Fall 2025 9 ↘ In 1963, students protested a room and board increase … and, while they were at it, the quality of the food. needed the money for school. It was spooky, and we heard strange noises. The older workers told me it was the pipes. Never worked alone. We had a buddy system. Thanks for the article. —LARRY BLANC, ’ 78 Faith and Firsts As an Episcopalian, I read the article about Katharine Jefferts Schori [“Gospel of Change”] with interest. I knew that she had roots in Corvallis and with the Good Samaritan Church, but the piece I didn’t know was that we were on campus at the same time. She finished her master’s in 1977 while I completed my bachelor’s. The other part is that my family lived in Philomath until I was entering sixth grade, and we attended the Good Samaritan Church. My parents were married there and both of my sisters and I were baptized there. Fast forward to her being elected as the Presiding Bishop; it was awesome because she started at the same place I did, and she was the first woman to lead the Episcopal Church. “How cool is that!” I thought. When the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon elected their 10th Bishop at the annual convention in November 2009, the Presiding Bishop would conduct the ordination and consecration.This was held in Eugene, at the Hult Center (if I remember correctly). Michael Joseph Hanley was ordained to the episcopate and installed on April 10, 2010. I stood in line to meet Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori, shook her hand, introduced myself and shared our common thread. I will never forget her smile and kindness to me. She was, and continues to be, a great human being. —LINDA (CLARK) O’HARA, ’ 77 Memorable Mentors When I read “The Things We Carry” Perspectives column in the Spring 2025 issue of the Oregon Stater, I thought of my former journalism professor, the late Rob Phillips. I was a first-generation college student back before “first-gen” was even a thing, and I came from a home full of trauma. Kids raised that way either shrink or expand in an attempt to keep aggressors at bay. I did the latter, and was therefore often the most talkative — and clueless — person in Rob’s classroom. I once overheard him talking to another journalism professor when he thought the hallway was empty, and the gist of his evaluation of me was “so much potential, but distractable and immature.” Those latter two attributes reared their head in the spring of my sophomore year, and I dropped out. Rob single-handedly got me back in school and kept me there so that the “so much potential” he saw would have time to materialize. (I’m proud to say it did throughout my career.) Rob’s influence in my life was the subject of a recent Substack I wrote [at bit.ly/Renee-SH], where readers can find more details of that story. There’s rarely a day I’m not grateful for him and for having attended OSU. I’m proud to say my greatniece, Faith Boswell, currently attends and is finding it as life- giving as I did! —RENÉE SCHAFER HORTON, ’82 Send letters and comments by email to stater@osualum.com or by fill out the form at OregonStater. org/connect. We edit for clarity, brevity and factual accuracy. Please try to limit your letters to 225 words or less. SHARE YOUR FOOD MEMORIES AND MYSTERIES We’re cooking up a special food-themed issue of the Oregon Stater, and we want to hear from you! Whether you have fond memories of campus restaurants or, like the protesters in this 1963 photo (the sign reads, “This guy ate dorm food”), you still shudder at the thought of cafeteria fare, we’d love to include your story. Likewise, we want to get our hands on favorite OSU-related recipes and hear about much-missed delights we might be able to track down. Email us at stater@osualum.com.
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