Carl Benton Straub, a revered and influential 乐播传媒 scholar, teacher, and academic leader whose ideas, vision, and love for the college influenced generations of faculty and students, died Nov. 15, 2019, at his home in Lewiston, Maine. He was 83 years old.

Straub joined the 乐播传媒 faculty in 1965 and retired in 2005, a 40-year span that included 17 as dean of the faculty and vice president for academic affairs. He retired as dean emeritus of the faculty, professor emeritus of religion, and Clark A. Griffith Professor Emeritus of Environmental Studies.

Photographed in his office in 2004, Carl Benton Straub, dean emeritus of the faculty, professor emeritus of religion, and Clark A. Griffith Professor Emeritus of Environmental Studies, died Nov. 15 at age 83. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

鈥淔rom the moment Carl Straub set foot on this campus, he used his talents to serve students, colleagues, and the institution with unwavering care,鈥� said President Clayton Spencer.

“Carl was a pivotal figure in shaping the academic character of the 乐播传媒 we inhabit today. He was adventurous, interdisciplinary, and, to borrow a phrase he used nearly 55 years ago, a leader with 鈥榓n audacious spirit of experimentation.’ Formidable and steadfast, Carl will be deeply missed. As he would often say at the start of his public remarks over the years, 乐播传媒 is a place of 鈥榤emory and hope.鈥� He gave us both, in great and generous ways.鈥�

Images from the life of Carl Benton Straub.

Straub was born on April 17, 1936, in Carlisle, Pa., the son of Olivia and Ellwood Straub, and grew up in nearby Mechanicsburg. He earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in philosophy and religion from Colgate University in 1958 and a bachelor of sacred theology degree from Harvard Divinity School in 1961. He received a doctorate from Harvard University in 1971.

At 乐播传媒, Straub first served as an instructor in religion and in the Cultural Heritage curriculum, a required general-education core program that spanned the history of key cultural ideas.

Early on, he displayed institutional awareness and an interest in building community and improving campus life. He asked the college to end its hidebound, rules-and-regulations approach to residential life and instead focus on “nurturing students in the ways of responsibility, which, of course, is the hallmark of the liberally educated person,” as he once wrote.

In 1970 he was promoted to assistant professor of religion and assistant dean of the faculty, becoming dean of the faculty and vice president for academic affairs in 1974.

Straub had a profound effect on the college’s academic character and its professoriate in his 17 years as dean, appointing a generation of scholars to the faculty and helping to expand the breadth, depth, and excellence of the 乐播传媒 academic program under President Thomas Hedley Reynolds, with an especially positive effect on the professional pride of the faculty.

Carl Straub speaks during the service for renaming the 乐播传媒 Chapel in memory of the Rev. Peter Gomes ’65 on Oct. 25, 2012. (Mike Bradley/乐播传媒 College)

鈥淐arl had an extraordinary interest and curiosity in what we were working on, regardless of our field of inquiry,鈥� says Jane Costlow, a member of the faculty since 1986 who succeeded Straub as the college鈥檚 Griffith Professor. 鈥淗e made it quite clear how life-giving and connecting the world of scholarship can be.鈥�

He was the past chair of the American Conference of Academic Deans. In 1987, he was selected to the first-ever delegation of American academic deans to visit the then-Soviet Union to meet officially with university rectors and faculty in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Odessa.

Straub loved college ceremonies and their rituals, especially Commencement, seeing it as an “annual, earnest, and effective gathering to acknowledge our heritage and confirm our mission,” as he once wrote.

He especially valued the contributions of honorary degree recipients, “who bear witness to the human possibilities of grace, integrity, and high achievement.” As dean, he wrote 111 honorand citations.

Frequently in his career, Straub delivered remarks specially crafted for 乐播传媒 celebrations, both large and small. Eloquent and erudite, he imparted meaning and insight through well-researched metaphors, historical comparisons, and scholarly references.

Carl Straub reviews the Commencement processional in 1977. (Muskie Archives and Special Collections LIbrary)

Peppered with wry wit, his remarks at such occasions often reflected Straub鈥檚 belief that a residential liberal arts college affords a valuable sense of place.

鈥淗e cherished the 乐播传媒 campus,鈥� says Costlow. 鈥淗e had a profound understanding of how human communities are shaped by their natural context,鈥� whether a formal and organized space like Lake Andrews or 鈥渙pen, relatively unorganized spaces on campus 鈥� like a kind of free space for imagination and thought.鈥�

“He created a classroom culture and relationships with students that fostered curiosity, humility and compassion.”

Retiring from the deanship in 1991, Straub returned to teaching and in 1996 was appointed the inaugural Clark A. Griffith Professor of Environmental Studies.

He contributed prodigiously to the 乐播传媒 classroom. He advised 70 senior theses and another 70 student research or independent-study projects. Fittingly, his last public talk was to his former students, at the college鈥檚 annual Reunion in June 2019, where he spoke to the Class of 1969 on the intersection of climate change, public discourse, culture, and aesthetics.

“Carl helped cultivate a deep sense of wonder, especially for the natural world,” said Matt Schlobohm ’00, one of Straub’s former students. “He created a classroom culture and relationships with students that fostered curiosity, humility and compassion 鈥� encouraging us to wrestle with fundamental human questions about who we are, where we are going, and about our place in and relationship to the natural world.”

Carl Straub, seen in his office in 1985 during his time as dean of the faculty. (Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library)

As a scholar, Straub focused on religious interpretations of the American landscape and on environmental ethics, as well as on the relationship between religion and other cultural expressions, such as art and political mythologies. He had a particular interest in the American Shakers, and in 2009 published the book Honorable Harvest: Shakers and the Natural World.聽

His colleague John Strong, Charles A. Dana Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies, noted that Straub was not a recent arrival to the then-emerging field of environmental studies but one of its 鈥減ioneers,鈥� pointing to Straub鈥檚 own doctoral thesis in 1971, an examination of the Puritans and their wilderness environment that was a 鈥渃oncept before its time.鈥�

In addition to service to 乐播传媒 on faculty committees, Straub served on more than 50 ad hoc advisory or personnel search committees. He was the founding chair of the Philip J. Otis Endowment Committee, a signature program honoring the spiritual and moral dimensions of environmental studies through invited speakers and fellowships.

