A Proclamation Rendered by Kathy Pfeiffer & Niels Herold for Brian Connery
HUZZAH!
A Proclamation Rendered by Kathy Pfeiffer & Niels Herold for Brian Connery
A proclamation rendered to the Department of English at Oakland University on this seventh day of April, 2017.
We submit that
WHEREAS Professor Brian Connery has served his colleagues well and diligently, first as Assistant Professor beginning in 1989, then as Associate Professor beginning in 1994, then as Full Professor, beginning in 2002, and
WHEREAS he further served two terms as Department Chair extraordinaire, setting a standard for efficacy, leadership, grace under pressure, personal generosity, and deep wells of authentic kindness that gave us a lasting sense of moral purpose, and
WHEREAS his commitment to teaching earned him the Oakland University Teaching Excellence Award while he was still a junior professor, and has been repeatedly recognized in the years since, with numerous service and faculty recognition awards, and
WHEREAS his commitment to scholarly productivity has led to numerous, distinguished publications about Jonathan Swift, satire, pedagogy – including a solicited manuscript in progress slated for publication in 2018, and
WHEREAS his commitment to students has resulted in numerous opportunities for study abroad, the life-changing impact of which is beyond measure for these students, and
WHEREAS he has been the only English Department faculty member to be serenaded in class on his birthday by a singing chicken bearing balloons, and
WHEREAS every aspect of our Departmental culture will be utterly depleted without his presence, notwithstanding the lasting impact of his deeply influential contributions to our shared work and shared vision,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that we declare our deep gratitude and even deeper affection on the occasion of Brian’ s final Department meeting with a cheery and heartfelt
HUZZAH!
33