PSU Magazine Fall 1992

Jack Schendel off-campus scenario was to follow us throughout our history." The first health science class started in the late 1940s, when home base for what eventually would become PSU wa the Swan Island shipyard area. In the early 1950s, Portland State College moved to its current location along downtown Portland's South Park Blocks. The former Lincoln High School became the college's home. Lincoln Hall was not so fondly remembered, Lehman recalled. It was renamed the "Black Hole of Calcutta" and was the site of the men's gym and an odd complex of health/physical education offices. The women's locker room was in Lincoln Hall, but not the women's gym. This meant the women looked forward to a two-block march across campus to a former synagogue, which had been converted into a women's gym. Portland State College became a four-year degree-granting institution in 1955, when tuition was $65 a term. Ad– ditional health and physical education faculty members joined the staff and were part of the School of Education. The 1960s brought the biggest changes to what would become the School of Health and Human Perfor– mance. Separate departments of athletics and health/physical education formed. In 1963, faculty members successfully lobbied for a bond measure that led to the 1966 opening of the new physical education building. No longer did physical education activity classes have to be held in biology labs that reeked of formaldehyde. No longer SPSU would ballet and bowling courses be taught all around town. The 1960s also brought increased attention to women's activities. Linda Neklason, a former physical education teacher, recalled the women's sports movement's struggle and eventual acceptance in what had long been a male-dominated field. As coach of several PSU women's sports teams in the 1960s, Neklason oversaw tennis matches at Laurelhurst Park, field hockey games at Delta Park, and basketball contests at Civic Auditorium. "No one griped about moving from location to location," said Neklason. "We just played and we did well." Increased respectability for health and physical education programs con– tinued in the 1970s. More specialized faculty arrived, an outdoor education program flourished, and in 1977 the health and physical education depart– ment was elevated to the School of Health and Physical Education. Soon after, in 1978, Jack Schendel came aboard as the School's new dean, fre h from an 11-year stint at another urban campus, the University of Toledo. Schendel, who retired June 30 with the School's closure, set about forging stronger ties between the School and the community. The School changed its name in 1990 to the School of Health and Human Performance, to reflect the broader nature of the field commonly known as physical education. With closure of the School and its Department of Exercise Science and Sports Studies came the retirement of five faculty members. They are Neklason, Michael Tichy, Chuck Becker, Roy Love, and Scruggs. (Scruggs will continue on a part-time basis for the next three years as director of the men's service program.) Several key academic programs have been lost as a result of the closure. The School's largest program, which offered bachelor's and master's degrees in exer– cise science and sports studies, fell to the ax. Schendel says every effort was made to assist 1991-92 juniors, seniors, and master's students with completing their academic programs in exercise science and sports studies. Some of the School's programs will live on in a restructured form, as will the Department of Health Studies in the School of Urban and Public Affairs. Surviving programs include the bachelor's degree in health education with options in community health and fitness programs; minors in health education and athletic training; and a master's program in health education. Lights will not go off at the physical education building, which will con– tinue to be a focal point of activity at PSU. Physical activity classes will continue to be offered to all students through the new Department of Health Studies. (The activity classes are self– supporting through fees.) The physical education building's management moves to the Office of Auxiliary Ser– vices, with daily administrative duties assigned to the Smith Memorial Center staff. Thus, a curriculum that evolved over 40 years evolves in new ways. "Yes, budgets and people can be removed," Schendel said. "Yes, titles can be erased. But concepts cannot be cancelled. The production of our research cannot be destroyed. The influence of our School will not die. Our work is not in vain." HHP alumni honored For the ninth and final year, the School of Health and Human Perfor– mance presented four outstanding graduates with the Eugene R. Mc– Nally Outstanding Alumnus Award . The award recognizes professional ach ievement and contributions to health studies or physical education . The 1992 rec ipients of the McNally award are Carol T. Ham– mett '87 MST, an early childhood phys ical education expert; Loralee Hansen '74 BS 82 MST, staff kinesiotherapist at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Portland; Suzanne Kutsch '85 MST, a student advocacy coordinator fo r Lincoln County School District; and Jane Loverin '79 MST , associate execu– tive director of YMCA of Columbia– Willamette.