Clark Honors College 50th Anniversary!

Katie D.

February 20, 2011 - 8:37 PM

Last night the Robert D. Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon celebrated its 50th anniversary with a gala event held at The Nines hotel in downtown Portland! Alumni from all 50 years of the Honors College's existence were in attendance, as were current students and faculty members, all celebrating the college that is home for many of us on campus.

I have never attended such an elegant and extravagant event. The Nines is a beautiful venue for an event of this excitement, and was the perfect setting for the evening.

My friend, Madeline, and I attended as student members of the Honors College community. As such, we mingled with the guests and provided the current perspective of the CHC. We spoke with alumni from far back in the Honors College history at the reception and the dinner.

The formal program was held during dinner. As I ate my meal (organic field greens salad followed by braised beef short rib with parsnip puree and blood orange reduction, with apricot frangipan tart for dessert) I chatted with the other members of my table and then listened to the speakers. The gentlemen on either side of me were CHC alumni, and had known and loved some of my favorite Honors College professors more than twenty years ago. It's amazing to think about the things that have changed and what has stayed the same in all those years.

Richard Lariviere, the University of Oregon President, began the event. He spoke about the Honors College as the heart of the university: as a central facet of all other university programs and plans. In this sense, he talked about CHC students as leaders and creative drivers of the UO. I truly admire our university president for his kindness and involvement in so many aspects of university life, and for his willingness to engage with students. Madeline and I had the chance to speak with him for almost ten minutes before the dinner began, and he was very approachable and engaged with our conversation. Speaking with him was actually the highlight of the evening for me.

David Frank, the Dean of the Honors College, spoke next. He talked about the dedication and engagement of Honors College students, and our commitment to leadership and social change on campus and in the world. He sees the academic mission of the CHC to be inextricable from the mission of improving the larger world. His commitment has allowed me to engage with the academic and broader Eugene community in so many projects and events over the past several years. I was so glad to see him celebrate this commitment before the 250 members of the Honors College community present last night.

David Frank then introduced the premiere of the film With Honors: Fifty Years of Achievement, a documentary about the Honors College, filmed by Professors Dan Miller and Suzanne Clark. This was a beautiful tribute to the CHC, both for its in-depth exploration of what the college means for its current students and because of its portrayal of the Honors College over the past five decades. There were pictures of classrooms and professors from the founding of the CHC, continuing over the years. I was also very pleased to have been a part of the film: I was interviewed about Inside-Out and my thesis, and thought that Dan and Suzanne did a fabulous job of celebrating the strengths of the Honors College through the voices of the participants. I was so happy to be a part of that effort.

The final hour or so of the event was dedicated to honoring members of the Honors College community for their contributions or for the lessons their years since graduating can offer for the future of the CHC. The Keynote address was given by John von Schlegell, cofounder and managing partner of endeavour capital. Then the alumni honorees were introduced and offered brief speeches: Richard Boyles class of 1979, Mary Dasso class of 1984, Ban Dutton of 1987, Margaret Moore of 1961 (the first graduate of the Clark Honors College), Randall Wulff of 1970, and Jordan Yospe of 1983.

The entire event was an honor and a treat for me. It is so fun to see my professors and academic community in a different setting and different light. It is also a thrill to hear the stories of alumni who were in my shoes forty years ago, and have made big names for themselves in the world. Even more exciting is the fact that they still consider the Clark Honors College to be a formative piece of their lives, and that they remain involved and invested in the experience of students like me.

The gala celebration of the Clark Honors College on its fiftieth anniversary was a rousing success! I feel so privileged to be a part of this community, and to involve myself with a program that is so meaningful for so many across the years.