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Volume 6 |
April 15, 2005
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No. 16
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HOME | CAMPUS PEOPLE | CALENDAR | ABOUT THE BULLETIN | PAST BULLETINS
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Dr. Richard A. Cohen will deliver the annual Robert K. Gustafson Memorial Lecture at 10 a.m., Wednesday, April 20 in Room 213 of the University Center.
Dr. Cohen is the Isaac Swift Distinguished Professor of Judaic Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Before joining Charlotte’s faculty, he was the Aaron Aronov Chair of Judaic Studies at the University of Alabama.
He is the author of “Ethics, Exegesis and Philosophy” (Cambridge University Press, 2001) and “Elevations: The Height of the Good in Rosenzweig and Levinas” (University of Chicago Press, 1994). Dr. Cohen also translated eight of volumes and wrote numerous articles on contemporary and religious thought.
The Gustafson Lecture Series was founded by Helen S. Gustafson
of Laurinburg, N.C., to honor her late husband. The series was
placed
with the University
Honors College, which recognizes and promotes the scholarship
of outstanding students at UNCP.
Dr. Gustafson was a Presbyterian minister and professor of religion at UNCP. He was elected chair of the Faculty Senate and was the first UNCP representative to the Faculty Assembly of the newly consolidated UNC system. In1988, he was the recipient of UNCP’s Distinguished Professor Award.
Before joining UNCP, Dr. Gustafson was on the faculty of St. Andrews Presbyterian College, Flora Macdonald College and Southeastern Community College. He authored three books: “The Literature of Christian Ethics 1932-56” and “A Study of the Life of James Woodrow: Emphasizing his Theological and Scientific Views as They Relate to the Evolution Controversy” and “James Woodrow (1828-1907): Scientist, Theologian, Intellectual Leader.”
Dr. Gustafson was a 1951 graduate of UCLA and majored in theatre arts. He worked for CBS in Hollywood until joining the U.S. Army during the Korean War.
After his release from the military, Dr. Gustafson entered Union Theological Seminary and received Master of Divinity, Master of Theology and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. His studies focused on ethics and American religious thought.
Dr. Gustafson was ordained in the First Presbyterian Church of Fayetteville, N.C., where he met and married the former Helen L. Sherrill.
For more information on the Robert K. Gustafson Memorial Lecture Series, please contact the University Honors College at 910.521.6841 or email honors@uncp.edu.
Dr. Reising’s continued scholarship on Jim Thorpe pays off
The tireless work of Dr. Robert Reising (English) paid off this spring when the American Indian Studies Department named the two Jim Thorpe Scholars at the annual Awards Day program.
Dr. Reising, who launched the endowed scholarship, continued this spring
to raise funds and public awareness about the American Indian who, he
believes, is the greatest athlete in the history of sport.
“I will gladly speak with any group, anywhere if there is a donation to the Thorpe fund,” Dr. Reising said. “I take no honorariums, and I have great pictures, videos and film clips to supplement my talks.”
Dr. Reising took his show on the road to Asheville, N.C., March 28 when he talked to students and faculty at UNC Asheville. The English professor, who teaches courses in American Indian literature, is a nationally recognized expert on Thorpe.
ESPN tapped into Dr. Reising’s expertise for a segment of “Sports Century,” a program that featured the top athletes of the 20th century.
“Jim Thorpe is unquestionably the greatest athlete of all time,” Dr. Reising said.
A Sac and Fox Indian from Oklahoma, Thorpe was a natural athlete who in 1912 became the only Olympic competitor to win both the pentathlon and decathlon. He played professionally in football and baseball, including minor league stops in North Carolina.
Thorpe’s professional basketball career was “discovered” recently when The New York Times reported in a March 29 article the existence of a ticket to a previously unknown barnstorming exhibition game featuring Thorpe. Who did the New York Times call for comment?
“He was trying to find his way,” Dr. Reising was quoted by New York Times’ reporter Bill Pennington. “He lived all these years in the white man’s world, but he had no marketable skills. Consumed by competition, he tried to keep going.”
Here is the story in Dr. Reising’s words: “On March 23, Bill Pennington of the New York Times called me. Lynn Draper, executive director of the Jim Thorpe Association in Oklahoma City, had suggested he call me because of my recent presentations and publications on Thorpe,” Dr. Reising said.
“Pennington had but one question: ‘Did I think the ticket that had been in the book on Jesse James, the outlaw, as well as the 1927 Pennsylvania basketball game it announced, was legitimate?’ He feared a hoax. He wanted my best professional judgment, given all the work I have done on Thorpe over the years. He had completed some preliminary checking in Pennsylvania, but, nonetheless, was not totally convinced. My reply was quite full. ‘Yes,’ I told him, ‘I believe the ticket, the game and the 40-game barnstorming tour featuring Thorpe is all the real McCoy, not creations of some sports fan's imagination or ingenuity.’”
“I based my response on the year (a time when Thorpe, at age 40, was losing his football skills), on the fact that Thorpe had excelled in basketball at Carlisle (one of his 11 sports there!), on his seldom-resisted bent for athletic competition, on his marital status at the time, and on the fact that the basketball venture resembled the football venture in LaRue, Ohio, when Thorpe was recruited to head the all-Indian Oorang Indians in 1922 and 1923, the NFL's smallest franchise ever. I told Pennington that Thorpe's name was magic, and any contests in any sport were certain of big gates if fans knew he was to perform. Pennington appeared to appreciate my response and added that someone was certain to let me know if he chose to cite me in the piece he was thinking about writing. Indeed, he proved to be a good prophet.”
The Thorpe scholarship at UNCP is proof of the power of the Thorpe legacy and is a tribute to it. As the endowment neared $10,000 this spring, UNCP students, Rebecca Chavis and Bridget Dimery, were named the recipients of the annual award in the amount of $400 each.
For more information about the Jim Thorpe Endowed Scholarship, please contact the Office for Advancement at 910.521.6252.
Staff Council announces May 9 cookout, election
There will be a staff cookout on Monday, May 9 sponsored by the Staff Council. A Staff Council election will be held at that time.
Volunteers to help with the cookout and candidates for office are needed to run for office.
Please contact Staff Council Chair Tony Chavis at extension 6506 or email him at tony.chavis@uncp.edu. More details will be forthcoming.
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