May

4

Laughter

Filed Under Personal 

I am here at UC Merced in the Kolligian Library.

The library is named after Leo Kolligian from the fantastic Fresno and former Regent on the UC Board of Regents. Leo passed away recently.

I met Leo when the university community dedicated the library in honor of him and his former wife Dottie. He was a gentle man and delivered a rousing speech on the importance of academic freedom. Serving as Chair of the Regents, he helped build UC Merced by championing the need to build a university in the San Joaquin Valley. My final history paper was about the decision to build UC Merced and the role many played, including Leo.

The Library is filled with students who are busily preparing for the last leg of their semester journey at the university. A year ago it was when I was in this very building doing the same.

The checking out of a loaner laptop, the finding of a good seat, the inspiring view of Lake Yosemite or the south San Joaquin Valley, the friends, the jammed copy machine, the elusive primary source.

Having replaced the academic with policy and political environment of Sacramento, it’s comforting to return to the university regularly. I miss this place. A university is a relaxing and stimulating, comforting and concerning, busy and quiet.

It’s a place where ideas born, relationships are built and creativity is bred. It’s everything to everyone: a social equalizer, an economic boon, a source of inspiration, a cauldron of controversy, and a consistency of society.

Mayra’s laughter sparked this blog post. She is watching “The Last Lecture” by a Carnegie Mellon University professor who is dying of pancreatic cancer. A sad story, but uplifting lecture to say the least.

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