Reata (Abilene, Tex.), November 1984 Page: 3 of 7
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THE REATANovember 1984Page 3
Pill ;' '-HftFf liB" 111
OLE- r'ii sHHLJiiiKii mH
Madam President
Dr. Delorcs Washburn professor of English has served on the HSU
faculty for 16 years and currently serves as faculty president.
Profe.SSOr Dr. Delores Washburn
Profile
Determination is an important part of starting col-
lege and graduating with a degree. It was deter-
mlnatlon that aided Dr. Delores Washburn as she
By Michael Guevara began college had to quit and began again to ob-
tain four degrees.
' ' " ' Dr. Washburn began college at 18 years of age at
'--" Frank Phillips itilldgc?'i7i BVgVteVas. After com-
pleting one year of college and 38 hours of credit
Dr. Washburn was married to her husband Jim
Martin. With her husband In the Air Force college
was interrupted for four years as she traveled to
Germany with him. After returning from Germany
her first child was born.
However her path was to change once again as
a result of a personal tragedy. Her husband was kill-
ed and she was then faced with the reality of having
to provide for her children and herself.
In 1964 Dr. Washburn returned to Frank Phillips
College as a sophomore where she eventually
received an Associate of Arts degree In English.
She then went on to West Texas State University
where she received her BA In 1967 and MA in
1968. Dr. Washburn then earned her Ph.D from
Texas Tech University In 1978.
Dr. Washburn has since been mauled to Paul
Washburn a graduate of HSU she has two
daughters Gwen Martin a 1983 Suma Cum
Laude graduate of HSU who will begin law school
In January and Dee Debra Hlnshaw who lives In
Austin with her husband and children.
Dr. Washburn enjoys studying Southern
American fiction. She says she loves to read "I
wish I had the leisure time to read more." William
Faulkper Flannery O'Connor and Eudora Welty
are some of her favorite authors.
As a teacher Dr. Washburn enjoys contact with
the students. She loves the continual exposure to
literature and arts and the lasting friendship
developed with students as they come graduate
and return.
To Dr. Washburn the Ideal student has an In-
quisitive mind and wants to grow and do better.
She admires the student who Is In competition with
himself loves to learn and has a spirit of Inquiry.
Besides teaching Enghlsh Dr. Washbum tries to
challenge her students to be open and receptive to
other points of view. She urges students to com-
pare and contrast things and stresses fair-
mindedness. She feels students should keep their
beliefs but does not encourage narrowness and
rigidity.
Last year Dr. Washburn was elected president of
the faculty. A goal of Dr. Washburn Is to see the
faculty develop closer bonds with the alumni and
trustees of HSU. She feels the faculty has a good
relationship with the administration and students.
She uses the faculty meetings as a forum to discuss
things central to faculty life on campus and to en-
J courage support for Individual goals of the faculty.
There is a strong love for HSU In Dr.
Washburn a love for the people the students the
faculty and staff. She says she respects and admires
the dedication of all the staff and students.
Dr. Washbum was honored as the first
distinguished graduate of Frank Phillips College in
1983 and she also received the Cullen Professor
Award for excellence In teaching that same year.
Dr. Washburn was also one of 16 American
scholars who was selected to attend the 20th an-
IP niversary of the death of Flannery O'Connor In
Sandbjerg Denmark during August of 1984.
Having come to Hardin-Simmons In 1968 Dr.
Washburn Is now in her 16th year as an HSU facul-
ty member.
c
OUNSELOR'S
ORNER
By Dr. Ray Johnson
Helping You Choose a Career
I am having some very good ex-
periences with students with the
vocational Interest Inventory I of-
fer on our campus.
On vacation last summer I
chanced to visit with a graduate
from a year agr while eating In a
cafeteria in New Mexico. She had
taken the Inventory during her
senior year had worked a year
and now was planning to enter
graduate school to earn the
Master of Library Science degree.
Her Inventory results had sug-
gested that she would like library
work. She had never considered
such a career before. She con-
cluded that this Is a good direc-
tion and Is excited about her
future In this field.
On campus a couple of years
ago I was talking with one of our
students who had been undecided
about a major and who now was
In the nursing program. He said
he had never thought of becoming
a nurse but his Inventory results
Indicated that he would like this
field of work. Now in advanced
courses in our pre-nurslng pro-
gram he said the curriculum was
very much to his liking and he
was confident he had found his
niche.
Walking through the Mall a few
months ago I encountered a
graduate of Hardin-Simmons
University who had been uncom-
fortable with her choice in a major
as her senior year was beginning.
She took the inventory tried
another direction briefly and then
decided to return to her original
major so she would graduate
even though" she had- doubts'
about It. Now married to a Dyess
airman she learned that she liked
military life and recalled that her
vocational interest inventory had
suggested' a career In military ser-
vice. Such a direction was so
foreign to her experience up to
that time that she didn't take It
seriously. She was now applying
to attend Officers' Training
School to move toward her own
Air Force career.
