MEMORIAL RESOLUTION

 for

KAREN P. BACUS, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Communication

July 20, 1939 - November 23, 1994

The death of Dr. Karen P. Bacus means that Purdue University Calumet has lost a teacher of the highest calibre, an advisor of utmost dedication, and a colleague whose loyalty and devotion cannot be overstated.

As a teacher, Karen Bacus was not just "good" or "committed," she was superior in every element that characterizes a true teacher.  She was capable of agonizing over the performance of capable students who were performing below their capabilities, just as she was capable of rejoicing in the modest achievements of marginal students whose interest in the subject matter had sparked an enthusiasm which spread to other students.  She knew, with a certainty that was unshakeable throughout her career, that the study of human communication was the fundamental challenge for all people, and she approached each course and each class meeting with a desire to bring her students one step closer to their capacities for understanding human relationships.

As an advisor, Karen Bacus devoted thousands of hours to the process of helping students understand the importance of their choices and the responsibility they must assume in designing their formal educational experiences.  Those casual students who sought only instructions for completing a registration would find an advising session with Karen Bacus to be life-changing, and would emerge with enduring sensations of personal involvement and direction.  Those serious students who sought insight into the discipline would emerge from an advising session with Karen with new questions and ever-growing involvement with their solutions.

As a colleague, Karen Penner Bacus believed deeply in the wisdom of the academy, and thrilled to the tempo of on-going discussions of academic policy.  She seemed never to tire of the processes of academic governance, and what to others became endurance contests were to Karen the proof of the ability of the academy to move beyond facile answers and conventional wisdom.  To work with her on a committee or task force was to learn quickly that her belief in democratic process was deeper than any preconceived expectation which she, or others, might have held.  She had the patience to adhere to her convictions, and she had the personal characteristics that led even those who disagreed with her ideas to respect her dedication and integrity.

Her respect for her discipline was displayed consistently both in her personal life and in her professional life.  For Karen Bacus, the theories and teachings of interpersonal communication were neither abstract nor distant, and she strove to live them in all of her interactions.  She struggled to maintain absolute currency in her discipline, so that she would never fail to expose her students to the most current findings; she strove equally to find new ways to introduce the theories and practices of her discipline so that her students would see immediately the currency and practicality of what she taught.  And repeatedly she helped friends and colleagues to find interpersonal avenues which led away from stale conflict and redundant discourse.  She achieved more success by listening intently and saying, "I understand," than nearly anyone we have known before or since.

Her record of shared scholarship brought deserved credit to herself and to her university.  Her record of excellence as a teacher brought her recognition as the recipient of the 1986 Amoco Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching.  Her record of excellence as an advisor is revealed in the letters from students and former students who continue to write in praise of Karen's influence on their lives.  Her record as an innovator and manager endures through her work as the first Coordinator of Women's Studies at Purdue University Calumet, through her contributions to the Purdue Gerontology Center, through her success as primary researcher, author and project director in a major grant from the Department of Labor,  through her many contributions to continuing education experiences for women returning to campus, through her service on the boards of several local and regional organizations, and through her invaluable contributions to faculty governance throughout the University.

The records of Karen's accomplishments and contributions, though, are but part of the legacy she has left us, for none who knew her will forget her laughter or her smile, nor find replacement for her abiding encouragement of our latest projects or interests.  We are enriched by her presence, and we are diminished by her death:  by that measure we know truly that we have lost a friend.

Purdue University Calumet

August 23, 1995