Walters, Joan G., Ph.D. - Oral History (transcript)

              Fairfield University
Oral History Transcripts
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Joan G. Walters, Ph.D.
Professor Emerita, Department of Economics
February 25, 1993
Dr. Joan G. Walters
a brief biography
“I do think our students are fantastically bright and that’s where I see the change.
They’re really bright. It’s easy to teach them because they really want to learn.”
Dr. Joan Walters was the first full-time female faculty member at Fairfield
University and the first woman department chair of the Economics Department.
She joined Fairfield in 1963 and enjoyed a long and distinguished career in which
she oversaw the impressive growth and development of the Economics
Department from 1975 to 1982. Admired and loved by fellow faculty and students
alike, she retired in 1996 as professor emerita.
The esteem in which she was held is evidenced by her being honored with the
Alumni Association's Distinguished Faculty Award in 1994 and the establishment
of an endowed scholarship in her name. When Fairfield University named its roads
on campus in 2004, one of them was named "Walters Way" in her honor.
In the classroom, where she taught banking, finance, international trade and
government policy, Dr. Walters was known for being consistently innovative,
incorporating computer simulations and multimedia presentations into her course
delivery while developing new courses. Her students consistently outperformed
their peers when given the nationwide Dante Money and Banking Test.
Dr. Walters served on every key faculty committee at the University, including the
University Curriculum Committee and the Academic Council. She was published in
numerous scholarly journals, including the prestigious Journal of Finance, and
served on the boards of the Eastern Finance Association and State National Bank.
She passed away on Sunday, July 31, 2010.
Source: Fairfield University Press Release Vol. 44, No. 13 posted online on August 2, 2011.
Photograph: Fairfield University Manor, 1964.
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ORAL HISTORY: JOAN G. WALTERS, FEBRUARY 1993
I was very lucky, there's no doubt about it. You could have homble experiences.
I THINK UNTIL WE HAVE A CULTURE WHERE CHILD CARE IS BEING .
SHARED BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN AND CORPORATIONS ARE SAYING TO
MEN.. .
\
Well, I don't think my husband's a very good babysitter. That's when they fell down the
cellar stairs and they drank the ammonia (laughter). Well, I'm enough of a feminist to think
I'm a better mother. Some men are. My son is very nice;. he's very good with his kids, but
a , I still feel I do a better job. Some want to do it.
THERE'S NO EASY SOLUTION TO IT.
No there isn't and I think a lot of them are wise to stay home, especially when they're really
little.
THE PROBLEM UNFORTUNATELYy JOAN' IS THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE NEED
TWO INCOMES NOW. IT'S NOW AS IT WAS 15-20 YEARS AGO. ON ONE
INCOME, YOU'D NEVER GET BY.
I know. And there are loads of women that have to work, whether they're single mothers
or ... but I figure I lucked out and you know I had found a home and then other people were
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
being nice to me to all the time. If anything ever happened I could be home in 20 minutes and
things did happen.
INEVITABLY, THINGS DO HAPPEN.
And, so for me it was lucky. Now they're gone and I miss them.
THAT'S THE PROBLEM. DO YOU HAVE GRANDCHILDREN?
I have 3. They're all in California. Everybody's in California. THAT'S VERY DIFFICULT
AND EXPENSIVE.
Well, once I'm there, it's good 'cause they're all there and they see each other evidently, a lot,
so I can talk to one and find out about everybody.
a ALL YOUR 5 CHILDREN ARE THERE?
Five in California. They were all in San Francisco at one point, now, one's in L.A., one's in
San Diego, three are up in.. .
THAT'S KIND OF UNUSUAL THAT ONE, AT LEAST, WOULDN'T BE OUT IN THE
EAST COAST. THAT'S QUITE INTERESTING. DID ALL THEY W TO SCHOOL
OUT THERE?
No, they all went.. .well, one ended up going to school there, but all of them went here. One
son went to Fairfield and they went various places. Well, the oldest one went out there and then
they'd all go out to visit him and decide California was temfic, so sooner or later, they went
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
back out. I don't know if they'll stay, but they're all there now.
THAT'S AMAZING.
I know it is and people say to me: "You going out there to retire?" And I say, "I don't know
about that crazy state.
I DON'T KNOW ABOUT IT EITHER. WE VISIT. I LIKE CALIFORNIA, BUT THE
'I
/I ONLY THING THAT WOULD WORRY ME IS I DON'T WANT TO BE THERE WHEN
THE EARTHQUAKE FINALLY ARRIVES. I KNOW ONE OF THESE DAYS, IT'S...
They were all, one was not, but the other 4 were in San Francisco when that happened.
OH REALLY.
And I was really.. .and they were all good enough to call eventually and say "I'm all right. " But
they really were. ..2 girls were right on the street and they tell me stories. They tell me that it's
noisy, you hear this huge rumbling noise going on which I never associate noise with
earthquakes and they said "We were standing there on the sidewalk and the lightpoles, you
know, they swing." And I said "Well.. ." And so they know things like stand in doorways.
I said, "How do you know when it's over?" "Well, when the telephone poles stop moving, then
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
I kept going." But the noise was what they all mentioned which I had never ... And then I was
out there after, a couple of months afterwards and saw the places all boarded up and prices are
right back up.
YES, I KNOW. I CAN IMAGINE. I THINK EXCEPT FOR AROUND HERE, IT'S
PROBABLY THE WORST PLACE. IN FACT, MAYBE IT'S EVEN WORSE.
It's pretty bad. Even they keep talking about real estate in California is plummeted, but let me
tell you, it's not, it's not even up to here.
I'VE BEEN OUT THERE SEVERAL TIMES AND I ALWAYS ENJOY GOING OUT
THERE. THERE'S A...IT9S FUNNY, THERE'S AN ATMOSPHERE OUT THJBJI
a PEOPLE SEEM TO HAVE, YOU KNOW 'LIVE FOR TODAY'. YOU KNOW IT'S A
REAL LIVE FOR TODAY, ENJOY.' WELL, MAYBE IF WE FIGURE THE
EARTHQUAKE MAYBE THAT'S THE APPROACH YOU HAVE TO HAVE.
You have to make the best of it while you're here.
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
AS A NEW ENGLANDER, IT TAKES SOME GETTING USED TO. IT'S KWD OF A
DIFFERENT.. .
Were you in San Francisco?
YES.
'Cause I like that city and everybody's up and doing things and I think, I like it 'cause when we
get there, we don't need a car, you can just get on the buses and the trolleys and everything else
and go around. I have a daughter at U.C.L.A. now and we're going out to visit her. I haven't
been there in years, but I don't think I like L.A., although it sounds like it's wide open and full
of all kinds of people and drive-by shooting.
a WE LIVED IN MANHATTAN FOR SEVERAL YEARS. I MISS CITY LIVING JUST
BECAUSE THERE IS SO MUCH GOING ON, BUT THE PROBLEM IS FINDING A
CITY WHERE YOU REALLY WANT TO LIVE. IT'S NOT EASY.
