Starting out in Seattle

            I began my teaching career at Seattle Pacific College in 1960. I taught both philosophy and religion for four years and enjoyed it immensely. I discovered that I was really good at explaining ideas and at relating to students in a manner that allowed them to have confidence and to open up to me. I had several outstanding students who majored in philosophy and went on to earn doctoral degrees at major universities. These fellows became my friends and I am still in contact with them after all these years.

            I found that I absolutely loved the dynamics and interchanges of the educational process: the discussions, the friendships, and the challenges to learn more. I began to explore the writing of scholarly papers for learned journals and had several successes in the four years I was at Seattle Pacific College. I made a number of long-lasting faculty friendships at SPC, as it was known. I was an avid supporter of the college athletic teams, as well as other student activities, such as regularly for lunch to discuss intellectual and academic issues and this group became my “life line.”

I say this because overall the college was sponsored by the Free Methodist Denominati0n, a rather conservative group that took a quiet stance against ever promoting differences of opinion, etc. Thus, our little group represented something of a threat to certain members of the Administration. We were a bit “suspect”.  Along with this dynamic went the fact that my students turned out to be among the very best the college had, so I, too, was under special scrutiny. In the end those in “power” among the Administration brought pressure to bear on the President to fire me. More about this a bit later on.

Meanwhile, several of the faculty members were able to open a Coffee House called Le Rapport right next to the local foreign film theater. We held discussions there four nights a week about local, national, and international issues, as well as hot topics in religion and culture. Particularly those raised by the films showing next door. I served as the Program Director for the first year, leading discussions myself every Sunday evening. We invited different local leaders and professors to be the center piece of our discussions each evening. The coffee house program lasted four full years. It even got written up in the Newsweek Magazine.

At the end of my third year there the President decided to let me go, but he also nominated me for a prestigious Danforth Teacher Grant which would cover all my expenses while I went to Duke University for my Doctorate Degree. It was a fine compromise. The college got rid of me and saved face at the same time. I do not know what would have happened had I not been given this grant, but I was and have been eternally grateful for the President’s Solomon-like wisdom. I did get to go to Duke, earn my Doctorate degree, with a short stint at Oxford as well.

Quite a few years later I returned to Seattle Pacific to do a year studying the arts, which you will hear more about in a future essay. The college had a new President by then and was quite a bit more open to fresh ideas. Indeed, when I taught there, it did not even have art department. I was invited by the new Dean to give a series of lectures on the relationship between Christian Faith and Contemporary Culture. I also took a good many courses in various fields of the arts, while focusing on learning sculpture. It was also a wonderful time to get back in touch with several of my good friends who were still teaching there.

I have often reflected on this my initial teaching position and its overall effect on my career as well as my life. Although I do think I was badly treated by the college, I have often marveled at the President’s creative solution to the problem. I also am grateful for my close friendships, both in the faculty and in student body, several of which continue to this day.  Also, not so incidentally, at the outset the College had put me in its TIAA investment program which by the time I retired had grown into a considerable amount. All in all, my relationship with Seattle Pacific College was a fine one, a great way to begin one’s career.