Visiting in one of our local chur-
ches recently I was talking with a
graduate from two years ago. She
had taken the Inventory In her
Junior year when she seemed to
find nothing that really was right
for her by way of a vocation and
major. Speech pathology emerg-
ed on the Inventory as a choice to
be considered. She took an In-
troductory course found it to her
liking and graduated from HSU
In that field. Now she has been In
a school In the panhandle as a
speech pathologist for two years
finds the work Very much to her
liking and this fall is beginning
graduate study In this specialty.
Of course the Inventory doesn't
always turn up with results that are
this dramatically correct. But it Is
of genuine help to many. I suggest
it even for students who. arc very
sure of what they want to do.
Many times It affirms direction.
Sometimes it suggests that it might
be well to take a second look.
You are Invited to come by and
take the Strong-Campbell Interest
Inventory. It is free to HSU
students and can be completed In
less than an hour. Phone 328 for
your appointment.
FORUM
v
Life and Literature: A Regional Perspective
By Dr. Lawrence Clayton
Dean College of Arts and Sciences
A university education should
broaden the Intellectual horizons
and expand the Individual's
awareness to the possibilities and
abilities of the mind. This expand-
ed perspective should enhance
the person's global view certainly
but It should also focus on the
local and regional perspective
culturally and literartly for it Is in
these two areas that one can best
feel the pulse of a people. This ex-
perience should produce greater
understanding of the Individual's
relationship with the region Its
people and Its Influences.
For the Southwest this
time on the family ranch In Archer
County continues to enjoy broad
critical acceptance. In addition he
has emerged as the spokesman
for the liberal side of the literary
establishment as his Texas
Observer article In 1982 and the
heated responses to It prove.
A.C. Greene a former Abile-
nlan is a bonafide Texas writer.
From his home In Dallas Greene
:ontlnues to write lecture and
review books and to make a living
at It. His latest effort Highland
Park Woman Is a short story col-
lection that has been favorably
received even by the New York
perspective is best describedIn. critical establishment
terms of the Life and Literature' of John Graves the acknowledg-
the Southwest. This title wm coin- ' e'd Dean of Texas Letters con-
ed more than fifty years ago when tlnues to write from his hard scrab-
J. Frank Doble finally convinced ble farm near Glen Rose but his
the administration at the Unlversl- reputation is international. A fine
ty of Texas to let him offer 'the "' 'writer like Elroy Bode originally
now-famous course by that name from Kerrvllle and now living In El
The administration's argument Paso has produced fine sensitive
against creating Just a literature sketches that mirror his ex-
course was that no literature"of the perlences In the Texas Hill Coun-
Southwest existed at tK'at Jfime. ! try. The latest edition of his work
Dobie no doubt Intended to This Favored Place was actually
focus upon oral literature when he
proposed his title for ho Included?'
in the course many of the! stories 0
and narrative songs that he knew'
abounded In the region. He was
likely well aware of the paucity of i
forma . aualltv literature u U V
ghost edited by Dr. Lou
R6denberger who continues to
freelance from her home east of
Balrd.
Rodenberger also edited Her
Work Stories by Texas Women
one of the finest books to appear
rmai quality llieimuie.n -J re une Ul uie llllMi vuuna iu uHHtu.
That situation Is much altered'' In years and one which proves
today. A number of able writers beyond anyone's doubt that Texas
are Droduclnq material well worth Is .blessed with a number of ex-
readlng and a group of scholars is
actively discussing that work.
Several of these writers are Tex-
ans and offer diversity in style and
subject. The works are not all
"Western" stories though n
number are quality material of that
sort.
Lrry McMurtry our most
fa'nouo expatriate son who still
Hv83 principally In Washington
D.C. and spends only part of his
cellent women writers.
Among these are Carolyn
Osborn Jane Gilmore Rushing
Pat Ellis Taylor Estela Portillo
Trambley Pat Carr Laura Fur-
man and others. In addition to
this outpouring and much more
there is a whole network of
university writers and teachers of
creative writing. One of the better
of these Is Dr. Robert Fink an
Associate Professor of English
here at Hardin-Simmons. His
poetry has appeared in a number
of quality Journals.
In the more traditional vein are
three excellent writers. I have
great Interest In Elmer Kelton of
San Angelo and John Erickson
of Perryton. Both are confessed
regionalists who are proud of
their Interpretive efforts of the area
they find most Important. In addi-
tion I find much to admire in the
work of Benjamin Capps of Grand
Prairie though he has Issued
nothing recently and may have
written his last book.
Beyond the boundaries of
Texas New Mexico looms large In
the quality of Its literary produc-
tion. The Spanish Influence there
sparked cultural development
earlier than Texas experienced it.
Of the several writers in the state I
would coment on the work of Ed-
ward Abbey certainly a fine writer
and social critic.
In addition I am particularly
fond of the work of Rudolfo
Anaya whose Bfess Me Ultima is
one of the finest novels ever writ-
ten. It is a sensitive portrayal of a
young Mexican boy growing up
under the influence of the various
cultures found in New Mexico.
