Leonard's Next Chapter

By Laura Richardson, '08


Rumors abound regarding Professor Leonard Oakland's eventual retirement, but he will be the first to tell you he is not leaving Whitworth in the near term.While Oakland lightens his course load significantly after this May, future students will still hear his signature Nietzsche lecture in Core 250 and enjoy his expertise in film and British literature in the English department.

For the past year, a number of people around campus, including English Professor Pamela Corpron Parker, '81, Whitworth staff members Tad Wisenor, '89, and Greg Orwig, '91, and North by Northwest Productions producer Andrea Palpant-Dilley, '00, have been working on a documentary about the beloved Oakland. The documentary seeks to honor the professor as he shifts out of full-time teaching next year after more than four decades as a Whitworth faculty member.

The 24-minute-long movie will premiere at a film festival and banquet in Leonard's honor next February, to be held as part of Whitworth's annual Heritage Week celebration. Organized in a series of short chapters, the film paints a portrait of this multi-faceted individual known by many as a true Renaissance Man.

Oakland is pioneering a new arrangement for senior faculty called "phased retirement." He will drop from full-time employment to a half-time contract, meaning he will teach four courses per academic year instead of seven. Each semester Oakland will teach one Core 250 class and one English course.

"According to his 2008-09 Course Load Worksheet, Leonard will be teaching American Film and Core 250 in fall term 2008 and British Literature and Core 250 in spring term 2009," said Patricia Green, Executive Assistant to Vice President for Academic Affairs Michael LeRoy, '89.

English professor Tammy Reid, '60, will also be transitioning into phased retirement in the department next year. Both Reid and Oakland are working closely with LeRoy and fellow English faculty to monitor how this new opportunity will work for both the university and themselves.

Although Oakland is not fully retiring yet, his lighter course-load will mean Whitworth will probably be seeing less of him next year. Parker spoke on behalf of the English department, saying that they will miss having Oakland around so much.

"I can't possibly sum up all the things we'll miss about Leonard – his breadth of knowledge and long experience with Whitworth, his kindness and good humor, his passions and quirks," Parker said. "All of it!"

Despite his drop to a 50-percent contract, Oakland will continue to be an integral part of Whitworth. Starting in June, Westminster Hall, the English building, will undergo the facility's first remodel since 1969. Both floors will be completely reconfigured, and Oakland's current office space will be the centerpiece of a new student lounge. In addition, with construction of the Lied Center for the Visual Arts being completed next door, the Westminster Courtyard and garden will be renewed with a significant new site plan.

"Of course, Leonard is deeply involved in these plans, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future," Parker said.