I wouldn't want to be in New York.
NO, I DON'T THINK I WOULD EITHER. WE WERE IN SEATTLE WHICH I
REALLY LIKED.
Oh, that's supposed to be wonderful.
SEATTLE IS LOVELY. IT RAINS ALL THE TIME.
See, I wouldn't like that.
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
I WOULDN'T EITHER. PLUS, THEY SELECTED A STYLE OF BUILDING, THEY
USE BUILDING STONE THAT'S KIND OF DARK AND GRAY A LOT. MY HEAVENS,
IT'S RAINING HERE, THE BUILDINGS ARE GRAY ...
See, I wouldn't like that. I really like sun. That's one thing I like in California, even at
Christmas time, in San Francisco, the flowers are all outside, loads of flowers.
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
HOW ARE WE DOING?
Ready.
I'LL JUST ASK YOU A FEW QUESTIONS AND THEN WE'LL KIND OF SEE WHERE
WE ARE. THERE'S NO SET SCRIPT OR ANYTHING.
Who else have you done on the faculty?
WELL, LET'S SEE. WE STARTED DOING THIS ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF
AGO. I THINK WE'VE DONE ABOUT FIETEEN PEOPLE, ALTOGETHER.
Like Carmen Donnarumma?
WE DID CARMEN, FATHER MCINNES, FATHER FITZGERALD, I WAS
e FORTUNATE TO HAVE A MARVELOUS INTERVIEW WITH FATHER MCGRATH
BEFORE HE DIED LAST YEAR.
Oh yes, yes. He was wonderful.
I HAD ONE OF THE FINEST INTERVIEWS I'VE EVER HAD.
He's a pro. I've been to talks that he gives in parishes and everything . . .
WE INTERVIEWED FATHER COUGHLIN, WE GOT HIM ON TAPE WHICH IS
WONDERFUL.
I hope it's not a pattern.
NO, IT ISN'T.
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Everybody's dead.
NO, NO, IT ISN'T. MOST OF THE PEOPLE ARE STILL ALIVE AND VERY HAPPY
AND ... I DON'T WANT YOU TO THINK THAT.
Well, see they were all here when I came, so I get to think everybody's leaving that I know and
leaving in more ways than one.
YOU CAME IN 1963. SO YOU'RE MARKING 30 YEARS THIS YEAR.
You bet. IT'S A LONG TIME.
It is. I didn't know if I really liked teaching. I had never taught when I came.
THIS WAS YOUR FIRST TEACHING.
And I wasn't too sure that this was what I wanted to do and a friend of my husband's knew
some Jesuits at Fordham and they came out to visit us in Stamford and he was the Dean of the
Business School there and he kept saying "Well, why don't you come to Fordham? We'd love
someone with a Doctorate, you know, come, we need someone." I would say, "Well, I don't
know." And he casually mentioned Fairfield which I had never heard of so then I went and got
a catalog and just wrote a letter and here I am -- 30 years later. But, I thought I'd try it, but
I never taught so I wasn't sure.
WHO DID YOU INTERVIEW WITH HERE WHEN YOU FIRST CAME?
Well, all I did, first of all I wrote a letter to Father Hohmann who was the Chairman of the Ec
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
I
Department which at that point, I think, had three people and I just looked in the catalog and
saw they didn't have a cours in International Trade and I had specialized partly in that and so
I
I just wrote a letter and said " ~ o u l dyo u ever need someone to teach International Trade?" And
I think he hired me on the s+t. He actually said "Well, come up and see us. " By the time I
got here, it seemed like it wa/ a faite a complet and I was going to teach full-time none of which I I had in mind, so I interviewed Father Hohmann and then we came over to see Father Coughlin
I I . and I think at that point he thought I was the parent of a student 'cause he didn't really interview
I
me. He was, for a while, I bon't think he knew why I was applying for a job 'cause you see
they had no women and I dihn't realize that. Now I look back, so why, I should have been
I
a somebody's mother. So I came to work that summer, just to see if I liked it and that was it.
DID YOU LIKE IT?
Well, it's work. I still think, maybe I should do research which is what I really like to do. I
I
like to poke in libraries and kead all about Economics. No, I like the students and I like my
I
department, it's fun to come/and talk to people about Economics and I think we have a very
!
good department 'cause everybody's helping each other, you know, do your work and write your
papers and everything, but I Lever planned to teach at all, and here you are 30 years later.
I
WHAT WAS THE UNIVERSITY LIKE IN 1963 WHEN YOU FIRST ARRIVED?
I
Well, it was much smaller. +his building was here -- Xavier and I interviewed in this building.
I Oral History: Joan G. Walters
I
That's where the Dean's Office was. My first office was in Canisius and I think there were four
of us in one office. It was all men students and it was until 1970 or so' and the first term I was
here I taught Principles and International Trade and then there was a man here teaching Money
and Banking who turned out not to be too popular, so I immediately was given his courses so
Father Hohmann pushed me right into the whole thing, but he was a wonderful Jesuit. You
must realize that at that point Jesuits, in general, did not think women should be on the
premises, including the President. Did you interview with Father Fitzgerald, one of the early
ones? And he was not too pleased with this at all. He was right in the camel's nose I guess and
then in the Fall, also, Dorothy Shafer from the Math Department came and so we were the first
e two. Dorothy retired last year and I'm still here.
WHAT KIND OF MAN WAS FATHER HOHMANN?
Oh, he was a wonderful man. He was very outspoken, very honest, very straightforward and
very brave. As I say, he did not get general acclaim for hiring a woman but we shared the
office for years and always got along fine. Then when he left, I became the Chairman and then
our Department grew quite fast through the '60's and '70's. We went from having three, Father
Hohmann, Father Divine and myself and then we were up to 8 now and then 9 and somebody's
on leave this term. And the major expanded tremendously and that was fun. So when I was
Chairman it was great fun because it was a booming department and we had very little
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
interference from the administrators. You can cut that out!
WHEN WERE YOU CHAIRMAN?
Oh, I'd say '70 to '80, rough, I'm not sure the exact years and then now Ed Deak is the
Chairman and Jay Buss has been the Chairman, but I hired Bob Kelly and Phil Lane, Larry
Miners, some other people who subsequently leave, so my nickname in the Department is "the
Boss,", but it was great fun because the University was really on a roll; it still is, but it's become
much more structured and much more bureaucratic, let me put it that way. When I first came,
you got free lunch. In fact, you used to each lunch right down the hall here. The cafeteria was
here at one point and then it used to be in Canisius in the first floor and everybody went over
for lunch and all the faculty met. We don't do that as much anymore.
