Letter from Frank Davis '75

Dear Dean Wagner,

I am taking this opportunity to provide personal testimony on Sheafe Satterthwaite's contribution to Williams Collage. I graduated in 1975 and have been a professor at UC Santa Barbara since 1982.

Sheafe inspired, encouraged, and befriended me during my years at Williams. He profoundly affected my world view and was one of my most influential teachers. After all these years, he remains an intellectual touchstone.

I am in no position to judge the College's decision not to renew Sheafe's contract. I only ask that you take full and fair measure of Sheafe’s value to the institution. He has been an extraordinary teacher and adviser. His unique scholarly perspective on the American landscape has added an important dimension to the environmental studies program. How many students have seen the world through a radically different lens and have enjoyed a richer experience thanks to his teaching?

Sincerely,
Frank W. Davis, Class of '75

Letter from Jerry Tone '77

From: Jerry Tone <jerrytone@mac.com>

 Date: January 25, 2011 11:07:10 AM PST

To: Adam.F.Falk@williams.edu

Cc: William.G.Wagner@williams.edu, Peter.D.Low@Williams.edu, John.M.Malcolm@Williams.edu, giglio@alumni.williams.edu

Subject: Sheafe Satterthwaite

 Dear President Falk:

 I was initially saddened to hear of the College's decision regarding Sheafe's teaching contract, and then I realized that the feeling quickly turned to anger.  How could my beloved college (from which my father graduated in 1951, I  graduated in 1977, my daughter graduated in 2007, and my son graduated in 2010) make such a cold (and ill-advised) decision about probably my favorite, and most effective teacher?

 I would acknowledge that Sheafe's style and approach has long been unconventional, but my goodness, what a boring place the College would be if all styles were conventional and monochromatic!

 More importantly however, for me, Sheafe's teaching abilities were rivaled only by Fred Rudolph's in their effectiveness in helping us learn how to learn, learn how to think, analyze from different points of view, etc.  I can truly say that I was taught life-long skills by Sheafe in the classes I took from him, the meals we shared, the trips we took, etc.  He was amazing.

 I truly hope you will use your position to intervene in this decision promptly, and quickly make it right.

Regards,

Jerry Tone,  '77

Letter from Ned Brown '82

January 23, 2011

Dear President Falk,

Though I am a class of 1982 graduate of Williams, I have not stayed actively involved with the college for many years.  I have not submitted updates to the alumni review, and the sole occasion I contributed financially to the college (since my rather substantial contribution during enrollment) was to a memorial fund upon the death of former Moo-Cow Marching Band Director Francis Cardillo, many years ago now.  On the one hand, my lack of involvement with the college for so long gives me little credibility as a source of input on its administration.  On the other, the fact that I choose to speak out now will perhaps emphasize with what importance I consider the issue at hand.

I have recently learned from fellow Williams alums that Sheafe Sattertwaite is not to be offered a continuing contract at Williams.  This disappoints me greatly, and hence this missive.

I was not an exceptional student at Williams.  I did not come from a preparatory background, nor even an especially good public schooling background. I did not have strong study habits and my B-level grades reflected that.  I grew up in Colorado, and had never seen a pair of khaki pants or Topsider shoes prior to arriving at Williams.  My only officially sanctioned extra-curricular activity at Williams was participation in the Marching Band, of which I was a Student Director my senior year.  In brief, I was not an especially typical Williams student, either academically or socially.  I did not fit in.

In my four years at Williams, there was only one Professor with whom I "connected" and who took the time to connect with me:  Sheafe Sattertwaite.  More important than the two of Sheafe's courses which I took was the personal, individual interest Sheafe took in me.  Sheafe appreciated my differences and encouraged me to continue on an individualistic path.  The support and advice Sheafe provided, the unique perspectives he encouraged all of us in his courses to investigate, helped me gain the confidence to pursue a career path which has varied widely from the Williams norm. 

In the years since leaving Williams, I have done everything from ditch digging to executive hotel management to helping build and run a resort in Independent Samoa.  I have traveled extensively and currently run a scientific research station on a remote Pacific Atoll. My varied and wide ranging career has allowed me to build a network of friends and colleagues around the world and, if there's one thing they all would say of me, it is that I think independently.  Sheafe Satterthwaite's unique and personalized approach had a great deal to do with the course I've taken through life, a course I've found extremely rewarding, interesting and, not least of all, entertaining.  With the hope that others might benefit from Sheafe's attention as I did, I add my small voice to the chorus of those requesting reconsideration of the decision not to renew Sheafe's contract at the college.

