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| Photo by BEN RUEHLMANN Edward Brickell came to Wesleyan to teach English 250, Studies in Literature: War and Masculinity. |
Dr. Edward E. Brickell came to Virginia Wesleyan to teach English 250, which
deals with war and masculinity.
"He is one of the most interesting English teachers I have ever had,"
said sophomore business management major David Wheeler. "He is one of those
professors that is always there if you need help or just want to know more about
the material."
Brickell is officially retired but says that he is teaching "for the same reason most faculty is: we love teaching." Brickell is from Norfolk. He graduated from a local high school and grew up in the area with one sister. After he graduated from high school at the age of 18, he went into the military. He was in the Army Air Corps for two and a half years. During WWII he was a pilot of B-24s. "I was in the military because WWII was going on," said Brickell. After getting out of the military, he went on to the College of William and Mary for the beginning of his college education.
"If it weren't for the GI bill I probably wouldn't have been able to go to college," Brickell said. At William and Mary Brickell majored in English and minored in French. At that point in his life, he said, "I had a notion that I might like to write." After finishing his four years of undergraduate work, he went to Chicago to get another degree in English language and literature. After graduating from the University of Chicago he returned to his home in Virginia.
He then started working for Globe Iron Construction. Then, in 1951, he went back to an old school that he had attended. At that time they had a teaching shortage and he was offered a position to teach English at Oscar Smith High School. Not only did he teach there but he was a baseball coach as well. He stayed at Oscar Smith for seven years as a teacher. He then moved up to assistant principal, then to principal in 1958. In 1965 he became assistant to the president at William and Mary while teaching in the English Department. He was responsible for writing speeches and representing the president at meetings.
He said with a chuckle, "I basically did everything the president didn't want to do." For almost 20 years he was the superintendent for Virginia Beach Public Schools. "I never regretted being in administrative work," said Brickell. "It could be very gratifying and satisfying because you were often in a position to make good things happy for people – but I wouldn't consider it fun!"
Brickell was also president of Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) from 1988 to 2000. He was such a great influence there that the Medical Science Library has been named after him, -- It stands as the Edward E. Brickell Library. Besides this honor he received five honorary degrees, as well as being awarded a1998 doctorate of humanities letter. He also had a baseball field named after him. Brickell is well-known in the community from his dedication to education to his role on the Tidewater professional sports board.
"I really enjoy baseball and going to games as well as coaching," said Brickell. Some other things that Brickell enjoys doing are reading and, for the past three years, walking the family dog. He has been married for 25 years and has three children and five grandchildren, most of whom reside in Virginia. Brickell comes to Wesleyan as an adjunct professor.
"I knew VWC as well as some of the administration, and I thought I wanted to do some teaching again – and here I am," he said. He is teaching one class this semester and plans to return next year to teach English 250 again. He has been teaching since 1951. "I knew VWC and have always been impressed by its philosophy and missions in the liberal arts," said Brickell. "I really have been impressed by the accomplishments of professors and students that have been made in the life span of the college. The leadership at this college is great."
Brickell is a professor who teaches for pure love of it. He said that he loves the interaction with his students as well as the growth that he is able to see in them. "The War and Masculinity class is very interesting because of the topics that we learn about, like human traits and aspects of war," said Wheeler. "I definitely enjoy this class." "It's very gratifying for me to see them go through this," said Brickell. "Teaching is hard work, I think, if you do it right, but it's also fun!"
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| Photo by LINDA DE ROSA Dave Iwans, founder of Dave Iwans and Associates spoke to students and faculty about public relations on a local level. |
On April 8 at 11 a.m., Lambda Pi Eta, the communications honor society, sponsored an event with speaker Dave Iwans, founder of Dave Iwans and Associates (DIA), one of the largest public relations firms in Hampton Roads. Iwans also does work for Tidewater Community College.
Iwans graduated in 1976 from the University of Hartford with a BS in Political Science. He was pre-law while in college, but decided that he could not afford the debt associated with continuing his education. “Advertising is like arguing a case of law. Except the consumers are your jury,” said Iwans. His company is a full-service Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations firm that employs 22 full-time employees.