Circa 1980, Carl Straub (center) laughs with colleagues Dean of the College James Carignan ’61 (left) and Associate Dean James Reese. (Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library)

Straub was a visiting scholar in theology and modern history at Oxford University, 1981鈥�82, and a visiting scholar at the Graduate Theological Union at the University of California, Berkeley, 1991鈥�92. He retired from 乐播传媒 in 2005.

He believed strongly in the arts鈥� ability to enable understanding of one’s place in the world.聽 In 1991, he established the Olivia and Ellwood Straub Endowment at 乐播传媒 to support the college’s acquisition of landscape artwork. He was a member of the Maine Arts Commission, and a trustee of the Portland Symphony Orchestra and of the Maine College of Art.聽

Straub was a fellow of the Society for Values in Higher Education and received an honorary degree from Unity College in 1990 for service to higher education, the arts, and the environment in Maine. In 2008 he received the Distinguished Service Award from the College Key, the 乐播传媒 alumni honor society.

Straub served as president of Maine Audubon鈥檚 board of trustees and on the board of the Maine Tree Foundation. In Lewiston-Auburn, he was a member and officer of the Stanton Bird Club and member of the Community Forest Board.

For decades he cherished his land and camp in nearby Sumner. It offered him a physical place to think, to slow down, and to foster his spiritual connection with nature. He cared for the land as a retreat and would often convene friends and students there.

Frequently in his career as a 乐播传媒 professor and academic dean, Carl Benton Straub, who died Nov. 15, 2019, at age 83, delivered remarks specially crafted for 乐播传媒 celebrations, both large and small.

Erudite and eloquent, he imparted meaning and insight through well-researched metaphors, historical comparisons, and scholarly references to honor people, places, and institutional moments.

Here are six examples, including a final and more personal text about his last faculty office.

1. Thoughts on his college dictionary (2004)
2. An Appreciation of Robert Feintuch (2013)
3. Advice to seniors at the 1988 Senior-Faculty Dinner (1988)
4. Honorary degree citation for Jimmy Carter (1985)
5. Reflections on Peter John Gomes (2012)
6. 鈥淚 Saw My Office Passing By鈥� (2014)

Thoughts on his college dictionary

Straub wrote this text for 乐播传媒 Magazine in 2004 for a story about favorite items in faculty offices, later calling it 鈥渁n appropriate reminder of the power of words and hence the privilege of speech.鈥�

Voltaire and Ambrose Bierce wrote dictionaries; I merely use them. This one, which I bought my first day in college nearly 50 years ago (I remember the purchase in the Colgate bookstore), has been on my desks almost every day since.

Carl Straub’s dictionary, purchased on his first day as a Colgate undergraduate. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

It has been my silent companion. It has yielded up secrets when I thought I knew it all; it has disciplined me when I was careless. It has reminded me that my own creative powers are strangely limited by our lexical fate. No wonder Bierce called a dictionary (not his!) 鈥渁 malevolent literary device.鈥�

The book is not about a chapter in my life but rather of a theme on my journey. The theme is awareness that words are dangerous when misused because they have so much power. They put persons and things in their places, constructing situations with which we must struggle.

Words play havoc with our sensate selves, screening us from deep recesses of life, and thus seducing us into fickle and brittle pageants. My dictionary hasn鈥檛 saved me from these dangers. But its presence has kept me alert.

An Appreciation of Robert Feintuch

Written in 2013, this appreciation for Robert Feintuch, senior lecturer emeritus in art and visual culture, displays Straub’s love of the arts and deep admiration of his faculty colleagues.

I have known Robert for 37 years, ever since his initial appointment to the faculty of 乐播传媒 College.

While we may not be close in time spent together, we are close colleagues. I cherish his friendship; I relish his presence. I have three of Robert’s works, two finished in 1974 as well as one of the more recent “cloud series.”

“Legs Up” (2013), a painting from what Carl Straub calls Robert Feintuch’s “cloud series,” in polymer emulsion on honeycomb panel. Courtesy Sonnabend Gallery, New York; Miller Yezerski Gallery; Boston, and the artist.

What are two of the many dimensions of Robert’s life and journey which I most admire? First, I admire his knowledge of the history of Western art and artists, a history which informs his own work and which he uses to judge how he is doing.

He taught me, as no other artist ever has, how vital is the understanding of whence we have come to appreciate well where we are, why we see what we see, and why we celebrate beauty and truths in the forms we do.

Second, I admire his relentless commitment to and his almost flawless skills for teaching undergraduate students. He is a Master Teacher, surely a noble profession which, when joined with his art, makes him an earthen treasure lighting up our lives.

Happy birthday, dear Robert.

Advice to seniors at the 1988 Senior-Faculty Dinner

In 1988, Straub was dean of the faculty when he offered these remarks, directed at the graduating seniors, to conclude the traditional Senior-Faculty Dinner.

I want to make brief concluding remarks. They are expressions of my personal wishes for you who soon will leave this place.

I know that when you first came to college, all of you had your own high expectations of what would happen in your lives. I鈥檓 sure that one of these nights before Commencement your memory will flash back to those expectations. Some of you probably thought that college would solve all your problems. I鈥檓 sure it hasn鈥檛 done so.

You probably thought ambiguities would be overcome. Instead, I鈥檓 sure new ones have arisen. I do hope, however, that during your years here you have received three gifts, and that you will always bear these gifts and share them with others.

First, I hope you will be forever curious about the facts and truths of life. Learning helps awaken us to our enworlded condition. Knowledge begins in the astonishment that things are the way they are. Curiosity about the world around us and within us needs to share a place with curiosity about the past.

