Honorary Degrees of Retiring Faculty
Richard Walter Winslow, Associate Professor of Spanish, 1992
"Richard Walter Winslow, for thirty-four years you have shared with your students and colleagues your knowledge and love of Spain, its language and its literature; you have kept your commitment to educating yourself as well as your students; and you have lived your belief that learning becomes meaningful as it is measured against life. In their many aspects, both your career and your life have maintained their focus and achieved a rare integrity.
Through years of study and travel, the history and culture of Spain have become your own. You have led groups of Lawrence students, a bus load of alumni tourists, and a steady flow of traveling friends to share your delight in the sunshine of Andalusia, the misty greens of Galicia, and the rugged landscapes of Castile and Leon. But you have also brought Spain to your students in their American classrooms. You have introduced them to the wisdom and rich humor of Cervantes and the earthy merriment of Alarcon. You have guided them through the plays of Calderon and Benavente, the poetry of Lorca and Machado, and tragic memoirs of the Civil War. And you have chosen to end your teaching career as you began it: by starting yet another beginning class on its linguistic and literary pilgrimage.
Underpinning all aspects of your life has been your commitment to service. A bewildered freshman or a struggling student organization could always count on your help. The Wisconsin Humanities Committee, the Northeast Wisconsin Foreign Language Organization, the Board of Directors of the Appleton ABC, and the Board of Trustees of the Appleton Public Library have benefited from your vision and dedication, as have many other volunteer enterprises. In 1990 you were among the official observers of the national elections in Nicaragua.
Last year, the Lawrence chapter of Mortar Board honored your efforts to 'advance the spirit of scholarship, recognize and encourage leadership, and provide service.' Today we salute you for these and your other contributions, and for the hope implied in all you do. For if, as Miguel de Unamuno asserts, 'Hope in action is charity,' your generosity of spirit and act reinforces the conviction that there can be better people and a better world.
By the authority vested in me, I now confer upon you the degree of Master of Arts, ad eundem, and admit you to its rights, its privileges, and its obligations."