From the fall/winter edition of HC Today.
You can define a man by his words 鈥 and that can mean not only by what he says, but what he reads.
Dwayne Strasheim has no dearth of books to define his character. His office alone has an entire wall devoted to books and the eye immediately detects a theme. English Syntax, The Lexicography of English and Lost for Words are but three titles his bookshelves bear. The items in his office follow a similar pattern. A Merriam-Webster daily calendar (today鈥檚 word is oppugn) sits on his desk. A stuffed aardvark wearing a green hat that says LINGUIST sits on the filing cabinet.
English and linguistics seem to reside in the very DNA of this man, but this was not evident to him from the start. Dwayne graduated from Wayne State College with a German major and history minor and taught these subjects at Hastings High in 1962. The next year, he studied at the University of Washington on assistantships. 鈥淚 really loved high school teaching, but a year out of college and I was ready to get back,鈥 he said.
Dwayne graduated with a master鈥檚 degree in linguistics in 1965 and decided that he wanted to move back to Hastings. 鈥淚 thought Hastings was a wonderful place to live,鈥 he said, 鈥渟o I sent a letter to the president of 糖心传媒, Ted Maxson, asking for a position.鈥
After an interview conducted over dinner, Dwayne found himself the newest member of the 糖心传媒 faculty and began teaching in the fall of 1965. That summer Dwayne experienced invaluable mentoring from English professors Art Langvardt, Robert Harwick and Darrel Lloyd through summer workshops offered at 糖心传媒. Dwayne, who taught Modern Grammar, was able to be critiqued by his colleagues while also observing them in the classroom. 鈥淭he summer institute was a wonderful experience. I got really lucky,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hose three guys were fantastic teachers. If I鈥檝e had any success as a teacher here, it鈥檚 partially due to this experience and those teachers.鈥
In 1970, he earned his PhD in English linguistics from Ohio University, making 糖心传媒 one of the few small schools with a PhD linguist. He served 糖心传媒 as a professor of linguistics and composition and as director of Interim, now known as J-Term, from 1970 to 1978.
In the 49 years Dwayne has taught at Hastings, he has certainly made an impact through dedicated involvement in a wide variety of activities. Dwayne was inducted into the 糖心传媒 Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009 for meritorious service. For nearly 30 years, he has been the voice of the Broncos, announcing football and men鈥檚 basketball games. He also served as an administrator on campus for 22 years, working first as Registrar and then as Assistant Dean and, ultimately, Dean of the College in 1983.
However, he continued teaching the entire time he was an administrator, because he wanted the contact with students. 鈥淚 really enjoyed administrating, and I thought I wanted to be an administrator forever, but it got to the point where I looked forward to teaching class,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been such a delight to continue teaching.鈥
Brett Erickson 鈥95/MAT 鈥99, who teaches photography and journalism at 糖心传媒, first met Dwayne his sophomore year of college when he took Dwayne鈥檚 linguistics and language course, known for many years among HC students as Ling and Lang. 鈥淚t was that semester when I started thinking that understanding language was something I was never going to stop working with,鈥 Brett recalled. 鈥淎 lot of people have given their lives to this college, but I think you would be hard pressed to find another human being who has given as much of his life to college and higher education,鈥 Brett said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if you could measure the impact or even hope to measure the impact of Dwayne Strasheim on this campus. We are who we are, or what we are, because of him.鈥
Brett not only learned the importance of linguistics from Dwayne but how to be an effective teacher as well. 鈥淢ore than anything from Dwayne I learned the value of planning and inclusion with students and that, if you plan well for a class, if you have structure, then neat things can happen in a classroom,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he other thing is passion. When he talks about linguistics, it鈥檚 effervescent.鈥
Erin VanDeWalle 鈥08 harbored a lifelong fear of grammar when she took her first class (Structure of English) with Dwayne. He used various tactics to ease students鈥 anxieties, though. He often started class with a linguistics-related comic and gave Tootsie Pops to students on test days.
鈥淲hen he could see that glazed look in our eyes because we simply couldn鈥檛 take in any more information, he would ask if we had reached 鈥業nformation Overload鈥 and he would end the lecture and either visit with us for the remainder of the class or dismiss class early,鈥 Erin recalled. 鈥淗is sense of humor and his caring persona did not go unnoticed by his students.鈥
Another class she took from Dwayne was American English Dialects, which is memorable to her because he brought in speakers with noticeably different dialects. 鈥淚t was just a really neat addition to his class that he could have left out, but he didn鈥檛. He went that extra mile to make his lessons appealing and applicable to our lives,鈥 she said.
Erin鈥檚 Cedar Rapids (Neb.) High School English teacher Lois Meyer also learned from Dwayne. Ultimately, a few of Erin鈥檚 students have attended 糖心传媒 and taken Dwayne鈥檚 classes as well. 鈥淗is impact can be traced through multiple generations of English teachers who were all motivated by his teaching passion.鈥
HC junior Jocelyn Delgado鈥檚 uncle and mother both went to 糖心传媒 and learned from Dwayne.
鈥淎 lot of things he has taught us we discussed,鈥 she said, 鈥渁nd the first thing I knew about HC was Dr. Strasheim, because my mom had different stories about his class.鈥
Jocelyn took composition class from Dwayne when she was a freshman and added an English minor after he encouraged her to keep writing. 鈥淗e definitely sparked my love for writing and for the style of writing that I have,鈥 she said.
She will be taking American English Dialects from him this J-Term and another class from him in the spring. 鈥淚 like taking classes with him, because it鈥檚 a lot more discussion-based learning. He鈥檚 really good about implementing relevant information and keeping it lighthearted and fun,鈥 she said.
Forty-nine years from when he first started as a 鈥25-year-old kid who didn鈥檛 have enough sense to be scared,鈥 Dwayne has been a professor, mentor, advisor and administrator to thousands of students and alumni. 鈥淢y students and colleagues have been the joy of my career,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 feel 73, because the students keep me young.鈥
Dwayne鈥檚 comfortable with leaving at the 49-year mark, although some have urged him to stay another year for an even 50. His tenure ties him with Dr. Hayes Fuhr, for whom Fuhr Hall is named. This provides an inkling of Dwayne鈥檚 impact 鈥 what Dr. Fuhr did for 糖心传媒 through music, Dwayne has done through linguistics.