WAS FATHER DIVINE EVER CHAIRMAN?
No, he was . . . Father Divine rather worked more outside in the parishes and with the students.
I think Economics for him was, he liked it, but he wasn't crazy about it and he really liked
people more than Economics.
DO YOU REMEMBER ANYTHING ABOUT HIM?
Oh yea, he's wonderful. And when I first came and periodically there'd be school days off so
I'd bring the children up to sit around and he'd take them up to the main house up there and
they thought that was 'heaven on earth' because they had huge ice boxes full of ice cream and
Oral History: Joan .G. Walters
at any time of day or night you could go in there and get yourself all the ice cream you wanted
and Father Divine would take them up there and they said 'Oh, Father Divine is wonderful.
Can we go visit Father Divine and go up to the mansion and really live?' But then he used to
come to my house a lot and when he was studying for his exams at Fordham, he'd come down
to the house and we'd go over the test questions and used to laugh 'cause the children would
come in from school and then they'd say 'We want something to eat' and I'd say 'Well, we've
got this and we've got that' and then they'd say 'Okay, I want that' and then I'd say, 'Go get
it yourself.' So, he always teased me about fine and here's the menu, like I was going to go
wait on them and then I'd say 'Go get it yourself 'cause I'm not noted for being much of a
a cook, so he'd tease me about that all the time.
-
HOW DID YOU FIND TEACHING CARRYING A LOAD OF COURSES AND ALSO
TRYING TO RAISE COURSES AT THE SAME TIME?
Oh, that didn't bother me. I did most of my work after 9 o'clock at night so I got used to being
up late hours, but when I'had healthy children and they seemed pretty happy. I didn't have any
great problems and physical problems and mental problems, no it didn't seem to bother them
that I can see. I know they have all this discussion about working mothers, but sock a few
around, that's all.
YOU WERE SAYING BEFORE WE STARTED TAPING THAT THE HOURS IN WHICH
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
YOU TAUGHT ALSO WAS HELPFUL.
Oh, immensely, because I was there in the morning, got everybody off and then I could go and
then I'd be home when they came home. After they've gone to bed, then I'd start my work and
somehow you survive. I don't know.
DID FATHER HOHMANN ARRANGE YOUR SCHEDULE THAT WAY OR WAS IT
JUST BY CHANCE THAT YOUR...?
Oh no, the schedule was set up and we worked on what times would suit, so that I wasn't here
at quarter of nine in the morning and I wasn't here at 6:30 at night, so he let me pick. He was
very open to it. In fact, our Department still works extremely well in terms of coordinating
when we're all here and when we're off. I find out many departments don't work like that at
all, that it's a decision made by the Chairman and you teacli what I tell you when I tell you and
we don't work like that at all. It's much more 'What do we need to offer to the students?
What's your special field? Would you like to teach Fall or Spring? What's the sequence?
Every other term? What are we going to do? Who's going to teach opposite?' We work
together, but I realize that there are many departments that it's not so amenable at all, it's very
difficult, but as I said, my department's been wonderful for someone who wants to work like
me and then has other things.
I WAS INTERVIEWING WALTER PETRY DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY.
Oral History: Joan .G. Walters
Oh yeah, he was here early on.
WE GOT INTO AN INTERESTING DISCUSSION BECAUSE WALTER WAS SAYING
IN THE EARLY DAYS AND I THINK HE CAME IN THE LATE '50's.
Yeah, he was here when I got here.
HE WAS HERE WHEN YOU WERE HERE. HE WAS SAYING THERE WERE A LOT
MORE WHAT HE WOULD CALL 'BLUE COLLAR STUDENTS' IN THOSE DAYS
FROM THE MIDDLE OR LOWER MIDDLE CLASS AND THEN THE COMPLEXION
OF THE STUDENT BODY BEGAN TO CHANGE IN THE LATE '60's AND '70's AND
'SO'S SO THAT NOW IT'S MUCH MORE OF AN UPPER MIDDLE CLASS KIND OF
e STUDENT. HAVE YOU NOTICED ANY CHANGE?
See, I'm not so sensitive to that. I know there are faculty, Walter and others, who figure we've
become to upper middle class and we're not structured, we're not diverse enough. I'm not sure
I'm conscious of that. The one thing I noticed was that at some point and it must have been in
the late '60's, many students were married and I suppose that surprised me totally. They were
young, they were married, they had children. That's gone by now again. They're not now.
Very few of our students are, but I haven't noticed the huge shift in the make-up. I'm sure it's
true from the facts that most of them first of all were commuters and once we began having
more dorms, then you attract and different group really. I do think our students are fantastically
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
bright and that's where I see the change. They're really bright. It's easy to teach them because
they really want to learn. They come to-class, not everyone. I have some I'm looking for to
this day but they want to learn, they're cooperative, they're not saying 'Oh gee, I can get by
with this' and I sometimes think we don't appreciate them when I talk to people in other
universities. My brother-in-law teaches out in Long Island and the level of their writing ability
and their math capability and their span of attention is so low and we don't have any of that and
I just think we are very spoiled. I really do.
DO YOU FEEL THAT THE INTELLECTUAL LEVEL OR THE EDUCATIONAL LEVEL
OF THE STUDENTS IS CHANGED IN THE LAST, IN THE 30 YEARS THAT YOU'VE
0 BEEN HERE?
Oh yeah, I think these kids are very bright, very bright. I think you have to push them. You
know, don't say 'If you feel like it or something.' But I think they can do an immense amount
of work and I think they realize (1) that they're paying a lot and they'd better get something out
of this. They also, I think, realize that the more, the better you perform here, the better you
do outside and we have all the statistics that show that and your income levels and how easy it
is to get a job and in our department, we're teaching them if you can handle a computer, if you
can do your Lotus and your spreadsheets and your word processing and your programming,
you're going to walk out that door and be hired. And if you can't, well, you'll get a job but
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
it's going to take you a lot more time and it is true. There isn't any doubt that if you have some
capability, not that you're going to do it, but if you know what you're talking about. We
understand some are still terrified if you put on the course that it's going to have a computer
content, it's going to go the other way. Take another major. I won't mention which one, but
you'll get out of the difficult Intermediate Theory and you won't have to use the computer and
it's so self-destructive on their part.
WHERE DO MOST OF YOUR GRADUATES GO AFTER THEY LEAVE HERE --
GRADUATE SCHOOL OR JOBS?
A little of everything. Many go to work. Many go to graduate school, eventually 'and we
a advise them if you want to go to work in a business, go to work for a while, then go get your
M.B.A. As long as you know where you're going, most graduate schools for M.B.A. like you
to work for a few years -- 3 to 5 and that's really the best way to go. If you're going to get a
graduate degree in Economics, then start applying, we'll prep you for the exams, we'll get you
the Math courses you really have to have and realize you're going into a program to get a Ph.D.
