Richard Doetkott
Professor of Communication Studies
Chapman University
Remarkably, this project was probably initiated fifty years ago with the publication of two UWRF yearbooks. Arlin Albrecht and I were editors of the yearbooks for ’58 and ’57 respectively. In these Meleteans we each dedicated two pages to the faculty – I used Francis Chisholm as a stand-in for the corporate faculty and Arlin used a shot of Blake Anderson (getting help with his regalia) in the same way. You see, we were the first in our families to get a college education and so we had a very high regard and appreciation for our teachers and mentors. (Coming from blue-collar families, we also devoted pages to maintenance, firemen and staff workers for the same reasons.)
This video is a further appreciation of those who made a difference in our lives – this time from a fifty-year perspective. Again, we use a stand-in for the faculty, Professor Vera Moss, who was an excellent and extremely dedicated teacher. We specifically chose her because she taught required courses and all graduates during her tenure know her from that experience.
As a professor myself for over forty years, I know we can only guess the impact we may have on our students after they leave the ivy halls and further, how it plays out in the larger world. In Arlin’s case, he came to River Falls prepared to be in business, perhaps a farmer like his father. Well, Arlin fell under the spell of Wayne Wolfe, who taught journalism and was advisor to the newspaper and the Meletean. As a result of many hours with Professor Wolfe, Arlin became very interested in journalism as a career and when he graduated he began work at the St. Paul Dispatch night desk. From there he went to the Red Wing Republican Eagle and finally became a publisher of that daily as well as some twenty other newspapers in Minnesota and Wisconsin, including the River Falls Journal.
Well, so far, so good. What is unique is that Arlin was now in a position where he could influence an entire city and surrounding area. Yes, he would certainly have been just as successful in some other business, but because he was connected through the newspaper to Red Wing and its political culture, he could do something for the community that only someone in his position could have done.
You see, Arlin was responsible, some forty years after graduation, for heading up a movement to build a state of the art medical complex high on the bluff overlooking the river in Red Wing.
So, how far does a teacher’s reach go? Without Wayne’s encouragement and dedication to his craft, Arlin may have never have been in a position to help build a better life for all of his area’s citizens who now have easy access to top of the line health care.
Last year, when I was asked to address some 600 of our entering 2007 class at Chapman University, I stressed the need for them to find a mentor like Wayne Wolfe who could change their life the rest of their life – for the better. I took a chance and ran a copy of Lighting the Fire, which at the time was about 85% complete. Would these 18-year-olds relate?
After the video was played, there was strong applause. They got it.
I look back on my own mentor, Blanche Davis, and I realize that my work has been an extension of hers. Many, many UWRF grads have similar stories. Indeed, Arlin’s wife, Marilyn, also inspired by Dr. Davis, was instrumental in bringing back Red Wings famed auditorium to its former glory as that city’s cultural center.
And so the social impact of our dedicated teachers continues, many decades later. It’s a wonderful gift, Lighting our Fires.
