Utah State's Freshmen Connect with First-Year Reading Experience

Utah State’s Freshmen Connect with First-Year Reading Experience

There is nearly a 70-year gap between 1934 and 2003, but that gap was bridged and a connection was made between a 1934 Utah State University graduate and the incoming class of 2003. That graduate, May Swenson, provided the voice for Utah State's incoming freshman in a new weeklong orientation course that focused on a common reading experience.

Swenson (1913–1989) was "one of the United States' most important poets," according to Kenneth Brewer, Utah Poet Laureate and emeritus Utah State University Department of English professor. Swenson grew up just below Old Main Hill, the oldest of 10 children. Her parents were Swedish immigrants, and her father, Dan Swenson, was a professor of mechanical engineering at the still-young college.

On Monday of the orientation week, students enrolled in "Connections" were given a collection of Swenson's poems, May Out West, and a pictorial biography of her life — both published by Utah State University Press.

"In this inaugural year, we included our top scholars in the project," said Vice Provost Joyce Kinkead. "Each student received a personalized copy of the book. President Hall suggested that a common reading experience could provide a bond among our new students, and it worked well to connect students to one another and to the campus."

On the fourth day of the orientation, Connections instructors were joined by guest Honors faculty to talk about Swenson's life and poetry and to visit sites on campus. The five sections of Connections classes rotated among the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Merrill Library Special Collections, the Museum of Anthropology in Old Main and Logan Cemetery at the edge of campus, where Swenson is buried. Connecting to Swenson's poem Navajo Blanket, art museum director Victoria Rowe shared a number of the museum's Native American weavings and textiles, cluing class members into opportunities that exist for visiting the museum's exhibitions and doing research in the collection and its library.

At Special Collections, director Bob Parson showed students examples of Swenson's work as a writer on the Student Life newspaper (the forerunner ofThe Utah Statesman) and in the Scribbler, the college's literary magazine. He also pulled from the stacks examples of photographs and documents that students could use in their own scholarly projects.

Swenson's unique gravesite features a bench that is inscribed with her poetry. It invites viewers with these words from a prose poem The Wonderful Pen.

“I have a wonderful mind: Inventive. It is for you to find. Read me. Read my mind.”

Students read aloud The Exchange while reflecting on the life of the poet, a woman who received a MacArthur Foundation grant and a Guggenheim, in addition to being named a "Literary Lion" by the New York City Public Library.

The morning of connecting to various sites around campus culminated in a reading by Brewer of Swenson's work as well as his own at the amphitheatre on Old Main Hill.

Krystin Deschamps, one of the Connections instructors, called the reading magical. "The power of hearing poetry cannot be underestimated," she said. "This was a wonderful experience for our new students."

Jed Larsen, an engineering major from Ogden, agreed: "I had never heard a real poet read his own poems, so that was really neat, and I enjoyed making connections to other poems."

Instructor Bert Sainsbury said he learned a lot about the campus from the visits to various places. "What I particularly liked was how Swenson provided the glue to make these site visits cohesive."

At the end of the day, students received Swenson-inspired postcards so they could write home about their experiences as university students. "It's important for us to remember that parents want to hear from their children and may be suffering some in their absence," said Kinkead. "By providing a stamped postcard, we ensured that students can connect with family or friends and tell them something about the first days of being a college student, which is an important rite of passage."

Lisa Ferrara, an English major from Mendon, reacted positively to the experience. "I was elated with the May Swenson poetry and the Ken Brewer reading," she said. "Honors Connections has completely changed my outlook on Utah State."

Patricia Gantt, a faculty member in English and one of the guest Honors teachers, was particularly pleased to see Swenson as the subject of the first common reading experience. "This is the 'Year of May Swenson,'" she noted. "Paul Crumbley, my colleague in English, and I are chairing the first Swenson Symposium June 10-12, 2004, which will bring nationally known poets and literary critics to Utah State, and this is a spectacular kickoff event."

Bill Bowers, a computer science major from Harrisville, complimented Gantt. "This was one of the best days yet," he said. "I really enjoyed our literature discussion, and Dr. Gantt made all the difference."

Michael Spooner, director of Utah State University Press, said Swenson is an important poet who deserves recognition. "Using May Swenson's works for this reading experience honors a native daughter of Logan and acknowledges her important place in the literary canon."

For the 2004 First-Year Reading Experience, students will be asked to nominate books. As Kinsey Kelley of Centerville noted, "This reading experience really got me excited to attend my classes. I'm looking forward to the start of fall semester."