinely make space for building 00:48:17.000 --> 00:48:19.000 strong relationships with each other, 00:48:19.000 --> 00:48:23.000 fostering trust, and creating a sense of unity. 00:48:24.000 --> 00:48:27.000 Although I know it's likely expected for 00:48:27.000 --> 00:48:31.000 this presentation to focus entirely on my own accomplishments, 00:48:31.000 --> 00:48:33.000 I'd rather talk about what we could 00:48:33.000 --> 00:48:35.000 accomplish together if we 00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:37.000 invest in the value of service work. 00:48:37.000 --> 00:48:39.000 I borrowed the title of this talk from 00:48:39.000 --> 00:48:43.000 Apple TV's newest show, Big Door Prize. 00:48:43.000 --> 00:48:45.000 In it, in case you're not familiar, 00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:48.000 a town finds that a mysterious machine 00:48:48.000 --> 00:48:50.000 has appeared in their local convenience store. 00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:52.000 When you place your hands on it, 00:48:52.000 --> 00:48:55.000 it ejects a card upon which is written your potential. 00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:58.000 Looking back, I can see 00:48:58.000 --> 00:48:61.000 how the advent doors that contained service started me down 00:49:01.000 --> 00:49:04.000 a path to the work that I find rewarding and 00:49:04.000 --> 00:49:06.000 important and unlocked 00:49:06.000 --> 00:49:08.000 my potential to be a servant leader. 00:49:08.000 --> 00:49:12.000 Yes, you can look at service work as an annoyance, 00:49:12.000 --> 00:49:15.000 as more meetings to attend, 00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:18.000 as pointless and perhaps even tedious work. 00:49:18.000 --> 00:49:22.000 You can show up, zoom in and zone out, 00:49:22.000 --> 00:49:25.000 contributing only your attendance, 00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:28.000 but our mindset shapes our reality and I'd 00:49:28.000 --> 00:49:30.000 encourage you to adopt a different one; 00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:32.000 to look for the reward within 00:49:32.000 --> 00:49:34.000 the work you've been invited to do. 00:49:34.000 --> 00:49:37.000 There's a great potential within every service activity, 00:49:37.000 --> 00:49:40.000 so here's my challenge for you all 00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:42.000 today. Here's your potential. 00:49:42.000 --> 00:49:45.000 Every time you sat on a committee, 00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:49.000 ask yourself, how can I be disruptive? 00:49:49.000 --> 00:49:51.000 I'm not talking about being obstructionist, 00:49:51.000 --> 00:49:55.000 but how you can examine the system and processes we 00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:57.000 have in place and improve them 00:49:57.000 --> 00:49:59.000 or replace them with something better. 00:49:59.000 --> 00:49:61.000 Just because we've done something a certain way for 00:50:01.000 --> 00:50:04.000 a long time doesn't mean there isn't a better way. 00:50:04.000 --> 00:50:06.000 Disrupt the status quo and look 00:50:06.000 --> 00:50:09.000 for the change that you can bring to that area. 00:50:09.000 --> 00:50:13.000 How can I be an advocate for change? 00:50:13.000 --> 00:50:16.000 The question isn't, how will we change? 00:50:16.000 --> 00:50:19.000 Change is inevitable. Nothing stays the same. 00:50:19.000 --> 00:50:22.000 The question is, how will we greet that change? 00:50:22.000 --> 00:50:24.000 How will we drive it? 00:50:24.000 --> 00:50:27.000 We can choose to be afraid of moving in a new direction, 00:50:27.000 --> 00:50:30.000 or we can choose to see it as a mystery 00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:33.000 and be open to the reward that we might find there. 00:50:33.000 --> 00:50:37.000 How can I participate meaningfully? 00:50:37.000 --> 00:50:39.000 Use your strengths to balance listening 00:50:39.000 --> 00:50:42.000 to understand and taking action. 00:50:42.000 --> 00:50:44.000 Often we volunteer on 00:50:44.000 --> 00:50:47.000 committees as representatives of our peers. 00:50:47.000 --> 00:50:49.000 Use your strengths and your voice to 00:50:49.000 --> 00:50:52.000 amplify the voices of your students and colleagues. 00:50:52.000 --> 00:50:54.000 Counter-narratives matter. 00:50:54.000 --> 00:50:57.000 It's not wasted to do the work of challenging 00:50:57.000 --> 00:50:60.000 us to consider a different perspective or path. 00:51:00.000 --> 00:51:03.000 Find a way to participate that helps you move us 00:51:03.000 --> 00:51:07.000 towards what we value for our WOU community. 00:51:07.000 --> 00:51:10.000 How can I be a better partner? 00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:13.000 We sit at tables with faculty, 00:51:13.000 --> 00:51:16.000 staff, students, and administrators. 00:51:16.000 --> 00:51:20.000 Our positionalities and privileges are not the same. 00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:22.000 We will never make progress if we 00:51:22.000 --> 00:51:25.000 don't strive for partnerships with each other, 00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:28.000 for listening and taking seriously each other's struggles, 00:51:28.000 --> 00:51:31.000 concerns, and experiences. 