On Thursday evening, October 2, the 21st Annual John Hallwas Liberal Arts Lecture at WIU was delivered by Ken Hawkinson, at the Grand Ballroom at the University Union. It was a much-appreciated presentation that drew a sizable crowd of teachers, students, and other residents.
The program was preceded by a well-attended social event, for Hawkinson is a well-known former Western professor and administrator. He and his wife, Ann Marie, were greeted by Mayor Mike Inman, WIU President Kristi Mindrup, and many old friends, as well as other local people at a Sherman Circle Social event, before the 7:00 lecture program began.
After a 27-year career at Western, during which Hawkinson was a professor, department chair, associate dean, associate provost, and eventually the Provost and Academic Vice President, he was selected as the President of Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. That was in 2015, and he served in that position for ten years, until retiring during this past summer.
His positive impact on that university was remarkable—including a strong enrollment increase, a record level of fund-raising, and some new campus buildings. It is not surprising that he was recently awarded President Emeritus status by the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and that during this summer an important new building at Kutztown University has already been named for him: the Kenneth S. Hawkinson Welcome Center. So, he is a great source of insight and encouragement for WIU, now that he has returned to his home town. Dr. Hallwas opened the program with a nice introduction for his acquaintance and former colleague. The title of Dr. Hawkinson’s talk was “You CAN Go Home Again: Knowledge from the Past as a Foundation for the Future.” During the lecture, he went briefly into the history of higher education, especially in America, and then commented on the current challenges that colleges and universities face. He indicated that “Our job as educators today is not just to inform students of information and practices that provide job opportunities but to open their minds to a vast array of experiences and beliefs. We need to awaken our students to core values and broad insights.” And he referred now and again to his own educational experience, at Western, which was often inspirational for him. He also emphasized that “the fundamental relationship between a teacher and his or her students is still crucial today.”
In a sense, this Liberal Arts Lecture event was also a public “Welcome Back” to a highly regarded educational leader who symbolizes the Western tradition of concern for the impact of education on our culture.
