A special memory for the Class of 1957 -- Dr. Ken Hechler

Dr. Ken Hechler discusses current events with Congressmen in Washington. The class is able to hear the discussion through the loudspeaker system connected with the phone.   Hechler with tennis racket: A reception was held in February 2007 at the Memorial Student Center to honor the 50th anniversary of Ken Hechler’s first days as a professor at Marshall College. Hechler jokes with attendees about his tennis racket days.

“Political science is a racket!” claimed the new associate professor of political science as he took a few swings with a tennis racket at an imaginary tennis ball. He followed his declaration by a challenge to his students that he would give them an “A” if they could beat him two out of three sets.
 

Dr. Ken Hechler wasn’t serious about that grade but he was right-on serious about teachers using innovative techniques. One entertaining approach was his telephone hook-up from class to various Washington, D.C., offices to speak to Tennessee Sen. Estes Kefauver, Minnesota Sen. Hubert Humphrey, and others to get a current view on issues discussed in class. By hooking the telephone to a speaker, the entire class could participate.
 

Hechler would bring in “historical figures” like Alexander Hamilton to explain their role in history. Hechler was quoted as saying, “You can get people to think by making things more dramatic and realistic.”

Hechler would go on to serve as a U.S. Congressman from West Virginia (1959-77) and Secretary of State (1985-2001). He served on President Harry S Truman's White House staff from 1949 to 1953. He attributes the idea to pursue his own political career to the influence of students in those first classes at Marshall. 

He is the author and editor of several books including Working with Truman: A Personal Memoir of the White House Years and Bridge at Remagen. The latter was made into a major motion picture in 1969, premiering in Huntington.

Hechler, a native of Roslyn, N.Y., holds a BA from Swarthmore College, and an MA and PhD from Columbia University in history and government. Hechler served on the faculty of Columbia University, Princeton University and Barnard College in the pre-war years.

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Excerpts and photo from, “Political Science Instructor Has ‘Coffee Hour’ Classes,” by Gail Tabor, The Parthenon, March 1, 1957.

Information provided from the Marshall University Archives, Special Collections Department, James E. Morrow Library.