Former and current students, faculty and staff celebrated the retirement of Dave Bohmer, '69, Friday afternoon to commend all that he has given to DePauw University over the past nearly 20 years.
Bohmer, who is retiring at the end of the year, currently severs as the Eugene S. Pulliam Center for Contemporary Media director and Media Fellows Program director.
Bohmer first arrived at DePauw in the 1994-95 school year, just a few years after the Media Fellows program began. The Media Fellows program is an honors media and journalism program at DePauw.
Bohmer, an avid baseball fan, has taught a history of baseball first-year seminar for the past five years.
"[History of Baseball] certainly has allowed me to meet a number of students who I would not meet otherwise," Bohmer said. "It's been fun to be a part of so many kids' lives."
Most of Bohmer's work, however, has taken place within the Media Fellows program. Bohmer has used his connections to help students in the program get internships, while also teaching the second semester of the Media Fellows first-year seminar.
A few key changes that Bohmer, with help from the steering committee, made to the Media Fellows program since his arrival include changing the first-year Media Fellows seminar course from a half academic credit to a full credit course and changing the grade point average requirements for staying in the Media Fellows program. Bohmer and the committee also broadened the umbrella under which the Media Fellows program works by incorporating advertising, marketing and public relations, as opposed to just newspapers, television and radio.
Assistant Director of the Media Fellows program Marilyn Culler believes that Bohmer's involvement in the four-year Media Fellow experience has helped him to form close relationships with his students.
"From the first time I met him, he was very engaged with students, and that continues to be the spark that keeps him going," Culler said. "What I have seen over the years is how Dr. Bohmer can help students realize their true passions."
But it is not just the students that Bohmer has managed to have an impact on, Culler says. His colleagues, according to Culler, have enjoyed working with him as well.
"He's not a micromanager, and I think that everyone on our staff appreciates that," Culler said. "We know what our job is. If [Bohmer] gives us a job, we do it, and it makes for a really pleasant work experience. It will be really strange not having him around the PCCM talking about baseball and rock 'n' roll and politics."
First-year Media Fellow Madison McIntyre believes that Bohmer's connections with his students are strong enough that he will continue to make sure that they are making the most of their Media Fellows experiences throughout the next three years.
"I feel like he cares about us as people, and I feel like that's a huge thing [for professors] to connect with their students," McIntyre said. "He knows what's going on about our lives. He asks kids in our class how our games went over the weekend, and he knows what I'm involved with."
While the current freshman class will be the last to have been taught by Bohmer, the class of 2018 was recruited by Bohmer with the knowledge that he would not be returning in the fall. Culler believes that having already decided upon Bohmer's replacement before the Honors and Fellows weekend reassured students that Bohmer would be leaving them in good hands. Current associate professor of communication and theater Jonathan Nichols-Pethick will replace Bohmer, effective July 1.
"I think [Nichols-Pethick] is a kind, genuine, intelligent human being that really has a passion for working with students," Culler said. "I am incredibly excited about the opportunity to work with him."
While many people began their farewells at the celebration on Friday, Bohmer began packing up shop in 2007.
"We've been planning this since I took a sabbatical in 2007," he said. "We sold our house last year and are leasing it back, so this is a huge incremental process."
Bohmer does not envision himself being bored in retirement. He plans to write at least one baseball biography, on Ford Frick, '15, the third commissioner of major league baseball. He also plans to the world and spend time with his family in Chicago, where he will be moving and watching a lot of baseball.
While Bohmer explains that he has enjoyed his teaching experience here, he realizes that it is time for him to quit while he's ahead.
"I do believe that too many ballplayers stay around the game too long," Bohmer said. "I think there's something to going out while you're on top. I will be 67 in June, and I don't want to get to the point where students walk in and wonder what that fossil's still doing around."
With that being said, he does not want to discredit the experiences that he has had with his students.
"You'd like to think you had a small impact on [the students] in the process, but I think sometimes they give me too much credit," Bohmer said. "You can help open up a door. You can help get somebody started, but...they're the ones that need to make that success. You can't make it for them."
Bohmer said that he has enjoyed watching his students succeed.
"I'll miss you guys. I say that sincerely," he said. "To teach is to learn twice, and I think I've learned a lot by teaching."