In his 1988 Senior-Faculty remarks, Carl Straub bade farewell to retiring professors, including Professor of History Ernest Muller, seen a few weeks later at Reunion. (Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library)

History is like a river. On the surface, it flows rapidly and disappears. But down below, there is a deep stream which moves more slowly, doesn鈥檛 change quickly, but is the more important because it drives the whole river. Be curious about the deep-down stream. Be proud of your curiosity.

Second, I hope you will do a little civil thinking each day. We all need to reflect upon the responsibilities of citizenship. Democracy is not a spectator sport. The easiest thing in the world is to 鈥渃op鈥� out of the politics of power. The results can be disastrous. Our civic life needs courageous and imaginative participation by you.

I hope you who are leaving and we who are staying will live in touch with the depth of life rather than on the surface of adversarial relationships.

Third, I hope you understand and will remember the ancient meditation sounded through all generations: 鈥淓ither we love one another, or the sea will engulf us and the lights will go out.鈥� The educated person, it seems to me, has insight into the nature of human solidarity. The educated person appreciates the deepest yearning of humankind, the yearning for reconciliation and for trust.

I hope you who are leaving and we who are staying will live in touch with the depth of life rather than on the surface of adversarial relationships. That is one way to act out the privilege of being educated persons.

Members of the graduating class, I am certain all my colleagues on the faculty join me in extending to you hearty congratulations. What we wish for you is an adventure in the life of the mind, well-salted with wit and fruitful diversion, and full of surprises and discoveries about your own possibilities. Dig deep into your worlds. You will find abundant treasures.

To our honored teachers and colleagues who are retiring, we thank you most heartily. Professor Chances, Professor Gyi, Professor Hepburn, Professor Muller, Mrs. Dudman: They have been our mentors for integrity.

There is an old Russian saying, 鈥淎 word is not a sparrow. Once it flies, you cannot catch it.鈥� As teachers, your words will remain among us, while they continue to go out from this place, in sovereign flight. They will continue to beckon us toward what you have professed. To everyone here: good night.

Honorary degree citation for Jimmy Carter

In September 1985, Jimmy Carter traveled to 乐播传媒 to honor his former secretary of state, Edmund Muskie 鈥�36, at the dedication of the Edmund S. Muskie Archives. Carter received an honorary degree during his visit, and Carl Straub wrote this citation, as he did for 111 honorands as dean of the faculty from 1974 to 1991.

President Reynolds, I am honored to present Jimmy Carter.

There is more than the Appalachian Trail which binds Maine to Georgia. There is a common heritage which rises from the simple decency of our people: we share a sense of what is good and just and beautiful. Therefore we share gratitude for the common leadership given us by Jimmy Carter. On this festive occasion when we honor a son of Maine and of 乐播传媒, we pause to thank this son of Georgia.

His journey has been one of human adventure.

Jimmy Carter was Georgia鈥檚 76th governor and America鈥檚 39th president. His personal sojourn and public record are common knowledge: farmer and businessman, naval officer and nuclear engineer, public educator and church teacher, political leader and planning commissioner, house builder and fly fisherman.

His journey has been one of human adventure. When he reached his highest office, he did not forget the lessons from that journey, for they taught him what is important to the American people.

Former President Jimmy Carter hugs Edmund Muskie ’36 during ceremonies dedicating the Muskie Archives at 乐播传媒 College on Sept. 28, 1985. Muskie served under Carter as U.S. secretary of state. (Frank Siteman)

And so his presidency was marked by firm commitment to human rights throughout the world. It was marked by foresight to protect our natural environments, to preserve American wilderness. It was marked by courage to negotiate, with Panama, with Egypt and Israel, with China, with the Soviet Union.

For his grace in the use of power to bear down the haughty and lift up the downtrodden, and for his quiet example that wisdom and love bring reconciliation on this globe given to light and shadow, I present Jimmy Carter for the degree Doctor of Laws.

Reflections on Peter John Gomes

On Oct. 25, 2012, Straub spoke at the renaming of the 乐播传媒 Chapel in memory of the Rev. Peter Gomes 鈥�65.

The young John Keats is remembered by his own words, 鈥淗ere lies one whose name was writ in water.鈥� Today we gather to write Peter鈥檚 name in stone. The walls which frame us, the turrets which anchor our conclave, quarried near Hingham, Mass., a century ago, give place for our remembering and for Peter鈥檚 name.

It is right that we do so. In a Feb. 4, 1977, letter to the venerable dean Harry Rowe, Class of 1912, Peter wrote, 鈥淗ardly a day goes by when I do not have reason to bless the God of Heaven for my years at 乐播传媒.鈥� Peter never wavered in his gratitude.

From his early years, Peter was smitten with words. Over time he became their connoisseur.

He relished this college. He cherished this chapel. Much of his undergraduate life was woven into this place. He sang in the choir and at times was choirmaster. He played the organ. In his senior year he helped liberate chapel services from a century of mandated student attendance.

As student and alumnus, he preached and lectured here for nearly half a century. In the last return he climbed haltingly up to this pulpit. For Peter, the college chapel was where, to borrow Wendell Berry鈥檚 fine words, 鈥渁ll is unentangled and all is undismayed.鈥�

The Rev. Peter Gomes ’65 sings during the Alumni Memorial Service at Reunion 2010. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

What simple stories can I tell about our complex friend that might expand the narrative of continuity in his life? Three come to mind; two are his own.

Peter tells of a conversation with Benjamin Elijah Mays, Class of 1920. The then-elderly statesman said, 鈥淎s a boy I preached to the crows and the cows. But the best of speaking I learned at 乐播传媒.鈥� Peter replied, 鈥淚 did too, sir.鈥�

From his early years, Peter was smitten with words. Over time he became their connoisseur. He respected their power to break the silence, sometimes for the good. Throughout his life he practiced their magical syllables. Peter acknowledged that at 乐播传媒 good speech depended on overcoming the facile thinking and faulty logic of youth.

