WM Fall 2000 For

Autumn 2000 Wheaton Time Out Sports & Rec Complex opens The Vietnam Era d ear friends— They were my years, the ’60s and ’70s. I recall them vividly.Those of us who came of age during that period all remember them vividly. But we do not all remember them the same way. I grew up during the ’50s in a leafy suburb of Detroit, one very much like Wheaton.Those were idyllic times for some, but for others they were dull and conformist, and for those with eyes to see, foreboding. I remember the first time I read the name Rosa Parks.As a boy I witnessed the ugly scenes from Birmingham,Alabama, and saw the emergence of an eloquent black preacher named Martin Luther King, along with the movement for which he stood.Then came the ’60s. I finished high school at the beginning of the decade and then spent the next 13 years as a full-time student, experiencing the events of each of those years, as they say, up close and personal.The protracted war in Vietnam,three national assassinations, the dawn of the so-called “sexual revolution,” the rise of a pervasive drug culture, sit-ins, protests, campus bombings, Kent State, Woodstock, Roe v.Wade—all these came during my student years. It was an extraordinary period from which America emerged in some ways wiser and better, but in other ways wounded, impoverished, and degraded. These two decades are considered a watershed in American history, and rightly so. Our nation went into them one thing and came out quite another.We who grew into adulthood during those fascinating years were inevitably marked by them, for good or ill.And from this effect Wheaton College was not exempt. As you will see in this issue of Wheaton, these two decades constitute a fascinating era in the life of Wheaton College, too. Here are the accounts of some of the people who lived Wheaton’s history through the tumultuous events of the 1960s and ’70s. I recognize their stories. Duane Litfin President volume 3 number 5 Table of Contents Editor p.2 The Vietnam era Georgia I. Douglass ’70, M.A. ’94 Assistant Editor Michael Murray p. 47 Carving a niche Designer p.10 Art and missions Les Barker Class News Editor Donna Antoniuk Editorial Advisers Marilee A. Melvin ’72 R. Mark Dillon Alumni Association President A.Thomas Paulsen ’70 President-elect Charles V. Hogren ’58 Features Executive Director Marilee A. Melvin ’72 2 Making Peace With the Vietnam Era Professor Emeritus What is a just war (if there is such a thing)? LeRoy H. Pfund ’49 Is dissent a sign of spiritual shortcoming? Can any Alumni Trustee Representatives economic or political system truly be classified as Ray Carlsen ’60 Charles V. Hogren ’58 “Christian”? These and other questions shaped a A.Thomas Paulsen ’70 generation. Board of Directors 10 Class of 2001 A Portrait of the Artist as a Missionary Wesley C. Bleed ’80 A unique program at the College encourages artistically Bud McCalla ’59 Elaine Wakefield McCalla ’60 talented students to combine their interest in art and Edith E. Nowack ’49 missions. Mary Graham Ryken M.A. ’88 Sharen Nerhus Sommerville ’72 David R.Veerman ’65 Class of 2002 Departments Patrick O. Cate ’63 14 Profile Mary Ann Seume Cate ’65 Robert D. Dye ’73 Matthew Parker ’77 challenges Christian organizations Katherine E. Gieser ’99 to better reflect the body of Christ. Susan H. Grosser ’71 Janice Stevenson Nickel ’69 Class of 2003 Randal Ellison ’77 16 Under the Tower Marilyn L. Himmel ’55 The Sports and Recreation Complex opens; friends of Dwight E. Nelson ’72 Shane A. Scott ’96 Dr. Beatrice Batson return to explore pilgrimage in Brian J.Wildman ’85 literature; the chemistry department gains a new Wheaton College professor—and his microscope. President On My Mind: Laura Miguélez ’83 discusses the Dr. Duane Litfin parallels between the First and Last Adam. Provost Dr. Stanton L. Jones Scholarly Pursuits: Dr. John Monson ’84 argues for Senior Vice President Dr. David E. Johnston ’65 more geographical, historical, and cultural context in Vice President for Scripture study. Advancement Dr. R. Mark Dillon Vice President for 22 Sports Alumni Relations Marilee A. Melvin ’72 Vice President for 24 A Word With Alumni / Alumni News Student Development Dr. Samuel Shellhamer 42 The Journal of Jonathan Blanchard Wheaton is published winter, spring, special (catalog), summer, and autumn by Diverse notes on Activities at Wheaton Wheaton College, 501 College Ave., Wheaton, IL 60187-5593, 630-752-5047, and mailed free of charge to alumni and 48 At Last friends of Wheaton College. Periodicals postage paid at Wheaton, IL (USPS016326). Postmaster: Please send address changes to Cover Photo: Les Barker. Eckert Hall is the grand entrance to the College’s new Sports and Wheaton College,Wheaton,IL 60187-5593. Recreation Complex, which opened in early September.The complex houses the Eckert Recreation Opinions expressed are those of the Center (like Eckert Hall, it is named in honor of Alfred C., Jr., ’41 and Ellen