University alumnus Michael Baughan still recalls the nights his professor would stop by his Lawn room and pull him down to Old Cabell to see a performance by a string quartet. Now 86 years old, Ernest "Boots" Mead, the namesake of the Mead Endowment begun by his students, has been known for these spontaneous invitations, his impeccable memory and willingness to reach out to students, as well as a knack for connecting students and faculty who share similar interests.
"Beyond friendship and mentoring, he had a special genius for finding something special in a student and then playing matchmaker," University alumnus and Mead Endowment Chair Tom Darbyshire said. "Whatever it was, he knew somebody that shared that interest."
Darbyshire noted the "five decades of friends" of Mead who gathered in the Dome Room of the Rotunda Saturday night to announce the five projects selected for Mead Endowment funding in the organization's fourth year. The Endowment funds projects that embody the Jeffersonian ideal of faculty-student interaction, and faculty members are encouraged to dream big as they sketch plans for their ideal projects.
Ten faculty members from the College were chosen by College Dean Edward Ayers to submit proposals, and this year the Darden School conducted its own selection process to grant the same opportunity to one member of its faculty. The five winners, with projects ranging from participation in an Asian-American film festival to a dinner symposium to discuss topics in art history, were selected because the ventures will "give the faculty member a chance to build a bond with the students" and because they involved "a component beyond what the member would do in a seminar," according to Darbyshire.
The dinner also featured presentations outlining last year's winning projects led by Physics Prof. Cass Sackett and former University History Prof. Will Thomas. Sackett, whose aim was to join physics and art students to create an aesthetically pleasing structure for a bare hallway in the Physics Building, said the most important part of the project wasn't the final product.
"It's unique because the goal is not to accomplish some project but the process really of getting to know the students and interacting with them and strengthening the bonds of the community -- which is certainly more important than coming in here and building a laser," Sackett said.
When Sackett was selected from a group of nine Mead honorees last year, he immediately set up a Web site for his project and sent e-mails to solicit proposals from art students. Graduate Arts and Sciences student Kimberly Dylla was chosen as an undergraduate to complete the project and had help from physics graduate students, especially with the electronics aspect of the structure.
"I've never quite seen a physics/art contest before," Dylla said. "I think a lot of schools want art by their students in their buildings but don't necessarily take into account whether that art has anything to do with what goes on in those buildings."
Sackett said he "wasn't expecting to make a Mona Lisa," but the box-shaped laser structure has drawn more than a few glances at the end of his hallway.
Though Thomas has since left to accept a position at the University of Nebraska, four of his students were in attendance Saturday night to share a piece of their semester project.
Thomas's students, some of whom he had met through his work at the Virginia Center for Digital History, collected video clips and research and conducted interviews to create an hour-long film documenting events of the civil rights movement that took place in Virginia.
"I knew it was going to be a different kind of class, but not a whole lot of reading -- which is rare for a history class," fourth-year College student Catherine Neale said.
The class was composed of 11 history and 10 media studies students and was divided up into five groups, one for each segment of the film. Fourth-year College student Ryan Fleenor said the students were able to teach each other about their respective disciplines, the history students sharing their knowledge of the movement while the media studies students led the film editing process.
"So often at U.Va. and elsewhere we get in our disciplinary tracks and forget we have so much to learn from one another," Fleenor said. "To accomplish this bold, aggressive task ... really good things came out of it -- friendships, lifelong skills and appreciation for other disciplines."
The students recounted obstacles the class faced along the way, from finding and purchasing footage to gathering people willing to tell their stories. Neale added that one unique problem took place at the very beginning of the semester.
"It was initially sort of difficult to figure out the power structure of the group ... and decide what story we wanted to tell," she said.
The group settled on the idea of chronicling the events from the perspective of African-American protagonists and traveled throughout Virginia to complete the interviews, often taking three trips to see the same person in order to establish a sense of trust before filming.
"The story is often told by, 'This is what the white governor did,' -- throw in a little Martin Luther King," Fleenor said. "We were really focusing on black activism, what motivated them to step up."
Fourth-year College student Mia Morgan, whose uncle Donald Martin was responsible for helping to desegregate Charlottesville's Lane High School, commented on how finding each interviewee wasn't that easy.
"The most difficult thing was just making the contacts and finding the people who were involved and not just in the mainstream," Morgan said. "We didn't want this to be just another historical summary, just another timeline."
Thomas said he thought the students would appreciate the opportunity more than they would be concerned about not producing a great film. But the end product, now slated to be purchased by PBS, has given them a special sense of accomplishment.
"At various points we had concerns that we were not going to, in the end, produce a film, and I think the students will howl with laughter when you ask them about obstacles -- we had quite a few -- but at several key moments they were overcome," Thomas said.
Thomas added that the Mead project was a highlight of his teaching career, setting itself apart from the typical scholarship, award or research opportunity.
"Awards are given all around the country for teaching that you've already done," Thomas said. "This award is given for teaching that you're going to do. And that fundamental premise ... is a powerful combination. I think it's a model for the country for stimulating great teaching and great research and great experience."
With the completion of last semester's projects, Darbyshire emphasized that the Mead Endowment's attempt to "push from the faculty side" to unite professors and students is a timeless ideal. Especially as the University continues to expand, the concern is very real that student-faculty interaction is brushed aside.
Mead, who still teaches an undergraduate seminar each spring, said he believes this difficulty also has something to do with the nature of a professor's responsibilities.
"The age-old problem is the pressure for a youngster just beginning in the academic world," Mead said. "As things stand, he or she has to put a tremendous amount of time on research ... but at the same time, finding time for students is a crucial aspect."
University alumnus John Mullen said Mead's example has given students a small-university feel despite the growing number of students and buildings. Mead's personal touch, evident in his common greeting to students -- "Let's walk down the Lawn" -- is something Mullen has held close in his memories of the University.
"Somehow, by the time you got back from Old Cabell Hall, everything was okay," he said.
For more information on the Mead Endowment, please see "The footsteps of Boots ..." published Sept. 22, 2004. The article can be accessed at www.cavalierdaily.com.
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