He attributed his rhetorical confidence and agility to the craggy Yankee professor of speech Brooks Quimby. Peter met Quimby in his first week of college classes and always called him his 鈥渟piritual mentor.鈥�

Peter said that these early experiences provided him with 鈥渁 certain measure of moral security鈥� for the later challenges.

A second story is also Peter鈥檚. Toward the end of his study here the administration proposed a radical change in the academic calendar. Faculty and students were strongly opposed. As was the custom, a debate was scheduled to clarify the issues. In what he called a moment of 鈥減erversity,鈥� Peter chose to enter the debate and argue for the change. Well, the judges ruled Peter鈥檚 side had 鈥� won.

He later recalled the event: 鈥淚 chose to take the losing side in popular opinion, and won. That appealed to me almost more than anything else.鈥� At 乐播传媒 and during two years at Tuskegee, he often advocated unpopular alternatives in campus controversies 鈥� and prevailed. Peter said that these early experiences provided him with 鈥渁 certain measure of moral security鈥� for the later challenges.

Carl Straub speaks during the service for naming the Peter J. Gomes Chapel on Oct. 25, 2012. (Mike Bradley/乐播传媒 College)

Finally, a story of collected moments. In a 1987 乐播传媒 interview, the Plummer Professor acknowledged that while he was not 鈥渁 rank heathen鈥� in college, he shared 鈥渢he cynicism of an undergraduate who had disproved the existence of God.鈥� Irreverence joined his mischief. When employed as Sunday organist for a local Episcopal church, Peter liked to play as preludes rather snappy renditions of 鈥淟ady of Spain.鈥�

On his journey, Peter said what he said, did what he did, hoped what he hoped, out of the audacious and confounding freedom of a Christian man.

On campus, he worked to break down remnants of an earlier residential culture intended for piety. As president of the campus-wide service organization, he single-handedly changed its long-held name 鈥淐hristian Association鈥� to 鈥淐ampus Association.鈥� While Peter was partisan of institutional origins, he also had hearty 鈥� and targeted 鈥� disdain for what he once called, during his trustee years, 鈥渟unshine traditions.鈥�

On his journey, Peter said what he said, did what he did, hoped what he hoped, out of the audacious and confounding freedom of a Christian man. But the pilgrimage itself, the circumstances of living, disciplined his faith and toughened his fortitude. The gift of freedom came to bestow the duty of caring for his fellows.

I return to stone and water. Today we are drawn to stone, not water, to mediate our memories, to mark our gratitude, to chisel into permanence the transitoriness of our kind. The slave spiritual insists there is always, always one more river to cross; we have chosen stone in effort to bridge the flow.

Lest we forget, however, in the midst of our celebration: Keats, the arts and the sciences, render tentative our choice. For Yeats, who read here 80 years ago, the waves may wash away even the stars. The poet Elizabeth Bishop notes water as the transmutation of fire which feeds on stone. The lineaments of Delphi are burning.

In the time beyond our histories, then, the templed rock of Plymouth may crack into the incorrigible sea. The brick may be carried down the Charles to join sediment in the harbor. These walls may be broken by rain and tumble through the rapids to Merrymeeting Bay.

Peter knew all this. He knew of the firmament and of the flood. But in his generous mischievousness, he would have allowed us this day, and he would have joined in our song. So let us rejoice within and because of the bounty of our lives. Let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad for dear Peter鈥檚 life 鈥� for his life among us, for his life in this place.

Amen.

鈥淚 Saw My Office Passing By鈥�

This is a different kind of writing, one displaying his sardonic wit 鈥� this time in service of a poignant theme. Straub wrote this reflection in August 2014 during the demolition of his final office, located at 75 Campus Ave., razed to make way for two new residence halls.

The other day my car was stopped while a large truck came out from the crushed space behind the shabby screens trying to announce 鈥減rogress鈥� for the neighborhood. At first I was mildly annoyed. But soon I recognized it was my office passing by. It was not easily recognizable.

After all, I left it nine years ago, chased out by a policy which states, 鈥渞etire, vacate.鈥� Nothing organic about departments; it鈥檚 all a matter of contracts. Nothing lingering about high learning; the end of sharing is quick and efficient.

Carl Straub saw symbolism in the razing of the building at 75 Campus Ave., where he had his last office as a member of the religion faculty, in August 2014 to make way for new residence halls. (Doug Hubley/乐播传媒 College)

So perhaps I only surmised it was my office. But I was glad I could wait in silence while the truck load rocked over the curb with my friends鈥� offices also.

It was my last office in the college. It was my seventh. The first was the tiny one to the left of the Parker-side door into Hathorn. There were two more in Hathorn, near dear Joe D鈥橝lfonso. Then there were two on the ground floor of Parker, near Charles Niehaus and John Cole. There was the interlude office on the third floor of Lane. It was in that office that I first encountered a few who became treasured friends.

That happy band in the dilapidated old apartment house all savored their common place.

I remember my last office, the one which I鈥檓 certain passes me by, when it was a room in Margaret Brearley鈥檚 apartment. Margaret was an assistant professor of German who died early in her career. Alas, I cannot remember the year I moved into the last office. Was it 1991? All I know is that I was happy there. I was surrounded by my favorite colleagues. I was meeting with wonderful and sometimes recalcitrant students in both religious studies and environmental studies, for a magical opportunity.

It was my place where I had moments to reflect on both the college faculty who spoke to me on campus because I left the dean鈥檚 office, and those who no longer spoke to me because I had changed offices!

I savored this last office. Indeed, that happy band in the dilapidated old apartment house all savored their common place. Before the diaspora into Fancy Hedge, before the cosmic murmur of the fancy split into philosophy and religious studies, before 鈥減rogress鈥� moved John鈥檚 crooked-hanging prints to other walls, before memories became so important to me, I worked in my last office with contentment.

I didn鈥檛 mind that eventually Okrent and Strong had more sun, or that Cummiskey and Tracy had more space. Eventually I was grateful that Bruce remained to help heal the loss of Kolb and Allison.

