Remembrance:

When I was thinking about what I would talk about at Dr. Watkins' memorial service, I was completely overwhelmed with emotion. I decided to take a break from thinking and run group therapy with the 10 troubled teenage boys that I work with. The topic of the day was masculinity and the "ideal man." My boys have serious mental illnesses, have been abused, neglected and forgotten by society. First we looked at some advertisements to discuss the "media male." For many of these boys, the images of men that they have seen in movies, on TV and in magazines are the only male role models that they have been exposed to. The boys listed all the expected characteristics of media men: Chauvinistic, rude, loud, muscular, tough, dependent on women, stupid and lazy. One boy raised his hand and said, "but all men aren't like that, there have to be some good ones." So then we discussed all of the characteristics of the "ideal man." This list was more promising: kind, gentile, supportive, smart, healthy, respectful and honest. I then asked these boys if they could think of any men that met this second set of criteria. They couldn't think of anyone. Immediately my heart flooded with warmth as I thought of the one man that I knew who demonstrated these characteristics.

As group ended, one boy stopped me in the hall and said, "Miss, I don't think that an ideal man exists." I responded, "I knew one man who demonstrated all of these characteristics and more." He nodded his head and slowly said, "I hope that I can be a man like that."

I have never met a man with such a gentle and wise presence as Dr. Watkins.

Dr. Watkins always expected the best from his students, but he also fulfilled those expectations. I took four classes with him during my time at SUCO. He never canceled a class, or was late. All of his lectures were well presented and interesting. I learned to write properly, to think for myself and to fight injustice at every turn. My life has been blessed because Dr. Watkins took the time to mentor me during some very impressionable years. I only hope that I can live my life so that he will be proud.

Heather Sanford, BA Africana Latino Studies 2005