Revitalizing campus life

Whenever and wherever Houston Dougharty starts talking about community, the energy is palpable. Both the man and whatever room he’s in come alive.

Lewis & Clark’s dean of students peppers the conversation with phrases like “collaborative support,” “a campus commons,” and “integrated learning”—ideas that he and his student life colleagues are making real. He says Lewis & Clark is “chock-full of great people doing great work with and for students,” but he believes most of this work happens independently, as functional transactions, making it hard to see the larger whole. “It’s as if we dump a jigsaw puzzle on the table and say, ‘Okay, everything you need is right here’—but we don’t show you the picture on the top of the box.”

So he and his colleagues are painting a newly detailed picture and displaying it in full view. The details include a reorganized student life division and a clearly articulated Statement of Community Values. The reorganization reflects the division’s enhanced focus on building connections across functions, and the statement outlines aspirations and principles for becoming a community that is adventurous, supportive, diverse, engaged, and just.

Most visible is the evolving transformation of Templeton Student Center into Templeton Campus Center. The name change is subtle; the difference is substantial. “Community occurs when you create a place where the commons can exist,” says Dougharty. “We want Templeton to be the place where everyone from each of our schools can transact business, deepen relationships, and engage others. Templeton is the heartbeat of community.”

Vital voice

Houston Dougharty on Lewis & Clark, community, and the value of stretching beyond your knowledge base

• We’re making the tent bigger by reorganizing student life. It’s a philosophical shift rather than a change in semantics.
• My commitment to L&C is not limited to my campus life responsibilities; the more people I talk to, the more I know, the better I’ll support students, colleagues, and the institution as a whole.
• Don’t think in terms of cocurricular and extracurricular. The whole experience is about learning.
• All who choose to work here are educators.
• Students don’t see us in silos— we are all part of their experience.
• The only separations among us are the ones we make ourselves.
• Community is not about transactions. It’s about interactions.