Oldest and youngest students share passion for learning by Joan c. Johnson There's no doubt that Hulda DeVaughn ('85) and Jonathan Male fit right in at Portland State - but Ihey also stand out. They are the oldest and youngest {ull-time students on campus. DeVaughn, who is working toward her master's degree in Spanish, just turned 89, while Male. now in his third term at PSU, is all of 12. Starting with the fact that they were born in different centuries, the two are a study in contrasts. They even came to Portland State for different reasons. For DeVaughn, PSU provided the opportunity to finally go to college, a dream deferred long ago. For Male, the University is an interim step until he's "old enough to go away to school." Eventually he hopes to study physics at MIT or Cal Tech. Jonathan Male is a friendly youngster, slender, with bright, brown eyes and a warm smile. He looks like ~ ~ n ~ ~ t ~ i I ~ i : : : f ~ ~ ~ s ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ g h ~ : e ~ i k e . He says he enjoys doing all these things, but for him, math and science are fun, too. He doesn't watch much television but admits to being a "Trekkie" (dedicated follower of Star Trek) and a Mary Tyler Moore fan. like most kids his age, he also likes to play computer games. He was doing college-level algebra by the time he was seven . .. Jonathan has benefited from the assistance of supportive parents. His dad says they have always encouraged him to "stretch his mind." An only child, Jonathan was enrolled in Montessori school in Corvallis at the age of three. He was doing college-level algebra by the time he was seven but was one of the last in his class to learn to read. "I was six," he says. "t think that's when I finally figured out there were other things to read besides Dick and Jane." When he was about nine, his parents began an effort to transfer Jonathan, who was then "quite bored with school," to CorvalliS High School. They had little success until the family moved to Hillsboro when Jonathan was 10. His parents again R f ~ ~ i ~ 2 ~ j O a ~ d ~ ~ v ~ : a h ~ ~ : ~ : t ~ u t at ninth grade level, he was accepted. Hulda DeVdughn CBS) and Jonathan Male discuss their PSU classes His mother recalls that it was November before he started at Hillsboro High and that he had to take an exam a few days after beginning his first physics class. Jonathan passed the test with flying colors and went on to take all the science and math the school had to offer. After only two years, he "graduated" from Hillsboro High in June 1985, although he did not actually receive a diploma because he had not taken all the required subjects. However, the school provided letters stating that he was prepared to go on to college. "You see," he quips, "I'm reaily a high school dropout." Male was accepted by Portland State as a Special Admissions student in the fall and has been carrying a full load of 12 to 14 hours a quarter, studying such meaty subjects as chemistry, calculus and geology. He also finds time to read and take classes at the Saturday Academy, an educational program based at the Oregon Graduate Center. Male says he doesn't find his age a oorrier to mixing socially - he has friends his own age in his neighborhood and older friends he's made through school. But it's definitely a handicap when it comes to earning extra spending money. He would like to get a summer job at Tektronix or some other high tech firm, but he can't get a working permit until he's 14. Child labor laws did not apply when Hulda Dixon DeVaughn was a youngster. She was born in Forest Grove in 1897, the ninth child in a family of 13. She remembers starting to work when she was about eight or nine, helping her widowed mother take in washing. "By the time we were 12, we had to go out on our own," DeVaughn says. "The girle; usually went to live with an older sister or brother, and the boys had to fend for themselves." When she was 10 the eighth grade, Hulda moved to McMinnville to live with her brother and his wife. She was determined to go to high school but her sister-in-law opposed the idea, wanting her to stay at home and take care of their house. DeVaughn says she finally left her brother's home, eventually moving to the Commercial Hotel, where Sally DeVaughn, "a woman who believed in education," took her under her wing. h o ~ l , r d : a : ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ d o l r ~ ~ a a ~ ~ e k , while she attended high school. "I would rush home to work at noon and after school, and then study late in the evenings," she says. Her persistence paid off. In June 1916, she ~ r a d u a t e d with straight A's. Ironically, her hopes of goi ng on to college were dashed at her high school graduation. DeVaughn still vividly recalls the ItIdmonition given by the graduation speaker: "If you have lots of money, go on to college. But if not, don't bother to go." Heeding that advice, she gave up her dream of getting a degree in journalism at the University of Oregon. There didn't seem to be much chOice, she recalls. "I was on my own and I didn't have any money. I had to make my own living." But she never gave up her desire to learn. "I kept on going to night school no matter where I lived," she says. "Mostly I took creative writing." Later in life she also learned to speak Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, and has written short stories in those languages, as well as in English. In 1918 she married Stanley E. DeVaughn, whom she had first met when she worked for his mother, Sally DeVaughn. They moved to California where they raised J daughter. DeVaughn takes great pride in the fact that her daughter Jeanne is a graduate of the University of Southern California and a teacher. The DeVaughns returned to Oregon about 1945 to help her mother-in-law who then ran the Campbell Hotel in Portland. They sold lhe hotel after Sally DeVaughn died but continued to operate her boarding house, DeVaughn Hall, a 37-room mansion al N.W. 25th and Lovejoy, as a residence for single men until they retired in the early 1960s. When Stanley DeVaughn died in 1968, Hulda decided there were two things she wanted to do: go back to work and go to school. After taking a job orientation class for teenagers and senior citizens, she succeeded in landing a job as food service manager for the Salvation Army's White Shield Home where she continued to work for 14 years. . .. her hopes of going on to college were dashed at her high school graduation. She also began raking classes at Portland State and in August 1985 the dream set aside 70 years ago came true. PSU awarded Hulda Abigail DeVaughn her bachelor of arts degree in foreign languages. It was a day to remember - "Dr. Blumel. the president of the University, came over to talk to me, and there was a wonderful party afterwards." There was also a very special gift - her daughter and son-in-law established a scholarship at Portland State in her name. Although she finally had her degree, DeVaughn decided there was no good reason not to conti nue her education. So she spends much of her time these days in the student lounge at Smith Center, studying the classics of the Golden Age of Spanish literature. She sits at her favorite table near the student store, surrounded by her books and papers. Her face is etched with the lines of age but her eyes are bright and sharp behind her gold-rimmed glasses. And she always has a smile for anyone who stops to chat. DeVaughn says she really enjoys talking to the other students, although she is surprised at the number of middle-aged students who consider themselves "too old" to go on for a graduate degree. After visiting with her, she thinks they may begin to look at things differently. As she says, "You' re never too old to learn..' Although time and circumstance set them on very different roads in lifc, it's the persistent pursuit of an education that Hulda DeVaughn and Jonathan Male share. And their presence at PSU is a reminder that the search for knowledge truly is a lifelong quest. Joan C Johnson ('78) ;s if Portland freelance writer. PSU Per>pective, Spring 1986 / paB" 7
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