"At DIA, we believe our business is current events," said Iwans. The communications honor society found Iwans through Liz Dyer, who was an intern with DIA. During the speech, Iwans talked to honor society members, students and faculty members about advertising, specifically that which is used locally during elections.
Iwans mentioned how expensive three-color ads are. Some candidates use them long before the election gets started, which Iwans sees as a waste of money. If the public is not preparing for elections, the ads are wasted. Another thing Iwans spoke about was how to get people's opinions. He mentioned two different methods: one is “telephonic” or quantitative, which involves passing out surveys to different people. The other way to get opinions is “focus,” where everyone gets in a group and discusses something.
"Good answers depend on good questions," said Iwans of research. He discussed how the research of DIA caught candidate Don Weeks in three lies. The first lie was when Weeks said he did not know he needed a business license even though he voted for the referendum. His second lie was saying he did not buy his boss out by putting him on the payroll. His third was when he told voters he never spent any money on the 33rd Street project, when in fact he had. These three lies went into an advertising campaign published by DIA to put him in a negative light with the public, and it worked. He was not reelected.
Iwans brought up the fact that the first thing needed for public policy is money. The money is needed for research, printing, media and consultants. He also spoke on his company's four-week campaign with MacArthur Mall to find employees for their stores. DIA worked with schools, churches and social services to get the word out about the job fair and expected 5,000 people to register at the job fair within three days.
The dedicated work of the Iwans and Associates company brought that together. "It wouldn't have happened if we hadn't been going to the schools, going to the churches, going to the social services," said Iwans. Dr. Stuart Minnis, advisor of Lambda Pi ETA and professor in Communications and Broadcasting sponsored this event. He believes it went very well and that the people in attendance seemed to interested in what Iwans had to say.
Minnis plans to continue having speakers like this for the honor society to learn more from local media professionals. The local media people will be the easiest to come by and the most important part about the event is the students seeing someone who is already in the field they plan on joining. "This is the first speaker the communications honor society has sponsored and we're going to try to do it every semester," said Minnis.
It was a hard decision to make. Do I spend my Spring Break basking in the wonder of Harrisonburg, Va, or do I sign-up to help homeless people in Alexandria, Va.? I am surrounded by opportunities to serve all the time in my job in the Community Service office, but something made this trip more attractive. Not only was I going to get the chance to help the less fortunate but I got to do it with students from Wesleyan I barely knew. What more could I ask for? This was when I made the decision to be a part of the Imagine 2004 team. I spent six days at Rising Hope United Methodist Mission Church.
I must admit that I was scared about everything. What would it be like? How would the people treat me? Would I make a difference? All of these questions pale now in the reflection that I have of this experience. As I climbed into the van that Saturday, I never dreamt of how I would change and of the friends I would make.
We took our time heading to Alexandria. Our day began with breakfast at the house of the Director of Community Service, Diane Hotaling. We sat around the table with heads bowed as she asked for God's blessings on us and the adventure that we were embarking on. We ate quietly, mainly because we were so tired. Did I mention breakfast was 8 a.m. on a Saturday? Enough said!
We hopped in the car and headed out. We discussed things like classes and plans after graduation. We still had not mentally prepared for what we were about to do. Once we pulled into the church's parking lot, our thoughts changed. The Rising Hope facility is located within a development of townhouses used as office space. From the outside, things look so small. From the inside, you would be amazed at what they do with the space. We met our site leader, Laura. She greeted us and immediately began giving us instructions. We dropped our things at the site where we were sleeping, which was another local church, and returned ready to work. We went on a tour of the facility. Rising Hope is not only for weekly services and groups meetings, they also have a clothes closet and food pantry. It was just amazing what a few determined people can do.
Next, we went to help unload leftovers from a local church garage sale. There were toys, clothes and other household goods that were crucial to the clients of Rising Hope. It was amazing to me how true the statement, "One man's trash is another man's treasure" really is. The people who left these items probably had no clue how needed and wanted they really were. We ended that day feeling like bodybuilders and knowing that we made a difference.
Please see Imagine, page 5
Site created and maintained by Linda De Rosa.