Obama's words need to be read as well as heard

Many pundits have judged the new president’s inaugural speech to be good but not great.

That depends when and how it is encountered. Taken on its own, free of the immense historical significance of today’s Obama inauguration, I believe it stands with the greatest inaugural speeches.

As we heard it today, the speech had to compete with the palpable aura of the day.

Today Obama spoke to us as we exhaled in relief and cheered in great national pride. His words could not match the feelings of the moment.

What was the speech up against? Just how vested were we all in the portent of this event?

Perhaps 200 of us gathered at the Portland Community College campus center to watch the distant events projected on a big screen. When Justice Roberts and Barack Obama took their places for the swearing in, we saw everyone on the dais in front of the Capitol rise.

And so, a continent away, did we.

We were there.

Later, back in our classroom, more than one student pronounced the speech just OK. So-so.

I thought it was better but I also felt it fell short. There was no “Ask not what your country can do for you … ” call to sacrifice. No “We have nothing to fear but fear itself” reassurance.

Certainly those sentiments embedded in Obama’s words, but the speech was far from indelible.

It was only later, after I printed out the transcript and read it closely that I saw it for its greatness.

Here was crafted prose firmly in the lineage of great oratory. The reference to “gathering clouds and raging storms,” was Churchillian. Many heard Roosevelt in the cautionary preamble. The offer to "extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist” rang of Kennedy as did Obama’s alliterative proclamation that duty is “the price and promise of citizenship.”

Years from now, when students of history read the speech free of the wet-eyed, elated multitude on the Capital Mall, when the relief over the departure of a miserable administration is no longer palpable, when we no longer surprise ourselves at being blind to race, this speech, rich with historical reference, will be an oratorical monument to our times and to our character.

An academic question: Is the inauguration "relevant"?

Today PCC Sylvania's president, Linda Gerber, backed off her exuberance about a campus celebration of the Obama inauguration next Tuesday.

Seems that I wasn't alone in wondering how to make the festivities relevant to beginning drawing, advanced calculus or transmission repair.

Gerber is now saying that Tuesday will be "business as usual" on the campus — well, sort of.

You be the judge. Here's what the campus president had to say today about how students and faculty should, or could, approach Tuesday's events. I've bold-faced the relevant sections:

Sylvania Campus,

I’ve received several questions about the events that ASPCC has planned for January 20 to celebrate the presidential inauguration. Foremost among these is whether it is appropriate to close offices or to cancel classes. My previous e-mail was not clear on that point.

ASPCC students have planned numerous activities on inauguration day and, since the inauguration is occurring on the same day that the campus would typically celebrate Martin Luther King Day, they have merged the two events. As with all ASPCC events to which the entire campus is invited, faculty and staff involvement is encouraged, but in no way mandatory.

Please be aware that the college, and Sylvania campus, will be open for “business as usual” throughout the day on January 20. Faculty are welcome to have their classes attend any of the events, if the event topic supports the course curriculum. Departments and offices should ensure that there is appropriate and adequate coverage so that our students and community are served as usual.

Thank you,

Linda Gerber, Ed.D.
President, Sylvania Campus
Portland Community College

Inauguration Party Time on Campus!

Four and eight years ago, I don't recall campuses — or the nation for that matter — treating the inauguration of George W. Bush as a national holiday.

One reason might be that many of us doubted that W. actually won.

Nor do I recall campus partying and rearranged class schedules for William Jefferson Clinton's inaugurations, even though there was no doubt that he won.

No, Barack Obama's victory is something else again. It was more than an election win, so that his inauguration is being treated as a liberation, a cleansing of our national collective psyche. It is the awakening from an eight-year nightmare haunted by Dick Cheney and his minion in the oval office.

So it's celebration time for the inauguration of Barack Obama.

I'm loving it but it does seems odd. Remember this is a country where we don't even get the day off to vote.

I happen to be teaching two classes next Tuesday, a day which the campus president has declared a day of "fun," "exciting" and "educational" celebration. Would she have done as much for W? For Bubba?

I'm adjusting. For one class, "Introduction to Media Writing," the day's events, particularly the speech, is a perfect fit. The class also happens to be at just the time of the speech.

For the second class, "Introduction to Information Gathering," it's a stretch, but we'll probably manage, particularly because the campus president's invitation to enjoy the day's events, somehow lumping them in with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which, lest we forget, is Monday, not Tuesday.

How dental hygiene, auto repair and calculus classes adapt is a mystery.

Here, for the record, is the president's memo regarding campus activities on Tuesday.

Dear Faculty and Staff,

As you well know, Inauguration Day is right around the corner, and thanks to the efforts of ... Sylvania’s ASPCC Programs team, a variety of activities are planned for the Sylvania campus to celebrate this historic moment, as well as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

I encourage faculty to bring their classes and urge students and staff to participate in what is sure to be an exciting, fun, educational day....

Look forward to seeing you next Tuesday at one or all of the many events ... !

Linda Gerber, Ed. D.
Campus President
Portland Community College, Sylvania

"Get a Life" Band to strut at Obama's big parade

I'm running the following story in The Hillsdale News, to be published next Monday, but, let's face it, it's just too big to wait until then.


Prepare yourselves for a shock as you watch the big inaugural parade in the nation’s capital on Tuesday, Jan. 20.

Hey, isn’t that? Could it be…?

Yes, it is!

OHMYGOD!

It's The "Get a Life Marching Band"!

The local, fun-loving fixture at the Multnomah Day’s Parade and other strange events in “Weird City” has been invited to, well, join the parade. This is indeed "change we can believe in."

Patti Waitman-Ingebretsen, captain of the band’s famed, somewhat-high-stepping baton twirling unit, reports the band is pumped for the celebratory parade.

The band has performed mostly in parades in Oregon and southwest Washington. But it has also marched in San Antonio several times, inexplicably, and strutted its stuff at Disneyland and Disney World, and the Tampa Gasperilla Parade.

Next stop after the inauguration will be the San Francisco for Chinese New Years parade in Feb 2009.