Carole Sheffield:

New Jersey's Professor

Of the Year Mixes

Politics and Sex ­ By Barbara E. Martin

 

The small, plain, brown paper-wrapped package lay among the pile of accumulated mail on Carole Sheffield's desk in her campus office last September. Not immediately recognizing the sender's name, Sheffield peeled off the outer layer of paper, revealing a bright blue box from a museum store in Boston. By now completely intrigued, she opened the box and inside found an object laden with meaning.

Contained in that little blue box was a rectangular silver pin in the shape of a prison door complete with a key, which Sheffield immediately recognized as the "Jailed for Freedom" pin, a replica of the one suffragist leader Alice Paul gave to imprisoned suffragists during the nascent women's movement that took place as women fought for their right to vote almost a century ago.

Guessing it might be from a student, she searched for a card, and confirmed her suspicions.

"Dearest Dr. C. Sheffield," the note began, "I was a student of yours 12-13 years ago. I still am a student of yours. You put words to my thoughts, dotted my i's and helped me cross my t's...I saw this pin and you know the rest.

Thank you."

Valerie Siercho

For Carole Sheffield, professor, scholar, feminist and friend, such accolades define her commitment to teaching. It is this very dedication to teaching and students that cinched her nomination as the 1997 New Jersey Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. She was selected from a field of 13 in the state last fall.

Of her award as New Jersey's top professor, University President Arnold Speert said, "This prestigious recognition of your accomplishment as a undergrad-uate teacher will make others aware of what we at William Paterson University have long known, that you exemplify the finest of what our faculty represent to students and colleagues as role models and mentors in their pursuit of intellec-tual, professional and personal growth."

In honor of the award, her colleagues have established the Carole Sheffield Award for Scholarship and Activism, to be presented to a student of both political science and women's studies. The first recipient is Lisa Macioci of Lincoln Park.

Sheffield, a professor of political science, has made commitment to her students her life's work. "Everything I do stems from my students," she says. Known on campus as the person to turn to for students who are the victims of sexual abuse, she has counseled both the victims and their family members in times of need.

"She is the person to whom both male and female students turn when they find themselves distressed over family or relationship problems," says Sheila Collins, chairperson of the Political Science Department. "She has counseled hundreds of such students over the years and provided them with crucial referrals to lawyers, doctors, social workers and the like." Collins adds, "It would be hard to gauge the number of lives she has probably (quite literally) saved through her skillful and compassionate mentoring and counseling."

"I care about my students as whole human beings, not just as minds that I have for 75 minutes twice a week," Sheffield remarks. "I care about how they learn and what they learn. And I care about what they do with the knowledge that they gain, not just in my class but at William Paterson, and their total experience here."

In fact, as she walks down the crowded hallways in Science Hall on her way to teach a class, it is not unusual for a student to stop her and ask a question, or to solicit her help in solving a problem. Soft-spoken, cheerful, gracious, friendly and engagingly approachable, Sheffield is hardly anyone's idea of a radical feminist. In conversation and in the classroom, her demeanor belies her often iconoclastic convictions.

Asked more than 20 years ago by the institution to develop some courses for the inchoate Women's Studies Program, she explains that her career took an "unplanned and magnificent detour."

The road taken was Politics and Sex, a course she developed in 1975 and has taught two sections each semester since then because of student demand.

Sheffield explains that the content of this course has changed over the years, as she has changed and grown as an individual and a scholar.

Among the students, the course content "reflects an intense desire to understand the dynamics of their personal lives and relationships," Sheffield says. "The difference is that the course has maintained a high level of interest in male students, who are less hostile now."

The men, she says, see their mothers, girlfriends, friends and wives struggling with relationships, and they really want to learn so they may be better human beings. "There is an open-mindedness that is remarkable," Sheffield declares. "They are willing to challenge me. This has always been true of women and it is now true of men."

It is a testament to her passion for teaching and her belief in the value of honesty that her classroom has become, for so many, a place that transcends the normal barriers of communication, what the professor calls a "safe place," something she believes everyone needs.

"I'm proud to provide in my class a safe place for men and women to explore the complicated issues of their lives and take that information out and use it in their lives," she says.

Just as Politics and Sex has impacted on her students, it has profoundly affected her life as well. "It has been the springboard of all of my professional development and scholarship: my scholarship on sexual terrorism, the development of effective strategies for teaching about sexual violence, new undergraduate and graduate courses, research on women's experiences of obscene phone calls and a campus violence study."

Her research into sexual terrorism has garnered national attention. Her paper on obscene phone calls led to appearances on the "Today Show" and the television newsmagazine "American Journal," and was featured in Ladies Home Journal and Glamour magazines.

While the research is vital to her scholarship, students respond to her dedication and commitment and she is the professor whom many never forget. Siercho, who sent the pin, now married and the mother of five young sons, recalls how Sheffield, on the first night of class, asked which students considered themselves feminists.

"It was the first class I've ever had that opened my mind," she recalls. "She made me realize that I was a militant feminist." Siercho, who is raising her sons with feminist ideology, recalls that Sheffield taught her to be nonjudgmental and to "follow what you believe," because "she did what she believed and followed her heart."

Other students agree. Amy Eichenberg, an alumna from the Class of 1997, says Sheffield puts her "spirit and soul into educating her students. She provides her students with a comfortable learning environment and we were made to feel free and comfortable to express our ideas and thoughts about class material and related issues."