I'm not a big believer in an M.A. in Economics. Go all the way, get your Ph.D. and you're
talking about 6 years of work and we've got more and more people doing that, a lot of women
doing that which I think is great because if you're going to go into Education at all, if you're
going to ever be in any University, you can't even start unless you've got the Doctorate -- that's
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
your little ticket to get in the door and that's a good place for women to be. That gives them
that flexibility 'cause you can do a lot of work at home. You can do an immense amount -- all
your writing you can do at home; with computer hook-ups to libraries, you can work from
home; a modem on your computer at home is going to give you access to libraries all over the
country, so you know, you really can do an immense amount at home which gives a woman that
freedom I think. It's much better than being a commuter. So, we have quite a few women
now, a few men that go on for a doctorate. Mostly the women I think. Our department runs
a great many internships with course credit and we do it with a lot of banks, investment
companies, brokerage houses, some here, some in New York, some in White Plains. Inevitably
e these places end up hiring our students. They're very impressed. I get calls, 'Oh, we think
your Fairfield students are wonderful. Anybody graduating this year?' If they're in an
internship, they usually take them on at the end of the term, so that's a perfect slide into, but
the one thing I'm always afraid of is I don't want to recommend you for this job unless you're
going to show up. I have a lot of flakes and I say 'No way I'm going to send you down to Fuji
Bank where you're bowing and scraping and boy you show up at 8 and you work 'ti1 10 at night
'cause we have a nice one in New York.' And it's very good to show them what it's like to
work for a Japanese company and they're all amazed; they are amazed at the structure and the
discipline and everybody outworking everybody else, staying later, coming earlier, not like
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
American companies at all.
DID YOU ESTABLISH ANY OF THESE INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS YOURSELF?
Yes.
HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO DO THAT? HOW DOES THAT WORK?
Well, through various contacts you meet people and you say you're at Fairfield and you say 'I
teach Money and Banking, I teach International Trade and I teach Financial Markets and
Institutions', so it's like a perfect funnel to get the students to the bankers or to the brokerage
houses or investment banking. That's how some of our graduates get hired and then we've got
a perfect contact because in fact I'm also the Advisor for the Investment Club and so I get
speakers to come in and usually now that I've got it set up, I get past students who have
graduated and they are glad to come back. They like to come back and tell these undergraduates
how it is in the real world. In fact, we're having a student next Tuesday. evening for the
Investment Club from 7-9 and he's at Kitter Peabody down in Greenwich and David Beggs is
going to come and he graduated back in '90, he got the job from being an Intern down there and
he's now working in Bond Derivatives and he's a real pro and I wouldn't know what he was
even doing anymore, but they like to come back and tell them how it's done.
NOW YOU WERE HERE IN THE SIXTIES DURING THE TURMOIL? DO YOU HAVE
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
ANY RECOLLECTIONS OF THAT?
Oh yes. My office was in this building. What is this? Xavier. I came up to go to my regular
classes and the building was all barricaded so I just went home. I wasn't going to mess with
these kids. I did not go through climbing in and out of windows or anything like that for me.
I came up a couple of days. I did finally come up one day and I got in and I cleaned all my
research stuff out and took it home 'cause that was an era when at some colleges they came in
and ripped out the fdes and burned the stuff, so that was the only thing I had in terms. I did
not do negotiating or defying them or doing anything and I-was disrupted for a moderate amount
of time. I don't remember it being very long-term and as usual, I think it was a small number.
In that era, people paid their money and they really wanted to take their exams and do their
work and they wanted to come to class, most of them.
WERE YOU INVOLVED IN ANY OF THE FACULTY MEETINGS AT THAT TIME,
DURING ALL OF THIS?
I would go to some, but I was not a big mover in terms of negotiating and as I say, climbing
in and out of windows and breaking down doors and challenging the President and all that. I
left that to others.
ONE OF THE JESUITS I INTERVIEWED AND I FORGET WHICH ONE OF THEM
REMEMBERS BEING HELPED IN BY ONE OF THE STUDENTS. HE COULDN'T GET
Oral, History: Joan G. Walters
HIS CASSOCK ON. YOU'RE GETTING A PICTURE OF THIS THING GOING.
It's true. I'm sure a lot of the Jesuits still wore their black gowns and no more civili an...
THAT'S WHAT IT SAID. I GUESS JIM COUGHLIN WAS REALLY VERY MUCH
INVOLVED WITH WHAT WAS GOING ON.
Oh yeah. He was the Dean and Vice President.
DID YOU KNOW HIM VERY WELL?
Oh yes, yes, because he was here a long time and was a very devious guy. Something that's
just Jesuitical, but he was a nice guy, really. Didn't always give me all the pay I wanted
a because that was pre-faculty bargaining for me. For instance when I came and Dorothy Shafer
came, the policy was 'Here's your salary and we give the men $10,000 for life insurance and
we give you and Dorothy 5'. I never thought to complain and you look back on it and you say
'Why would you have this break down?' And I think there were many faculty who felt we
should not be working and I had faculty say to me 'You are taking a job away from a man.'
They'd think that today but they wouldn't say it; that's about the only difference. Things were
much more open.
WERE YOU PAID THE SAME AS THE MEN?
No, no. The day they had, when we got our Faculty Bargaining Committee and they then got
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
statements about Reg and I got the biggest raise on the University, I got something like a $6000
raise from one year to the next which indicates how far out of line my salary had been.
IF I MAY ASK, HOW ABOUT TODAY. ARE THE WOMEN PAID THE SAME AS THE
MEN AT THE SAME LEVEL?
If they're coming in, I think for someone that's been here many years, we're still lagging
because of the original lag. I don't think we've quite caught up. I haven't done a survey to
actually tell and I've been at the Full Professor level for about 10 years, I think, or maybe more.
I forget the exact year so I've been in the rank pretty long and I'm sure any new women we hire
do very well, coming in 'cause there's no difference at that level, but if you've got a backlog
from 1963 and I don't remember when the Bargaining Committee came in, probably 10 years
later, so you have a lot left over that you've never up, that's what it comes down to it in terms
of Social Security, in terms of Pension Fund contributions and funds of everything.
WHAT ABOUT TENURE? HAVE WOMEN GOTTEN TENURE AT THE SAME?
I can't tell as a general thing. I think I did once I caught on as to how you are supposed to do
this 'cause I really, when I first came, had never had any experience with Academia and my
family were not involved, I was not involved so I didn't realize you did anything more than go
in and teach your courses and then I found out you had to publish and that you had to be active
in the field, so then I got in the routine and that's how you got tenure. I didn't have any feeling
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
about being discriminated against there, maybe others would, but I didn't.