Thank you for time and consideration.

Best regards,

Ned Brown, '82

Letter from Shamus Brady '04

Dear Dean Wagner,

I am writing in support of Professor Sheafe Satterthwaite.  He is in
my humble opinion the greatest professor at Williams that I
encountered.

He is a teacher in every sense of the word.  And as the principal of a
middle school and an educator myself I like to think I have a decent
knowledge of what it is to be a teacher.

I will not waste your time with all the reasons that letting Sheafe go
is a mistake.  I know in your heart you know them and they have been
voiced in numerous letters to you.  My personal experience is that
when I return to campus Sheafe is one of the few professors that makes
time to meet with me.

He is the only professor who would host alumni and their families at
his house on a Sunday.  You may not be aware of all the ways he goes
above and beyond.  This is because for him it is not above and beyond.
 It is what a teacher should be and what he is.

I must say that in letting Sheafe go you make Williams not a better
place but a worse one.  There are things that make Williams an
unparalleled experience and this is one of the most important.

As an administrator myself I am aware that what you and all
administrators typically do in this situation, in fact what I am
almost certain that you will do, is dig in your heels and ignore the
hundreds of letters students send you.  You do this perhaps because
you are afraid to admit you have made a mistake.

However, I want to let you know that admitting a mistake is often the
greatest thing an educator can do.  Sheafe taught me that.

In your career I do not doubt you have made and will be forced to make
countless impossible decisions.  I simply ask you to do the right
thing.

Please consider that some day you may find yourself in Sheafe’s place
and you might be judged based on how you treat him now.

Thanks for your time.

I greatly appreciate your service to the college.  I know Sheafe has a
great deal of respect for you and only hope that you will afford him
the same.

Sincerely,

Shamus Brady 04’

Letter from Ross Cheit '77

Professor William Wagner

Dean of the Faculty

Williams College

Williamstown, MA                                                                            January 9, 2011

Dear Dean Wagner,

I graduated from Williams in 1977 with a first-rate education that prepared and inspired me to become an academic. I have been teaching at Brown University since 1986, where I am a tenured member of the Political Science department. I was the first professor to receive a junior endowed chair at Brown—the Ittleson Chair in Environmental Studies. I am proud of my accomplishments in research and writing, but I have been most successful at Brown as a teacher. I was the youngest faculty member ever to receive the Hazeltine Citation for Excellence in Teaching; I am the only member of the Brown faculty who has received that award (voted by the students) and the McLoughlin Award for Teaching (awarded by the administration). Last year, I was one of two professors (out of more than 500) to receive the Karen Romer Prize for Advising and Mentoring.  I know that what I do makes a tremendous difference in the lives of my students, and it is no exaggeration to say that Sheafe Satterthwaite has been a primary influence in my success.

I was a coordinate major in Environmental Studies at Williams. I took three courses from Sheafe and I did a Winter Study project under his supervision. Sheafe is the only professor at Williams with whom I have stayed in contact over all these years. His intellectual friendship has been extremely important to me. He has followed my career with great interest and he has consistently suggested useful readings when I talk to him about my teaching. More importantly, he had a major influence on how I view the world. I know that he was never a comfortable fit in Environmental Studies, but his unusual perspective on the world helped open my eyes in various ways. Sheafe was willing to challenge the orthodoxy of environmentalists and he had a special way of appreciating things that others might overlook. I still make connections and observations with Sheafe in mind.

His personal connection with students is extraordinary and, in my experience, quite rare in the academic world. The people I stay in closest touch with from my years at Williams all have one thing in common: we were students of Sheafe Satterthwaite.  Indeed, Sheafe has referred students to me over the years who are working on projects at Williams that have some connection to my areas of expertise. While I generally beg off any requests from students at other institutions, I always make time for students who have studied with Sheafe. One reason is that this is a small way in which I can acknowledge and try to repay my intellectual debt to Williams and to Sheafe. Another reason is that his students are invariably interesting. Indeed, I am taking a current Williams student to dinner tomorrow night because she contacted me about a Rhode Island-based project that she is doing for Sheafe.