Now the rubble is nearly flat to the earth. Soon again some of my friends will return to their offices. But mine is gone. It passed by while I waited.

Illustration by David Wilgus and Mervil Paylor

After Harvard Yard was closed to the public during the 2011 Occupy Harvard movement, a graduate student complained that 鈥渨e don鈥檛 want our university to be a gated community.鈥�

Yet the traditional college quadrangle resembles exactly that. Enclosed on four sides, a quad鈥檚 buildings face inward and there are gates galore. 鈥淎nd when you create a ceremonial portal like a gate, you鈥檙e telling visitors that they are entering another world,鈥� says Philip Isaacson 鈥�47, architectural critic and author.

乐播传媒, however, adopted a different model, placing its first two buildings, Hathorn Hall and Parker Hall, side by side atop a sloping plot of land in 1857. Bold and simple, the arrangement was considered 鈥渧ery distinguished,鈥� Isaacson says. Still, early 乐播传媒 leaders 鈥渉adn鈥檛 made up their mind how they would handle future buildings.鈥�

Which brings us to the intriguing decision, a century ago, about where the college would place its new chapel.

When 乐播传媒 created its Chapel, now named for Peter Gomes ’65, the college trustees voted that the space in front of the Chapel would remain open and free from any other structure in perpetuity, 鈥渦nless it be a monument, shaft, arch or similar construction.鈥�

Dedicated in 1914, the Chapel is now named in memory of Peter J. Gomes ’65, the influential and beloved preacher, minister, professor and author.

The naming was celebrated at a service in the Chapel on Oct. 25, a day before the installation of Clayton Spencer as president. Among the speakers was Carl Benton Straub, professor emeritus of religion and the Clark A. Griffith Professor Emeritus of Environmental Studies, who began his reflection with the sentence that Keats asked be chiseled on his tombstone: 鈥淗ere lies one whose name was writ in water.鈥�

With the naming of the Chapel, Straub said, Gomes鈥� name is now written in stone. Specifically, the stone is seam-faced granite, quarried a century ago near Hingham, Mass., and carrying a distinctive and natural tone and texture. 鈥淭he walls which frame us, the turrets which anchor our conclave…give place for our remembering and for Peter鈥檚 name,鈥� Straub said.

With its founding in 1855, the founders of 乐播传媒 registered their protest against 鈥渃astes, classes and social tyrannies,鈥� in the words of George Colby Chase, the college鈥檚 second president. Befitting this iconoclasm, our own Historic Quad evolved less like the quads at places like Harvard, Bowdoin or Dartmouth. The layout is more open, like a city park, Isaacson suggests.

The chapel鈥檚 location is less an ecumenical gesture and more a 鈥渘od to the openness of the college to the community.鈥�

As Oren Cheney鈥檚 chief lieutenant and then as president, Chase was, for many years, under chronic pressure to raise money for the latest college needs. By around 1910, money from Andrew Carnegie for a new science hall was in hand, so Chase was trying to raise money for a new chapel and new gym.

In January 1911, the pressure on Chase ramped up after the college received a $1,000 challenge gift that required 乐播传媒 to raise another $3,000 鈥� in three days 鈥� or forfeit the original $1,000.

So Chase, as he鈥檇 done many times before, took the train to New York City to meet with prospective donors. By his third day, he鈥檇 raised just $2,000. Two hours before his train was to leave, he received a message at his hotel inviting him to call on a donor 鈥� within 15 minutes.

He made the visit, secured $5,000 to meet and exceed the challenge, and then received another $60,000 a year later from the same donor, later revealed to be Ellen S. James, widow of industrialist and philanthropist Daniel Willis James.

“So, what鈥檚 the guy going to do?鈥�

By the time money was in hand for the chapel, the east side of the Quad was filled with Coram Library (1902) and the forthcoming Carnegie Science (1913). So a location on College Street was selected. A likely challenge, Isaacson says, was how to orient the new building in that spot.

鈥淪o along comes Chase with a chapel,鈥� muses Isaacson. 鈥淚f he tries to have it face inward toward the park, its length is going to obscure Parker Hall. If you have it face Parker, then its back end is going to face the town, which isn鈥檛 going to look good, either. So, what鈥檚 the guy going to do?鈥�

The solution was to place the Chapel parallel to College Street, with its porch facing Campus Avenue and the city of Lewiston beyond.

That this orientation has worked so well can be explained by Straub, who did research about the Chapel in the Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library over the summer, both for his remarks at the service and for an historical essay published in a brochure about the Chapel.

Straub found that in June 1912, months before the laying of the cornerstone that November, the Board of Trustees voted to keep the space in front of their future Chapel open and free from any other structure, 鈥渦nless it be a monument, shaft, arch or similar construction,鈥� in perpetuity.

The decision acknowledged the simple fact that where buildings 补谤别苍鈥檛 is as significant as where they are; in practice, it ensured that anyone coming up College Street from the city of Lewiston would have an unobstructed view of the Chapel.

Long ago, the college decided that no building would occupy space in front of the Gomes Chapel.

For 乐播传媒, a welcoming approach to the college was important. Barely a half-century old by then, 乐播传媒 was still well-aware that it owed its existence to Lewiston鈥檚 industrialists 鈥� including namesake Benjamin 乐播传媒 鈥� the leading citizens who had donated the land for Oren Cheney鈥檚 new college back in 1855. Blocking the approach from town with buildings would be like 鈥渟aying to the city, 鈥楰eep out,鈥欌�� Isaacson says.

That the Chapel is the college building that welcomes town to gown is less a religious and ecumenical gesture, Straub says, and more a 鈥渘od to the openness of the college to the community, an acknowledgment of interdependence and of appropriate appreciation.鈥�

At the Chapel dedication in 1914, architect J. Randolph Coolidge noted the importance of allowing the Chapel to say something graceful to the Lewiston community. 鈥淲ith [the Chapel鈥檚] setting of over-arching trees, its wide porches, its easy approaches, it extends an invitation and a welcome to the college and to the city.鈥�

That invitation still stands today. The Gomes Chapel is as 鈥渄istinctive and impressive it was when it was built,鈥� Isaacson says, and still does a splendid job of tying the college to its larger community and its original roots.

