Dr. Paulette Sauders

By DAVID GROUT
Media Relations, Grace College and Seminary

Dr. Paulette Sauders is about to complete her 50th year as an English and journalism professor at Grace College. Only three others have reach this esteemed milestone at Grace, including Dr. Homer Kent Jr., Ron Henry and R. Wayne Snider, but Sauders is the first full time faculty member to do it while continuing to actively teach.

Sauders graduated from Grace College in 1964 with a bachelor’s in English education. After teaching for a year at the Akron Bible Institute, where she met and married her husband Chuck, she was appointed professor of English and journalism at Grace in 1965. Over the years, she earned her master’s in literature from Saint Francis University and her doctorate in English literature from Ball State University, where she became a C.S. Lewis scholar.

Sauders has presented several academic papers on Lewis, most recently at the Frances White Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis and Friends and at Huntington University for the 50th anniversary of the death of C.S. Lewis. Several of her papers were published in “Inklings Forever.”

For 35 years, Sauders has taken Grace students on a two-day trip to Stratford, Canada, to attend plays at the Shakespeare Festival Theatre, and since 1995, she’s taken students to England over spring break to visit London, Oxford, Windsor, Stratford, Bath, Stonehenge/Salisbury and Wales.

In addition to serving as a faculty member in the Languages, Literature and Communication Department where she’s taught 17 different courses, Sauders taught in the Grace prison program for 16 years and served as a leader for Women of Grace Schools for 40 years. Sauders has been the chair of the department since 2003 and for four decades has served as an adviser to the school newspaper, “The Sounding Board.” Sauders will continue to chair the Languages, Literature and Communication Department and teach full time.

“[Sauders] has the most incredible work ethic of anyone I’ve ever met,” said Lauren Rich, who teaches literature at Grace. “In addition to teaching classes, she puts in long hours to make sure that her advisees stay on track, the Sounding Board comes out on time, students travel to see quality Shakespeare productions, journalism majors network with potential employers and prospective students and their parents are properly welcomed. What most impresses me, though, is that her hard work is motivated by love and compassion for her students.”

“The breadth and depth of her knowledge of the history of the English language and its uses still amazes me,” noted alumnus Andrew Jones. “Her passion for Shakespeare and C. S. Lewis led me down paths of literary inquiry I had never traveled before. Her unmatched power with a red pen might have been infuriating to lazy editors like myself, but it taught me the importance of precision and care in how I wrote.”

Mike Yocum, associate professor of communication, said, “Paulette Sauders has proven herself to be an extremely dedicated servant to Grace and our students. She is so student-centered it is very common for her to teach special sections of classes that aren’t offered regularly to make sure a student can graduate on time. As a colleague and supervisor there is none better. Paulette serves Grace, her students, her colleagues and her family in a very clear Christ-like way. She gives, she serves, she loves.”

President Bill Katip presented Sauders with an engraved desk chair at the Employee Recognition Banquet on April 29 in honor of her 50 years of service. He also presented her with a framed portrait, which will be hung in the Philathea building on Grace’s campus commemorating her service.

Katip told Sauders, “I hope you know how much we admire you and how appreciative we are of all you have contributed over the years.”