I am writing, then, because I have just heard through another former student of Sheafe’s that his contract for next year has not been renewed. I hasten to add two things. First, Sheafe did not contact me and he does not know that I am writing this letter.  Second, I know that it is highly unusual to write an unsolicited letter to the Dean of the Faculty of any other institution in connection with any kind of hiring or contract issue. I certainly have not written a letter like this in my twenty-four years in academia.

But Sheafe Satterthwaite has been so important to my intellectual development and my teaching career that I could not resist writing this letter. I know that institutions like Williams and Brown care deeply about their students and their alumni. I do not know whether you fully appreciate how much goodwill Sheafe has created for Williams and how many of us love the institution in large part because of our experience with him.  How could you know? I have never really had an occasion to express what I have put in this letter. And I suspect there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of alums who could write something similar.

Sheafe Satterthwaite is an extraordinary resource and he is part of what made Williams special from my point of view. He is the kind of professor who inspires students and alumni in ways that are difficult to measure. I always assumed that we would have the chance to explain this and to honor him and the institution on the grand occasion of his retirement. That seems unlikely to happen if his career ends with an abrupt non-renewal.

With all of this in mind, I hope that you can find a way to retain Sheafe for another year or two so that he can retire in a fashion that preserves the reservoir of goodwill that he has created towards Williams and that honors the remarkable number of ways in which he has inspired students over forty years. You can count on me to assist in that effort in any way possible. I greatly appreciate your consideration in this matter.

Sincerely,

Ross E. Cheit 

Associate Professor

Political Science & Public Policy

Letter from Richard Remmer '77

President Falk, 


I find  it quite ironic that I should learn of Sheafe's abrupt termination at the end of a month during which I have spent virtually every professorial minute working on two matters which are otherwise unrelated except for threads that wind back to Sheafe. Both matters have been long term labors, both involve Federal Court cases and my involvement in both is based on a foundation , the cornerstones of which were set in classes with Sheafe, including a mantra to look at things from every possible angle. Sheafe was one of the three Williams professors who most influenced my education and career paths. It is unlikely that I would have attended law school or pursued projects and cases involving land use planning and management or environmental issues had it not been for Sheafe. More importantly there is no doubt in my mind that I and many other alums have enjoyed every day of our lives a little bit more because we have never looked at the world  in the same way since interfacing with Sheafe. Hopefully Williams will take the time to look at Sheafe's contract and future in a different way. 


Best Regards Richard Remmer 77'

Letter from Matthew Jeffers '98

From: Matthew Jeffers ‪<mjeffers98@gmail.com>‬

Date: Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 12:42 PM

Subject: Sheafe Satterthwaite's contract decision

To: william.g.wagner@williams.edu

Dear Dean Wagner:

As an alumnus of Williams, I recently received the sad news that Sheafe Satterthwaite's contract has not been renewed for the 2011-12 academic year, and I am writing to you because I feel that this decision - for whatever reason it was made - shows great disrespect for the impact that Sheafe's teaching has had on multiple generations of students over the past four decades.  It is no exaggeration to say that this is the worst news I have heard from the Purple Valley since I graduated in 1998.

As anyone who has taken a course from Sheafe will tell you, he is full of quirks, unusual interests, and non-traditional teaching methods -- and it is exactly these points that have made Sheafe such an asset to the Williams community.  Perhaps the thinking now is that the college has out-grown its need for an instructor who truly challenges his students, takes them out of their comfort zones, and helps them encounter knowledge outside of the classroom.  Perhaps a number of students have given him poor evaluations because they want to sit in a huge lecture without interacting with their instructor.  Perhaps Sheafe's courses have seen a decline in enrollment, although I would find this very hard to believe.  It's difficult to speculate on the reasons behind the contract decision, but I am fairly confident that it was a change in the college, and not in Sheafe, that was the driving factor here.  To my knowledge, Sheafe's teaching has been unwavering.  Assuming I am right on this -- the question then becomes what kind of evolution (devolution?) the college and the Art Department have gone through that doesn't leave room for Sheafe's courses -- which have been a constant for the previous four decades?  This constant was, for me and hundreds of other students, one of the defining aspects of the Liberal Arts Experience at Williams.

