Professors look back on their college days and the ways the university experience has changed.
“When I was in the university dorms, I was in one of the older men’s dorms. It was a large and stately four-story brick building with Corinthian columns. It was built in the 1920s and featured pipes running along the high ceilings, complemented by concrete floors and walls, a common sleeping room for a four-student suite and no air conditioning in the building. Since the university was located in a desert climate, it was really hot in the dorm for part of the year. Thus, I used to take a shower (common shower room for each wing of the dorm) at night wearing a T-shirt and shorts, and then lie on my bed with a fan blowing directly on me for cooling.”
* Robert Lloyd, University of Arizona
“For Step Forward Day, we used to all meet at the same time for registration. Then we would hear from a celebrity speaker like Sean Astin or Roma Downey about the importance of service. After the speech, everyone would “step forward” together to begin the day of service. Then we would have a mad dash to the buses — often it took 10 to 20 minutes to find yours because there were so many. Today, it is much more organized and easier to find the buses and vans because they have staggered the times that people meet. But I do really miss the feeling of stepping forward with all of the participants. It made you feel like you were part of something that was actually significant. I still love participating in Step Forward Day, and I think it is so much better organized than it used to be. But I miss stepping forward with all of the other participants. Even though we meet together after everyone has finished, it does not feel the same to me because so many people leave before others arrive.”
* Caitlin Lawrence, Pepperdine University
“I went to a Pac-10 school, and admittedly everything surrounded Saturday nights at Martin Stadium. We took up half the football stadium because every student came. If you liked football, hated football … it didn’t matter. You were there. People were just happy to be there. It was just a way of getting together, and really feeling a strong affiliation with the rest of the students. It was unusual for anyone not to buy season tickets to athletics.”
* Kimberly Stoltzfus, Washington State University
“Technology [has changed]. I taught an American film history class and showed clips of very early cinema experiments from the Library of Congress archives … on YouTube.”
* Leslie Kreiner, University of Florida
“A group of Pepperdine students went for the summer to a town called Banias, Israel, to work on an archaeological dig site for six weeks.
The experiences that we had of workingthe dig site from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. throughout the week and then traveling around the entire country of Israel on the weekends was incredible. As a student who studied religion at Pepperdine, it is still to this day one of the greatest academic experiences of my life.
“In one sense, the university today is remarkably different from when I was a student in regards to the newer communication and science buildings and the renovated plaza area. But in many, many other ways, the school remains the same in regards to the friendliness of the faculty, the joy/energy of the student body with their passion to serve humanity, the excitement that accompanies Project Serve, Songfest, IP Programs, etc.”
* Gregory Daum, Pepperdine University
“Favorite memories from college would include the classes I took, the professors, the knowledge they imparted and just the camaraderie among friends living in the dorm. I miss the thrill of discovering myself and what I wanted to do with my life and what my gifts and abilities were.
“Classes today are a lot more interactive. When I was in school it was much more lecture style. The only interaction from students was if they had a question, but for the most part we were stenographers.”
* John Jones, Southeast Missouri State University
“The cafeteria was all-you-can-eat for all meals, so the freshman five really was at least a freshman 15 (followed by a sophomore 15, and junior 15, etc.).”
* Steve Rouse, Abilene Christian University
