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Letter from Shana Mills Bannister

May 15, 2002

Dear Dr. Campbell:

I graduated from Baylor in December 1984. Your office was one of the last places I stopped on my way out of town. As I left, you said to me, "When you've had time to reflect on it, write me and tell me what your education has meant to you." I wrote you with an answer within about six months. At the time that seemed like an eternity and I was sure I had quite a perspective on the value of my undergraduate education. Nearly 18 years later I am a professor of Political Science & Justice Studies at a mid-sized college in Kansas where I have been asked to address the Arts & Sciences honor graduates at a reception next week. My Dean asked me to comment upon the value of a liberal arts education. As I prepared for the presentation your parting words to me became the corner stone for my talk. I thought, perhaps, you would enjoy reading the speech and hearing my response to your question from the vantage point of these 18 years.

You had quite an impact on me. I think it's fair to say that you and Dr. Vardaman were the two most significant influences on my undergraduate education and perhaps on my education as a whole. I learned a great deal from you both, not only about history, but about teaching and inspiring undergraduates. I count both of you among the best role models I had and credit you in part for the success I've had as a teacher. I have received my institution's highest advising award, was a finalist for our school's highest teaching award, and have been nominated as a "Top Prof" by the students in Mortar Board each of the five years I've been teaching. This year I am honored to be my institution's nominee for U.S. Professor of the Year. I thrive on the successes of my students, seeing those successes as, in part, a reflection of the impact I may have had on their lives. In sharing with you my teaching successes, I hope to give you a similar feeling of pride.

You made a difference. You inspired me, and I in turn now do what I can to inspire others. You may be retired now, but you continue to influence classrooms. Every semester when students complain about the reading load in my classes, I remember the summer session when I took two of your classes simultaneously. When a student in one of the classes complained about the volume of reading, you looked at me and observed that I was managing to keep up in not one, but two classes. Keeping up? Just barely. I tell my students that story every semester. It was tough, but I was better for it, and they will be too. Evidently they agree, because they keep signing up for my classes and nominating me for awards. You used literature in history classes. While you didn't manage to make me a William Faulkner fan (I still don't like Faulkner), you did manage to show me that literature could be an excellent vehicle for studying other subjects. I now teach a seminar on Law and Literature and am working on a book of the same title.

Thanks for expecting a great deal, for pushing me to do more than what was easy, for making it interesting, for giving me confidence in my intellectual ability, for forcing me to think critically, for teaching me the joy of reading voraciously, and for inspiring me in so many ways.

Sincerely,

Shala Mills Bannister

Assistant Professor and Pre law Advisor

Arts & Sciences Honors Graduate Reception Speech

Fort Hays State University

Spring 2002

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