Southern by Birth, Wheaton by Choice
By Jayne M. Iafrate
Born and raised in Virginia, a product of the then-segregated public schools of Norfolk, Patricia A. King '63 took an ideological and geographical leap of faith when she entered the Wheaton community in 1958. It wasn't always easy, she says of her time in Norton, but the experience prepared her for a lifetime of challenge, service and success.
That life journey is far from complete, however. Currently the Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law, Medicine, Ethics, and Public Policy at Georgetown University, King continues to shape young minds and public policy as one of the nation≠s leading bioethicists. In October 2000 she was installed as chair of Wheaton≠s Board of Trustees, the first woman, the first alumna, the first African-American to lead the board. She took time on a busy February weekend to speak with Quarterly editor Jayne Iafrate to discuss her lifelong connection to Wheaton and the ways in which her experiences shape her dreams for the college's future.
In what ways do you believe Wheaton students today are different from students of the 60s?
I have a foot in the 50s and a foot in the 60s. I think that at the beginning of the 60s students were very much like they were in the 50s--very passive, very receptive to information being fed to them. Wheaton was a very traditional liberal arts college and a very traditional women's college. We went to class and had outside activities--some faculty-student interactions--but things were a great deal more formal in those days.
In my first year we still had morning chapel. We did have distribution requirements, like students do today, and I think that's very good; it requires students to expand their horizons. Education outside of the classroom from student to student at that time--like at many other schools--was not very diverse. I do remember one really terrific learning incident, however. Someone hosted a Seder dinner, and each Jewish girl could invite one non-Jewish girl; that introduced me to the Seder. For a Southerner like myself, who actually knew nothing about this tradition, this was a fabulous learning and growing experience. I think we need to do more of that today; maybe that's why this one incident stands out in my mind. It was relatively rare in those days to have that kind of sharing.
I think students today are far less passive. That doesn't mean they're activists, but they know they have many ways to learn--from what they read, from the Internet, from each other--and they are much more aware of the world around them than we were. Wheaton is a much more diverse place than it was then. There are activities now that bring all sorts of people here and involve them in students' lives.
You've stated previously that your transition to college was a difficult one. What challenges were the greatest for you, and how did you overcome them?
I did have some difficulties, and I think that's why I've always stayed close to Wheaton, why I've tried to give back in some way. In 1958, the year I applied to college, the idea that a Southern born and raised African-American woman who had gone to a segregated public school would come to a place like Wheaton was as big a shock to Wheaton as it was to me. All kinds of issues were raised: race, class, geography--it was cold up here! There were only four other African-American girls in the student body. Here I was. It was a complete cultural shock.
My family was wonderful, of course. They just thought that I had to try to do the best I could. The people I knew at Wheaton were wonderful as well; they spotted my dilemmas and helped, shaped, pushed, guided. If I had wanted to, I don't think I could have gotten lost; I wasn't allowed to get lost. It wasn't all wonderful; not everyone was that way, but enough people were, so it became possible for me to get over those hurdles and get a very fine education. By graduation, I had so much more confidence in myself. Later, when I went to Harvard Law School--which was gingerly starting to admit women--I didn't feel as intimidated because, I think, I got through Wheaton!
Family clearly is a touchstone for you. With both you and your husband, Roger Wilkins, in busy, high-profile careers, how do you create and maintain a balance in your lives today?
Balance, it seems to me, is about putting first things first. The first thing for us is always family. We can't be too much in the world at the expense of what's at home. That's something that we both believe in. Our daughter, Elizabeth, really helps us to stay connected. We are very mutually supportive--that's what a partner does. It's not always easy, and we've worked at it.
I'm not so sure that future generations will do it in quite the way we have. I'm in that first generation of women who went to work; we wanted it all, and wanting it all carries with it a huge price. I think future generations will be much more into sharing--I stay home and you work, then you stay home and I work. The way we've done it has been harder. We're just lucky to have found each other.
Wheaton closed the 20th century with much to celebrate--a Rhodes scholar, an increasingly diverse and talented faculty and student body, a successful campaign, growing national reputation. What's next?
What's next is building on our successes. I think of the college as a building project. When you reach for and achieve your goals, you use each achievement as a stepping stone to make the college even better. I think that's what we're doing, and I think it's a good thing. We must take risks. We took a risk when we went coed. We separated ourselves from other colleges when we started to talk about the second transcript and work as a learning experience.
What's important to me is the valuable student-faculty interaction that Wheaton provides an opportunity to work and learn with faculty. Those emphases help to produce our wonderful scholarship winners. As we go forward, we want to preserve what makes us good, adjust it--when necessary--for a different time, but continue to focus on those good things. That might not sound very glamorous because it doesn't proclaim that we're going to take on new directions, but we don't have to go in different directions if our goals and vision are sound. What you want to do is make sure that as you grow and improve, you do it within those contexts.
