Gregory Kaiser Youtz '79
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- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: My name Gregory Kaiser Youtz. I currently live in Bloomington, Minnesota, and I'm a member of the Grinnell College class of 1979.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: I came to Grinnell College because I was looking for a place that was very different from where I grew up. I grew up in Washington D.C., went to an all-boys school, very conservative, very preppy, and... very political-- lots of politics going on there-- and I really didn't want that at all, so when I looked at colleges, I looked for something that was pretty much the antithesis of that, and I found it here.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: So, that was a... that's why I picked Grinnell, didn't mind coming to the Midwest, didn't mind being in the middle of Iowa. My parents were quite shocked. They were afraid that I would get here and decide that I couldn't stand it because it wasn't a big city, but it didn't work out that way.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: My first memory of the campus is really from visiting the school before I-- before I either applied or was accepted. I don't really remember. But, I flew by myself from Washington D.C. through Chicago, changed planes, flew to Des Moines, got on the Greyhound bus and arrived here on campus.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: So, my first experience was getting off the Greyhound bus in Grinnell, and finding my way to... I think it was actually-- they said go directly to Grinnell House, which is where they put up the visiting students. So, it was my first impression. Then, of course the campus looked quite different then, but that's my first memory.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: It was a very different kind of place than Washington D.C., but I really liked the fact that the students stayed on campus. There was no place that they went on weekends, 'cause it was too far to go anywhere, and so there was a great deal of social life here.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: Concerts came here, the films came here, people lived and had a community here, and that was something that... that I liked a lot. I'm not sure I sure I could've articulated it that well then, but it was-- it's what appealed to me.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: There were certainly people here who affected my life in a big way, and I guess I can call two of them-- two who are still professors here, teaching... and, well, I guess three. I'll call it three.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: One is professor Moyer, who was my advisor when I was here, in Political Science, and he had a very-- and has a very warm and welcoming way of engaging students. His enthusiasm and his humor made studying Political Science wonderful-- challenging and wonderful.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: And at the same time, he was balanced by professor Strauber, whose intense intellect was a challenge to all of us, and made it ups-- set high aspirations for each of us, and that was a good thing.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: One other call-out who really affected my life was professor Walker, Henry Walker, who at the time was a Math professor 'cause there was no Computer Science department, but I was one of a small group of people who did the first... independent study program in-- then in Math-- on computer engineering, operating system design and theory.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: And I ended up spending my life, my careers, has been in IT. So, in spite of the fact that I have a degree in Political Science, it was really the IT portion that I put to work throughout my life. So that's that.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: Best memories... Well, I think the best memories are the times that I spent with the people here in small groups that, much as I see my son here enjoying the community of Grinnell, I did the same thing.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: The-- there were a few people that I got to know very well, who were either on my floor, or in my classes, and spent a lot of time and had the luxury of spending time sitting around and debating politics or ideas, or those kinds of things.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: That's really the best memories of being here. It was great fun.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: The dorm rooms looked just the same as they look now, or very close. There's very little that's changed. My first year was in Cleveland.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: The only difference was: back then Cleveland dorm rooms had a sink in them. Pretty sure that's gone, but it was left over from the days when South Campus was the women's half of the campus and so they had their own sink in the room.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: But other than that, they look very much the same, so.... not much has changed.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: The uniform was pretty much consistent. Everyone wore jeans and t-shirts, and... either tennis shoes or sandals or in some cases, no shoes at all.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: There were at least a couple of people who made it a point to go all winter without ever wearing shoes. I don't know that they got frost bite or not, but it was pretty entertaining that they managed to do that.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: We were a strange group then, I mean, just as I'm sure people are now.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: Hm.. The book that influenced me most in college... I think probably the one book-- if I had to pick one it would be Constitutional and Judicial Philosophy textbook that we used. Not because of the content so much, because it was really a law study kind of book, but rather because it forced us into a very careful and analytic reading process.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: And that has been applicable throughout my life. So it was probably the single one that I remember as a textbook for that.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: The town of Grinnell... hm... was very different than it is now. It's clearly more affluent today. There are many more stores and fast food restaurants, and so forth.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: When I was there... the McDonald's-- the closest McDonald's was in Newton, so you couldn't just walk into town. We did have Pag's; that was there. We had McNally's, and that's about-- and we had the movie theater and the radio station in town.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: And that's about the things that are the same. The banks have changed names, although, they're still around. In general it was a smaller, more broke community, but since the world has changed and more communication, more-- greater ease of travel, things are quite different here. I mean, you have a Walmart, which is very odd.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: Liquor laws have changed. To buy a liquor we ha-- used to have to walk to the state-owned liquor store, which was in various places. I think they moved it every couple of years, so the students couldn't find it, but-- but we did have to do that.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: Although, now we would digress into a discussion because the drinking age was 18, which... changed the social dynamic completely on campus.
