Awkward question from long ago

C. Peter Magrath

I remember when the old "Sunwood Inn" was in its prime as the site for very important events with dignitaries. It was where I had the thrill of meeting Bud Grant and shaking his hand. Back then if you were introduced to someone as a representative of the newspaper, you felt important and were acknowledged as such. I have to confess that was fulfilling. 

I studied "mass communications" at a time when aspiring writers were encouraged to be change agents. It was hard to argue with that because the USA had to be bailed out by the press on a couple fronts. First and most important on the Vietnam war, where the press had been led along by government through the critical early stages. Finally the truth could not be denied. 

Writers realized they could not trust so many "official" sources of news. Literally we could not trust our own government. "The press" was the one institution with the reach to do something about it. Given this power, it's ironic that the writers never needed any special credentials or licenses to do what they did. Hey, we could be hired off the street! Basically that's what happened with me. 

And then I decided my own judgment meant something at times. Don't let any press person tell you he dismisses his own judgment as he makes his rounds. The difference today is that "the press" as we once understood it has lost its reach, its power. We are flooded with communications from the electronic media, of course. 

We once had gatekeepers for so much of the news and communications we digested. That was a mixed bag for propriety. But today the media is like a cacophony. 

I mention our old Sunwood Inn of Morris because of remembering when the U of M president came here. Actually more than one U president has visited the building. My memory goes back to when C. Peter Magrath was the head person. Getting rather remote in our collective memory now. And I remember Magrath giving his expected type of speech and then inviting questions. 

I had to be embarrassed for a few moments. I wonder how many other people noticed this: an awkward question followed by a stiff, actually resentful response from the U of M VIP. Everyone should have noticed it but people in this town can be a little slow. We dragged our feet for years - years I tell you - before getting some serious issues resolved with our school district. 

But back to the U president's visit. So, he opens things up for Q & A and a local dignitary was among those speaking. It was our public school superintendent. Ironic that he should ask a question that would irritate the visiting academic luminary. The superintendent acted so innocent. 

I guess Mr. Switzer had caught some news reports of the time about the "downgrading" of college textbooks. Downgrading? Well, let's say making them less arduous to plow through. Less boring? Well, those were the days when so many people in education subscribed to "pain equals gain." We heard about students "cramming for finals" with the suggestion this was pretty unbearable. As I'm sure it was. I went through this a few times myself and then we were supposed to feel proud afterward. Proud of overcoming adversity, I guess. 

"Pain equals gain." I remember the late Mike Miller, the Native American guy at UMM, talking about how too many classes out there "assigned too many books." We were supposed to be such a "rigorous" institution. It was a way of promoting, at least in certain quarters. But time passes. Society undergoes change. The tech revolution turned our world upside down. Tech delivered a direct route to making our lives easier. It pushes through barriers. 

We increasingly learned that our lives could be made easier. And this would be without the kind of rigorous academic studies that once came across as sort of a badge. You'll still need to read a lot if you're headed to a rarefied air field like medicine or law. Most of us are not and here's the deal: We do not exercise value judgments about things like we were inclined to do in past times. 

I will be blunt here: we used to think in terms of "flunky" jobs. I'm just describing the way things were, just like I might describe how men's and women's fashions differed so much. 

Today the worst thing we might say about certain jobs is that they are "common" jobs. Not a strong value judgment there. Being common is quite OK. And don't assume for a second these jobs are "easy." 

To be truthful, we once looked down on "fast food" jobs like they might just be stop-gap in our lives. But why should any job be seen as "stop-gap?" It's true that fast food places had a lot of young people working and the turnover rate could be high. These jobs were never "easy" and take a look at them today: today we see many mature long-term employees at such places. I think it's fair to say no one looks down on these people. 

Do you hear the term "menial" in connection to jobs any more? People used to be afraid and self-conscious about ending up in such jobs. A way to overcome this might be to simply "get a college degree." Like from UMM. That way, even if you end up in a "common" job, you have the feather in your cap of a degree. But today I don't think that logic holds. Logic might suggest it's foolish to build up college debt. Get out in the world after high school and show you can do something well. 

You might decide that college needn't figure into your plans at all. Take responsibility and be focused. When I was young my generation partied and consumed alcohol. Forget about that. Maybe we were dealing with the stress of college classes that were difficult and may have even seemed irrelevant. If they were irrelevant, why did we do it? It was sort of the zeitgeist, you might say. 

So our superintendent Fred Switzer rose to speak from his table in the pool area of the old Sunwood Inn. And so he dared to ask C. Peter Magrath if college textbooks were in fact being downgraded. Downgraded? Well, made easier. Hey, maybe with more pictures! Larger type? Why did the type ever have to be so small? 

Right away you could see Magrath took umbrage at the question. He proceeded to say he didn't see anything of the trend. I don't blame him for saying that. He had to defend the citadel. Or as the author Edwin Newman once mused, "some enchanted citadel." 

"Cramming for finals?" I think that has gone the way of the old "bar rush" at local hospitality establishments on Friday and Saturday nights. Such behavior was once a staple for many of us. Today we seem oblivious about it. 

"Tough" college classes were once a right of passage for so many youth. Heaven help them if they had to work at a fast food restaurant of course. Many of them did but only if they had to. Today it might be a rewarding career and that's super! 

"Downgrading" of textbooks? Today we might eschew all that for the bite-size nuggets of knowledge on the web. And that is wonderful too. Mike Miller RIP.

Addendum: Just to make clear how Dr. Magrath bristled at the superintendent's question, I'll recall how Magrath, after initially sniffing and fumbling for words, said "well, you ask a question. . ." In other words, I don't want to answer this but I'll have to.

(It was always unpleasant to approach Supt. Switzer with any implied criticism of his work.) 

My memory tells me that Magrath's last name was pronounced "McGraw." My memory recalls that he praised UMM's football program in his address here. He said "I certainly don't need to remind you of that." The Cougars were at the peak of their heyday at the time. 

A tragic note: Magrath and his wife Deborah Howell were vacationing in New Zealand in 2010 when Deborah was struck and killed by a motorist. She was an editor with the Washington Post. 

BTW the Sunwood Inn is today known as Hudson Inn. The building went through a substantial down period before being resuscitated. 

Advertisements for Myself (Norman Mailer): I remember that the Morrisons of our newspaper got a positive note from Magrath himself about my coverage of his visit here!

A more recent photo

Addendum No. 2: Surprise! Who did C. Peter Magrath choose to bequeath his personal wealth to? I learn now that he bequeathed a big chunk not to the U but to an institution where he served as an interim president. That be West Virginia University! Surprise! Gee, was he that upset about Switzer's question? Just kidding on that. I think. The following is dated 2018 and it's from WVU Today:

 

C. Peter Magrath, who served as interim president of West Virginia University from 2008-2009, is leaving nearly $1 million to WVU in his will.

A highly respected leader in higher education circles across the country, Magrath made his intentions known Nov. 14 during WVU’s second annual Day of Giving.

“When one leaves the planet, you can't take your money with you; so send it ahead to a great place like WVU,” Magrath said.

Magrath’s estate plan names the WVU Foundation as a beneficiary of his individual retirement account in the amount of $877,000. The gift agreement calls for the donation to be used for scholarships to support future graduate students at WVU.

“There is no one who understands the land-grant mission better than Peter Magrath, and for him to select West Virginia University for this gift – out of all the land-grants and institutions he has been associated with – is a sterling testament to the way this University is meeting that mission,” President Gordon Gee said. “Peter led this University during a challenging time and helped redirect toward our purpose. His vision is now reinforced with this gift. Our gratitude extends beyond words.”

 - BW