00:51:33.000 --> 00:51:36.000 Although we outgrew the ritual of 00:51:36.000 --> 00:51:39.000 the advent calendar many years ago, 00:51:39.000 --> 00:51:41.000 I have never stopped opening doors. 00:51:41.000 --> 00:51:43.000 I open new doors every time I serve 00:51:43.000 --> 00:51:45.000 on a committee and with each, 00:51:45.000 --> 00:51:47.000 the reward within those original slips of 00:51:47.000 --> 00:51:50.000 paper that said service gets deeper. 00:51:50.000 --> 00:51:52.000 I'm constantly discovering new things 00:51:52.000 --> 00:51:54.000 about myself as a leader and about 00:51:54.000 --> 00:51:57.000 the ways I can use the service space to 00:51:57.000 --> 00:51:60.000 prioritize doing what is right for our community. 00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:02.000 The prize is always 00:52:02.000 --> 00:52:06.000 the opportunity service work presents for us to care for each other. 00:52:06.000 --> 00:52:08.000 I hope we can all start to 00:52:08.000 --> 00:52:11.000 claim that prize together. Thank you. 00:52:14.000 --> 00:52:18.000 introduce our President, 00:52:18.000 --> 00:52:21.000 Dr. Jesse Peters for closing remarks. 00:52:23.000 --> 00:52:28.000 is my first one, 00:52:28.000 --> 00:52:30.000 so I have a lot to say. 00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:35.000 But I wanted to start by thanking the Pastega family. 00:52:39.000 --> 00:52:42.000 How many years did you say this has been going around? 00:52:42.000 --> 00:52:45.000 Forty-four years of funding an award 00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:48.000 like this is really meaningful because I 00:52:48.000 --> 00:52:50.000 think what it does is it allows us to come together as 00:52:50.000 --> 00:52:52.000 a community and celebrate things 00:52:52.000 --> 00:52:56.000 that are often not celebrated, and if they are, they're celebrated in small groups. 00:52:56.000 --> 00:52:59.000 But it allows us to re-articulate 00:52:59.000 --> 00:52:62.000 the meaningful things that take place at a university. 00:53:02.000 --> 00:53:04.000 It sounds like your father and mother 00:53:04.000 --> 00:53:06.000 were committed to that and it is so 00:53:06.000 --> 00:53:08.000 wonderful that the generations 00:53:08.000 --> 00:53:11.000 beyond them are also committed to it. 00:53:11.000 --> 00:53:13.000 On behalf of this university, 00:53:13.000 --> 00:53:15.000 I thank you and I appreciate it. 00:53:15.000 --> 00:53:23.000 Thanks. Teaching scholarship service, 00:53:23.000 --> 00:53:25.000 these things that we talk about that 00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:29.000 sometimes can seem a little bit like, 00:53:29.000 --> 00:53:31.000 you must jump through to get to 00:53:31.000 --> 00:53:33.000 an end goal in your career. 00:53:33.000 --> 00:53:35.000 But as we heard through the words of 00:53:35.000 --> 00:53:38.000 these three recipients today, 00:53:38.000 --> 00:53:41.000 I think they are things 00:53:41.000 --> 00:53:43.000 that are transformative in the lives, 00:53:43.000 --> 00:53:45.000 not only of our students but also 00:53:45.000 --> 00:53:47.000 in our community and with each other. 00:53:47.000 --> 00:53:51.000 Every single person talked about their colleagues, 00:53:51.000 --> 00:53:53.000 which is really a beautiful thing. 00:53:53.000 --> 00:53:57.000 I think we feel that support with 00:53:57.000 --> 00:53:59.000 colleagues and it says if we stand 00:53:59.000 --> 00:53:62.000 together with our arms linked as we go forward, 00:54:02.000 --> 00:54:05.000 drawing strength on each other and it was a joy to 00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:07.000 hear your passion for 00:54:07.000 --> 00:54:10.000 each other because it is a community. 00:54:10.000 --> 00:54:13.000 I think we form that and our students respond to that. 00:54:13.000 --> 00:54:16.000 I've always said that regional universities 00:54:16.000 --> 00:54:19.000 that I love are places where the world changes 00:54:19.000 --> 00:54:21.000 more than they do at other institutions. 00:54:21.000 --> 00:54:23.000 I think there's so much energy, 00:54:23.000 --> 00:54:26.000 so much transformational opportunity 00:54:26.000 --> 00:54:28.000 that you all engage in as 00:54:28.000 --> 00:54:30.000 faculty and put that energy into. 00:54:30.000 --> 00:54:33.000 We call it love for our students and 00:54:33.000 --> 00:54:35.000 love of our job and love of our colleagues, 00:54:35.000 --> 00:54:38.000 but I think it's a love of seeing 00:54:38.000 --> 00:54:41.000 things improve for the better in the world, 00:54:41.000 --> 00:54:43.000 and that is done through this human interaction that you 00:54:43.000 --> 00:54:46.000 get to engage and we all get to engage in every day. 00:54:46.000 --> 00:54:49.000 I think it's a powerful place to be. 00:54:49.000 --> 00:54:53.000 I'm honored to serve all of you. 00:54:53.000 --> 00:54:55.000 Thank you for what you do. 00:54:55.000 --> 00:54:57.000 I would say that what you do is beautiful. 00:54:57.000 --> 00:54:59.000 It's a beautiful thing and I'm 00:54:59.000 --> 00:54:61.000 glad that we can recognize it together. 00:55:01.000 --> 00:55:04.000 With that, I'll stop and we can 00:55:04.000 --> 00:55:07.000 mingle and celebrate more and have some refreshments. 00:55:07.000 --> 00:55:11.000 Thank you-all. Very well-deserved honors. 00:55:11.000 --> 00:55:20.000 applause and music