O
Meanwhile we’ve
been successfully
ne of my worries about American
broadening the
higher education is how well it will
economic diversity
be able to adapt to emerging national
of the student body,
and global trends.
especially with
Most colleges and universities under-
high-ability students
standably have their heads down, plowing
from the lowest two
through short-term financial challenges.
quintiles of U.S. fam-
Thanks, however, to the generous support
ily incomes.
of alumni, parents and friends, and to
We need to
the careful stewardship of generations of
remove for these
College leaders, Williams is able to look for
students the unhelp-
changes coming over the horizon.
Kevin Kennefick
2020 Vision
ful challenges that can leave them less
Another trend affecting faculty is the
This is the impetus behind what
able to focus on the helpful challenges
growth of two-career marriages and part-
we’ve called the 2020 Project. It began
faculty set for them. This means making
nerships and subsequently in the number of
by identifying the trends most likely to
sure we offer them generous financial
faculty in commuting relationships. The rela-
affect our mission over the next dozen
aid and provide the kinds of academic
tive lack of local opportunities for spouses
years. These include rapid changes in:
support they need to overcome the
and partners is a particular challenge in our
U.S. demographics, especially among the
effects of their often under-resourced
rural location. Providing the finest possible
college-age population; the globalization
high schools. The goal is to move
liberal arts education will require creative
of society; the market for faculty; technol-
Williams from being impressively diverse
ways to maximize contact between our stu-
ogy; and humans’ relationship with the
to truly inclusive.
dents and those faculty whose families live
environment.
Demographic change will also
in two places, along with strategic invest-
affect the composition of faculty and
ment in our local infrastructure (schools,
members, faculty and administrators
staff. Our progress in diversifying these
health care, etc.) which is vital to faculty
researched possible effects on Williams
groups lags behind that of our student
and staff recruitment and retention.
and brainstormed ways to respond. The
body. We need to expand the programs
on-campus governance structure is now
that bring to campus academics from
2020 Project proposals as they develop,
refining proposals and prioritizing them.
under-represented groups just before or
and in my next column I’ll talk about
after they’ve completed their PhDs. In
issues regarding globalization, technol-
graphics is breathtaking. Modeling
addition to appointing most faculty at
ogy and the environment.
we’ve done shows that if racial cohorts
the entry level, we’ll seek new oppor-
in each state (for example, Latina/os in
tunities to appoint to senior faculty
lenge for an institution that enjoys the
Arizona and blacks in Florida) continue
positions more experienced professors
high regard Williams does is to combat
to apply and to be admitted at current
from under-represented groups. At the
the kind of complacency that leaves it
rates, white Americans will represent
same time, we’ll continue to expand the
blind to change. The 2020 process is help-
less than half the Williams entering class
curriculum in areas of intellectual inter-
ing to keep our vision sharp. ■
by around 2018.
est to such faculty and students.
For each area, a team of board
The speed of change in U.S. demo-
2 | Williams Alumni Review | June 2008
2 | Williams Alumni Review | June 2008
You’ll hear much more about specific
For now, I’ll point out that the chal-
—Morty Schapiro
S
even under Seven,” by Sheff Otis ’98 (March 2008) is a joyful
them. And when we do share in the same goals, we can do miracles.
rebuttal to an unpleasant acquaintance who stopped me on a
So I can understand why Paul needs to be there, but for the
San Francisco street and asked, “How did
world of me I cannot fathom why this administration sent men
you like graduating from an Eastern snob
and women to war without a goal all could share in equally.
the joy of seven
school?” Next time we meet, I will refer him to Mr. Otis’ article with
the fond hope his attitude will change for the better.
This administration only gave reasons. It had its own. Paul had
his. The nation thought there were others.
So I write to argue that there is yet to be a solid “case for being
—Bob Marrin ’61, Kansas City, Mo.
I
there”—just individual reasons. And until there is one, saving lives
want to thank Matthew Swanson ’97 for writing the article
cannot be a case for putting them in harm’s way.
“Paying It Forward” (March 2008). I almost didn’t recognize
paying it back
myself in his prose. I do want to add that
most of my post-Williams accomplish-
ments would not have been possible without the loving support
I
was appalled by the article “A Case for Being There.” How can
the Review publish an article that glorifies the war and presents
it like an episode of M*A*S*H at this moment in U.S. history? Here
of my husband Michael Mongue and our children.
—Gina Coleman ’90, Williamstown, Mass.
P
—Pavlos Yeroulanos ’88, Athens, Greece
in Wisconsin, state employees such as myself
receive notifications approximately once a
aul Danielson’s ’88 experience was an inspiration to all of us
week telling us the name of yet another young
dedicated to serving our country in whatever capacity (“A Case
person who has lost their life in the war. Your
for Being There,” January 2008). But the day our country sends men
and women to another land we need to know that
we will all give before some of us take. That we will
letters
article describes the war as something for men
more on being there
to do who have “tired of the Jack Daniel’s and
motorcycle set.” They are a battalion that goes
all sacrifice before some of us celebrate. And that we will all work
out at night “trying to draw fire so that they could shoot back.” What
toward a common goal irrespective of where we come from, what
were you thinking? This is an irresponsible and dangerous way to rep-
the color of our skin is and how large our portfolio looms.
resent a conflict about which our country is, rightly, deeply troubled.
