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)

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