I was the assistant for Sociology (Marc’s department at Smith) for 5 years. In fact, Marc was the one who hired me for the position as he was the Chair of the department. I always remember how low-key he was, just a nice person, though who can forget the wicked chuckle he had!
And all of the crazy things he had on his office door, including a sign at the bottom of the door telling students not to slide their papers underneath. But you knew he loved his students.
I’ll never forget one task that he had me do. He would have his students submit their papers with a pseudonym because he didn’t want to know whose paper he was reading. It was only an issue when it came time to hand the papers back. He couldn’t read out the names because then he would know whose paper it was on the rewrite.The first time, he asked me to go to his class, read out the pseudonyms , and have the students collect their papers, I thought nothing of it, even though I’m not really comfortable talking in front of a group. But the worst part was that many students chose very provocative and/or silly pseudonyms (no Jane Does here). As I read them off, the students laughed, and I’m sure I was blushing like crazy! Needless to say, I was loathe to do it the next time Marc asked. But I did it because he needed it done and who could say no to that friendly face? But I still hated it every time. Thanks, Marc.! Still, I’ll always think of him fondly. We lost him way too soon.