Campus THEN and NOW Series - Part 15: Condon Hall

Caitlin H.

November 19, 2009 - 12:03 PM

When the University of Oregon was founded in 1876 it comprised of 155 students and five faculty members. Tomas Condon, an Oregon geologist, missionary turned scientist, was one of the original faculty members. Condon Hall is named in his honor.

The department of geography is still housed in Condon Hall. It is especially important I tell you about geography today, since this is geography awareness week. There have been some exciting activities on campus to celebrate the occasion that have been wonderful to attend. For instance last night I went to a presentation by Jim Meacham who works in the UO InfoGraphics lab talk about archaeology and landscape in the Altai Mountains of Mongolia. Fun fact for the day: Geography Awareness Week was started by UO's own Susan Hardwick when she taught at Chico State.

I recently discovered this nugget of information when I was inducted into Gamma Theta Upsilon, the International Geographic Honor Society. Susan is the faculty advisor for our University of Oregon chapter, Theta Kappa. To be honest I am a member of a couple of other honor societies on campus, and have attended other induction ceremonies before, but none of them were quite like this one.

Tuesday night I attended the induction ceremony for GTU in Condon Hall. That morning I assumed it would be a kind of stuffy affair where they have you stand up, recite some oath with your hand raised, get called to the front of the room to pick up your award, and then go home after listening to how high of an honor you have achieved and how this new honor society could enhance your life and the lives of others. All honor societies are special, and I'm proud to be involved with the programs I am, but honestly, I've never enjoyed the induction process, or felt that special after it was completed.

When I woke up Tuesday morning I realized I had no idea what I was going to wear to the ceremony. Was it formal, informal, business casual...I couldn't recall anywhere in the invitations or reminders where it might have mentioned. After some searching I dug out the original announcement and noticed it said ‘pizza' somewhere, and I correctly assumed since pizza was involved jeans and a nice shirt would be sufficient. When I walked into Condon Hall I was still skeptical, but found comfort in coalition with a fellow student from my climatology course. I would estimate nearly 20 students were in attendance, both graduates and undergraduates, and it didn't take long for us to join in lively conversation across our departmental comrades.

Enter Susan Hardwick.

I hadn't met Susan before, but it would be sufficient to claim, ‘I liked her from the start.' Susan swept through the room like wildfire- truly one of those professors that engages people, inspires people, and connects with people. She made a point of congratulating all of us, personally, making rounds to shake our hands. We were served our pizza and while the new inductees sat and ate, Susan entertained us. She talked about how exciting this opportunity was and how proud of ourselves we should be. While I can imagine myself halfway bored with this speech in another situation, Susan had me drawn in hook, line, and sinker. I was excited to learn more about the program and what it meant. She highlighted for us this wasn't the kind of thing you join and then need to know secret handshakes or wear matching outfits and have pancake socials. (Although hey, the pancake social doesn't sound half bad). We talked a little bit about this being geography awareness week and her own induction into Gamma Theta Upsilon years ago. She even brought her framed certificate to share with us. She shared with us the story of how she started Geography Awareness week when she was teaching in Chico, California. In short, as the conversation went on, I became increasingly proud of being a geographer and especially a geographer at the University of Oregon. I felt special. Refreshingly, I felt like this honor truly meant something. And Susan made sure it was a ceremony I wouldn't forget.

When we finished our pizza Susan excused herself to change into ‘appropriate induction attire.' ...She returned wearing her academic regalia fit for spring commencement complete with a globe on her head. This might make GTU lose credibility for some of you, but to me, it is part of what made the night special. I suppose you'd have to understand the atmosphere of the geography department at the UO to understand what was really going on. To give you some idea let me add that the evening was full of laughter and other staff dropping by to congratulate us and stop for a chat. We had fun, but it didn't make the occasion any less significant. So here is Susan in a ridiculous outfit, dimming the lights and passing out candles for us to hold as we recite our oath. She was even kind enough to hand around index cards decorated with world stickers to frame the candle so the wax wouldn't drip on our hands. Like all other honor societies we stood and recited our oath, vowed to do our best for the field of geography, and committed ourselves to this organization. We were smiling, we were getting to know each other better, and we were excited about the evening and our new academic achievements. GTU, Susan Hardwick, the geography department at the University of Oregon have positively influenced my life.

I should mention here that Gamma Theta Upsilon is not the only way to be involved in Honors groups on campus. I have mentioned the Robert D. Clark Honors College before. While I won't discuss all of them today, perhaps you may have an interest in looking into a few other academic honor programs at the UO. Whatever your age, I wish you high academic achievement and intellectual inquiry. And of course, go out and celebrate geography awareness week!