- Willa Collins & Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: Do you wanna hear about some of the out--?Willa: Yes.Gregory: Okay.Willa: Yes, I do.
- Gregory Kaiser Youtz & Willa CollinsGregory: The-- well, now we get to opinion, 'cause I have a son here who is now--Willa: You're protectin' him.Gregory: Yeah, who is 21 now, and I'm quite relieved, 'cause it got rid of some of the... the really difficult social issues around that. Because, having grown up with the drinking age as 18, I very much see people as adults at 18, and yet that's not what the law says.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: So how do I be a law-abiding citizen and still.... reconcile that with my view of the world? So now that he's 21, that issue goes away. However, when we were here, the fact that you could drink at 18 meant, I think, that there was less binge-drinking of alcohol on campus.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: It was very much socially acceptable, and there was very much of self-governance policy that was in effect. It doesn't seem to be quite so true today. Jim Tederman was the Dean of Students who brought that into effect before I got here, but it was very much a strong... strong influence in Grinnell.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: What it meant is we took our own responsibility for what went on on campus. So... we had a set of rules, and we-- if people misbehaved or broke the rules we took care of that on the campus.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: The police never came on campus. I don't think that in the four years I ever saw the police on campus, other than when they joined in the Grinnell Relays Parade, but that's a different discussion.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: But they certainly weren't called on campus. They didn't come to campus. To the best of my knowledge no on was ever taken to the hospital from having consumed... too much alcohol. It just wasn't-- there's a different sensibility because people were adults and... and were seen as adults, and therefore took the responsibility along with the privilege.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: So.... that was a little bit different. So, I've digressed now from the question. That's alright. How has it changed? Well, that's one of the ways it's changed, is that students are, perhaps, in a different position because the... the College sees itself, I perceive, in a somewhat more paternalistic or maternalistic position than it did when we were here.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: That-- we were very independent. We took responsibility and saw ourselves as adults and expected the College to react to us as adults... as opposed to acting as parents in abstantia for the-- for people who were here.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: So I think that's one of-- that's one of the things that makes me sad, because I think that's a loss for the College and a loss for the students.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: Clearly the physical layout has changed. There's-- when I came back with one of my children, I forget which one, we went on a tour of the campus and got a tour of all the buildings. We only entered one buidling that had been here when I was-- when I was a student, so..
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: I know now that I've arrived. I'm part of the old group as opposed to the young group. Very entertaining.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: Let's see... Hm. I'm not sure-- I'm not sure that there are things I-- I don't know that I can point to things no longer available on campus...
- Gregory Kaiser Youtz & Willa CollinsGregory: The PEC is gone. There we go.Willa: Free-flowing, legal alcohol. Besides that.Gregory: Well, yeah. That's certainly true. I think that, based on my understanding, the consumption of drugs was-- oh, we can edit this out-- was-- is fairly similar then as it is now.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: But again, it was one of those-- the blind eye was turned by both the administration and the local police community as long as the issues stayed on campus. So... and it really didn't become a problem most of the time.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: It's remarkable to me how much has been invested in this campus, both in terms of the buidlings and the investment. It's a much nicer place. There's much more landscaping. There's better facilities. It has changed, and that's a good thing. That's very good.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: It has grown. I mean, there's more students here now, but I can only describe the-- for example-- the Physical Education Complex now is being... amazing. It's wonderful, it's very luxurious even. So, that's great! It's just very different from what it was when I was here.
