Farewell, President Seligman: A friend of the magazine.

Farewell, President Seligman: A friend of the magazine.

(left) David Kramer (right) Joel Seligman. From Bringing back the mid 19th Century at the University of Rochester. Nanotechnology meets local history

The last time I saw the University of Rochester’s President Joel Seligman was at his home several months ago.

That evening, I was biking along Mt. Hope Avenue when I came across several people alongside the gates near the President’s house.  In a bizarre scene, a young deer doe had attempted to jump across the gates. The doe’s parents had made the leap, but the doe was wedged in the gate in dire danger. The people gathered were comforting the doe and wondering what to do.

Knowing President Seligman, I went to his house.  Seeing him in an upstairs room, I waved and rang the buzzer.  He might have hesitated but Joel came right down and listened intently about the situation.  He was dressed in a suit for an evening event for which he was headed, but quickly sensed the predicament and immediately called Campus Security.  Within minutes, Security was on the scene and, with the help of the Rochester Fire Department,  the doe was saved.  After, when hearing the news, President Seligman wrote:

I am glad. Thanks for caring.

It was with heavy heart that I learned today that President Seligman was resigning.  Over his tenure, I’ve met Joel several times on campus and even at the Rochester Public Library when he gave a Books Sandwiched In presentation.

We met President Seligman in Bringing back the mid 19th Century at the University of Rochester. Nanotechnology meets local history when he gave an introductory presentation to Researching the Daguerreotype at the University of Rochester: Nanotechnology Meets Local History.

President Seligman was there again for Blessing the Boats and a statue where history was made at Edgerton Park when he greeted readers including Mayor Lovely Warren in celebration of BOA Editions.

And, especially, we bonded at the 2016 Meliora Weekend when Joel relived his time with Bill Clinton  5 Meliora Weekends ago when President Clinton spoke. And Great Books with President Seligman.

Later that day, in Score one for love at Meliora Weekend, we let the world know about a UR love story.

When President Seligman resigned today, I am sure he did what he felt was best for UR.  While he plans to teach at the University in the future, for now he will be missed.

Also on the University of Rochester

Black History Month at the Corner

Satiating curiosity at the Martin E. Messinger Periodical Reading Room

My first live pitch of the season

The University of Rochester’s John Ghyzel follows in the footsteps of Tom Havens ’91 (Madison Muskies, 1992)

Celebrating 1396 and the University of Rochester’s Persian Club

2016 Rochester Open a smash hit at the Robert B. Goergen Athletic Center. And the debut of ZOOM.

Red Ryder, The Stockholm Syndrome and a glimpse inside the University of Rochester Theater Community

Score one for love at Meliora Weekend

Envoyé de mon at Meliora Weekend

Talker invited to the University of Rochester to talk about Talker

Fur is not yet dead at the University of Rochester

The Barry House: Victorian Italian Villa At Its Finest

I.M. Pei’s Wilson Commons Building: A Contemporary Mastery of Method

Print is not dead yet at the University of Rochester

As the University of Rochester’s Fauver Stadium moves forward, its rich football tradition lives on

For you, Talker buys the D & C digital archives. And Noam Chomsky

Celebrating 40 years of BOA editions in the Rush Rhees Friedlander Lobby. And W. D. Snodgrass’ The Führer Bunker

Imaginary languages made real at the University of Rochester

Blessing the Boats and a statue where history was made at Edgerton Park

“What would Dr. Lasagna do?” Abby Glogower displays the thoughts and life of a humanist scientist at the University of Rochester

In search of “Progressive Rock” in the mid-70s at Brighton High School with the University of Rochester’s John Covach

Bringing back the mid 19th Century at the University of Rochester. Nanotechnology meets local history

“Ring out, Wild Bells”

From Daphne with love

What the new East will and will not be

Promoting Wellness through softball at the URMC

A personal tour of the URMC during Meliora Weekend with Dr. Ruth Lawrence, URMS ’49. And still on the active faculty.

President Seligman, here are some ways you can help East and the University of Rochester

In search of Julie Andrews at the George Hoyt Whipple Museum

About The Author

dkramer3@naz.edu

Welcome to Talker of the Town! My name is David Kramer. I have a Ph.D in English and teach at Keuka College. I am a former and still active Fellow at the Nazareth College Center for Public History and a Storyteller in Residence at the SmallMatters Institute. Over the years, I have taught at Monroe Community College, the Rochester Institute of Technology and St. John Fisher College. I have published numerous Guest Essays, Letters, Book Reviews and Opinion pieces in The New York Times, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, the Buffalo News, the Rochester Patriot, the Providence Journal, the Providence Business News, the Brown Alumni Magazine, the New London Day, the Boston Herald, the Messenger Post Newspapers, the Wedge, the Empty Closet, the CITY, Lake Affect Magazine and Brighton Connections. My poetry appears in The Criterion: An International Journal in English and Rundenalia and my academic writing in War, Literature and the Arts and Twentieth Century Literary Criticism. Starting in February 2013, I wrote for three Democratic and Chronicle  blogs, "Make City Schools Better," "Unite Rochester," and the "Editorial Board." When my tenure at the D & C  ended, I wanted to continue conversations first begun there. And start new ones.  So we created this new space, Talker of the Town, where all are invited to join. I don’t like to say these posts are “mine.” Very few of them are the sole product of my sometimes overheated imagination. Instead, I call them partnerships and collaborations. Or as they say in education, “peer group work.” Talker of the Town might better be Talkers of the Town. The blog won’t thrive without your leads, text, pictures, ideas, facebook shares, tweets, comments and criticisms.

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