Winter 1997

Artistic touch shows justice with empathy

by Guille Cox, Chairman of the Board of Trustees

We all noticed with regret the passing of Salty Seamon, the Wabash Valley's premier artist and Rose-Hulman's own official artist-in-residence. His wife, Polly, is our official Institute art curator. My favorite story concerning the Seamons and Rose-Hulman has not to do with Salty, who captured many campus scenes with his brush, but with Polly.

Before relating that story, let me encourage you to visit the hallways of Moench Hall, the Hulman Union, Hadley Hall, and almost any hallways at Rose-Hulman. What you will notice is not the drab gray or olive "institutional" walls that you find in most colleges, but instead, vibrant works of art that not only give our institution a warm and friendly feeling, but also cause students and any visitor to pause and consider the works as they amble through.

Engineers appreciate the art too — maybe even more so because art offers a brief respite from cold analysis. I have never understood why each and every college has not copied Rose-Hulman by hanging works of art throughout their institutions. We have Polly Seamon to thank for our hallways of art.

The story that is part of Rose-Hulman's legend involves a very decent young student who, unfortunately, imbibed one too many. As a result of inebrity, this young man committed a horrendous act — partially defacing several of our works of art. The Student Judicial Council and everyone else was aghast. There were demands for expulsion and more severe punishment.

After reflection, a most appropriate punishment was recommended and accepted by the guilty party. The young man was assignmed to work for Polly for several months to assist in the cleaning, hanging, storing and curating of our art collections. Polly was rightfully fearful that her anger would prevent her from working with this young man. As it turned out, it was a win/win situation. The defaced art was restored, and through hard work the student "served his time" and learned about art and to appreciate creativity. He will never again commit a senseless act of vandalism.

Polly, who could not fathom facing the young man in the first place found he was indeed a warm and intelligent, hard-working individual who made a mistake, but learned his lesson. Polly's parting comment when his term of service ended was, "Can I adopt him?"