WERE YOU INVOLVED AT ALL IN THE DECISION TO GO CO-EDUCATIONAL IN
I had indirectly, only in this way. At one point before they were going to go Co-ed, they were
talking about buying up other institutions, particularly what was it in New Haven, it was a girls'
college and I had vaguely been in on some discussion of that, but not in a serious sense and that
was the only information that I had, but I was never involved in 'should we take women in or
not? '
WAS THE FACULTY GENERALLY SUPPORTIVE OF THIS OR NOT?
I don't think it was too much of an issue, not as I remember. And then they brought in, as I
remember, transfers first. We did, Economics did attract women quite quickly which is not
always usual and now I think in Economics, it's about 50-50 in terms of majors.
DID THE FACULTY HAVE ANY DIFFICULTY ADJUSTING TO HAVING WOMEN ON
THE CAMPUS? WAS IT AN EASY TRANSITION?
You mean, women faculty?
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
BOTH.
Students. Some did. They lost a few Jesuits. Cut them out. I think some of the Jesuits had
trouble. Some had trouble having women at all. Some had trouble because the women were
there and they were very attractive. I don't think the faculty, the civilian faculty as I call us,
I don't think they had any problem at all. They were glad to see them. And now, of course,
we're at the position where if you had Admissions in terms of capabilities and scores and
everything else, we'd be what 80% women, so now we have to discriminate in favor of the men.
YES, SOMEONE WAS SAYING TO ME LAST YEAR THAT THERE WAS A CONCERN
GROWING HERE THAT THE NUMBER OF WOMEN WAS EXCEEDING THE
NUMBER OF MEN AND THAT FAIRFIELD MIGHT BECOME KNOWN AS A a WOMEN'S SCHOOL.
That's right and the end result of that is having a Basketball Team that wins; that's extremely
important. Don't laugh. Oh, it's a big goal with the Trustees, that you must give this image
of a male college, you've got to have a MAC Championship team, so that's Priority #1, that's
before the Library and other things is to keep the aura-of macho males, macho Fairfield. I
remember the years when Fairfield was a good basketball team, though and that was fun. They
played in New York and the kids all went down and everybody was very excited. That was
really.. .we haven't had that in quite a while around here; that would give a great unifying pitch
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
to the students and a lot of school spirit whereas now they're complaining that when they win,
they're not packing the Gym.
WAS THERE AN EFFORT MADE TO HIRE A LQT MORE WOMEN FACULTY IN
THE '70'S?
No, I don't think so. I think was something in the last 5 years and I now think it's gotten to the
point where I looked at the list for last September and I think 9 out of 10 hired were women.
I begin to suspect things then. I certainly don't think in the '70's' there was any of that and it
was slow then. You weren't hiring 9 new people, to start with, there were 10. And there was
no push for hiring women or minorities or any other group. That came, oh I'd say, much later.
a HOW MANY WOMEN WERE ON THE FACULTY IN THE '70'S?
-
I don't really know.
A DOZEN, TWO DOZEN, THAT MANY?
I can't remember the '70's from the '80's. I just don't remember. Some of the egly ones,
Dorothy Shafer and me and Lisa Newton came on, Julia Johnston, but it still stayed fairly mild.
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
I'LL ASK YOU A QUESTION I ASKED WALTER PETRY. I SAID, 'WALTER, DO
YOU THINK OF YOURSELF AS A BLACK PROFESSOR FIRST AND THEN A
PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY?' AND I'M GOING TO ASK YOU THE SAME
QUESTION -- DO YOU THINK OF YOURSELF AS A WOMAN PROFESSOR BEFORE
YOU THINK OF YOURSELF AS JUST A MEMBER OF THE FACULTY?
Never even gave it a thought. That's because I went to a university where there was no
distinction and there was no malelfemale kind of thing. You just all went to the same classes
together and the professors that I had were very helpful. In fact, they were the ones who said
'Why don't you go to Graduate School? Why don't you keep going? Why don't you stay in
0 Economics? Let us help you.' And it never dawned on me. And when I got here, it didn't
dawn on me that it was odd to have a woman walking around. In fact, I didn't catch on for
quite a while, that it made you; they never did know Dorothy Shafer from Joan Walters. We
both came in September, started in full-time teaching and they knew there were two women and
one was Joan and one was Dorothy and to this day, there are some who don't know the
difference. But as I look back, to them it was a huge oddity. I don't think Dorothy and I paid
the slightest attention because I didn't know that you could be that way, that you could have this
strictly male. You now, feminism that was all, that's very nouveau. There was none of this,
women's rights and everything else. The reason they hired me was because they needed,
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
desperately, to have someone with a Doctorate who could teach International Trade and they
didn't care who showed up and I just happened to come along at that time and I had the
qualifications and it was a time when there weren't that many out there looking for jobs. There
wasn't a huge array of Ph.D.'s in International Trade and that's what they were
looking.. . .Father Divine, Father Hohmann wanted specific fields and they liked a Doctorate and
of course, they liked a Doctorate from Harvard, 'cause the Jesuits were all snobs and they all
come from Boston and so they like, they love Ph.D. 's from Harvard, so whoever it was who
showed up, they would think you were fine. But I don't think.it had anything to do with 'Oh,
we have to hire a woman' or in .fact, it was probably the opposite. She's the only one that
a we've got and the student body was expanding quickly in this era. You really needed new
faculty, you needed them fast. Now, you know, we do searches and we do advertising and it
takes you a year and a half to hire someone, but you didn't have any of that.
DURING THE '70's AND INTO THE '80's' THE ROLE OF THE JESUITS REALLY
BEGAN TO CHANGE HERE AT THE UNIVERSITY. HAS THAT HAD A
MEASURABLE IMPACT, DO YOU THINK, ON FAIRFIELD? HAS THE CHARACTER
OF THE UNIVERSITY CHANGED AS A RESULT?
I don't really think so. There's a lot fewer, in percentage terms and numbers. They certainly
dominate when I came, but I think there still is a feeling that this is a Jesuit institution and I
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
think that term, Jesuit institution, has a lot of pizzazz to it. In people's minds, it means
intellectual top drawer and I think that's one of the selling points .of the University, that it's not
just a local, let's say, diocesan kind of place where we get people in part-time. The Jesuits
represent the cream of teaching orders in that sense, so I think they're a lot fewer, but the ones
we have are superb. Even the young ones are wonderful, so I think it's still a big stamp on the
University.
ARE THERE PARTICULAR PROFESSORS OR JESUITS, YOU MENTIONED FATHER
. .
HOHMANN OR FATHER DIVINE, THAT STAND OUT FOR YOU IN THE LAST...?
