NPR Showcases Willamette Professor

The history of the Pledge of Allegiance isn’t as straightforward as one might think, Professor Richard Ellis told NPR’s “Fresh Air” June 28.

Written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, the pledge reflected the native-born Protestant writer’s fears of increasing Catholic and Jewish immigration to the United States, says the author of To the Flag: The Unlikely History of the Pledge of Allegiance. “The words reflect our nation’s anxieties — about immigration and radicalism — as well as our ideals.”

Salem Mayor Janet Taylor and the Salem City Council honored Willamette students and the Office of Community Service Learning with the 2005 Dorothy Patch Community and Educational Achievement Award at the council’s annual Volunteer Recognition Celebration in July.

Willamette was nominated by the Salem Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and the Department of Community Service for its work with projects such as Senior Community Service Day and Into the Streets. Students collected downed limbs in Deepwood Park after a winter storm, undertook a restoration and naturalization project on the banks of Pringle Creek, and completed a total makeover at the historic Pioneer Cemetery, returning on several occasions to help with ongoing maintenance.

“[We are] delighted and grateful to have these dedicated students helping to keep our parks healthy and beautiful,” wrote Edward Jochums, director of the community service department, in a nomination letter. “We are proud of their consistent dedication to parks, and to making a better life for themselves and their community.”

Lamott Headlines All-Campus Reading

Best-selling author Anne Lamott will speak Thursday, Oct. 6, at 8 p.m. in Hudson Hall. Sponsored by the Lilly Project, Lamott’s talk will coincide with an all-campus reading of Traveling Mercies, her collection of essays on faith.

“Anne Lamott writes about her walk of faith in ways that are ruthlessly honest and indecently funny at the same time,” says Karen Wood, associate chaplain for vocational exploration and director of the Lilly Project. “She’s an antidote to the assumption that faith must be self-righteous. For her it is deeply humane and subversive.”

The author of six novels and four books of non-fiction, Lamott has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and has taught at UC Davis and at writing conferences nationwide. “Word by Word,” her biweekly online column in Salon, was voted Best of the Web by Time magazine.

The Lilly Project for the Theological, Spiritual and Ethical Exploration of Vocation is a university-wide program dedicated to helping students discern their calling in life, religious or secular.

The Willamette Alumni Online Community is growing strong and now boasts 20 percent of University graduates as members. That’s more than 5,000 Bearcats united online.

The Online Community now serves as the main Willamette alumni website. Any WU graduate with an Internet connection and a web browser can access a host of services including an online directory, class notes submissions, career networking and a variety of online clubs. Go to www.willamettealumni.com for more information.

Gifts to the Campaign for Willamette for the 2004–05 fiscal year totaled $14.2 million, bringing the three-year total to $59.6 million, or nearly 48 percent, toward the $125 million goal.