This brings me to another reason that Sheafe was such an asset to the Williams Community -- namely, the detail, effort, and care that he put into his commentary on student papers.  Students come to Williams, rather than a larger college, because they want to receive personal attention from their instructors, not their teaching assistants.  This has always been part of the "Williams Brand" ... and when it comes to the professors who embody this "brand", Sheafe is in a class by himself.  He put so much effort into his feedback on class assignments that I sometimes wondered how he was able to do it with only 24 hours in a day, and yet from all reports I have heard, he did this consistently, for every student, on every assignment, across every course, every year.  No other instructors I have ever had, at Williams or elsewhere, ever came close to providing such insightful and in-depth feedback.  Sheafe took his relationship with his students seriously -- he remembered everything they had written, followed their improvements across multiple assignments, and helped them address their development areas and emerge successfully at the end of each course.  Has the student body changed so much in recent years that they no longer see value in this? 

As you can tell, the paragraphs above are my own counter-argument to a decision that has already been made.  But this decision can be changed, and it is not too late.  Out of pure respect for Sheafe's many years of service -- I would hope that in your role as Dean of the Faculty, you can step in, strike a compromise, and allow Sheafe to leave on his own terms -- perhaps within a window of 3 years instead of six months.  At 71, he cannot be far from retirement, and for this reason, the decision around Sheafe's contract strikes me as political more than anything else.  If you have read this far in my letter, I would hope that you are also reading the other letters that you have been receiving -- and that you can at least understand the impact this decision has had on the broader Williams community, not to mention Sheafe himself.  When multiple letters are being sent, all personally written, by alumni across several decades -- even a biased observer could tell you that something is amiss.

If you have a few minutes to reply and help me understand a bit more about why and how the college came to this decision, I would be very grateful -- because as you can tell from the feelings I have expressed here, I see no reason, objective or subjective, why Sheafe cannot be given the chance to close out his career at Williams on his own terms.

Sincerely,

Matthew S. Jeffers '98

Boston, Massachusetts

Letter from Dave Livermore '77

David P. Livermore

1960 Hubbard Avenue

Salt Lake City, UT 84108

January 15, 2011

President Adam F. Falk

Williams College, Office of the President

880 Main Street, Hopkins Hall 3rd floor

P.O. Box 687

Williamstown, MA 01267

RE: Decision Regarding Sheafe Satterthwaite

Dear President Falk:

Recently I have become aware that Dean William Wagner and members of the Committee on Appointments and Promotions (CAP) have chosen not to renew Sheafe Satterthwaite’s contract as a member of the Art Department. I find this news astonishing and an embarrassment to the College. I would like to add my voice to the chorus of other alumni you will likely hear from asking you to overturn this decision and work to develop an acceptable compromise.

As a former student of Sheafe’s (I graduated from Williams in American Studies in 1977, was awarded a Loeb Fellowship in Environmental Studies at Harvard in 1994 and have worked as a senior executive for The Nature Conservancy for over 30 years), my time at Williams was critical to preparing me for a life in public service – and my career in conservation. Central to this preparation was the time I spent learning from Sheafe. Always probing and asking the most from his students, always connecting the dots between people, place and historical trends, always challenging orthodoxy and conventional ways of looking at landscapes and environmental issues, Sheafe taught us to think beyond academic silos and solve problems by working across disciplines. These are still lessons I apply in my environmental work today.

To give you an idea of what a valuable asset Sheafe has been to the Williams community, I am enclosing outstanding letters written on Sheafe’s behalf (though, like this letter, not at his request) from Ross Cheit ’77, Professor of Political Science & Public Policy at Brown, Belle Zars ’79, Harvard  Ph.D in the history of education, Aaron Helfand ’05 currently studying at Cambridge and Milo Beach, former Williams Art Department Chair recently retired from the Smithsonian. If you read nothing more on this issue, please read these. As Ross has stated in his letter to Dean Wagner, “I am not sure you fully appreciate how much goodwill Sheafe has created for Williams and how many of us love the institution in large part because of our experiences with him.”  For 40 years, Sheafe has been a tremendous asset to the college. A small number of current faculty may not appreciate this, but hundreds if not thousands of alumni do.

For these reasons, it is inexplicable to think that Sheafe Satterthwaite’s time at Williams would end in this way. At 71, just as he approaches the end of his career, rather than thanking him for his service, awarding him a new contract, and allowing him to plan and celebrate his retirement on his own terms, Williams is asking Sheafe to go quietly into the night. This is unfair, uncalled for and reflects very poorly on the College.