Oh, Father McGrath, I thought, was wonderful and I worked a lot with him on the Center for
Financial Studies 'cause he had a lot of influence on the bankers and the Savings and Loan a . . people and I had worked, in other ways, with them. So when they came to setting up this whole
Financial Program, John Barone was very nice and put me on the Board with Father McGrath
so we used to go to the meetings.together and I used to love to see him talk to those bankers
'cause he would get up, you'd have a very plush dinner, at the Waldorf and all the bankers and
all the service and then Father McGrath would have a few words and he would work that crowd,
he'd have the hands going and then he's swear and for me to hear a -Jesuit swear, and I guess
for them too, and he'd tell dirty stories and he just, he just had them doing whatever he wanted.
So he really was the force behind getting the building up, getting the bankers here and he was
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
a remarkable man. And then I liked Father Joe McDowell in the Math Department. I think he's
marvelous fun. We always call him an Adjunct of the Economics Department because he likes
to sit with us at lunch. Let's see, who else of the Jesuits? I know an awful lot of them. I've
been here so long. I' can't think off hand.
WERE YOU INVOLVED IN THE PLANNING FOR THE CENTER FOR FINANCIAL
STUDIES?
Yes and the building and picking the furniture and all that.
COULD YOU TALK ABOUT THAT A LITTLE BIT? WHAT WENT INTO THAT
PLANNING PROCESS?
Well.. .
I MEAN THIS WAS SOMETHING SOMEWHAT NEW FOR THE UNIVERSITY.
Oh, brand new. Well, the Savings Bankers, particularly, Mutual Savings Bankers had always
had an education program for people working in the banking system and one of these courses
used to run at Brown University in the summer. You would come for a couple of weeks, sent
and paid for by your bank. So, then they wanted to expand this -more and they wanted to run
it more than just in the summer and they had developed a Certificate Program if you went
through this -- various courses and through Father McGrath, he got them to think of coming to
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
Connecticut and to Fairfield, but Connecticut was a good place because you're drawing on the
New England area; it was feasible for them to drive or fly here and so they set it up here and
as I said, John Barone had a lot to do with it. John really has done an immense amount of work
around here. Have you interviewed him? I hope so. Because I felt and there's someone I felt
always helped me immensely as a person and treating me as someone from the faculty that he
would bring in to lots of things, so he got me involved with building the Financial Center. I got
a kick out of it because you would have all these high-powered bankers and they would call in
decorators and designers and architects and everything and then you would go to a meeting and
you'd think they're all so busy and they'd sit there deciding 'did they want orange chairs or blue
chairs?' And then they'd have the designer come in and you would spend an hour and half
talking about what color the upholstery would be. Meanwhile, you'd really have to put in like
a couple of hundred thousand dollars worth of computers. Well, they didn't know 'bubkas'
about computers, so we would not talk about where you're going to put them, fiberoptics,
consoles, not a word, but we had a lot to say about bedspreads and I'd go home to my husband
and I'd say 'You can't believe these guys sitting around. You know what -- 'cause they
understand it.' And my husband said, 'Well, they probably can't get to say anything at home,
so when they get to design the building.' And they'd bring all these experts in and tell them
what colors are important to have, but it was fun.
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
WAS THE ACTUAL DESIGN OF THE BUILDING -- WHO WAS IN CHARGE OF
THAT?
Well, they hired an architect and got some plans. Actually, it's the one that does all Fairfield's
-- who isnit -- Phelan? He's in here, he's a hot ticket. I mean he's very glib and I remember
there was some foul-up in some plans which were going to bring up some extra charges and so
they're saying to him 'How come this happened?' And it was a sizable sum and he said 'Oh,
picky, picky, picky.' You know, brushed them off and I thought, 'Oh boy, you're a cool
character.' But, it didn't fluster him at all.
0 WAS IT MAINLY A COMMITTEE OF BANKERS WHO HIRED HIM OR WAS
FATHER MCGRATH INVOLVED WITH HIM?
Oh, I think it was probably John Barone. John was really our . . . I think Father McGrath
attracted them here, but I think John Barone really did all the work. John knew everything that
was going on, every square inch on this campus, he knew everything. He knew where it was,
he watched every brick go in. There was a fellow named Saul Clayman who was from the
Bankers' Association; he was an Economist and I had known him from Economic Meetings and
he was another, let's say, cur-y sort of guy, he had a wonderful sense of humor and he and John
really worked the whole thing out.
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
HAS THAT HAD A REAL IMPACT ON THE UNIVERSITY?
Well, I think there are two phases. The first phase was when the Savings Bankers and the
Mutual Savings Banks were all going great guns. It was really the Mutual Savings Bankers and
they had money and they sent people down here all the time and for Fairfield, it gave them
exposure to the outside; there's no doubt about it. But then, I think, of course, you get to the
late eighties and the Mutual Savings Banks get to be weaker, the Savings Bankers are weaker,
so they coordinate the two associations and at this point, I don't know they're doing. Art
Fielding at our Department is now on the Trustees or Directors and I really don't know how
they're doing. The idea is was you would use It for your education at a favorable rate for the
a bankers and then any time the bankers weren't using it themselves, then we would invite
outsiders like IBM to pay us large bucks to use the facilities. Two things happened -- the
companies, like IBM, didn't have that much money and secondly, we got a lot of competitors
offering conference centers too, so I'm not sure if it's doing as well as it was, back in the
hey-day .
DID FATHER MCGRATH KNOW A LOT OF THESE BANKERS -- AND SO THAT'S
HOW HE GOT THEM?
Yes.
HE DID A LOT OF OUTSIDE CONSULTING.
. .
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
Oh, a lot. One of his former students or clients or somebody gave him a new car every year,
so he got a great big, like a Chrysler, or big, big four-door and he would get in that car and
drive to Buffalo and give a talk and get in the car and drive home. He drove all over --
immense distances. I don't mean driving to Boston. I mean, really get in there and drive and
so he was just on a circuit. I'm sure he brought in loads of money for the Jesuits doing that.
He was a pro at it.
WE DIDN'T GET INTO THAT.
And he didn't tell you about the new car he got every year. The reason I know is because I
used to take the train in to go to those meetings or something and he'd say 'Oh, come home with
a me' and we'd go down to the Waldorf and then there's this great big car and he'd drive me
home and I thought, 'Boy, Jesuits, what's that vow of poverty there, Father?' And so it was
some friend in some way managed that he always got a brand-new car every year, but he put
mileage on it.
DO YOU DO A LOT OF OUTSIDE CONSULTING?
I have a small Investment Advisory Service. It's my own and I do portfolio analysis for people.
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
If you're got not 3 millions, but small sum and you don't know anything . . .
KIND OF CORPORATE CONSULTING?
