Letters
Reflections on Overseas Study
My caregiver and I are collaborating to tell of my overseas study program in 1964. I am paralyzed by multiple sclerosis, and she is typing this as I dictate.
I am proud to have been part of the first Lewis & Clark overseas study experiment. John Howard, then president of L&C, believed
the world was growing increasingly interdependent—politically, economically, and culturally. However, for my part, at age 18,
I just wanted to have fun.
My sophomore year I had a chance to go abroad. I did not speak a foreign language and had no interest in learning one, so England seemed a perfect answer.
While in the United Kingdom, I dated two exciting men from India (one a Muslim and one a Buddhist); I ate meals fit for a king in a beautiful Irish castle; and I galloped horses through the lavender fields of Scotland. The bombed-out churches of England showed me the destruction of World War II, while the Tate Gallery, the National Gallery, and the Victoria and Albert Museum introduced me to a lifelong love of art. I extended my travels to France and Italy. The Louvre in Paris and the Siena and Notre Dame Cathedrals expanded my wonder, while gondoliers propelled me through the canals of Venice. In Rome, I marveled at the statue of David and the Sistine Chapel. Then I returned to the U.S. to continue my college career.
In the evening of my life, I reminisce, remembering my experiences abroad with my husband of 46 years, Chip Delap BA ’66. Hester Turner (then dean of students) and her twin girls, Jane and Mary Lee, remain my longtime friends.
I unconsciously follow a path influenced by social and political views developed while in England. My two children, a son and a daughter, continue my political and social leanings, and experience a world growing smaller and smaller. Thank you, President John Howard and the Experiment in International Living, for giving me an understanding and head start in an ever-more-connected world.
Virginia “Ginna” Nichols Delap BA ’65
Denver
I graduated from Lewis & Clark in 1969 and was a member of the 1968 Austria overseas study program (led by Robert Martin, professor of physics). That experience changed my life in so many ways. The immersion in the music of Vienna and the rich Austrian culture was incredible. I have been back to Austria numerous times and continue close contact with my Austrian “mother” and “brother.”
I was in choir at Lewis & Clark. In June of this year, our
local church choir (First Presbyterian, Corvallis, Oregon) is taking a tour of the former Hapsburg Empire, culminating in Salzburg, where we will sing Mozart’s Coronation Mass in the cathedral.
Randall Walker BA ’70 will join us. He, too, was part of the Austrian overseas study program.
Dr. David Grube BA ’69
Philomath, Oregon
Early Campus History
I much enjoyed the archive photos of the campus in “The Namesake of the New Holmes Hall” (Chronicle, fall 2012). The campus has always been beautiful, today more than ever. As a historic preservationist by trade, I think an understanding of the early years makes the story that much richer. I would love to see and read more about the prehistory, the gardens, the farm, the architect, the Franks, and others who shaped the cultural landscape of Lewis & Clark.
In the transience of our times, sense of place is important.
Sandy Strehlou BS ’80
Friday Harbor, Washington