I respect the fact that all CAP deliberations are confidential, but I wonder what sort of criteria are used to evaluate a faculty member like Sheafe? Whatever faculty politics and/or internal schisms have arisen recently should be weighed against positive influence Sheafe has had on countless students over 40 years. (You may not be aware that scores of these students have already written to Dean Wagner. See sheafesatterthwaitewilliams.blogspot.com.) Is it clear that Dean Wagner’s and the CAP’s decision reflects the majority view of the Art Department faculty and its Chair? Perhaps not.  For these reasons, and others, Dean Wagner’s pronouncement should serve as the basis for beginning a discussion about Sheafe’s future, rather than as the final word. The opinions of a limited number of faculty should not keep you, as President, from forming an independent opinion on this important matter of your own.

Is there a clear path forward; a way out of this impasse? Fortunately, I think there is.  Specifically, while the type of perfunctory dismissal which has occurred is unacceptable, a compromise can surely be reached if you are willing to intervene.  Alternatives for Sheafe could include a contract renewal for less than five years, affiliation with a different academic department, long-term involvement with Winter Study programs, continued service combined with a mutually acceptable retirement plan and/or other options you could help develop which honor Sheafe’s many contributions to the Williams community.  As President, you are in a unique position to facilitate an acceptable settlement and avoid the discord which will only build in the coming months if nothing is done.  

In sum, as alumni, we are simply asking you to ensure fair-minded treatment of a remarkable faculty member who a.) has inspired many Williams graduates like me to go into public service, b.) has “awakened the inquiring minds” of countless Williams students in the words of Belle Zars, c.) has “a personal connection with students which is extraordinary in the academic world,” as described by Ross Cheit, and d.) whose departure, per Milo Beach, “would be a great loss for Williams and would not bring acclaim to the institution.”  Once you weigh these attributes against the findings of the review process, we hope you will take action to see that an acceptable compromise is reached and Sheafe Satterthwaite is retained.

Thank you for your review of this important matter and considering this request. Good luck during this critical first year of your Presidency. We wish you the very best.

Sincerely,

Dave Livermore

dlivermore@tnc.org

Letter from Newlin Hastings '74

From the desk of

T. Newlin Hastings

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Professor William Wagner

Dean of Faculty

Williams College

By email

 william.g.wagner@williams.edu

Dear Professor Wagner

I write to you concerning what I hear may be a termination of Sheafe Satterthwaite’s teaching contract at Williams. 

I can plainly state that I am shocked if this is in fact the case, especially if it comes from “low student evaluations”. 

I have always known and been bothered by the fact that Sheafe has taught all these years absent any form of mutual agreement.

As a double major in economics and art from the class of 1974, I can state without reservation that Sheafe was in fact my finest teacher.  As we all know, every once in a lifetime, a teacher reaches out as a mentor and challenges you to become the best you can be, especially if that best is somewhat outside of the box. Although I was greatly appreciative of many teachers at Williams, no single faculty member had the influence on my life, my career of choice, and the values I learned from the Williams experience. As I know you are aware, Sheafe has been a great influence to his students, not only through his classroom but through the immense amount of interest he has taken in his students outside of the classroom.

My impressions about Sheafe are not limited to my years at Williams. In fact, I have visited and been visited by Sheafe over all these years and have even sat in on class last year while visiting Williams. He left no doubt in my mind that he remains a sharp and inspiring teacher fully motivated to “make a difference in students’ lives”.  His message remains expansive and I trust students are still getting much of what I experienced when I was at Williams.

If Sheafe is to end his term at Williams without his agreement, I would find it quite a dishonor to both him and those of us who so greatly benefited from his teaching.

I hope that you will sincerely consider extending his contract in such a manner that Sheafe’s retirement might be one of celebration with him fully engaged in the timing of such. To that retirement, I will gladly travel from California and celebrate a teaching career especially well played!

Respectfully yours

T. Newlin Hastings

Class of 1974

P.S. My life and career, much of which would never have happened absent Sheafe’s influence,  is with work in historic redevelopment, farming (wine grapes and cattle), and aviation, along with the raising on our ranch two successful children (one as a teacher and the other both working with cattle over the years and currently deployed in the air force training as an F15 fighter pilot)

.