No, no, it's much more personal advisory work and it's my own firm. If they need insurance
consulting, I get someone who knows more about that and I've done some testifying in terms
of and in divorce cases, what should this person set aside for his wife in terms of educating the
children, so I can do that kind of information -- how you can expect the expenses for the
children, college education, considering the wife's standard of living, what should you put aside
so that it generates income so that I do that kind of thing and I've done that on a couple of
occasions. Not on a big scale, but I've done the investment advisory more.
a WERE YOU INVOLVED AT ALL IN THE DECISION TO START THE BUSINESS
SCHOOL HERE AT THE UNIVERSITY AS IT CHANGED OVER FROM A
DEPARTMENT TO A BUSINESS SCHOOL?
No, it used to be, who was it -- Tom, I can't remember his last name -- O'Connell, McGrath,
something like that. He and the Ec Department -- it wasn't just a Department and we worked
together. We were both in Canisius and they wanted us to teach courses. In fact, one of the
first ones I taught was Financial History which was for Business Majors and then we wanted to
be able to take Accounting, so we worked together. Then they decided to upgrade the whole
thing and make it a separate school. I knew that it was coming, I knew it was in the works and
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
then I used to work with John Griffin who was the first Dean there and I'd known him. I knew
him through the Economic Club of Connecticut, so we'd been in touch before he'd gotten to be
the Dean and we still worked. We still do. It's not as formal. All Business Majors have to
take Principles of Economics. Most Finance Majors end up taking my Money and Banking
because they don't have anything that's quite in that area. They do more Corporate Finance and
they don't have Business and Financial things. Our students, we advise them all to take
Accounting, even if you despise it -- it looks marvelous on your record when you go out to look
for a job and also, I think a lot of the recruiters who come here to hire our students don't really
know the difference between a Business Major and an Ec Major, so we say if it says Business
Majors, just go over, they won't even know and they don't. In many universities, they're all
the same Department. We, as an Economics Department, have never wanted to be the same
department because Business gets the emphasis and Economics gets shifted out, so we like it the
way it is.
IT WAS APPARENT, I GUESS, WHEN FATHER FITZGERALD WAS PRESIDENT IN
THE SEVENTIES, STARTED THE BUSINESS SCHOOL, THERE WAS APPARENTLY
SOME GREAT CONTROVERSY AMONG THE FACULTY.
Oh yes. Why because the Arts and Sciences think that anything that isn't Arts and Sciences isn't
a legitimate academic field. They're there to make money and that's not what college is all
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
about. They're there to be esthetic. That's still there. Oh, there's a great deal of suspicion
about anything involved that sounds like it's money.
SO THERE STILL IS THAT...
Oh, you bet there is and it's not quite so bad now because the Business School ... all over the
country, applications for undergraduate Business Schools is softening, so I think maybe the Arts
and Sciences faculty are maybe a little more relaxed, but they're still people who don't think it's
a legitimate, academic field and they don't think Economics is 'cause that's doing your
checkbook. It is. They have no idea what the subject is and our idea is that Economics is a
Liberal Art because you're talking in theoretical terms and you're looking at a big overall picture
and seeing where various things function where as with Business, you're talking from the point
of view of 'a firm' and an individual company and what would they do, so it's not a Liberal Art
in that sense, but it certainly is a legitimate field of endeavor. But, your Arts and Sciences
faculty do not think that at all. Get some of them in here and you'll get a very different picture.
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY THE STANDING OF THE ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT IS
HERE AT THE UNIVERSITY?
Superb. It is. In a way, it's our problem, now, because it's considered to be very challenging
and consequently, we've lost some students. They're going where there are many more 100
levels courses and for an Ec Major, you have to have your Introductory courses and then you
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
have an Intermediate Theory Course and there's no doubt it's a tough course and you win some,
you lose some, some walk. We have a great many who take it as a minor and that's the way
to get out of taking the Intermediate Theory course. I think it's very highly regarded though and
I think we've done very well getting students into Graduate Schools and as I say, into businesses
and things like that. One reason we can get them into brokerage houses and banks is because
they come very well prepared. Even the FujiBank thinks we're wonderful, you know, and
they're sticklers.
HOW WOULD YOU CHARACTERIZE'THE ROLE OF WOMEN FACULTY HERE AT
THE UNIVERSITY -- STRONGER THAN EVER? ARE THEY HAVING MORE OF AN
e IMPACT THAN IN THE PAST?
-
See, I don't know. I don't break things down like that. I'm not a feminist in that sense. I
certainly would want us to be paid fairly, but I'm not 'men want this and women faculty want
that.' I feel as long as you pay me.. .
YOU DON'T SEE ANY DIVERGENCE BETWEEN THEIR INTERESTS...
Oh, I see newer faculty who are more militant and think they're getting bad treatment and this,
that and the other thing and that want daycare and they want all kinds of services which I say
is fine, but it goes in a dollar value as your total salary, but they would not like that. They
think the University owes them extra, I think, but see I don't work on that level.
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
YOU DON'T FEEL THAT'S THE ROLE OF THE UNIVERSITY?
No, I don't think that's the role of any university. It's fine if you want to take it as a form of
pay which it is, but I don't see...as I say, I'm not that militant. I certainly have strong feelings
that women can do just as good as job as anybody else and should be paid accordingly, but I
don't think you should get into this about 'Who's going to take w e of my kids?' Zoe Baird and
the rest! I don't think you should be asked questions like that. I don't think that has anything
to do with your performance, so I am not involved in the group that has a Women's Meeting
itself. Actually, I'm too busy working. If I'm doing anything, I'm doing meetings and other
things.
ARE THEIPE MORE FEMALE STUDENTS IN THE ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT NOW
THAN THERE HAVE BEEN?
No, we've always had a strong amount. I think we've always attracted a goodly number.
Starting right in that very first class that came in -- we had a number of Majors in that class.
ANY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE MALE AND FEMALE MAJORS AT ALL,
WOULD YOU SAY?
Only that I think the women are hesitant to talk and some men are hesitant to talk. They're
usually the ones that know the answer. Then we have others that talk too, all the time. I just
think women don't assert themselves enough in class and so I think it's my job to see that they
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
feel comfortable. It's part of my own philosophy is to call on everybody, to know all the
students, every student in my class, I should know your name and I should make sure that at
least once a week, I've been around the whole class and make everybody say something and talk
about it and give your view and there's no right answer. Just tell us how you're thinking. I just
think it's my job to get the women to come out, in a sense, and talk. I find this particularly and
I taught at one point in the Graduate Finance Program and I found that you'd have three men
in the class and they would dominate the whole class and I'd have two or three women who
wouldn't say one word and they were very bright and very accomplished and knew things, but
would not talk and would not do it. I'm not sure I was successful. Now I think in years later,
a I'm getting much better in calling everybody and making sure they participate -- not to
embarrass them (I have to be careful -- that if they're basically sort of shy, you don't want to
be picking on them), to get them to say what they think. It's that old story that they think that
women that are in Women's Colleges perform much better than they do. They're now also
saying this for Black universities; that's the latest one. Blacks that are in Black Universities
have much better performance, long-term, academic and long-term than those that are in mixed
colleges so in that sense, I see a difference in the women -- not all. I have some who talk all
the time. .
