PSU Magazine Spring 1989

"The finest way to find out what you 're doing is to find out what other people are doing," says White of the benefits of international exchange. "Inter– national association doesn't necessarily lead to international cooperation. It may lead to hatred and xenophobic ideas. But if we select the people properly, it seems to me we're a long way ahead." The teaching and advising of students gives White the greatest satisfaction. White doesn't simply fly the professors to Portland . He often houses and enter– tains them , scrounging up pots and pans for their apartments or taking them sightseeing in the Columbia River Gorge. PSU's summer session has become a national model under White's leadership. More languages are offered in PSU's in– tensive JO-week program than in any other summer program west of the PSU 16 Mississippi; among the 18 offerings are Korean , Latin and Serbo-Croatian. The striking summer session catalog, with its theme- oriented illustrations and clear, interesting copy, has long been ad– mired by members of the national and western associations of summer sessions. And so helpful has White been in review– ing other schools' catalogs, that the an– nual summer session catalog prize was named the "Charlie Award ." "/ think the real mission of Portland State is to educate the masses, the part-timers, the students whose parent were never educated." But the administrative accomplishment White most likes to discuss is his prin– cipal role in founding the Northwest In– terinstitutional Council for Study Abroad (NICSA) , which brings together pro– fessors and students from Northwest col– leges for overseas study trips. White led the first trip in 1962 . " That was an absolute success academically," he said. "All 64 students had taken the first two terms of Western Civ., the first two terms of World Literature, and then we had the third term of both overseas. The high point was be– ing able to use the Parliament of Europe library." The history professor has not always felt compelled to go overseas to stretch the classroom walls. Closer to home, White and his colleagues Basil Dmytryshyn and Charles Le Guin took to the airwaves in the early '60s for Oregon's first televised educational pro– gram. Loyal viewers of the 5:30 a.m. show watched the threesome expound and sometimes lock horns on historical subjects. "We argued right on screen ," said White. "Charlie [Le Guin] is very cultural and aesthetic, I tend to be religious and somewhat political , and Basil is almost entirely economic. People would call up and say 'Whom should I believe?' It was kind of fun." White and his students also prepared seven years' worth of weekly radio broad– casts entitled " This Day in History." Aired on KWJJ, the two-minute spots covered disasters , the births of new coun– tries, sports events, and other well- known or little-celebrated events in history. "We even did the anniversary of the penny post card ," recalled White. "You can make an anniversary out of anything." Those who subscribe to the notion that fun has no place in academia might overlook the scholarly underpinnings of Charlie White's playful approach to teaching. For instance, his "In Search of Arthur" trips to England may seem as academically legitimate as literature students hunting for Sherlock Holmes' birthplace. But listen to Charlie: "The ef– fect history has on us today comes from what we think history was, not from what history was. This whole body of legend and stories about King Arthur is where we derive ideas of patriotism and loyalty. They're embedded in Arthur." This historical perspective on today's ideas and problems should provide us with some comfort, according to White. "Because we've had all these things before, you don't have this impending sense of doom. You can worry all day about national problems, and it's nice - somebody should. But at the same time you can play poker." Everything for Charlie takes on these human terms. Whether negotiating a con– tract with a Yugoslav professor or trying to coax a student off the protest lines dur– ing the 1970 Park Blocks demonstrations , White has always been one to acknowledge - and celebrate - the humanity in an individual or a situation. And this is what he wants from the in– stitution he has served for 37 years. "I think the real mission of Portland State is to educate the masses, the part-timers, the students whose parents were never educated," he says. White hopes that, in spite of the push to become a comprehen– sive research university, PSU will remain as "student-centered" as it's been. By making Portland State and its students the center of his life for so many years, Charlie White has clearly earned the right to that vision. D