Honorary Degrees of Retiring Faculty
Charles F. Lauter, Dean of Off-Campus Programs and International Student Advisor, 2000
"Chuck Lauter, in your 31 years at Lawrence, you have held four decanal positions but have had one goal: to support and promote the educational experiences of Lawrence students. As Dean of Student Affairs, Dean of Student Academic Life, Dean of Students, and Dean of Off-Campus programs and International Student Advisor, you have contributed consistently and significantly to our mission and purposes and in so doing have earned the affection and regard of generations of Lawrentians. The evidence for that assertation is not difficult to assemble: you have been the recipient of the Babcock Award for your commitment of time and energy to assist, guide, and advise students on five occasions and you earned the Mortar Board Award for your dedicated and selfless service to students this year.
To list your contributions and accomplishments would exceed the time allotted for this citation, but I would be remiss if I did not single out the telling and crucial role you have played in initiating and securing the Bjorklunden Weekend Seminar Program. Your devotion to Door County is well known and unquestioned, and you have helped the college launch this new signature program to great good effect. You should certainly count that achievement among your lasting legacies at Lawrence. Another is your engagement with Appleton's sister city relationship with Kurgan, which you have nurtured and sustained for the past 10 years. Your plans to teach at Kurgan State University in the early years of retirement will extend your long-standing involvement and, if you have your way, afford Russian students an exposure to our Freshman Studies program.
Most of all, however, your work here has been less programmatic than personal, and the relationships you have developed with students over three decades are deep and enduring. The testimony of one speaks for all when she writes that as s teacher and mentor you encouraged students to question without fear and to exchange their thoughts and passions freely and openly. Most of all, she cites your 'reassuring enthusiasm' as that compelling trait that helped students navigate difficult terrain and seek out experiences they found unfamiliar.
In 1969, the announcement of your appointment cited you as a 30-year-old native of New York. On this occasion, we hail you as a 61-year-old born-again Wisconsinite. On behalf of those generations of Lawrentians in whom you have delighted and of the college that you have served, we wish you well in the years ahead and look forward to your continuing presence and involvement in our community. We especially wish you good luck and good stamina as you embark upon what we understand to be your next great--maybe greatest--challenge: serving as nanny to your twin grandchildren, due to arrive later this summer.
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."