So, What Is This "RESIDENT OLD CURMUDGEON" Bit?
In December 2007 I received several inquiries about the .sig file on my e-mail messages:
Gregory Holmes Singleton, Ph.D.
Professor of History, Emeritus
Northeastern Illinois University
RESIDENT OLD CURMUDGEON
In All Venues
http://www.neiu.edu/~ghsingle
It wasn't the title of Professor Emeritus that people wondered about. It is fairly well known that this is a designation given to retired faculty on the nomination of departments and ratification by university presidents. It comes for the Latin for "We don't have to put up with the old fool any more." It is a title I share with at least several hundred thousands of others across the nation, a few hundred NEIU folk, and eleven colleagues in the Department of History
What people questioned was my title, "Resident Old Curmudgeon." I glory in that title because it is, as far as I know, unique.
Yes, there is a story behind the title. If you close this window now, you can avoid it.
Over the years I have been blessed with capable, intelligent, and creative graduate students. One term, however, I had a class dominated by people who had little interest in the life of the mind. Why they thought they wanted to be in a graduate program is beyond me. They complained about the difficulty of the material and assignments. They complained about having to be introduced to subject matters, authors and concepts they had never encountered before. They complained about being required to read and produce works of analysis rather than simple narrative.
I took the first part of a 2+ hour class session to discuss these complaints. In order to make certain that the rumors sure to circulate after this class session would conform to something resembling reality, I wrote my remarks, distributed copies to my students and colleagues, and read the remarks in class as an invitation to discussion.
My colleagues expressed their appreciation for my having addressing these issues and rewarded me with the title "Resident Old Curmudgeon of the History Department." When the president of the university heard about this, the response was, "Singleton's ability and service as a curmudgeon have impacted this entire institution. He is truly the Resident Old Curmudgeon of Northeastern Illinois University." Even more gratifying, however, were the appreciative comments from our very good and hard-working graduate students who defined the considerable majority of that population.
Though protesting, "non sum dignum," I accepted the accolade.
The following are the remarks made to the class, and are presented here in defense of my continued use of the title. I have removed the date in order to avoid any possible guessing games about who these students might have been. They know who they are. No one else needs to know.