Reflecting Back, Marching Forward

The 4th Biennial Conference on Chemical Education was held in 1976 at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The closing talk at that conference (presented by Prof. Gilbert Haight, University of Illinois,Urbana-Champaign) was “Quo vadis, Chem Ed?”. The phrase Quo vadis? is often translated as Where are you marching? and is used to ask about someone’s decisions, ambitions, or purpose. Fifty years later, we intend to respond unequivocally to Prof. Haight’s question with “Forward“.

That said, to march forward, toward what we imagine for the future of Chemistry Education, we must simultaneously reflect back and learn from the past.

Why Flamingos?

The plastic pink flamingo is the official bird of the city of Madison and a cultural icon of UW–Madison; it represents our “inspired goofiness”.

The photos above show flamingos on Bascom Hill (a landmark hill at UW–Madison), which have been iconic since the first day of fall classes in 1979. Just three years after the UW–Madison hosted the 4th Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, the leaders of the Pail and Shovel Party, Jim Mallon ’79 and Leon Varjian x’83 purchased 1,008 plastic flamingos and planted them all on Bascom Hill as a victory stunt for their recently-won student-government election. Why 1,008? The birds were sold by the dozen, and Varjian wanted to be able to say they had planted more than 1,000. “The smallest number divisible by 12 that’s over 1,000 is 1,008,” the late Varjian said in an interview.

So, flamingos also celebrate the troublemakers—an identity that many chemistry education folks wear proudly!