DO THINK THE UNIVERSITY, I WAS TALKING TO WALTER ABOUT THIS, HAS
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
DONE ENOUGH TO ATTRACT BLACK AND HISPANIC STUDENTS?
I don't know. I really don't know. I don't like to see the separation once on campus. That
bothers me, but that's something, that's the students dealing with each other and I can't do
anything.
HAS THE EMPHASIS IN YOUR DEPARTMENT CHANGED AT ALL? I MEAN, ARE
YOU DOING MORE IN TERMS OF RESEARCH NOW -- STUDENTS DOING MORE
IN TERMS OF RESEARCH OR ARE THERE MORE IN TERMS OF MAKING
PRESENTATIONS IN THE CLASSROOM? HAS THE SUBJECT MATTER CHANGED
SIGNIFICANTLY?
a No, I think we try to give a variety. Some very theoretical courses. Some very practical. My
current Financial Markets -- we do the financial markets academic kind of approach, but then
I give them $50,000 of paper money and make them invest it and they run a portfolio and they
pass in slips and then they keep it on the computer. We have a computer program that goes
with it. Some of them seem to really like that because they feel and you'd think it is real
money. The market's been going down for two weeks and they're all in my office worrying
about 'I've lost fifty cents on a stock.' I said, 'Now you know what risk is.' So, we tried that.
We have what we call "Policy Courses" and those are fairly new. We've tried them for about
three years and they're much easier. When we say a "Policy Course", it's really Applied
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
Economics, 'cause our theory is Economics is all around you -- you just have to see it and Ed
Deak teaches one in Competition and he'll take IBM and he'll take Condor and he'll take these
different case histories. Phil Lane's doing a wonderful one -- The Economics of Sports which
is a big money game and he's done golf and hockey and all these things and the contracts and
the referees and the rules and everything. I do one in Issues and Economic Policy which is
'What is Clinton doing with'that budget?' and we've got the budget out and we've got his plan
and now we have a program for the computer where you can design the deficit and what cuts
would you make? what taxes would you raise? and if you did that, how would the deficit go up
or down? And they seem to like that. It's not very theoretical, but it's Economics at work.
HOW WOULD YOU CHARACTERIZE FAIRFIELD TODAY, VIS-A-VIS WHERE IT
WAS WHEN YOU FIRST JOINED THE FACULTY 30 YEARS AGO?
Well, I think it's much better known. I think its reputation has continued to go up. I think
being rated as one of the top Northeast colleges in all those Newsweek or Barron's and all those
things has put it. When I used to go to meetings in the Eastern Finance and other things years
ago, no one had ever heard of Fairfield University. It was a big zero, then they went to the
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
MAC and they won the championship. Then, when I went to meetings, they knew what
Fairfield was. So, I think now its reputation is certainly much more substantial than when I first
started here. In other ways, well, I don't know. I think the quality of the students has gone up,
in terms of their SAT'S and I think now the students are much more determined, much more
anxious to learn and do the work -- at least most of them, not all, but other than that, I'm not
sure. I thought much more bureaucracy, much more security -- we never had any security --
locking dorms, we had none of that; we would always walk everywhere. We didn't have to
apply to all sorts of committees to put in a new course; we just sat around and said 'You want
a new course, well, that sounds good, let's do that.' Now you have to write up and have the
minutes to show the department approved and so it goes, but that's true probably of everything.
I don't think that's a good development. What can you do?
IF YOU HAD IT TO DO ALL OVER AGAIN, WOULD YOU HAVE GONE INTO
TEACHING 30 YEARS AGO?
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
I don't know. I can't really tell. I really like the Stock Market and before I came into teaching,
I worked in Wall Street and if I had my choice, I still like the Market, I like figuring out Stocks,
buying and selling. I've bought and sold houses, and run them. You know, I like doing things,
but you can't do that sitting at home, but that's why I like the Investment business. To me,
that's sort of fun, so if I really had a total choice, that's probably what I would have done.
WHERE DO YOU THINK, IF YOU HAD TO LOOK AHEAD FIVE YEARS OR SO,
WHERE DO YOU THINK THE UNIVERSITY IS HEADING NOW? IS IT IN A
DIRECTION THAT YOU THINK IS A GOOD DIRECTION AS FAR AS THE NEW
BUILDINGS THAT ARE GOING UP, THE STUDENTS THAT ARE BEING
ATTRACTED, THE KINDS OF PROGRAMS THAT ARE BEING INTRODUCED? I
WAS JUST TALKING TO SOMEONE THIS MORNING, TALKING ABOUT A NEW
WOMEN'S STUDIES PROGRAM THAT'S COMING IN FOR EXAMPLE? IS IT
HEADING IN A DIRECTION THAT SEEMS LIKE A POSITIVE DIRECTION TO YOU
Partly, of course and I'm sure it will progress. I'm not too much on the side of political
correctness and I seem to see Women's Studies as politically correct. I think it's ... I'm very
suspicious of what words you can use in class. I don't like that at all and I think it's not unique
to Fairfield; this is what's going on all over the country, that you can use certain words, but you
can't use others and complaints about being harassed because somebody makes jokes in class.
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
I think it's getting awfully touchy about issues. Some are serious. We've got all the bit about
date rape and all this kind of thing and we've got a big problem with where they can drink and
whether they can.drink and how well they handle li.quor, both m,ale and female, and I guess in
my old-fashioned mind, think women shouldn't drink quite so much. You can drink, but when
you start out the evening say 'I'm going out tonight to get bombed' which I've heard is a
conversation at the elevator in the building and I say 'Gee, they're looking for 'trouble.' And
they've gotten it, so I don't know if there's a change in youth -- am I getting that old or I don't
think it's unique to Fairfield, but I'm sorry to see. it here. I think it spoils the ambience and I
think, and some faculty feel very constricted by this political correctness and you know, this
isn't a Fairfield comment, it's a general society and I think it's in all universities, unless you're
very remote, so I don't like that development and there's nothing in the world I can do about
it. ,
I THINK THAT'S ALL THE QUESTIONS I HAVE UNLESS THERE'S SOMETHING
ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO TALK ABOUT THAT WE HAVEN'T TOUCHED ON.
No, no, I think you did very well covering. I don't have any axes to grind. How long did we
go?
ABOUT AN HOUR OR SO.
That's enough. Do I get to ever see this?
Oral History: Joan G. Walters
I HOPE SO.
Oral History: Joan G. Walters