Marietta College Commemorates 150 Years of ΦBK

By Gi Smith




              

                 














L-R: Physics professors Les Anderson (ΦBK, Marietta College, 1955) and Whit Hancock
(ΦBK, University of Virginia, 1963). The new Anderson Hancock Planetarium at Marietta
College in Ohio is named for them. The dedication plaque inside the planetarium’s lobby
mentions that both namesakes are members of ΦBK.
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A century ago, Edwin A. Grosvenor a professor at Amherst College, stood before the Marietta College community and delivered an address that celebrated the pioneer college’s tight embrace with liberal arts education.
 
During Marietta’s 75th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of the Gamma of Ohio Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in 1910, Grosvenor, then President of Phi Beta Kappa, spoke of the faculty at Marietta as devoted instructors.
 
“But these teachers are not ascetic, mediaeval saints who have let go of the pleasures of earth so as to get a tighter grip on the possibilities of Heaven,” Grosvenor said. “Even on this earth, before they die, in their daily work, ‘Treading with noiseless feet the round of uneventful years,’ they have had and are having their abundant reward. In the mere luxury of living in constant association with the unspoiled, the untainted and the young; in tender appreciation of efforts made and simple services rendered; in the ceaseless gilding of the realities of life; I can conceive of no other earthly occupation that offers so much of happiness and joy as falls to the teacher’s lot.”
 
Fast forward to the spring of 2009 as Emeritus Physics Professor Lester Anderson stood before a crowd of alumni, faculty, family and friends, speaking of his time as a student at Marietta and about one of his former students who  helped to fulfill a dream — the construction of a planetarium on campus that bears the names of two Phi Beta Kappa members.
 
One of Anderson’s former students, Dave Rickey, and his wife, Brenda, donated the lion’s share of funding that would construct the Anderson Hancock Planetarium. The Rickeys made the donation and named the state-of-the-art facility after  Anderson (ΦBK, Marietta College, 1955) and Emeritus Physics Professor Whit Hancock (ΦBK, University of Virginia, 1963), whom Rickey said inspired and mentored him during his years at Marietta. The director of the Anderson Hancock Planetarium is Ann Bragg (ΦBK, Rice University, 1995).
 
The 4,400-square-foot planetarium’s theater is 40 feet in diameter with an additional 3-foot-wide perimeter aisle that accommodates more than 100 people. It has a projection system that combines an optical-mechanical star-field projector with a powerful full-dome digital video projector.
 
Humbled with his own election into the Society as a senior mathematics and physics student, Anderson recalls the great professors who also inspired him.
 
“T.D. Phillips, who was head of the physics department, was the one responsible for steering me toward a  teaching career instead of a career in engineering, which is where I thought I was headed,” Anderson said. “Dr. Theodore Bennett, who was the head of mathematics, was undoubtedly the finest teacher that I ever had and probably had the finest mind as well. There are so many good professors who challenged and encouraged me.”
 
As professors, Anderson and Hancock had different styles but shared the same goals.
 
“We complimented each other,” Anderson said. “The one thing we had in common was that we each saw that it was important to really care about what we were doing and to cover the material in depth and really challenge the students. We have a special connection to many alums and we keep in contact with them. They remember us, sometimes ask for our advice — they’re real admirers, and it’s considerably due in part to the high standards that we set for them. Whit and I stand for scholarship, not just meeting general education criteria.”
 
Hancock was the college’s delegate to the Phi Beta Kappa Society’s 42nd Triennial Council meeting in Austin, Texas, in early October 2009, when the Phi Beta Kappa Society recognized the Gamma of Ohio Chapter for its 150th anniversary at Marietta. He agreed with his colleague regarding his role as a physics professor.
 
“Because we were both career teachers, that speaks to the college’s commitment to — and support of — teaching undergraduates,” Hancock said. The dedication plaque inside the planetarium’s lobby mentions that both namesakes are members of ΦBK —“Everybody who reads that plaque will be reminded about Phi Beta Kappa and the fact that we are proud of our association with the organization.”
 
As the college celebrates its 175th anniversary throughout 2009-2010, ΦBK members connected with the campus, including Gamma of Ohio Chapter President Kathryn McDaniel (ΦBK, Davidson College, 1994), and Marietta College President Jean Scott (ΦBK, University of Richmond, 1968) also look to this esteemed and historic society to which they belong and celebrate what it represents.
 
McDaniel said that 10 percent of Marietta’s faculty are members of ΦBK and that the college elects an average of five to eight graduating seniors to the Society each year.
 
“This anniversary really shows that Marietta College has a long history of offering a quality education that is based in the liberal arts — a college that studies and shares knowledge for its own sake,” McDaniel said. “By having a chapter at Marietta, it also gives us a chance to reward our high- quality students who are serious about expanding their knowledge of the world, and not just their intended profession.”
 
To protect the prestigious nature of being a member, students at Marietta College must meet stringent qualifications before being considered. “We’re interested in students taking courses that are not focused narrowly on a career, but on knowledge for its own sake,” McDaniel said.
 
Scott praised what the Society stands for and the dynamic that having a charter on campus adds to Marietta.
 
“Phi Beta Kappa is the best-known and most prestigious national academic honor society. The fact that Marietta College has been a part of this tradition for 150 years and has the 16th chapter is a tribute to the academic strength of our college.  Phi Beta Kappa provides an outstanding opportunity for our students, the best of whom are truly qualified for membership.”
 
Like Anderson and Hancock, Scott takes great pride in sharing this affiliation with such esteemed company.
 
“My election to Phi Beta Kappa is the only award I received as an undergraduate that I still list on my résumé,” Scott said. “It is that important to me because it was a recognition of my academic achievement in college and because it identified me with others of similar ambition and accomplishment across the country and across the years.”
 
The oldest society on campus — started nearly a full year before the Civil War — has garnered the praise and admiration of generations and will continue to do so under the protective watch of members for generations to come.
 
“In fraternal nomenclature, the letter ‘Gamma’ indicates not only a number, but is the initial of Galenos, which means a star,” Grosvenor said. “Always has this, your Gamma chapter, been worthy of its starry name. With a membership restricted and never numerous, but with a scholarship that was marked and a character that was high, its influence has extended and been felt beyond the narrow pale of a single institution. You, the members of this chapter, have added dignity and strength to the fraternity throughout the land.” 

Gi Smith is a writer-editor in the Marietta College Office of College Relations. She holds a B.A. in creative writing/English from Ohio University in Athens.