Celebration of Recently Retired Faculty Kathy Heininge

Reported by: Natascha Lambing                                                                                              

         NEWBERG, Ore. – Summer 2020 left the English Department at George Fox University (GFU) saddened at the retirement announcement of Kathy Heininge. 

        Due to the suddenness of Heininge’s decision, students and faculty felt they were unable to say a proper goodbye. Heininge decided to retire in an effort to mitigate the effect of budget cuts for younger faculty members.

        Arriving at GFU in 2004, Heininge originally taught courses primarily focused on British modernism and world literature. As years passed, her subject areas expanded. She taught classes covering a large range of literary genres, including topics related to her doctoral thesis, which is now published under the title “Buffoonery in Irish Drama: Staging Twentieth-Century Post-Colonial Stereotypes.” She had a hand in nearly every class the department offers at one point or another.

        From pursuing more recent personal projects like her upcoming publication in the James Joyce Quarterly--one of the most prestigious publications in her field--to her establishment of the Women's Studies minor a few years back, Heininge provided students with a space to discuss the literature and ideas that form our understanding of the world.

        “[The] Women’s Studies program started because there were a bunch of incidents on campus that made it clear that we at least needed a women’s studies class,” Heininge said. The courses that resulted included analysis of “how literature reinforces assumptions about women” providing space for deep introspection about societal norms, so students could be exposed to ideas that may contradict what they had been taught to believe. 

        In Heininge’s absence, the spaces she fostered will continue, but as Professor of English Melanie Mock noted, since Heininge was “the face of the Women’s Studies Program … it will be harder to keep it going and advocate for it,” additionally noting that “[we have] no Irish Lit specialist anymore.” Mock has taken on some of the roles previously filled by Heininge.

        Heininge remembers an encounter she had when she was defending the need for women’s studies courses. She was asked “Don’t you miss teaching the great ideas?”

She responded, “I teach the great ideas … why do you think that white men are the only ones who’ve ever had great ideas?” 

        Besides educating students and informing their understanding of the world, Heininge said that creating places for students to speak and “feeling like I was a safe spot for a lot of people” will be “the thing that I’m going to miss the most.”

        Heininge said during her time at GFU she was “never bored, not ever for a second,” as she experienced powerful connections with students in their general education courses, to those already passionate about literature and understanding the world through its lens.  

“Her voice, literal and figurative, will really be missed,” Mock said.

On Thursday, Oct. 29, a celebration was held on Zoom to commemorate her dedication and work at GFU, and was open to everyone wishing to commemorate her time as a professor.