Spring Break
40 years of Gordie
Recalling conflict and resolution on the 40th anniversary of Gordon Fellman's professorship
by Alex Bakst
Features | 3/30/04
Posted online at 4:58 AM EST on 3/30/04
/ Last updated at 7:13 PM EST on 3/30/04
Gordon Fellman (SOC) has curly, frizzy hair. He speaks in hushed tones with a soft and pleasant voice. He is a middle-aged man of average stature and height, and he dresses casually. He has a humble and genuine appearance.
But greatness is often disguised in the most unassuming characters.
This reporter went to meet the man who has been a professor of sociology at Brandeis for 40 years and counting. More than just a formal interview, the encounter was a learning experience all around. It was a revealing tale of a university that has come a long way, a thoughtful lesson on social movements and political change, and a glimpse of "Gordie."
Fellman has been at this University 10 times longer than most students will ever be, and he has gained an immense perspective on Brandeis, coupled with a deep understanding of the forces that drive us as a society. And he's not too shy to share his knowledge with others, either.
From the decoration of his office in Pearlman Hall, Fellman's activist identity is clear. The cozy room is full of posters and memorabilia of environmental groups, anti-Bush campaigns and the Dalai Lama.
Throughout his years here, Fellman has helped organize countless anti-war rallies, including the on-campus demonstration last year against the war in Iraq.
Fellman was there during the 60s, and he remembers well what he described as the "chaotic" years of 1968 and 1969. He recalled when Martin Luther King Jr. was shot, when African-American students took over Ford and Sydeman Halls to rally for better minority representation at Brandeis and in more recent memory, when the Dalai Lama visited the school for a few days in 1998. This happened at Fellman's behest, no less, who remembers meeting the Dalai Lama as "the greatest event at Brandeis in my time."
"Whatever is going on in the larger culture has its manifestations here, and in the 60s there was so much going on," Fellman said. He helped organize a national campaign, headquartered here, against the Vietnam War during the early 70s. To this day, he has supported a large number of other initiatives to promote political activism here.
But greatness is often disguised in the most unassuming characters.
This reporter went to meet the man who has been a professor of sociology at Brandeis for 40 years and counting. More than just a formal interview, the encounter was a learning experience all around. It was a revealing tale of a university that has come a long way, a thoughtful lesson on social movements and political change, and a glimpse of "Gordie."
Fellman has been at this University 10 times longer than most students will ever be, and he has gained an immense perspective on Brandeis, coupled with a deep understanding of the forces that drive us as a society. And he's not too shy to share his knowledge with others, either.
From the decoration of his office in Pearlman Hall, Fellman's activist identity is clear. The cozy room is full of posters and memorabilia of environmental groups, anti-Bush campaigns and the Dalai Lama.
Throughout his years here, Fellman has helped organize countless anti-war rallies, including the on-campus demonstration last year against the war in Iraq.
Fellman was there during the 60s, and he remembers well what he described as the "chaotic" years of 1968 and 1969. He recalled when Martin Luther King Jr. was shot, when African-American students took over Ford and Sydeman Halls to rally for better minority representation at Brandeis and in more recent memory, when the Dalai Lama visited the school for a few days in 1998. This happened at Fellman's behest, no less, who remembers meeting the Dalai Lama as "the greatest event at Brandeis in my time."
"Whatever is going on in the larger culture has its manifestations here, and in the 60s there was so much going on," Fellman said. He helped organize a national campaign, headquartered here, against the Vietnam War during the early 70s. To this day, he has supported a large number of other initiatives to promote political activism here.