- Gregory Kaiser Youtz & Willa CollinsGregory: Oh, favorite academic experience.. Hm. Can I talk about the relays instead? That was a non-academic experience.Willa: Yes. You can talk about--Gregory: No, no, no. I'll talk about that--Willa: You can talk about--Gregory: Do I get to that later?
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: The academic experience... There were quite a number of them. I really liked the... the way that we were taught, and I don't know whether it's still done this way, but it was very much an expectation that you would engage and be responsible for learning the material.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: There was ver-- little to no lecture other than where you had to have it for background material, but certainly, the things that I remember have to do with the... the seminars, the small classes, where people would have read the material, be prepared, and come and very vigorously defend their positions.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: So this is not-- clearly not in the-- in the sciences so much as in political science, but... that was a wonderful thing. And it was true in most of the Political Science classes.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: Favorite place? Hmm.. I don't know whether it was my favorite place. Back when I first got here, I started, I think, like most students, in August. It was quite hot. And at that time Darby gym was here, and it.. it housed what was then the computer center, which had the advantage of being air-conditioned.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: So I can tell you that there's a direct path that says I've been employed for all these years because it was air-conditioned in the computer center.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: I went there and discovered that it was a good place 'cause it was air-conditioned, and further more there was some guy sitting there who was a student, and he was getting paid to sit there and answer questions.
- Gregory Kaiser Youtz & Willa CollinsGregory: And I thought: "Well, I can do that." And I seem to have been doing it ever since in one form or another, hoping to make enough money to go to law school, which hasn't happened yet I guess, so.. I'm still doing computers.Willa: I like the "yet".Gregory: Well, I-- you never know.Willa: No, you don't.Gregory: I'll get tired of this computer stuff, and I'll... Got to get the last one out of college! Then we'll see. It could be fun.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: Let's see... I am-- I am sad to see the change in lack of focus on the Forum, because it was such a center of activity for students, and certainly, the JRC is bigger and newer, but it's a little more anti-septic. It's a little more utilitarian than the Forum was-- in, again, my perception. But, it's alright.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: What would I have done differently? I think I might have done-- I think I might have done a semester abroad. I did spend all four years on campus, and I might have taken the opportunity to go somewhere else. Made up for it since and been all over the world, but that would have been a good thing to do.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: Didn't meet my spouse here, so that one doesn't apply... How would you compare the students of today with my classmates? Oh, I think they're very similar.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: Talking to my son, the experience is nearly identical to the one I had in all sensible aspects: culturally, and the relationships, and the dorms, and all those things. Some things are different, you know: the food's different, the professors-- strangely, some of the professors are the same, but most of the professors are different.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: But, in general the experience is very similar, so... Judging from my little sliver of insight, very little has changed. I--- ah, I'll just leave it.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: Let's see... Student and campus life... There were a couple of differences about student and campus life, I think. I mean, first, we really had two distinct campuses rather than three. We weren't as spread out because we didn't go as far away as you do now, and the center of the universe was really the Forum, which is rather different than the JRC in terms of geography.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: People did not listen to music independently. They listened to music as a group, and so that's a different social dynamic. People would put speakers out on the loggia, and, you know, that would become the music for the group-- whether you like that or not, it's that music.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: I mean, that's-- but people would bring large, very loud stereos to college, and, you know, that was always an issue, that you would have sombody who wouldn't turn it down.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: Doesn't seem to be that kind of an issue at all anymore. Now it's very much people have their ear buds and everyone listens to something different. So, very isolating.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: Also a different social experience because, believe it or not, there was not the same communication. There was no internet; there was not a phone in every room. There was one phone on the floor.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: And so... the campus operator knew where you were and where you lived, or in the case that you weren't living where you're supposed to and were living with someone, the campus operator knew that too. So the campus operator really had a good insight into the social... activities of the campus, which was kind of amusing.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: But what would happen is, someone would call you, and the phone, the one phone on the floor would ring and ring and ring until someone couldn't stand it anymore and would go answer it. And then go try to find the person who is being called.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: So it was rather a different social environment than... than it is today.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: You had to be more... more of a group. The floors had to be a community. I'm not sure that that isn't true, but it's different, because you don't have to do it.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: If I were writing a... a history of Grinnell College.... I think that I would include, for the time that I was here, the fact that we were a group of students who learned that we should be rebelling, but we weren't quite sure why.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: Because the Vietnam War was just winding down, so we couldn't protest that, and what we discovered was that there were a lot of social causes that we-- we thought we should take up.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: And we were pretty certain, based on our backgrounds and our experience, that we could affect change, that we could change the way things are. And we felt that we had a responsibility to do that.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: My perception is that's not so true now, that this is much more consumer-oriented generation, that if you don't like it, "I'll just go shop somewhere else."