Faye Zimmerman contributors or the editors and do not necessarily represent the official position Eckert ’44); Chrouser Fitness Center (built in 1980 and named for Harve Chrouser ’34); and of the College. King Arena (named in honor of Leroy King). © 2000 Wheaton College,Wheaton, IL The purpose of the Wheaton College Alumni Association is to unite all alumni of Wheaton College into a compact organization for effective communication with each other and with the College, to arrange alumni reunions, to encourage www.wheaton.edu the formation of Wheaton Clubs throughout the world, to foster and perpetuate enthusiasm for the College and fellow alumni, and to promote alumni giving. MAKING PEACE WITHTHE VIETNAM ERA by Michael Murray Three decades The one day that epitomized Wheaton College capitalism by force.” have passed since more than any other during the Vietnam era As retired Lt. Gen.William G. Harrison, the was November 10, 1967. Before the College’s guest speaker, and the ROTC cadets marched one of the most Veterans’ Day ceremonies, a small group of into the chapel, athletes and other students turbulent periods students, 37 in all, gathered outside Edman obscured the silent protesters’ signs with in the nation’s, Memorial Chapel to protest U.S. military umbrellas.The students heading into Edman had a question of their own:“What are you and the College’s, involvement in Southeast Asia. The demonstration in Wheaton was unlike guys lined up for, haircuts?” history. The many others that had taken place across the The protest, and campus reaction to it, questions of that country that autumn. It was small. It was verified Bob Dylan’s song written four years era shaped a peaceful. It was civil. But it was similar to those before:The times they were a-changin’. On on other campuses because it openly questioned campuses across the United States, students generation. the conventional wisdom of the institution. were taking on the establishment in a battle for There is no need to picket for the status quo. sole custody of the moral high ground.The Thirty-seven students—primarily long- Veterans’ Day ’67 demonstration, however, haired upperclassmen—formed two lines marked the significant differences between the outside Edman, asking questions with the signs national anti-war, anti-establishment movement they held in their hands.“National pride or and the one at Wheaton.Wheaton’s world peace?”“Is God really on our side?” One demonstrators would always remain a small student said,“Christianity is spread by gentle minority, unlike at some universities.And, persuasion, but Vietnam is the spread of regardless of the logic or tone of their 2 Wheaton The Vietnam Era arguments, the relatively liberal students would surroundings: their schools.“The university, like be treated as outsiders by the largely conserva- the nation, seems to be like a great, complex tive campus community. vending machine that has become rusted with age,” a student told Time in 1965.“The only Don’t trust anyone over 30 way to make it work right is to kick it hard.” British journalist and historian Paul Johnson The kicking, Koerselman writes, led to a class refers to this era as “America’s suicide attempt.” consciousness, a new camaraderie under stress, Gary Koerselman’s book on the period is titled and enthusiastic dedication for creating new The Lost Decade. Both writers devote consid- traditions rather than perpetuating what they erable space to the state of mind of the children saw as antiquated ideas and systems. of the baby boom, the college students of the The movement had gained nationwide time. Koerselman writes:“The discontent was attention in Berkeley, California, in 1964. magnified by a broad and incomprehensible University of California students had comman- feeling of dissatisfaction with the status quo, the deered a small strip of pavement—to become meaninglessness of materialistic values, the known as “People’s Park”—for political activity. hypocrisy in high places, the inability to When President Clark Kerr rooted them out, establish one’s identity, and the fear that they united to form the Free Speech Movement, individuality would be crushed in the frantic and leader Jack Weinberg gave the movement a pace and complexity of modern life.” slogan:“Don’t trust anyone over 30.” In the midst of their search for an identity, “As the confrontation between the estab- many students focused on their immediate lishment and the youthful agitators sharpened,” The Way You Were—and Are We asked alumni from the Classes of 1967-73* to specify where their “attitudes, stance, or belief are on the spectrum of various issues”—then as students and today as alumni.We weren’t looking for in-depth information about what their actual attitudes or beliefs were then or are now, but merely asked them to self-identify where they think they stand on issues, ranging from conservative to liberal.

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