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  6. Joan del Plato and Wes Elliot Kang: Wendy Shifrin Award Presenters

Joan del Plato and Wes Elliot Kang: Wendy Shifrin Award Presenters

Joan del Plato and Wes Elliot Kang present the Wendy Shifrin Award to Anne O’Dwyer and Nancy Yanoshak. Below is the full text of the Commencement presentation.

JOAN: Thank you, Ian. Good morning, everyone. Wes and I are pleased to co-present the very first Wendy Shifrin Award. Wendy taught Dance at Simon’s Rock for 31 years until her death last year.

WES: We quote: “Established by the B.A. class of 2015, this award honors Wendy Shifrin’s legacy and commitment to Simon’s Rock. This award is granted to a faculty member who exhibits exceptional mentorship, not only to students, but also to other faculty, staff, and all members of the community.

JOAN: “Chosen by the faculty and the senior class, the recipient of this award demonstrates passion and care in their contributions to the well-being of their peers and colleagues.” End quote.

JOAN: The committee has decided to present the award to Two people, Anne O’Dwyer, dean of Academic Affairs, and Nancy Yanoshak, professor of history and women’s Studies. At this moment both Anne and Nance have reached milestones in their careers.

WES: After 32 years of outstanding teaching and mentoring, Nancy Yanoshak is retiring this year. Likewise, after 10 years of outstanding administrating and mentoring, Anne O’Dwyer is stepping down from her deanship to return to the faculty full-time as professor of psychology because of her deep love of teaching.

JOAN: In her last days, Wendy and I briefly talked about some difficult issues. In answer to my question about how she would like to be remembered in a campus memorial, Wendy Shifrin quietly told me, “There should be dance.” We want to honor her request. Wes Elliot, who was a student of Wendy, would like to offer a short sequence of movements as a way to honor both award recipients—and to remember Wendy.

Wes performs 60 seconds of movement

Wes explains his movements as related to his working with Wendy and Anne and his knowledge of Nance.

JOAN: In my several years as a faculty member and especially as Emily H. Fisher Faculty Fellow, I was regularly mentored by Anne O’Dwyer, who taught me by her example. She has been a hard-working, savvy, and effective dean, deeply committed to the college’s ideals. (And when I say “hard-working” I mean she arrived at the office typically at 7 a.m. and stayed until 8 p.m. or later, often working weekends as well.) At the same time, Anne has always been mindful about the fairness of her decisions and practices for those affected. She has always been deeply concerned about our students, staff, and faculty as people and always willing to listen to opinions that differed from hers. With deftness and sensitivity Anne has steered the college community through several changes and crises, most notably this last year through the process of mourning Wendy’s passing.

Nancy Yanoshak, professor of history and women studies, my respected colleague and treasured friend, has also been an exceptional mentor to all factions of the college. The combination of brilliance—and serious funNance has brought to her classroom is legendary. (You may want to ask her to do her imitation of Queen Victoria or the witches in Macbeth.) For several semesters, Nance has mentored new faculty, offering them comments on their teaching drawn from her wealth of experience and showing extraordinary kindness, encouraging their adjustment to the special challenges of teaching here.

Nance has written a book about Simon’s Rock, Educating Outside the Lines, which I strongly recommend as required reading for all Simon’s Rock students, friends, alumni, prospective students and their families. Nance shepherded not only faculty but also staff and students through the process of writing their contributions. In collecting and commenting on their essays, she has captured the essence of what we do here, how, and why: our goal to create humane, student-centered classrooms in which faculty “wear their authority lightness on their sleeves.” Nance’s book will continue to mentor readers for years to come.

In innumerable conversations we have had over these last three decades, Nance has mentored me personally through our mutual inquiry, so that I have grown to understand even more clearly the value of Simon’s Rock singular mission and how I can contribute more effectively to it.

As a final nod to the person after whom this award is named, Nance, Wes, Anne, and I—and all our colleagues—have admired over the years Wendy’s unique, loving touch in her own mentoring of all her students.

WES: Please join us in congratulating Anne O’Dwyer and Nancy Yanoshak.