Three to Remember
鈥淲hy don鈥檛 you write a piece about your all-time favorite class at CU,鈥 editor Eric suggested innocently.
That鈥檚 easier said than done. But looking back 58 years, three stand out.
Introductory Economics, Fall 1961
Professor Clifton Grubbs was a reserve Marine colonel with combat in the Pacific and Korea on his r茅sum茅, along with a Harvard Ph.D. His lecture style owed a lot to Patton, his content to Paul Samuelson and common sense.
Economics was not a dismal science in Grubbs鈥 classroom. Here鈥檚 how he explained the national debt to 200 undergraduates. 鈥淲rite 鈥業 owe you $285 billion鈥 (the debt in 1961 鈥 quaint, right?) on a slip of paper and hand it to the person next to you.鈥
When pulses returned to normal, he explained the debt wasn鈥檛 a threat to the country because it was internally held.
He couldn鈥檛 do that today 鈥 much of the debt is held by foreigners. But the memory lingers.
Introduction to Literature, Summer 1961
William Markward had a lifelong love affair with Shakespeare, and his way of introducing us to literature was, in three words, Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Shakespeare.
He didn鈥檛 just have us read the plays. He read them to us.
Markward had performed as a Shakespearian actor. As he read, the text came alive. Listening to him read 鈥 perform 鈥 Henry IV, Part I was magical. It鈥檚 still my favorite play.
Constitutional Law, Spring 1967
Richard Wilson was born on the Fourth of July and, like Jefferson and Adams, also died on the 4th. Civil liberties were his passion. He taught Con Law by Socratic method. It was a special treat to watch his mind at work 鈥 like when he led the class in dissecting the landmark First Amendment case Schenck vs. U.S.
Schenck had been convicted of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 by passing out leaflets urging resistance to the World War I draft. His defense was the First Amendment.
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes鈥 ruling upholding Schenck鈥檚 conviction contained two of the most memorable lines associated with his name:
鈥淭he most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre鈥,鈥 and 鈥淭he question鈥 is whether the words鈥 create a clear and present danger...鈥
Wilson asked question after question leading to a shocking revelation: Holmes, the Court鈥檚 great civil libertarian, had in effect partially suspended the First Amendment for the duration of World War I.
What classes were your favorites isn鈥檛 important. What matters is what you got out of a class 鈥 and what decades later still resonates in your skull and informs your view of the world and your decisions and, hopefully, makes you a better human being. That鈥檚 what you paid the big bucks for.
Photos courtesy CU Heritage Center; Texas Exes (Grubbs); @iStock/lolon (frames)