A century ago, he adds, 鈥溊植ゴ� College did the right thing.鈥�

More about the Chapel
The recently published brochure Peter J. Gomes Chapel: Common Ground for Uncommon Pursuits,聽written by Carl Benton Straub, professor emeritus of religion and Clark A. Griffith Professor Emeritus of Environmental Studies, offers historical and contemporary perspectives on the Chapel and its role in the cultural and religious life of the college.

For a copy, please contact the 乐播传媒 College Multifaith Chaplaincy at 163 Wood St., Lewiston ME 04240, or email lthomps2@bates.edu.

Thomas Hedley Reynolds, known for nearly three decades of transformational leadership at two Maine educational institutions, died Tuesday, Sept. 22, at his home in Newcastle, Maine, after a long illness. He was 88 years old.

His wife of 24 years, Mary Bartlett Reynolds, was with him at the time of death.

Reynolds served as president of 乐播传媒 College from 1967 through 1989, and of the University of New England from 1990 to 1995. His success as commander of an armored unit in the Mediterranean theater of World War II came to symbolize Reynolds’ qualities as an academic leader: far-reaching vision, decisiveness and energetic determination.

At 乐播传媒, Reynolds presided over a regional school’s evolution into a national liberal arts college now regarded as one of the nation’s best. He led 乐播传媒 to strengthen its faculty and curriculum, add such key facilities as a modern library and arts center, diversify its student body and eliminate the SAT requirement.

“He brought a renewed sense of confidence and purpose,” says John Cole, a faculty member who arrived soon after Reynolds and now holds an endowed history professorship bearing Reynolds’ name. “He enlarged this place, invigorated it, professionalized it.”

President Reynolds, circa 1975, leads the academic procession at Commencement.

乐播传媒 College President Thomas Hedley Reynolds, fall 1983.Reynolds was president from 1967 to 1989.PHOTOGRAPH by David Wilkinson.

乐播传媒 College President Thomas Hedley Reynolds, 1984.Reynolds was president from 1967 to 1989.Photograph by Frank Siteman.

President Reynolds and Robert D. Moss, vice president and director of the Olin Foundation Inc., review plans for the Olin Arts Center at 乐播传媒 College, 1984, shortly after 乐播传媒 received a $4.1 million grant from the foundation to construct and equip a new arts center. Photograph by David Wilkinson.

President Reynolds stands on a backhoe as Julie Macdonald ’81 sits at the controls during the groundbreaking for Merrill Gymnasium in 1979. Photography courtesy of Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library.

President Reynolds, circa 1975. Photograph by Bachrach.

Presidents Emeriti Reynolds and Donald W. Harward (right) flank President-elect Elaine Tuttle Hansen prior to her inauguration in 2002.

President Reynolds applauds as Andrew Young (left), then a U.S. Congressman from Georgia, receives an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the 1975 乐播传媒 Commencement. Photograph by John Urban.

At Commencement 1981, President Reynolds greets civil rights leader, preacher and educator Benjamin Mays ’20. At Reynolds’ inauguration in 1967, Mays had delivered greetings on behalf of all 乐播传媒 alumni. Photo courtesy of Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library.

In 1977, President Reynolds tends to his sailboat, the Sea Bird. Photograph by Charlie Brown.

President Reynolds listens during Commencement 1979.

Reynolds left retirement to become the third president of the University of New England, in Biddeford. (The university added a Portland campus in 1996.) Originally taking the position on a short-term basis, Reynolds ended up giving that growing institution five years of valuable service.

“He saw something here, material in the raw that had the potentiality for greatness,” UNE trustee Neil Rolde wrote in a 1995 tribute to Reynolds in “Coastlines,” the UNE magazine. “That is perhaps his greatest gift to what is, after all, a fledgling institution, now on its feet, no longer shaky, ready to flex its muscles.”

Reynolds was born on Nov. 23, 1920, in New York, the son of Wallace and Helen (Hedley) Reynolds. He attended The Browning School in New York City and Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts, from which he graduated in 1938. In 1942 he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at Williams College.

With America embroiled in World War II, Reynolds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a unit commander in a tank battalion that fought in North Africa and Italy. Reynolds earned the Army’s Bronze Star and the French Croix de Guerre with Silver Star.

After the war, he earned a master’s degree in 1947 and a doctorate in history in 1953, both from Columbia University. After teaching at Hunter College and serving as staff historian for the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C., Reynolds joined the history faculty at Middlebury College in 1949.

Reynolds remained at Middlebury for 18 years, becoming head of the history department and dean of men in 1957, and dean of the college seven years later. He was known there as “Dean Tom.”

Reynolds became 乐播传媒’ fifth president in January 1967. The expansion and evolution that distinguished his tenure touched nearly every facet of the 乐播传媒 experience, from student life to academics, from physical facilities to college finances.

“Hedley felt it was his job was to make the big decisions, and then to let his officers run their own operations,” says William Hiss, a 1966 乐播传媒 alumnus, admissions dean under Reynolds and now vice president for external affairs. “For all his tank-commander management style and very private personality, he made a whole raft of big decisions for 乐播传媒 correctly.”

The championing of the 乐播传媒 faculty was perhaps Reynolds’ greatest achievement. “Throughout his presidency, his core interest was developing the quality of the faculty, and consequently the quality of the curriculum and of the undergraduate experience,” says Carl Benton Straub, a professor emeritus of religion and the Clark A. Griffith Professor Emeritus of Environmental Studies. Straub served as dean of faculty under Reynolds for 15 years.