Letter from Aaron Helfand '05

St. John’s College

Cambridge, CB2 1TP

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Prof. William Wagner

Dean of Faculty

Williams College

Williamstown, MA 01267

Dear Prof. Wagner,

I learned recently and with dismay that Sheafe Satterthwaite’s teaching contract at Williams is

to be terminated at the end of this year. I am saddened that Williams will be losing such a

valuable and unique professor. Of many wonderful classes that I took as an art history

student at Williams, none was more memorable than that which I had with Sheafe.

Sheafe’s approach to teaching is certainly unorthodox, and I suspect that for that reason

some students are at first somewhat baffled. But whether they come to an appreciation

immediately or only years later, many of his students have found Sheafe’s influence to be

profoundly valuable. He teaches by example, demonstrating a persistent curiosity about an

astonishing range of subjects, a scope which is not easily categorized within the conventional

academic framework. This expansive perspective is liberating and powerful as an academic

tool, and I know few professors who could match Sheafe in this regard.

Sheafe is unsurpassed in his dedication to students. His devotion is particularly notable

outside the classroom, where he is willing to spend an extraordinary amount of time meeting

with students. This level of care and interaction is precisely what Williams has always prided

itself on.

One of the great strengths of Williams as a liberal arts college is the diversity of voices,

philosophies, and approaches to which its students are exposed. Sheafe has been a vital part

of this mix for decades, and I very much hope that he will continue to serve the College for

as long as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Aaron Helfand, ‘05

Letter from Chris Sherman '07

January 11, 2011

Duxbury, MA

Dean Wagner-

            I was shocked to receive word this morning of Sheafe Satterthwaite’s dismissal from the College.  I feel compelled to write you on his behalf, although I can’t say I know exactly what to tell you.  You no doubt have a healthy knowledge and respect for the weighty role that educators play in the formative years of our lives, so I’m sure you can relate to the overwhelming sadness I felt upon learning that my favorite teacher was forced into early retirement. All that I can do is to describe to you my relationship with Sheafe and Williams as just one of the thousands of students he must have lectured over the years.

            Fresh out of public high school, when I first met Sheafe early in my tenure at Williams my initial thought was that the private boarding schools where lots of my new friends had come from must be littered with men like him—tweed-wearing curators of vast vocabularies that had been locked in mahogany paneled rooms for most of their lives.  Essentially, I thought he was a cliché; however, it was very soon thereafter he revealed himself to be anything but.  The most distinguishing of Sheafe’s good qualities was a singularly open mind (and open heart) sprung not from any sentimentality or adopted philosophy, but from a dogged and almost naïve drive to observe and interpret his world academically.  It also became clear that there are two schools of thought as to this trait’s desirability.  Some flock to it, some are repulsed by it, but whether traipsing through a field and accosting a farmer somewhere in Vermont or on a conference call with an art collector from Los Angeles, this was the constant essence of what it meant to be in one of his courses—to perceive the world with a wide open and adroitly analytical mind.

            It was sitting with Sheafe and the rest of our Art History 201 class in an old iron foundry in upstate New York that I realized (or rather was told by the proprietor) that this was the essence of my entire Williams education as well.  Sheafe had a brilliant way of conveying lessons subtly through his human subjects.  Over the years I have given a lot of thought to this theory—that above all else Williams taught me to lead a considered life and gave me the knowledge to do so.  Thus, for me and for so many others a Williams without Sheafe is no Williams at all.

            Incredibly, waiting in my inbox this morning a few messages away from the sad news of Sheafe’s dismissal was an email from a friend of my employer asking about my experience at Williams to help inform his daughter’s college search.  I gave him my usual enthusiastic endorsement, but this time the normally unabashed fondness and joy with which I wrote was tinged with guilt—the guilt of a salesman who knows his product is tainted.  Sadly, if Sheafe’s contract is not renewed the knowledge that the College has somehow changed for the worse since my graduation will always taint my love for it.  With no knowledge of the situation surrounding this unhappy turn of events and only my high esteem for the faculty member in question, I strongly urge you to reconsider your decision.

