Comings and Goings Update: Some concluding thoughts from Stephanie Arnold

After 26 years of teaching in the theatre department, Professor Stephanie Arnold is taking a bow and retiring from the college. The Source caught up with Professor Arnold to learn more about the time she’s spent here and her upcoming plans for retirement.

What do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment during your career?

Although identifying just one achievement is so difficult, I would say my most “significant accomplishment” was helping to create an environment in the theatre department of trust and mutual support where both faculty and students could do their best work.

What are your plans for retirement?

In retirement I will continue to work on my textbook, The Creative Spirit: An Introduction to Theatre (published by McGraw-Hill), which is used at colleges and universities all over the country. The sixth edition is currently in progress. I will also be working on writing some fiction and helping my husband, Mark Prieto, who is a ceramic artist, in his studio. There will also be a lot of hiking and canoeing and trips to visit our son, Daniel; daughter-in-law, Ashley; and grandson, Sage, who will be 2 years old in June.

Do you have a favorite memory from your years at Lewis & Clark?

I will offer several favorite memories that all have to do with plays that I directed.

• I remember rehearsing the opening scene from Top Girls where seven women characters from vastly different periods in history all have dinner together.
• I remember working on 12-1-A, a play about the internment of Japanese Americans, when leading members of the local Oregon Japanese American community came to help us understand and develop the cultural context for this difficult and moving play.
• I will always remember traveling to Grahamstown, South Africa, with my student Kemiyondo Coutinho, where we went to perform a play that we had developed together.
• And I remember, on more than one occasion, being in the theatre late at night rehearsing with students and laughing so hard we cried about the absurd side of our most serious endeavors.

Do you have any parting words for future Lewis & Clark theatre majors?

My parting words for Lewis & Clark theatre majors are these: Do the work you care about most. Don’t be afraid to take risks. And know that the theatre really makes an important difference in people’s lives and in the life of the community.

What will you miss most about Lewis & Clark?

What I will miss most about Lewis & Clark is rehearsing plays with the students.

Comings and Goings Update

Several people have joined the community recently, and some continuing employees have taken on new roles and responsibilities at Lewis & Clark:

Hal Abrams, associate vice president of individual giving, Institutional Advancement; Monica Baker, associate director for athletic development, Institutional Advancement-Annual Giving; Adam Buchwald, associate vice president and chief information officer, Information Technology; Ruth Carey, dietitian, Student Health Services; Mari Cheney, reference librarian, Boley Law Library; Mark Dahl*, director, Watzek Library; Kristin Dissinger, legal assistant I, Law Dean of the Faculty; Natasha Dolezal, director of animal law LLM degree program, Center for Animal Studies; Jacob Gora, controls engineer, Facilities Services; Amanda Hughes, departmental specialist, CAS Admissions; Janet Mallen, associate registrar, CAS Registrar’s Office; Elisabeth Martin, development coordinator, Institutional Advancement-Major Gifts; Aaron Mulkey, analyst and recruiter, Human Resources; Tara Mussulman, program assistant, Oregon Law Institute; Corey Parrish, campus safety officer, Campus Safety; Maia Penchansky, consultant, IT Client Services; Gail Sullivan, assistant director, Student and Departmental Account Services; Jennifer Walker, postdoctoral researcher, Biology; and Pamela Wassmer, administrative assistant, Human Resources.

The following people have left Lewis & Clark. Here’s wishing them good luck in their new adventures:

Melissa Dalton, poetry project fellow, Watzek Library; Phillip Giles, administrative assistant, National Crime Victim Law Institute; Liza Green, development assistant and office manager, Institutional Advancement; Mary Hart, program assistant, Oregon Law Institute; Katie Lahey, benefits analyst, Human Resources; Meadow Lemon, special teams coordinator, PE/Athletics; Robert Maisonet, campus safety officer, Campus Safety; David McKelvey, director of New Media, Institutional Advancement-Public Affairs and Communications; and Keiko Pitter, interim chief technology officer, Information Technology.

* Read about Mark Dahl’s appointment on the Watzek Library website and look for an upcoming Q&A with Mark in the next Comings and Goings update.