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: And the sense is we can't really change the country or the environment or the whatever it is. We just have to kind of live with it, and, the game is rigged and we can't change it. So that kind of makes me sad. I think that's an evolution that's ocurred at Grinnell. I don't know whether it's true, but it's a perception that I have.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: Grinnell, I think, attracts very independent students, people who set their own course... and it would be good if the students could re-discover some of that channeling of energy and self-confidence in their ability to change the world.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: I think that we have been changing the world in selected fields. If you look at what people have gone off and done, they do all sorts of things. They don't all go off and do finance or go off and do government, but they... they have impacts in various parts of their chosen areas.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: So, I would include that. I would say that-- that we all were convinced that there were important things to try to change, and somebody can judge whether we actually changed anything.
- Willa Collins & Gregory Kaiser YoutzWilla: Is there-- you mentioned Relays.Gregory: Oh, I didn't talk about Relays?!Willa: I wanna hear about Relays.Gregory: I have my Relays t-shirts with me 'cause I mean, where else could I wear them if not to a reunion?
- Gregory Kaiser Youtz & Willa CollinsGregory: I was on the Relays committee. It was very much tied-in with Political Science because, at least at the time, this was Professor Moyer's undertaking. And again, nearly everyone, by the spring, was 18, so it was really not-- The only checking of IDs was to make sure that there were not people from the town who were trying to get in and consume alcohol.Willa: Mhm.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: And it was very much like Skip Day, if there still is a Skip Day. But, it was a-- an excuse to get out and have a nice summer day, and drink beer, and have... fake athletic events.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: We took great pride in not being an athletic college, and we tended to make some mockery of the Drake Relays, which are very real competitions, and very serious ones, and Grinnell, not taking ourselves seriously, would have the Grinnell Relays, and do silly athletic competitions, which all involved consuming alcohol before or during so as to affect the outcome.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: And it was always entertaining. So there was always a committee that would plan the Relays and plan the events, and arrange for the beer, and we'd have a big beer truck come, and they'd open up the back, and big kegs of beer, and.... It was free-flowing for a day, and it was quite the party, so..
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: And again, the College-- it wasn't just the College though, that was okay with this. I mean, we had the firetrucks, we had the police, we had a big parade through town.. I mean, this was-- this was serious fun. It was not anyone worried about liability or those things. No, not in a big way.
- Willa Collins & Gregory Kaiser YoutzWilla: It's a simpler time.Gregory: Yeah, it was. It was a simpler time. It was, so.. But o-- anything else that I can tell you?Willa: I think you touched on everything. And if you have anything else to say, please say it, but.. I don't have any burning questions that I think you didn't address.
- Gregory Kaiser YoutzGregory: Grinnell is a wonderful place. I am really pleased that one of my children is going here, and I'm pleased his experience is so similar to mine. I think it does great things for the people who go here, and for people who teach here, and... so... That's it.
Alumni oral history interview with Gregory Kaiser Youtz '79. Recorded May 31, 2013.