The Chronicle

Issue date: 4/28/08 Section: News
Last update: 4/28/08 at 7:47 AM EST

William Raspberry

William Raspberry, Knight professor of the practice of journalism and public policy studies, is retiring this month after spending more than 13 years at a post he intended to keep only for five.

"I've had two jobs in my life-both of them were the best jobs in the world for me," he said.

Before beginning his career as a professor, Raspberry was a columnist for the Washington Post, a job he held for nearly 40 years until his retirement in 2005. When he signed on to Duke's faculty, he was fresh off winning the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.

"Duke gave me a chance to try [teaching] without retiring," he said, noting that he had previously considered teaching in retirement. His post at the University allowed him to continue living in Washington, D.C.

Raspberry said teaching seemed worthwhile because it afforded the opportunity to impart things he had learned. "You think you know some things you would like to pass on," he said.

During class, Raspberry said he tries to take away a variety of different views from his students.

"Being around bright young people whose view of the world is different from my own helps me to collect different vantage points on the world," he said. "I try not to correct their views, or replace them with my own."

Senior Ashley Flucas, who took "Separation/Inclusion" and "The Press and Public Interest" with Raspberry, said he often used engaging hypothetical situations in order to illustrate his points.

"He takes what you say and uses it to forward the conversation," Flucas said.

Flucas added that his Socratic-style teaching took some getting used to, but it kept classes interesting.

Sophomore Katie Stiner, who took Raspberry's "Separation/Inclusion" class, said she considered Raspberry's teaching style rather unique.

"It was interesting that you never really knew what he thought about a topic," she said. "But, because of that, I learned how I felt about a lot of issues I hadn't really thought about before."

Raspberry said he plans to spend his retirement doing memoir-type writing and working closely with Baby Steps, a program he launched in August 2003, designed to teach parents of preschool children in his hometown of Okolona, Miss., how to prepare their kids for learning.

"Generally, those who come unprepared to school do so because of what fails to happen at home," Raspberry said, adding that he hopes to end a generational cycle of disadvantaged children by improving their learning prospects.

Raspberry said he hopes to eventually duplicate the program in similar communities elsewhere.

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