I had two experiences recently that tested my finely honed perspective on life, namely that if just one of my kids were an engineer, I could relax a little. First, I sat on the committee that interviewed candidates for the position of dean of the School of Visual and Performing Arts at WCSU. My personal Read More
WCSU in the Age of Reason
Paul Steinmetz writes about Western Connecticut State University
Sherman Alexie shakes up university crowd
The author Sherman Alexie, who writes of his life as a Spokane Indian, spoke at Western Connecticut State University recently, bringing his edgy, self-observant, funny and profane stories about being an Indian, the act of writing, and various absurdities of life. If you only read spy novels, you haven’t heard of this guy. But he Read More
Elizabeth Alexander speaks poetically about issues of race
Elizabeth Alexander, who was the poet at Barack Obama’s inauguration, came to WCSU and talked about writing, about inauguration day and, most important to me, about how African American history is America’s history. To begin, my youngest daughter was born in Ethiopia. I don’t think that means I should be more interested in race relations Read More
Poster problem perplexes PR
One might think that my job as a WCSU public relations guy would be simple: Spend the day talking to intelligent and witty media people, apply my considerable writing skills to press releases, and then gaze out the window as I await coverage for the university. But there are other aspects to my employment at Read More
The selling of the university
Successful public relations executives know that a well-placed story about the organization one represents is the result of hard work, knowledge of the market and sensitive handling of the subject and the media. And sometimes dumb luck. Case-in-point here at Western Connecticut State University: Astute marketing professor Dr. John Cronin alerted me to an end-of-the-semester Read More
Political thought flourishes, even at a university
I love it when people state that institutions of higher education are nothing but clubby havens of weepy-eyed liberals who are doing everything to overthrow America’s democracy and turn the U.S. into a socialist dictatorship. Sure, we have some of those. But we also have nut-job libertarians who think everything the government does is corrupt Read More
D-3 basketball: Excellence without the attitude
The thing about small-school, Division III athletics is that good teams sneak up on you. We love our athletes here at WCSU because they are generally among the best students, none of them have star attitudes (they never appear on ESPN), and for the most part they blend in with the rest of us. So Read More
WCSU names Teaching Excellence Award winner
For the past four years, university provost Dr. Linda Rinker has recognized a professor who is a great teacher. Professors often win honors for their research and earn tenure partly through their work on committees and other commitments to the university, but the Provost’s Teaching Excellence Award is based on how a professor works with Read More