Sheffield's influence is not restricted to women. Jason Schaffer, a senior at William Paterson, remarks that after just one class "I became inspired by her passion and comprehension for the feminist movement...she is able to open the minds of all those she encounters." Schaffer continues, "She has made me realize that feminism is not only restricted to the lives of women, but is also a way of thinking for everyone." Both Eichenberg and Schaffer wrote letters of recommendation in support of her nomination as Professor of the Year.

Sheffield has also earned the respect of her colleagues. Her nomination was supported unanimously by the Department of Political Science who consider her "an engaged and deeply passionate teacher whose scholarly commitments have led to the creation of new curricula, new approaches to general education and to new campus initiatives."

Indeed, Sheffield, who holds the rank of full professor, has caused numerous changes on campus since her arrival in 1973 at age 25, fresh from doctoral work in political science at Miami University of Ohio. Looking back on that time, she recalls her "naiveté" about higher education.

"I had an idealized vision about higher education," she remembers. "I thought I had made it, and I had the rest of my life in the ivory tower all planned out." At the time, she says, she "wasn't involved with the women's movement; that passed right by me."

All that changed when, doctorate in hand, she failed to receive a promotion the following year. Although Sheffield had been told by administrators that no one could be promoted to assistant professor without the doctorate, five male professors, three of whom did not have terminal degrees, received promotions. Shocked and angry, she filed a grievance with the union. A successful lawsuit followed, and after years of struggle, she was on the tenure track.

It was, in many ways, a life-altering experience. "This was the key experience that propelled me to look into discrimination against women," Sheffield affirms.

Her next hurdle was tenure, which was not readily granted. In an unusually strong show of support, more than 500 students and faculty showed up at her tenure meeting which lasted until 4:00 a.m. Each speaker was allowed three minutes at the microphone, timed by a blue light. Persuaded, the board of trustees granted tenure. (The light bulb was retrieved by a supporter, mounted on a trophy and presented to Sheffield, "The Keeper of the Academic Flame.")

"In some ironic way those issues motivated me to understand racism and sexism," she says. "And the discrimination made me angry."

Over the years, she has channeled that anger and has been an activist on campus. In addition to her work in the Political Science Department, she was director of the Women's Studies Program for three years, grounding her work in a multidisciplinary context, a concept integral to her philosophy of teaching.

"Feminist scholarship is as good as it is because of political science," Sheffield says. "Political ideas affect the expression of ideas in a culture."

Changes she effected included her 1992 survey of violence on campus, which led directly to the establishment of the University's Women's Center. She drafted the institution's Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Policy, and worked on its Affirmative Action Policy.

Sheffield cites the William Paterson Political Science Department for her growth as a teacher. "They have let me grow individually in my scholarship and in my teaching," she says. "The intellectual freedom they have given me is beyond measure."

That giving has been reciprocated many times over according to colleagues who tell of Sheffield's legendary professional and personal support.

"I don't know anyone more thoughtful than Carole," says Lois Wolf, an associate professor of political science who has known Sheffield since she arrived on campus. "Her scholarship, dedication and involvement with students have made her a campus-wide treasure and an invaluable asset to the University community."

Wolf, who calls Sheffield "a consummate teacher and colleague," says her friend is extremely generous with her time to both colleagues and students. "She's amazing. Her methods of teaching include hard data and science, yet she raises the consciousness of her students."

Toby Silverman, a William Paterson professor of psychology, who has known Sheffield for 22 years, says "Carole is the most wonderful friend. She never lets you feel alone or abandoned." When Silverman had a family emergency recently and needed help, Sheffield was there to offer support by dropping her own responsibilities, driving across the country with her, helping to close down a family member's house in no time flat, even knocking on neighboring doors to announce a sale of household furnishings. Silverman also recalls Sheffield coming to her house in Pennsylvania and stacking firewood when she was ill.

Off campus, Sheffield, who grew up on a farm in Connecticut and was the first of nine siblings to graduate from college, lives with her life partner, David Orthmann, and their two dogs, Maggie and Shannon. A self-described homebody with a passion for Southwestern art, particularly Native American pottery, she is also an avid reader of mystery novels.

"I live a quiet life," she explains. "David is a strong feminist so I have an island of peace and serenity at home." She tries not to consume pop culture and to control outside stimuli to guard her privacy and space. To relieve stress and relax, she does Yoga.

She credits her success in the classroom to her honesty. "I'm honest about everything, about research, about my principles and combined with that is my passion for teaching." Sheffield believes that she can make life better one person at a time, an outgrowth of her philosophy to think globally and act locally.

And she believes that she can tackle the tough subjects like the hidden costs of sexual violence, sexual terrorism and the multiple victimization of women because she has created the oasis at home from which she gathers the strength to help those in need.

In her work with students who have been sexually assaulted it is important for them to know they are not alone and are not to blame. Then the healing process can begin.

"Because I teach about this, I feel I have a special responsibility to the students. By studying the subject in a scholarly way, it provides students with the tools they need to deal with it.

"I know that approximately 50 percent of my women students have been victimized, and will be upset by the material I'm presenting, and that compels me to be very conscious of how I'm presenting material. For many students taking the Politics and Sex course is an act of courage."

That concern for her students has earned Sheffield numerous awards during her career. She was named a Danforth Foundation Associate (1976-82) for being a "talented teacher/scholar who strives to integrate a strong concern for values and awareness of contemporary educational issues," and was selected in 1993 for the Senior Class "Students First" award. Sheffield is characteristically modest and generous about this latest honor.

"I owe it all to my students. My career happened because students had a need. My experience and the department propelled me to look at feminism, and my students propelled me to look at sexual violence." WP