Campus Mail, Spring 2025

Legacy of Leadership

PHOTO COURTESTY Mick Mickelson A scrapbook photo of former Iowa basketball player R.V. Leo

In response to your Iowa basketball history request [“Calling All Basketball Historians,” winter 2024–25], my grandfather, R.V. Leo (1914BA), was on the 1912–14 Hawkeye basketball teams and served as captain. I proudly possess his scrapbook of news articles from all those games.

A successful businessman, he was elected to the Iowa Senate from 1939–51 and served as president pro tempore. Grandpa financed my college education and often told me with a smile that I could go to college anywhere—as long as it was in Iowa City!

Mick Mickelson (68BS, 69MS, 72MD, 77R)
Eagle, Idaho

Preserving Iowa

Thank you for your “Rooted in Iowa” issue with its marvelous seed cover art, along with the article [winter 2024–25, p. 60] on contributions by Neil Hamilton (79JD) for the state of Iowa. I have long admired Hamilton’s leadership, especially with the Drake Agricultural Law Center.

The article apparently didn’t have space to also note Hamilton’s authorship of two insightful books on Iowa’s legacy soil and water resources: The Land Remains and The River Knows. I encourage Iowans and others who care about Iowa’s future to read these books and act on the stewardship required for an environmentally and economically sustainable future.

I have also long admired Iowa’s Seed Savers Exchange. They are Iowa’s own Svalbard Global Seed Vault.

Bill Crews (74BA, 78JD)
Washington, D.C.

PHOTO COURTESY DOUG SMITH Doug Smith celebrates with his family on graduation day at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Long Haul

Doug Smith (24BA) began his college career in 1982, spending a year at Southeastern Community College before transferring to the University of Iowa. Though Smith enjoyed school, a job opportunity his senior year called him away before completing his degree. Smith returned to Iowa twice more: once in 2004 and again in 2024, sharing the academic experience with his son and granddaughter.

Smith, who graduated this past August with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication studies, writes, “Receiving my degree raised a final question about my experience across three generations of students: What did I learn by crossing the finish line? A quote from Sir Edmund Hillary of Mount Everest fame answered it: ‘It's not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.’”

The Story Continues

I’m really happy that The Daily Iowan bought the Solon and Mount Vernon newspapers and is keeping them alive [“Students Keep Community Journalism Alive in Rural Iowa,” winter 2024–25]. My hometown paper in Centerville, Iowa, the Daily Iowegian, ran six times a week when I was a teenager but is no more. It got bought up by the Ottumwa Courier and publication ceased. My first job in journalism was there, a summer job as a reporter after my junior year in high school. Its archive is still available.

Dan Gleason (67BA, 70MFA)
Scottsdale, Arizona

Writers’ Reunion

As a Native American woman, I loved to hear and meet the writers [Sandra Cisneros (78MFA), Joy Harjo (78MFA), and Juan Felipe Herrera (90MFA)] at the Iowa Memorial Union this past fall for the Latino Native American Cultural Center reunion [“Alumni Storytellers Return,” winter 2024–25]. I wish more of these types of gatherings would and could exist.

Debora Beyal
Kalona, Iowa

PHOTO COURTESY ALISSA HAMER THOMPSON Alumnae Alissa Hamer Thompson, left, and Denise Venteicher celebrate their 10-sport milestone.

Year of the Hawkeye

Alumnae Alissa Hamer Thompson (04BA) and Denise Venteicher (05BA) completed a quest this past October to attend events for 10 different Hawkeye sports in a single year, accomplishing their goal in just 344 days. “The goal was to get out of our traditional sports, expand our horizons, and support a broader spectrum of Hawkeye athletes,” says Thompson.

Farm Flashback

I love the Secrest Octagonal Barn [“Echoes of Iowa’s Past,” winter 2024– 25]. I’ve been in it many times when Joe Ryan and family owned it. My brother and I climbed up to the cupula and carved our names in the wood. It holds lots of memories.

Brian Boxwell
Solon, Iowa

Leading the Return

The University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art’s return of artwork to the Kingdom of Benin is wonderful news [“Sacred Objects Return Home” fall 2024]. Art historians have been discussing this issue since at least the early 1990s. To finally have someone take great care in finding the most respectful process for the return, returning the objects ceremoniously, and creating an easy path for others to follow is everything great about Iowa.

Elizabeth Reynolds
Keokuk, Iowa