Two American Indian writers are
particularly noteworthy. Frank
Waters who still lives near Taos
has long been respected (or his
The Man Who Killed the Deer and
other pieces but a young female
wrlted named Leslie Silko will no
doubt emerge as very significant
If her first novel Ceremony Is any
indication of true abilities.
Marc Simmons an excellent
writer Is also producing very
readable history of Interest to the
regionally. Oklahoma has also
produced several writers most
notable of whom at present Is N.
Scott Momaday Pulitzer prize-
winning Indian novelist currently
teaching at Arizona State Univer-
sity. For those Interested in reading
the work and the criticism of these
and other writers opportunities
have never been better. From
Doble's early Guide to Life and
Literature of the Southwest to Ma-
jor and Pearce's Southwest
Heritage we have gone to
Literature of the Southwest: A
Bibliography and the forthcoming
Literary History of the American
West the latter by members of the
Western Literature Association.
The rriulti-volume reference work
will be released next October from
the Texas Christian University
Press when the Western Literature
Association meets in Fort Worth.
Dr. Don Graham of the Univer-
sity of Texas at Austin is apparent-
ly at work on a literary history of
Texas certain tobe a major
critical work expeefelly if It also
reflects the Input of)tuch scholars
as Dr. Tom Pilkington at Tarleton
State and Dr. JamejfWard Lee at
North Texas State. These three
scholars are the "Big Three" of the
critical establishment of Texas let-
ters today from the academic
perspective. They edited and con-
tributed to The Texas Literary
Tradition one of the most signifi-
cant books ever to deal with that
part of our state's activity. Two
Journals Southwestern American
Literature and the Cross Timbers
Review contain articles dealing
with Texas writers and their work
though the most prestigious of the
journals dealing with that material
is undoubtedly the Southwest
Review The annual publications
of the Texas Folklore Society are
rich repositories of culturally
significant work by Texas writers
Abilenlans have a rare oppor-
tunity this coming spring to attend
two significant meetings The
West Texas Historical Association
founded by Dr. Rupert N.
Richardson and still head-
quartered at Hardin-Simmons
under the direction of Dr. B.W.
Aston and Dr. Ken Jacobs will
meet at the Klva Inn on March 22
and 23. In addition the Texas
Folklore Society will meet at the
Klva on April 4-6. The dinner
speakers will be Dr. Lou
Rodenberger for the West Texas
Historical Association and John
Erickson for the Texas Folklore
Society.
In addition to these efforts
Texas is becoming more agresslve
in the publishing business. One
fairly new but flourishing press is
Shearer Publishing In Bryan. It Is
joined my numerous small
presses with Austin apparently
being the center of much of that
activity. Dallas Is becoming Impor-
tant In the production of quality
films; and museums In Dallas
Fort Worth and other cities have
collections of Southwestern art
that range from respectable to
outstanding.
The formal literature appeals to
many but some may prefer
folklore or a combination of the
two. The study of folklore and
history In literature has long been
an Interesting and rewarding focus
for me. The study has made me
more aware of the storehouse of
oral material In each individual's
family. Much of value Is to be
gleaned from older family
members those who formed their
beliefs and practices before the
standardizing Influence of the
mass media became strong. Each
time one of these persons dies it
Is like a library burning because
the Knowledge is lost forever.
The study of Southwestern life
and literature Is a rewarding one
that many people carry on as an
avocation. It can Include collecting
pottery and other art objects of the
various ethnic groups that people
this region. It may manifest Itself In
Just reading a good book set In a
familiar place.
But the real aim is a response to
the culture that has been created
and has' developed over the cen-
turies of human life here and Its ef-
fect on the Individuals who
presently reside here. This study
reminds us of the influence of the
early Spanish settlement and
echoes the presence of the Plains
Indians and other groups that
have made us unique. This effort
does not stop when formal educa-
tion ends. From that time on it is
merely self-directed and If done
well the study Is extremely rewar-
ding whether followed voca-
tionally or avocationally.
Dr. Clayton Professor of
English and Dean of the College
of Arts and Sciences Is deeply In-
volved In the subject of this essay.
He has been the president and a
board member of the Texas
Folklore Society and Is a member
of the Executive Board of the
Western Literature Association
Literary Criticism Editor of the
Cross Timbers Review and a
member of the Board of Directors
of the West Texas Historical
Association.
He has authored over sixty
book reviews and has published
numerous articles in such journals
as Southern Folklore Quarterly
Western Folklore Texas Books in
Review Southwest Heritage
English In Texas Southwestern
American Literature the West
Texas Historical Asoclation Year
Book and several publications of
the'Texas Folklore Society.
His pamphlet on Elmer. Kelton will
be released In 1986 by the Boise
State University Press.
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Reata (Abilene, Tex.), November 1984, newspaper, November 13, 1984; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth97496/m1/3/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hardin-Simmons University Library.