An Interview with Retiring Government Professor Bill Frasure

Photo courtesy of Bill Frasure.

Professor Bill Frasure is ending his time at Connecticut College in the same room where he first began, Fanning 308. Professor Frasure began teaching at the College in the fall of 1974 as an American politics professor, teaching GOV 111: American Politics, and GOV 220: Political Parties, Campaigns, and Elections. “I’ve taught in Fanning 308 more than any other classroom throughout my whole career. I love teaching there. I almost feel like it’s my home and I am very grateful to my department chair who prevailed upon the registrar to be sure that I would have my classes this semester in Fanning 308. I don’t know what it is, I have so many memories about that classroom and I wanted to finish my career where I started it, and I did.” 

Frasure first realized he didn’t want to teach at a larger university when attending graduate school at Johns Hopkins. He recalls, “we had a political scientist from Ohio State come to talk to us who came from a department of about 50 political scientists and he said “We’re all in our own building and it’s great, I don’t have to talk to anyone but political scientists!” and I thought ‘That’s a nightmare! I don’t want that.’” Conn’s liberal arts environment was deeply attractive, and fit his idealistic vision of a small college with big stone buildings and sprawling green spaces. “I remember once, a few years into my work here, I had a job interview at another big university in a big city. I remember being on the plane, looking down at that city and thinking “why would I move my family here, to work at a place like that, when I’m in paradise now?’ Even with its problems, this is as close as you’re going to get to paradise on earth, and that’s why I came here.”

As Frasure began to teach American politics at Conn in 1974, our national political landscape was experiencing a pivotal moment. “I arrived in New London on the evening that Richard Nixon went on national television to announce that he would resign the next day at noon.” The Watergate scandal that captivated the nation for a year and a half came to an end just as Frasure’s career at Conn began. The Fall of Saigon occurred during Frasure’s second semester teaching. “This was a fascinating period of time between Watergate, the end of the Vietnam War, and the beginning of terrible inflation and the energy crisis of the early 1970s.” 

When asked about his favorite moments throughout his career, Frasure immediately highlighted his work with the Study Away, Teach Away (SATA) Vietnam program, which he started in 1999. ”In those first programs, I was learning as much as the students were. Everything was new to me also. The way that I and the other professors on those programs, Professor [Rolf] Jensen and Professor [Don] Peppard (both of whom are now retired), were able to bond with those students and have these experiences together. Those moments were not only just the high points of my teaching career, but some of the high points of my life. I did a SATA program in 2005 where I was the only faculty member and that was just extraordinary. It was the best semester of my career and I remember every one of those students very well.” 

Frasure’s work with the SATA Vietnam program is definitely his crowning achievement throughout his career. The program, which ran for about 20 years, impacted hundreds of Conn students and faculty, as well as students and faculty from Vietnam National University. “We invented it, I basically got it set up and Peppard and Jensen and I structured the curriculum and the program, and it worked really well, I mean it worked really well. I know people here at the college thought we were all off on a “frolic”, you know, and people weren’t always happy that we were gone so much, but that program did an enormous amount for the students that were in it and for the college.” Frasure’s work on the Vietnam program led to other opportunities as well. An exchange program was set up for faculty members from Conn and from Vietnam National University to spend time teaching and learning in a new culture. Another program, funded by the Vietnamese government, allowed for members of the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry to take classes at Conn during the summer. 

The relationship forged between Connecticut College and Vietnam is a credit to Frasure’s career, and his work on this program will always hold a special place in his heart. “When I die, the number one thing I did in my life will be SATA Vietnam, before anything else. It was an amazing opportunity. It consumed me for 20 years of my life. People talk about life-changing experiences, and I think back to when Alex Hybel, the Dean of International Studies at the time, came to me and casually asked me to run this program. My life changed at that moment from what it was to what it’s been. There’s no question about it. The consequences and things that have happened in this world pursuant to Alex Hybel asking me to go to Vietnam in the spring of ‘97 are just incalculable.” Frasure ran his final SATA Vietnam program in 2015. “As far as the program now, I don’t know if there’s anybody on the faculty who wants to run it, which is too bad, but it had a 20-year run, and it’s a great program.”

When asked about what he would miss most after retirement, Frasure said without hesitation that he would miss his friends amongst the faculty. “Most of my closest friends are retired, if they’re still alive. You know, I’ll miss being able to hang out with these people.” He reminisced about a time in the ‘90s that was a stressful one for the faculty for many reasons. “What got one through that decade were one’s friends on the faculty. For most of that time, the faculty was closer than it’s ever been because it was under such stress. But the friends go back to the beginning. They know who they are, and I treasure every one of those friendships with the wonderful people I’ve known here. That’s what I’ll miss the most. Second to that is watching SATA Vietnam grow.” To the students at Conn, Frasure said “I hope Connecticut College takes the NESCAC football championship.” 

Frasure’s career has been a long and successful one, and he has seen the College and the work go through many changes throughout his time here. “The College since the 1990s, I think it’s changed into something quite different, for a different generation of people. People here now are not the same as they were back then, different interests and different views on things.” Still, he continues to insist that “this is a pretty good college.” Frasure’s teaching has affected hundreds of students over the years, from all over. He’s become a beloved fixture of the Government department and of the college itself. Through all that, Frasure says that his long, illustrious career all boils down to one thing: his love of teaching. “I’m an old war horse when it comes to teaching. I’ve been here almost a half-century now. And one of the reasons I’ve been here almost a half-century is because I love it, and what I love most is being in the classroom. What I have the most difficulty thinking about is how I’ll spend the rest of these years never being able to walk into a classroom again. I found when I was young that I spent way too much time reading books and newspapers and talking to people about them. I remember very clearly once saying to myself, “you know, you can get paid for this.” That’s what I like to do. That’s what I’ll miss, doing what I like to do most.”