“He had a clear understanding of what excellence was in a college of the liberal arts and sciences. He knew how to instill in the faculty a sense of pride in the institution and the self-confidence to develop the quality of the place.”

An early step was Reynolds鈥� emphasis on improving salaries in an effort to attract and retain high-quality faculty. Under his administration, the faculty grew from 65 full-time equivalents, with 46 percent holding doctorates, to 114 full-time equivalents with 80 percent holding the Ph.D. 乐播传媒 markedly improved its faculty-student ratio during the Reynolds years, as well as achieving greater gender equity.

Reynolds led 乐播传媒 in diversifying its student body — academically, geographically, ethnically and racially. It was during his tenure that the college ceased to require that student applicants report their SAT scores, a move that widened the range of accepted students without affecting academic standards, as later 乐播传媒 studies showed.

Arriving at a time of student dissatisfaction with strict and archaic campus social rules, Reynolds guided 乐播传媒 through the tensions of the late 1960s and 1970s. In May 1970, Reynolds famously drove a truck to support 乐播传媒 students who, responding to a national student strike protesting the Vietnam War, performed three days of community service in Lewiston.

Reynolds’ tenure at 乐播传媒 saw the construction of a new library, an arts center, a field house and the conversion of the former women鈥檚 athletic building into the Edmund S. Muskie Archives. 乐播传媒 created four new academic departments, expanded its distinctive five-week spring Short Term semester and established the 乐播传媒 Dance Festival, now a nationally renowned summer program.

“He had great generosity of spirit,” says Judith Marden, a member of the college class of 1966 and former 乐播传媒 administrator who worked with Reynolds. “He was wonderful to work with — full of energy, direct, outspoken, generous with his time and his opinions and his war stories.

“You always knew who he was and what he stood for.”

Reynolds took the helm of the University of New England just 12 years after that institution was born from the merger of a small liberal arts college and a school of osteopathic medicine. His tenure was marked by steady increases in student enrollment, academic prestige and financial capability. A signal Reynolds achievement was the construction of the Harold Alfond Center for Health Sciences, product of a capital campaign that won the university’s first million-dollar gift.

Reynolds’ confidence in UNE, wrote Rolde, “has bred excitement and success, which in turn generates further excitement and success.”

Off campus, Reynolds served as a director of the Public Broadcasting Service in Washington, D.C., and as a trustee and chairman of the board of WCBB-TV in Lewiston; a member and director of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities; a longtime director of Liberty Mutual; and a director and president of the New England Colleges Fund.

He chaired the Governor’s Special Commission on the Status of Education in Maine. “Because of the outstanding work he did . . . [in that role], thousands of Maine children will be better prepared to live productive lives when they leave public school,” former Maine Gov. Joseph Brennan noted in a letter in the Portland Press Herald.

Reynolds held honorary degrees from Williams, Bowdoin, Colby, Middlebury and 乐播传媒 colleges and from the University of Maine.

Known on campus as a private man, Reynolds was a voracious reader and an outdoorsman who enjoyed skiing, tennis and particularly sailing.

Reynolds was predeceased by his parents and by a son, David Hewson Reynolds, one of four children born during his marriage to Jean Fine Lytle. They married in 1943.

In addition to his wife and Jean Lytle of Randolph, Vt., he is survived by a sister, Elizabeth Reynolds Henderson of Locust Valley, N.Y.; two sons, Thomas Scott Reynolds of West Tisbury, Mass., and John Hedley Reynolds of Stannard, Vt.; and a daughter, Tay R. Simpson, also of Randolph.

鈥� by Doug Hubley, Staff Writer

Thomas Hedley Reynold served as president of 乐播传媒 College from 1967 through 1989. (David Wilkinson for 乐播传媒 College)

乐播传媒 College President Thomas Hedley Reynolds, 1984.Reynolds was president from 1967 to 1989.Photograph by Frank Siteman.

President Reynolds and Robert D. Moss, vice president and director of the Olin Foundation Inc., review plans for the Olin Arts Center at 乐播传媒 College, 1984, shortly after 乐播传媒 received a $4.1 million grant from the foundation to construct and equip a new arts center. Photograph by David Wilkinson.

President Reynolds stands on a backhoe as Julie Macdonald '81 sits at the controls during the groundbreaking for Merrill Gymnasium in 1979. Photography courtesy of Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library.

President Reynolds, circa 1975. Photograph by Bachrach.

Thomas Hedley Reynolds, known for nearly three decades of transformational leadership at two Maine educational institutions, died Tuesday, Sept. 22, at his home in Newcastle, Maine, after a long illness. He was 88 years old.

His wife of 24 years, Mary Bartlett Reynolds, was with him at the time of death.

Reynolds served as president of 乐播传媒 College from 1967 through 1989, and of the University of New England from 1990 to 1995. His success as commander of an armored unit in the Mediterranean theater of World War II came to symbolize Reynolds’ qualities as an academic leader: far-reaching vision, decisiveness and energetic determination.

At 乐播传媒, Reynolds presided over a regional school’s evolution into a national liberal arts college now regarded as one of the nation’s best. He led 乐播传媒 to strengthen its faculty and curriculum, add such key facilities as a modern library and arts center, diversify its student body and eliminate the SAT requirement.

“He brought a renewed sense of confidence and purpose,” says John Cole, a faculty member who arrived soon after Reynolds and now holds an endowed history professorship bearing Reynolds’ name. “He enlarged this place, invigorated it, professionalized it.”

A memorial service for President Emeritus Reynolds takes place at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, in the 乐播传媒 College Chapel, College Street. For more information, please call the Office of the President, 乐播传媒 College, at 207-786-6102. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to:

The Thomas Hedley Reynolds Professorship in History, in care of the Office of College Advancement, 乐播传媒 College, 2 Andrews Road, Lewiston, Maine 04240;

Or, to the scholarship fund at the University of New England in President Reynolds’ memory, in care of Scott Marchildon ’95, assistant vice president of institutional advancement, UNE, 716 Stevens Ave., Portland, Maine 04103; telephone 207-221-4230.

