Well, for those on his wavelength, with his concerns and his interests in some of the classical values of political science but also some contemporary things as well, yes, he was charismatic. But for others, when he would get going on some of his pet projects, and particularly make difficult-to-understand speeches in faculty meetings, a lot of people would say this guy’s not charismatic. He’s the opposite. He’s turning people off, pushing for one of his programs, Williams-in-Appalachia for example, and how are we going to organize that and can we get money from the college to do this? Other people were saying, “Well, look, that’s not a classroom to take people down to Appalachia and have them live with families and discover what’s going on.” And Bob would say “There’s no better classroom in the world to do that.”

John Eusden,
Former Chaplain