Rhododendron season has arrived at the University of Washington. It comes in May when spring has fully taken hold, the air is mild and wet, and waves of color, sunniest yellow to most imperial purple, wash and splash across the scene. It is a time when I reflect on the tasks accomplished, the books taught and read, the students who have grown before my eyes and gained in mastery and confidence. Rhodies, are for quiet reminiscence.
And goodness, what a year this one has been. We have built resilience and ingenuity in our hallways and classrooms despite the challenges of COVID-19, Humanities First has completed a successful second year, our faculty have been awarded highest honors, and more.
First Delta, later Omicron. We have relied on the latest, best available science to guide us through difficult questions about personal safety and collective wellbeing. It hasn’t always been easy, though, to adapt to changing circumstances in an increasingly unsettled world. I am in awe of the resilience and ingenuity of our faculty, staff, and students.
Looking back on 2021-2022, I am also proud that our Humanities First Program has, in its second year, been a resounding success. Recently, for example, the students in HUM 103 visited Seattle’s International District, and they toured its sites and heard stories about its past, about the Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Vietnamese, and other immigrant communities who have made homes there from the 1860s onward. Stories of sorrow, violence, and racism, yes, but also heroism, creativity, and triumph. Seattle has always been a Pacific Rim city. Its first Chinatown grew up around Yesler’s Mill. As a divisional dean, I frequently say that the Humanities open the world for us; in HUM 103 students learn that to be American is also to be a global citizen, a product of innumerable crossings and connections.
Although there are many people in the Humanities Division who have truly exceled this year, I would like to single out for special attention an individual who has been an instructor in the Humanities First Program. Associate Teaching Professor Samuel Jaffee has just been awarded the university’s Distinguished Teaching Award, perhaps our highest honor. President Ana Mari Cauce and Provost Mark Richards praise Sam as a “teacher’s teacher,” and they laud his “dynamic, imaginative courses; curriculum innovation; and commitment to inclusivity, diversity, and equity.” I’m a little envious of the first-year undergraduates in HUM 102 and 103 who had a chance to learn from such a skilled, dedicated, and passionate professor.
I could go on and on. This is such a special university, with such amazing people. But for now I’ll draw things to a close with a recommendation. If you have ever have a chance to be on campus during rhododendron season, I would invite you to seek out Grieg Garden next to Allen Library. Stand among the flaring colors of the flowers, breathe deep, and forget your cares. Take along, too, a copy of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s poem “The Rhodora.” You’ll understand why a rhododendron moved him to exclaim, “if eyes were made for seeing, / Then Beauty is its own excuse for being.” At times, the world shines forth in beauty, and we are renewed.