Remembering Stan Patten — Dr. Stanley Ray Patten died on April 18, 2018, but for those of us who had the pleasure of knowing Stan, our memories of him will always be with us. Here is the link to his obituary: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/charlotte/obituary.aspx?n=stan-ray-patten&pid=188789665
Stan taught in our English Department from 1982 to 1999. During his career at UNC Charlotte, he played a key role in developing and leading our Writing Resources Center (WRC). One of the first faculty members in the department to appreciate the value of computers in the teaching of writing, Stan obtained grant funding to equip the WRC with computers.
He was also an early supporter of the Women’s Studies Program, and he was the first male to teach a Women’s Studies course at UNC Charlotte. Stan thought that the Women’s Studies Program should broaden its scope to include gender studies, and I am sure he would be pleased that the program is now called the Women’s and Gender Studies Program.
When Stan taught in the English Department, the acronym LGBTQ was not yet in use. However, Stan was already at the forefront of the movement to support all of our students no matter what their sexual orientation or gender identification might be.
When I first moved to Charlotte in 1984, Stan and I would occasionally have beers together at various bars in Dilworth, where he lived at the time. I loved hearing his stories about the two years he spent in Ethiopia when he was in the Peace Corps. He also told riveting stories about his involvement with the Martin Luther King Center in Atlanta. He liked to talk about his childhood and youth in a small town in Indiana, and he seemed to be pleased when I told him that my mother also grew up in a small town in Indiana. Sometimes Stan would talk about his years at Purdue University, where he earned his PhD, but he talked more about his experiences as a high school English teacher.
Stan liked to talk about computers, and he was pleased when my wife and I finally purchased our first Mac computer. We had trouble setting it up, so I called Stan. In no time, he came over to our house and set up the computer for us. That is the kind of person he was.
Stan’s teaching career at the UNC Charlotte came to an end in 1999 when he was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis, but he remained in Charlotte for the rest of his life. Stan’s final years were difficult because of his serious health problems. However, he still took pleasure in interacting with his friends and neighbors in Plaza Midwood, where he bought a house on a street called Mimosa. One of his other sources of pleasure was writing poetry. In 2013, he published some of his poems in a chapbook titled Betrayals. Stan sometimes felt betrayed by his body, but not by his friends. He gave me a signed copy of this chapbook a couple of years ago. I will always treasure it, just as I will always treasure my memories of Stan.
I am organizing an open house for Stan’s friends and colleagues to gather and share memories and stories about Stan. This event will take place next Sunday (April 29) in the English Department Lounge (Fretwell 248C) from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. Everyone is invited. I will bring some homemade food, but everyone should feel free to bring something to share. I hope to see you on Sunday.
Our Students’ Winning Ways — Last Friday was an award-winning day for a n
umber of our students. At three separate events, our students received various awards. During a ceremony sponsored by the Center for Graduate Life, Kevin Chauncey received the Graduate Teaching Assistant Award in recognition of his work as a teaching assistant in lecture classes offered by Ralf Thiede and Alan Rauch. The Undergraduate Research Conference also took place on Friday, and our students were well represented. Kelly Brabec, Jenna Hainlen, and Jordan Costanza all won awards for their presentations. Late Friday afternoon, the Honors College Awards Ceremony took place, during which Kellyanna Atwell received a Delbridge E. Narron Scholarship and Travel Award.
Upcoming Events and Deadlines — Here is information about upcoming events:
April 23 — The CLAS Outstanding Teaching Awards Ceremony will take place today at 3:00 p.m. in the Halton Reading Room at Atkins Library. Our own Valerie Bright is a finalist for the Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Part-Time Faculty Member.
April 27 — The English Department meeting will take place on April 21 from 11:00 to 12:30 in Atkins 125.
Quirky Quiz Question — Stan Patten received his PhD from Purdue University, but he is not the only member of our department who has a PhD from Purdue. Two of our current faculty members and at least one of our emeritus faculty members earned their PhD’s from Purdue. Can you name them?
Anita Moss’s Ph.D. dissertation is titled “Children and Fairy Tales: A Study of Nineteenth-Century British Fantasy,” which she wrote under the direction of Donald Gray. Do you know the name of the university where she earned her doctoral degree?