Last week, Mohamed and I were invited to what was billed as a small dinner at the home of the university president.  We envisioned about eight people, gathered around a dining room table, making awkward small talk.  We were rather dreading the occasion.  Instead, there were 30-35 guests for a dinner on the patio of the president's home.  Topeka has had a mild summer after two brutal ones, and the weather was perfect.  The occasion was to honor Lisa and Mark Heitz, Washburn graduates who have been generous donors to the university in the past--and to announce a further $5.5M gift, the largest single contribution in the university's history.

The Heitzes are remarkably modest, and instead of going for buildings with their names plastered on them, the money will go for scholarships--in law, athletics, and English, which was Lisa's major.  Although the exact distribution of the funds won't be announced till next month, it will certainly be the most significant contribution ever to the English department, and in a time of rising tuition costs and student loan debt which exceeds credit card debt, the scholarship fund will leave a legacy for generations of students.

Lisa always tells the same story about her first English class with me.  She had breezed through high school with solid A's and expected the same in college.  On her first essay, I gave her a C or a D.  She was so furious that she immediately dropped my class.  Later she dropped out of Washburn, got married, and had a baby.  When she decided to return to school, she remembered that in addition to the infuriating letter grade, I'd also written something like "You are capable of much better work than this" and decided that she should give my class a second chance.  This time she did the work she was capable of, and she took several more classes with me.  Who knew 40 years ago that giving someone a disappointing grade would contribute to such enormous consequences?

The dinner was also pleasant in that many people, learning of our wedding, congratulated Mohamed and me (and Lisa and Mark sent us a beautiful bouquet the next day).  This may be conservative Kansas, but at least in the gown part of the town/gown division, the reaction was definitely celebratory.

Normally, the next post would be on Thursday, but we leave early that morning for tests at KU Med--blood work and the newly-scheduled CT scans, followed by a consultation with at least the physician assistant.  I'll wait till Friday when I hope I'll know more to write the next entry.