Goals are more powerful than reasons because we can all share in
The Alumni Review welcomes
letters related to topics in the
magazine. Send letters to:
Alumni Review, P.O. Box 676,
Williamstown, Mass., 012670676; fax: 413.597.4158;
e-mail alumni.review@
williams.edu. Letters may be
edited for clarity and space.
—Elena Bertozzi ’83, Whitewater, Wis.
T
hank you for your fine article on Professor John Miller in the
January 2008 issue. I would like to add these “sayings” that
have not eluded me in 60 years:
“A man on the street with an idea of his own is worth half a
dozen PhDs.”
“You can’t listen to music when you’re angry.”
“It takes courage to read a
book.”
more on miller
“If you know your future you don’t have one.”
How fortunate we were to have two national treasures, John
Miller and Phinney Baxter ’14 living on campus at the same time.
—Ralph Mason ’50, Williamstown, Mass.
June 2008 | Williams Alumni Review | 3
A Novel Life
ssistant purser on a steamship stopping at South American ports
the reader firmly by
of call. … Bar cashier at the Castle Harbor Hotel in Bermuda. …
the hand in the first
Innocent bystander during the 1932 revolution in São Paulo. … World
500 words and hold
War II combat historian with the U.S. First Army in Europe. … Cultural
it right through to
attaché with the U.S. government in Pakistan, Lebanon, Colombia and
the end.”
France. … World traveler.
Such is the stuff of which novels are made. These also happen
When I asked
him which of his 16
to be some of the personal experiences of my dear friend David
novels he liked least,
Garth ’31 of North Pomfret, Vt., who died in 1983 at the age of 74.
he unhesitatingly cited
Garth enjoyed a successful career as a writer for more than two
Challenge for Three
decades starting in the early 1930s. He wrote 16 novels, official
(1938), which he wrote
military accounts of the invasion of Normandy and the St. Lo cam-
under the pressure of
paign and 16 stories for Street & Smith’s Sport Story magazine.
deadlines for Redbook.
He also wrote 45 short stories and novellas that appeared with
His favorite was Gray
some of his novels in serial form in Redbook, Cosmopolitan, The
Canaan (1947), a Civil
American, The Saturday Evening Post and other magazines. His sto-
War novel.
ries were the basis for several radio dramatizations and five movies.
Garth, who was born in St. Louis, Mo., eventually found his way
When Hollywood came calling, Garth answered with Cabin
Cruiser, which became a 1936 Paramount movie called Hideaway
to Williams, where he combined academics with varsity positions in
Girl, starring Martha Raye and Robert Cummings. Then RKO
swimming, lacrosse and soccer. During his senior year he served as
produced—and Herbert Marshall and Barbara Stanwyck starred
editor of the college magazine.
in—Breakfast for Two, based on A Love Like That. There Goes the
Following graduation, he took the first full-time job he could
Groom, based on Let Freedom Swing, brought together Burgess
get in the Depression year of 1931 as assistant purser on an ocean
Meredith and Ann Sothern. Four Men and a Prayer, from the story
liner running between New York and South America. This experi-
by the same name, was produced by 20th Century Fox in 1938 and
ence provided him with the background for a number of short
starred Loretta Young, David Niven and George Saunders. Fury at
stories as well as one or two novels.
Furnace Creek, the last of the movies inspired by Garth, was a 1948
It wasn’t long before the readers of the major magazines of
the time were clamoring for Garth’s short stories and novellas.
Cosmopolitan even commissioned him in 1936 to retrace Charles
Lindbergh’s goodwill tour a decade before through Central America.
20th Century Fox remake of Four Men and a Prayer as a Western
featuring Victor Mature and Coleen Gray.
Until just a few months before his death, Garth was saying
that he might yet return “full blast” to a long-delayed trilogy
Angels Are Cowards (1934), Garth’s first published novel, was
based on his foreign service in Pakistan, Lebanon and Colombia.
actually the third that he wrote. The first two, which he says “never
Unfortunately, it was not to be. But he had already left a sizable
came to anything,” were written “with a fat green fountain pen”
legacy to the readers and writers of the world. ■
for the entertainment of his Williams fraternity brothers.
I once asked Garth to define his purpose in writing. His
Robert W. Hatton is a professor emeritus of modern languages at
response: “To tell a good story, realistic, suspenseful and, when-
Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. He is the author of several
ever possible, heart-lifting. I want it to be a story that will take
books and articles and is David Garth’s biographer.
4 | Williams Alumni Review | June 2008
Robert W. Hatton
A
by Robert W. Hatton