Current Release: April 28th, 2009 | Vol. XXX Iss. 10

Inked Educators

By Eric Miller

ermiller@vwc.edu

The few. The proud. They re teachers with tattoos.

 Many people carry an inaccurate stereotype of professors, in particular, and tattoos are at odds with that, said Dr. Harold Dorton, Assistant Professor of Sociology here at Virginia Wesleyan.  & At the same time, it humanizes me to certain types of people, which I find a little funny. He asked how many professors had been interviewed for this story. When he heard the answer five, he chuckled.  There should be more of us.

Is there a stereotype attached to the word  professional ? According to Dr. Susannah Walker, assistant professor of history, there shouldn t be.

 Anything that is the subject of several shows on The Learning Channel can hardly be considered all that  alternative or  out there anymore! she responded.

Dr. Rebecca Hooker, assistant professor of gnglish, agreed.

 I don t find it odd, but I sometimes wonder why people get certain tattoos or why they get them put in the places they do, Hooker said.

Before any hasty conclusions are reached, though, this doesn t mean that a percentage of our beloved professors were once rebellious teenagers.

 & No one believes me when I tell them I was in my mid-thirties when I got my tattoo, Hooker laughed.

Dr. Dorton s story might sound a little more like the story you d expect.

 It started as a wild idea between four of my friends and I, and took on a life of its own, said Dorton.  I remember having to drive from West Virginia to a garage studio in Ohio, because tattooing was illegal in West Virginia.

Dr. Stu Minnis, associate professor of communication, isn t far behind.

 I got it my senior year of College and I did it pretty much on a whim, Minnis said.  My parents didn t find out for a few months, but they just rolled their eyes.

Sneaking it past your folks can be a problem, but not when you learn from the professionals.

 I got my tattoo this past summer on my birthday, said Dr. Clayton Drees, professor of history.  My parents sent me a check for my birthday this year, so yes, they not only knew but actually helped pay for it! They were not thrilled when I told them, however.

 My Mother and I were talking, Hooker said,  and she said  You should get a tattoo. If I was your age, I would get one. I laughed at her, but then I really started thinking about getting one& But when I actually did it, I called her and told her she had to break the news to my dad.

Ultimately though, tattoos are pieces of art that have meanings and reflect images of the self. Dorton s third tattoo was inspired by a trip to Snowshoe Mountain.

 I was on a trail by a river, where I saw a vine climbing a massive oak tree. It occurred to me that the vine was not growing the easiest way, nor in the easiest place, but it was clinging to life where it found it, and growing strong. It seemed an apt representation of my experience, said Dorton.

Similarly, Minnis tattoo reflects his interests.  It s a caricature of Laurel and Hardy that is on the title page of Kurt Vonnegut s  Slapstick, which I was reading at the time, said Minnis.  I was also working on a paper for a 1930s film history class.

Drees is of the Tudor Rose,  a combination of the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster during the Wars of the Roses in Medieval England, the Tudor period in England is my principal field of historical research, and so it s something I ve been reading about and studying for well over 20 years.

For her third tattoo, Walker wanted  something more decorative and visible. I didn t want a tattoo that was like anyone else s. So I waited. I always said that as soon as I knew what I wanted I would run out and get it.

On the other hand, Hooker said,  I didn t want a big tattoo and I wanted it to be in a place that I could cover if I wanted to. She settled on a band of blue flowers around her ankle.

None of the professors would have a problem with their children getting a tattoo, as long as they re of age-16 as Walker would have it.  How can you really know what you want to put on your body forever until you know yourself pretty well? It took me until my 30s, but then again, perhaps I was a late bloomer!

These professors vary between four different disciplines, but in the end, they all carry a little art with them.