I will always remember the things Marc did to keep us engaged as students. He taught Theories of Society the semester I took it. He did things like stand in a container of water on his desk and throw candy at people to keep us focused on what was otherwise pretty dry material. I remember being impressed that he did all of this because I knew deep down he didn’t have to make the effort—we were required to take the class anyways, but he chose to make it as interesting as he could, because he wanted us to learn.
He was always committed to teaching us and gave full attention to people when they spoke in class or asked questions. I was going through some stuff personally when I was taking classes with him, but I never felt judged. I felt like he worked hard to have everyone feel welcome in his courses, and to make sociology and particularly the more dry and theoretical parts of it feel accessible.
I’ll always remember how kind, unpretentious, and genuine he was. How he wore a baseball hat, jeans, and a T-shirt every day—how he made us laugh—and how I definitely became a better student of sociology because of him.