Reynolds left retirement to become the third president of the University of New England, in Biddeford. (The university added a Portland campus in 1996.) Originally taking the position on a short-term basis, Reynolds ended up giving that growing institution five years of valuable service.

“He saw something here, material in the raw that had the potentiality for greatness,” UNE trustee Neil Rolde wrote in a 1995 tribute to Reynolds in “Coastlines,” the UNE magazine. “That is perhaps his greatest gift to what is, after all, a fledgling institution, now on its feet, no longer shaky, ready to flex its muscles.”

Reynolds was born on Nov. 23, 1920, in New York, the son of Wallace and Helen (Hedley) Reynolds. He attended The Browning School in New York City and Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts, from which he graduated in 1938. In 1942 he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at Williams College.

With America embroiled in World War II, Reynolds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a unit commander in a tank battalion that fought in North Africa and Italy. Reynolds earned the Army’s Bronze Star and the French Croix de Guerre with Silver Star.

After the war, he earned a master’s degree in 1947 and a doctorate in history in 1953, both from Columbia University. After teaching at Hunter College and serving as staff historian for the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C., Reynolds joined the history faculty at Middlebury College in 1949.

Reynolds remained at Middlebury for 18 years, becoming head of the history department and dean of men in 1957, and dean of the college seven years later. He was known there as “Dean Tom.”

Reynolds became 乐播传媒’ fifth president in January 1967. The expansion and evolution that distinguished his tenure touched nearly every facet of the 乐播传媒 experience, from student life to academics, from physical facilities to college finances.

“Hedley felt it was his job was to make the big decisions, and then to let his officers run their own operations,” says William Hiss, a 1966 乐播传媒 alumnus, admissions dean under Reynolds and now vice president for external affairs. “For all his tank-commander management style and very private personality, he made a whole raft of big decisions for 乐播传媒 correctly.”

Reynolds’ contributions to 乐播传媒 are documented in his administration files, available at the Muskie Archives and .

The championing of the 乐播传媒 faculty was perhaps Reynolds’ greatest achievement. “Throughout his presidency, his core interest was developing the quality of the faculty, and consequently the quality of the curriculum and of the undergraduate experience,” says Carl Benton Straub, a professor emeritus of religion and the Clark A. Griffith Professor Emeritus of Environmental Studies. Straub served as dean of faculty under Reynolds for 15 years.

“He had a clear understanding of what excellence was in a college of the liberal arts and sciences. He knew how to instill in the faculty a sense of pride in the institution and the self-confidence to develop the quality of the place.”

An early step was Reynolds鈥� emphasis on improving salaries in an effort to attract and retain high-quality faculty. Under his administration, the faculty grew from 65 full-time equivalents, with 46 percent holding doctorates, to 114 full-time equivalents with 80 percent holding the Ph.D. 乐播传媒 markedly improved its faculty-student ratio during the Reynolds years, as well as achieving greater gender equity.

Reynolds led 乐播传媒 in diversifying its student body — academically, geographically, ethnically and racially. It was during his tenure that the college ceased to require that student applicants report their SAT scores, a move that widened the range of accepted students without affecting academic standards, as later 乐播传媒 studies showed.

Arriving at a time of student dissatisfaction with strict and archaic campus social rules, Reynolds guided 乐播传媒 through the tensions of the late 1960s and 1970s. In May 1970, Reynolds famously drove a truck to support 乐播传媒 students who, responding to a national student strike protesting the Vietnam War, performed three days of community service in Lewiston.

Reynolds’ tenure at 乐播传媒 saw the construction of a new library, an arts center, a field house and the conversion of the former women鈥檚 athletic building into the Edmund S. Muskie Archives. 乐播传媒 created four new academic departments, expanded its distinctive five-week spring Short Term semester and established the 乐播传媒 Dance Festival, now a nationally renowned summer program.

“He had great generosity of spirit,” says Judith Marden, a member of the college class of 1966 and former 乐播传媒 administrator who worked with Reynolds. “He was wonderful to work with — full of energy, direct, outspoken, generous with his time and his opinions and his war stories.

“You always knew who he was and what he stood for.”

Reynolds took the helm of the University of New England just 12 years after that institution was born from the merger of a small liberal arts college and a school of osteopathic medicine. His tenure was marked by steady increases in student enrollment, academic prestige and financial capability. A signal Reynolds achievement was the construction of the Harold Alfond Center for Health Sciences, product of a capital campaign that won the university’s first million-dollar gift.

Reynolds’ confidence in UNE, wrote Rolde, “has bred excitement and success, which in turn generates further excitement and success.”

Off campus, Reynolds served as a director of the Public Broadcasting Service in Washington, D.C., and as a trustee and chairman of the board of WCBB-TV in Lewiston; a member and director of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities; a longtime director of Liberty Mutual; and a director and president of the New England Colleges Fund.

He chaired the Governor’s Special Commission on the Status of Education in Maine. “Because of the outstanding work he did . . . [in that role], thousands of Maine children will be better prepared to live productive lives when they leave public school,” former Maine Gov. Joseph Brennan noted in a letter in the Portland Press Herald.

Reynolds held honorary degrees from Williams, Bowdoin, Colby, Middlebury and 乐播传媒 colleges and from the University of Maine.

Known on campus as a private man, Reynolds was a voracious reader and an outdoorsman who enjoyed skiing, tennis and particularly sailing.

Reynolds was predeceased by his parents and by a son, David Hewson Reynolds, one of four children born during his marriage to Jean Fine Lytle. They married in 1943.

In addition to his wife and Jean Lytle of Randolph, Vt., he is survived by a sister, Elizabeth Reynolds Henderson of Locust Valley, N.Y.; two sons, Thomas Scott Reynolds of West Tisbury, Mass., and John Hedley Reynolds of Stannard, Vt.; and a daughter, Tay R. Simpson, also of Randolph.

鈥� by Doug Hubley, Staff Writer