Fall 2007

Dr. McCall was my adviser

Email Story

Dr. McCall was my adviser in the theatre department and guided my junior I.S. Thinking now of my years at Wooster, I am filled with memories of him. I see his lean frame trundling across campus on his old bicycle, on his way home for lunch—in cooler weather, clad in a mackintosh coat and tweed cap. I see him sitting in his office in Freedlander, ruing his already-outdated Mac Classic computer, its plastic case yellowed from his smoking. He always preferred the typewriter, anyway, which served him more loyally than either the Mac or his own handwriting—scrawly at best.

Dr. McCall provided a true “I’m-really-in-college-now” moment. In his First-Year Seminar, where I fancied myself a fine writer, I was handed a “C” on my first paper. It was shocking and galvanizing and gave me the wake-up call that I needed. Dr. McCall continuously held his students to the highest measure, demanding that we give the best of ourselves. He was a guiding force through my time at Wooster, unexpectedly teaching me to love writing about the theatre (which I now do on a daily basis).

In a department where we commonly called professors by their first names, we never did so with Ray McCall. He was oldschool— but possessed a wonderful sense of humor. My favorite memory of him comes from Shakespeare class.

Early in the term, many students, who were as yet unfamiliar with Dr. McCall, perceived him as a stodgy old professor lecturing about stodgy old material. They thought of him this way, that is, until the day when he asked the class if anyone knew how many ways characters died in the collected plays of the bard. Without waiting for an answer, Dr. McCall proceeded for the next five to seven minutes to act out every manner of stage death he could conjure, throwing himself to the floor, over and over.

It was a brilliant pedagogical move that left the class howling with laughter and shocked at the acting prowess of this normally composed older gentleman.

I will never forget Dr. McCall, and I am truly grateful for his impact on me.