                                                                                    Sincerely,

Christopher G. Sherman ‘07

Letter from James McCarthy '11

 James A. McCarthy ‘11 

1828 Paresky Center 

Williamstown, MA 01267 

January 15, 2011 

Professor William Wagner 

Dean of the Faculty 

Williams College 

Williamstown, MA 

Dear Professor Wagner, 

I’m writing to implore you to reconsider the decision to not renew Professor Sheafe Satterthwaite’s teaching contract. If the decision is not repealed, Williams College will suffer the loss of a truly unique and inspiring character, a man that very much embodies the creative, probing and ever-observant intellectual spirit that sets Williams apart from other institutions. 

I was formally a student of Sheafe Satterthwaite in the Fall of 2009, in his American Landscape History course, and he opened my eyes to a new way of viewing the world. Sheafe finds provocative connections in everything around us, and questions his students in ways that encourages them to also see these connections, to understand that the world around us can always be explained in much more specific terms. Sheafe, however, does not totally direct the student’s response, and encourages one to employ this method of careful inquisition and observation in a vein that the student so pleases. In this way, Sheafe encourages one to pursue their own academic interests, and in a wholly unique and previously unexplored way. And Sheafe has genuine interests in all these different realms that students pursue, because he is a true academic, and believes in learning from his students as much as they learn from him. 

Sheafe’s interest in his students is unparalleled, and is perhaps his greatest gift to the college. Sheafe makes himself available for extra-curricular conversation every single day he is on campus, and students take him up on it frequently. His schedule is often full, and many people meeting with him are past students who are no longer in a course with him. Why do so many students seek out Sheafe? Because Sheafe listens, observes, and actually cares. If you meet him for a coffee on Tuesday, he will appear at Wednesday’s class with books from his personal library that he then loans to you, because he thinks there may be something in there of interest. He wants to provide the student with all available resources so that they can find out answers to their own questions, find out for themselves how they view the world and their academic discipline. Sheafe’s interest in his students allows him to ask questions that, in finding the answer, provide them new personal and intellectual understanding. Sheafe’s ability to ask, rather than tell, to observe and explain inconsistencies in one’s thoughts, allows him to provide direction for students, but for the students to remain the true drivers of their education. This is why I so often meet with Sheafe; he understands my interests, and finds ways to help me pursue them more effectively. 

Sheafe’s commitment to his students is truly incredible. I am a Geosciences major interested in soil science, which is a somewhat rare interest at the college. I’m also interested in the evolution of American agricultural practice, which is what initially brought me to American Landscape History. Sheafe, having learned of my uncommon interests, was fascinated and did everything he could to help me learn more, and to encourage me to pursue that interest. He learned that I was going to study soil science abroad in New Zealand the following semester, and wanted to know as much as he could about the university that I would attend. Once I was in NZ, Sheafe and I were in frequent contact through e-mail, and he, like always, would ask me questions and hope that I could report back. In this way, he always kept me stretching for more knowledge, talking to new people, learning outside of the classroom. Sheafe also put together some of my papers that I had written for his class, and sent them along with a letter he wrote on my behalf, to high up officials at the university: the president, the dean of students, and the dean of agricultural sciences. I did not ask Sheafe to do this for me; it was entirely of his own volition. A few weeks later, I was contacted by the university, and the dean of agricultural sciences invited me to his office for a meeting. Meeting with the dean was a great opportunity to ask a professional about soils, New Zealand, agriculture, and education. Sheafe also contacted some friends of his in New Zealand for me, and they were kind enough to show me around some. 

I know that my relationship with Sheafe is not unique. Many others know the value of Sheafe, and seek him out regularly for advice and just a friendly chat. The man’s entire life is devoted to education, and nothing provides him more enjoyment than the opportunity to educate his students, except maybe hearing from an old student of his, finally ready to answer an old question of Sheafe’s. Of all the professors and friends I’ve had at Williams, Sheafe, without a doubt, has been the most influential to me. I’m sure I’m not the only student to say that. That fact alone merits reconsideration of the decision to not renew his contract. Sheafe Satterthwaite will always provide his energy, guidance, and probing questions to students, as long as he is at Williams. Not extending his contract, however, deprives future students of a great resource. Depriving Sheafe of the work he loves and the students he admires, which is something that he has earned through years of service, is truly disheartening. I hope you will reconsider. I trust that you will. 

