My memories of Iowa State Teachers College are still vivid—probably like my mother’s recollections of Iowa State Normal School where she graduated in 1924. Our daughter, a 1984 UNI grad, has the same good memories of her education. Our alma mater continues to demonstrate excellence as a nationally acclaimed institution of higher learning and all alumni (including the graduates of State College of Iowa) can be proud to share in that tradition.

My college education began one humid afternoon in August of ‘52 when we freshmen climbed the stairs of Stadium Hall, our ‘residence hall’ located below O.R. Latham Stadium and above the indoor track and locker rooms. We quickly learned that five or six of us would be stacked bunk-bed style in each room. Even the first week of classes and our initiation in Prexy’s Pond paled in comparison with what appeared to be a year’s ‘sentence’ in Stadium Hall.

We had moments of self-doubt about whether we could survive that year, yet we knew if we could confront the challenges of Stadium Hall and the academic rigor freshmen customarily encounter, we could graduate three years later. With pride, most of us did.

The general education program grounded us with a solid foundation of liberal arts courses, capstoned with courses in our major and minor fields. The incentive and support to succeed can be largely attributed to the dedicated, experienced faculty, small classes and individual attention. Could we, as prospective teachers, be any more fortunate than to have exemplary professors whom we would model in our teaching careers?

Like my classmates, I worked hard to pay for my education, to stay solvent academically and to graduate in four years with an English major and a speech minor. For this accomplishment I credit the faculty. Significantly, the same scholars under whom we studied in advanced courses skillfully taught the general education classes. I had Dr. Louise Forest, with her Ph.D. from Yale University, for Humanities I the first quarter of my freshman year and for Shakespeare later as a requirement of my major. This patient prof rescued me in Humanities by teaching me outside class how to write an open-book essay test and gave me rudiments I used later in teaching high school students how to handle the task.

Looking back, I’m not surprised that ISTC shared the distinction with George Peabody College for Teachers and Columbia University/Teachers College as among the best teachers colleges in the country. Likewise today, UNI distinguishes its graduates with a stellar reputation.

Among our many extracurricular opportunities were lecture and concert series, dances, intramurals, intercollegiate athletics, drama and music productions. I recall being the lone English major on the football team, lettering three years under coach ‘Buck’ Starbeck. Finishing Buck’s practice and then overeating at his Commons training table, I could still make play practice in the Aud under drama coaches Hazel Strayer and Stan Wood. To learn and perform under the lights of these three fine coaches was a bonus in my education.

Taking a full load each quarter didn’t prevent me from being active in Men’s Union, I Club, Speech Club and Phi Sigma Epsilon social fraternity. Faculty expected much of us, yet our professors tempered their demands, wisely recognizing the critical balance between intellectual and social development in a liberal arts education.

Fifty years has not impaired my memory of the professors —‘teachers’ at heart — who challenged our preconceptions, lifted our aspirations and equipped us with essential skills of and respect for our profession. The grades I received from Dr. William Lang and Dr. Joe Fox, for example, were incidental in comparison with the ‘intellectual buzz’ they geneJuly 18, 2006ent James Maucker also had a significant influence on students.

It is appropriate also to pay tribute to one individual to whom I’m indebted. Dr. Howard Vander Beek was one of my professors and mentors in student teaching. Now professor emeritus of teaching at Price Laboratory School, he had a profound influence on my career. I am fortunate to have him as a friend. He retired in 1981 as chair of the English language arts department at Price Lab, the position he held since joining the staff in 1948. Given the high school English students, college seniors and graduate candidates he taught, Dr. Vander Beek influenced the lives of thousands of students.

At his retirement he said with characteristic humility that his most important task in teaching is “seeing all individuals progress to the fullest of their abilities.” As one of those students, I’ve tried to follow his example in my career.

Memories do endure, particularly those perpetuated by their significant influence on one’s life. The years devoted to acquiring an undergraduate education at ISTC I remember well, with a genuine feeling of indebtedness and respect.