I'm hoping that in the future that we will see, for example, not only renewed attention to the sciences, but an exploration of how biology, physics, chemistry, for example, are relevant to the social sciences and the humanities, and vice versa. Our students are not going to be prepared for the 21st century without solid grounding in the sciences. We need to address the question of the adequecy of our science facilities.
Globalization is another area of focus. We talk about globalization all the time but I'm not sure anyone knows what it really means. Generally when we talk about globalization, we talk in terms of business and not in the context of where the rest of us fit. I think that globalization is an extension of a society that has many different people and many different classes in it, writ large, that we are no longer able to ignore. There's a world beyond the United States that will require that we understand religion, poverty, governance. The system we know as democracy might work for us, but it might not be acceptable to the entire world. That doesn't mean that we want chaos; it's just that we sometimes can't export institutions that work for us. The global culture of modern times requires individuals to appreciate different perspectives and understand the implications of emerging knowledge and technologies. We already provide opportunities for international study and research; we need to build on that background. The bottom line is I think Wheaton will be better, not bigger. We will build on what works and on what embodies our visions and goals.
Among the most innovative concepts in Wheaton's newly revised curriculum is the infusion of gender, diversity and global perspectives across the curriculum. How do you envision the role of diversity in higher education--especially in liberal arts colleges--in the 21st century?
If we ever had any doubt about the significance or importance of a diverse education, that should have been swept away by Sept. 11. The challenge is to figure out how we will learn and live and work with people who are not like ourselves, how what we share is to be human, and how to care about our culture and our institutions and to respect the views of those who are different. That's very hard. Diversity is not only a black-white issue; it is a way of understanding that there are many differences and we have to learn how to appreciate our differences and celebrate our similarities. It takes a while to identify similarities when we are so focused on the differences.
Wheaton has a lot to celebrate, but it has a long way to go in understanding differences in religion or class. The reason this is crucial is that the world demands it; we have to work with people who are different; our children are going to marry people who are different. The world is a much smaller place in terms of obtaining knowledge, of staying in touch. Wheaton has come a really long way in the time I have known it. Our new curriculum is a major step in the right direction.
I'm especially interested in creating living-learning programs in which we focus on learning in the places where we live. I find them attractive because we get to know people--if we're going to know them at all--outside the classroom and in shared learning experiences. The ideal experiences come about when students are learning and exploring together with ocassional assistance from people who can help them over the rough spots. This program is really special; not only does it accomplish some of the goals concerning diverse experience, but it's also another way to learn. Learning for life encourages students to grow. These living-learning communities create in miniature the ideal liberal arts college residential experience.
The living-learning community creates a model for life beyond the college.
Exactly right. And this is not an easy way to live. My coming to Wheaton was such a shock to my system, but I came to appreciate the fact that learning to live and work with people who are different does not come naturally. We have to work on it. That's what college is about.
What is the role of the trustees in fostering diversity at Wheaton?
Well, I've always seen the role of trustees as being role models. Trustees have to be able exemplify what they are exhorting others to do, so part of it is that we need a diverse board. But the other job that trustees have to do is make sure the resources are available to achieve our goals and to achieve our vision of educating our students well.
How would you characterize the relationship between the Alumnae/i Association and the board, and how do you expect that relationship to evolve during your tenure?
I think that anybody who is chair of this board would rise to the challenge of stimulating the board to find new ways to connect all of our constituent parts. There are so many groups that make the college go: students, faculty, staff, alumnae/i, parents. Right now these groups are not as tightly woven together in purpose or in effort as they need to be. It is essential that we move effectively forward integration of all those positive forces.
Our alumnae/i are really important in carrying our messages across the country and around the world. And the Alumnae/i Board is looking at ways to tighten the connection between the board and the Alumnae/i Association beyond having alumnae/i trustees, which is the way we made that connection in the past. When special issues come up for the college, I don't see any reason why we can't create special task forces, for example, that would report to the board and be composed of a mixture of students, faculty, staff and trustees, as appropriate. When we had our last presidential search, we moved in tha direction. I think that&'s the first time this was done, the first time we had students working on an effort like that. Next time we need to include alums as well. There's some synergy that emerges from that kind of contact that helps us pull together.
I really want to make sure that the board is not isolated. I particularly think this is important for alums because many of them want to be a part of such efforts and we want to reach as many of them as possible.
Do you have a "wish list" for the college for the next 5-10 years?
If I looked back on the college 10 years from now, I would like to have seen flourishing global and learning centers where students and faculty can continue to learn ways of teaching and learning. I would like to have seen more scholarship winners and greater recognition of Wheaton in public. I hope to see new science facilities, maybe even a track for the college community. And, of course, we must successfully integrate technological innovations into college life. The recognition we've had is stunning, but I want even more people to know just how good the college is.