Regards, 

James A. McCarthy ‘11 

Letter from Prof. Milo Beach

MILO C. BEACH

46 Slades Corner Road

Russells Mills, Dartmouth

Massachusetts   02748

USA

                                                                                                                        5 January 2011

Professor William Wagner

Dean of the Faculty

Williams College

Williamstown, Massachusetts

Dear Professor Wagner,

I have no business writing this letter, but a former student has just sent very disturbing news regarding a member of the Department of Art—a department from which I resigned (as Chair) in 1984 to move to the Smithsonian. Moreover, I have had minimal contact with the Department since then, and have only perhaps twice (in those years) encountered the subject of this letter: Shaefe Satterthwaite.

Shaefe arrived at Williams (I believe) the same year that I did, 1969. In those initial years, and in the time since, Shaefe has been the faculty member most discussed by those students with which I have stayed in contact, and this includes many students who never (otherwise) went near the Art Department. His effect on his students, on their ways of thinking, and on the range of subjects they find (present tense) interesting has been so profound that I find it very disturbing that those short contracts that have held him to the College for so long will evidently not now be renewed. (Or, at least, this is what I have just heard from one of those students.)

Shaefe’s ability (clearly remaining intact) to ask provocative, unanticipated questions about subjects that students often have never considered before, and then demonstrably to really care about the responses that students make; and his skill at engaging young people in true conversations about issues of importance, is unrivalled. His departure would be a great loss for Williams; that it might be an enforced departure—if this is truly the case—would not bring acclaim to the institution.

I hope very much this has all been misreported. If not, then I will further hope that by now this decision is being far more carefully considered.

With kind regards,

Milo C. Beach

Retired:

Director

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

(The national museums of Asian art)

Smithsonian Institution

Washington, D.C.

Cc:            Peter D. Low

Letter from Aaron Reibel '06

 Aaron Reibel 

3430 Wilson Blvd. 

Arlington, VA 22201 

202-615-6906 

January 11, 2011 

Dear Professor Wagner, 

My purpose in writing is to voice my support for Sheafe Satterthwaite. I recently learned that Sheafe’s contract has not been renewed and that his position at the College will be terminated in the near future. I truly hope that this is not case as in the event that it is the College will lose one of its most dedicated and influential educators. 

I took several of Sheafe’s classes during my sophomore and senior years and found his classes and passion for American Landscape History to be the most memorable and influential academic experience I had at Williams. His classes always involved an impressive amount of theoretical debate and practical fieldwork. Through him I – a young man who grew up an expat in Southern Africa and knew very little about the development of American suburbs, transitions that had impacted American farming, and about the livelihoods of cattle and dairy farmers – learned to appreciate our great land and how it had been transformed over the course of centuries. 

To this day I spend more time discussing the invaluable lessons I learned in Sheafe’s class with my fellow Ephmen and Ephwomen than any other Williams class material. While I realize that when I was 20 or 21 it might have been difficult for me to understand how influential Sheafe’s candid but captivating educational approach would prove to be, I have now come to see that his style of teaching and content choice has had a profound effect on me. Its breadth and direct methodology cuts to the core of the education that Williams espouses – theoretical mastery based on practical application and knowledge. 

As an Ephman I was taught to keenly observe and analyze my environment. I now realize that this does not only apply to hard science, political analysis or learning to appreciate the beauty of Spanish poetry. It also meant being able to see the beauty of New England and the wider American landscape for what it had once been and what it had become. Sheafe taught his students how to examine the world around them – including the geographic realities and the cultural influences that shaped them. In his classes we learned to consider how our environment would continue to change in-step with our society. 

It was Sheafe’s inspiration as an engaging and dedicated educator that has colored my own professional and personal goals. I taught at a private boarding school in Pennsylvania, worked for an energy regulator in New Zealand, served a New Zealand politician who represented an agrarian community, and now am poised to serve our country as an Army Officer. Sheafe’s interests and his dedication to being an educator inside and out of the classroom continue to inspire me as I continue to develop my career. Not only has he had a significant influence on my life but I consider him a great friend and mentor. 

I ask you to reconsider your decision to terminate Sheafe’s contract at the College. Not only would terminating Sheafe’s contract at Williams deprive current and future students of such a knowledgeable and influential educator but it would also be a great disservice to a teacher and mentor that has spent his life working to enrich the lives of countless Ephmen and Ephwomen. 

Sincerely, 

Aaron J. Reibel (class of ’06) 

Cc: Adam F. Falk, Williams College President 

Belle Zars, former student of Sheafe Satterthwaite and class of 1979