The end is just the beginning
Three professors - plus Professor Yu-Long Ling - will be saying their good-byes this year to full-time employment, though some are sticking around for awhile longer.
- Jenny Johnson-Kappes
Professor Jenny Johnson-Kappes left a Division I school to return to coaching softball at Franklin College after three years of teaching at University of Minnesota. She had graduated from Franklin in 1972 and said the small college atmosphere suited her well.
“It was a dream of mine to come back and coach and I’ve lived out my dream,” Kappes said.
She said most people didn’t understand her decision to leave the large university, but she was tired of athletes who were being paid to go to school. Kappes said she wanted to work with athletes who came to college for an education first and to become better athletes second.
“I hated buying athletes,” Kappes said.
When she first returned to Franklin in 1977, she taught field hockey and softball. One of her favorite memories comes from coaching field hockey.
Kappes currently teaches a CPR certification class and first aid training and an officiating class that lets students register with the Indiana High School Athletic Association. She teaches fundamental skills classes as well as being the women’s volleyball coach.
Judy Warren, the first Miss Basketball in Indiana, started playing field hockey to keep in shape on her off-season, but with her on the team, they made it to the national tournament at Princeton. Kappes said she found her crying because she said she never even wanted to be on the team, but at that moment she realized she would never play field hockey again.
Kappes said it was moments like that – and her students, in general, that made her job interesting. One of her favorite parts of working at the college was helping students as their adviser. She said she helped a few students, who people thought wouldn’t even graduate, make it through college and have successful careers.
Her total record in volleyball is 284-364, but Kappes said, to her, coaching is more about watching students develop.
“I don’t concern myself with numbers,” Kappes said.
Last week, at the Athletic Awards Banquet the department renamed the Outstanding Female Athlete Award to the Jenny Johnson-Kappes award in celebration of her achievements at Franklin.
Kappes said she’s retiring to spend more time with her husband. He’s a Vietnam War veteran who came into contact with Agent Orange, a poisonous herbicide used by Americans in the conflict. She said he’s in good health, but they want to travel and spend time with their grandchildren.
“I could still teach if I wanted,” Kappes said. “I’m not that old.”
- Dennis Cripe
Journalism professor Dennis Cripe is retiring from a full-time position after 17 years of teaching at Franklin, but he’ll still be on campus next year, teaching two classes.
He’s taking time to work on a few projects, such as collaborating with his brother, who’s a professional photographer and work more in-depth on projects that he formerly could only pursue during summer breaks.
“I guess it’s a little bit selfish to do what you want to do, but I think it’s time,” Cripe said. “I realized I had been in a classroom since I was six without a break.”
Cripe went to Ball State University intending to become a journalist. Teaching was a back-up plan for him.
“I was intrigued by the teaching aspect, but I didn’t know how it would fit me,” Cripe said.
Once he started working at Ben Davis High School, Cripe found that he had a passion for working with students. He transferred to Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis in 1985 where he became involved with the changing technology of the journalism community. He worked with students on their Apple Macintosh computers and showed them how to do layouts on a computer program – all brand new technology at the time.
Cripe left IUPUI to work with Franklin College and become the Indiana High School Press Association director in 1992. He was the director until six years ago when he brought Diana Hadley in. He now deals with the finances and maintains the Web site, something he’ll continue to do after he retires.
Cripe’s parents owned a print shop when he was little, so he said he’s always had a sense of how journalism can positively influence a community.
“It wasn’t always about how much money you make, it’s about if you’ve made a different in the day,” Cripe said. “It might be a little idealistic, but I guess you buy into that stuff.”
Cripe said he’ll miss the rhythm of semesters the most since he’s been in school – in one capacity or another – throughout the majority of his life.
“I don’t have any other expectation for the fall except for school to start,” Cripe said.
- John Stevens
John Stevens, economics professor, is closing out 23 years at Franklin this year; however, students will see him again next spring. He will take a full load of classes in the springs while taking the falls off for at least the next couple years.
“I’m not going cold turkey; I’m going partial. At least for a couple years, I’ll be teaching half-time,” Stevens said.
Stevens has served as director of the Tull Lecture Series since 1987, bringing prominent individuals to speak to students. He has taught in the International Honors Program and taken trips to Vietnam, Cuba, India and Ireland in connection with the college.
He won the faculty teaching award at commencement in 2006. However, he didn’t cite his many accomplishments and responsibilities as his fondest memory of his time at Franklin.
“My fondest memory will always be the people,” he said.
With his free time during the summer break and fall semester, Stevens said he hopes to travel. He hopes to go to Nepal and Tibet with his wife after graduation. He will also spend a couple weeks with family out on the Oregon coast. Then he hopes to go with Professor Hisaya Kitaoka, a fellow economics professor, to Japan over winter term.
“I like to be travelling, and that’s part of the reason that I’m retiring, so I have some more time to do some travelling,” Stevens said.
