THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 27, 1996 TAG: 9603270023
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Long : 115 lines
David L. Holmes is the consummate lecturer - engaging, super-knowledgeable, enthusiastic - at times gesturing vividly, palm down, to bring home a point.
But what really endears the religion prof to his students at the College of William and Mary is what he does outside the classroom. And it's not his research on Episcopal history they're talking about.
The guy is just always there for you.
``He'll go out of his way,'' said David Murawski, a sophomore from Princeton, N.J. Example: Murawski wanted to talk to Holmes about his career plans, maybe minoring in religion. No problem. ``He said, `Come to my office Wednesday afternoon; we'll take a walk.' That's the kind of stuff most professors wouldn't have time to do, unless they were really familiar with you.''
Not much has changed since Holmes came to William and Mary in 1965.
``He really thought you should stop by to talk about your ideas,'' recalled the Rev. James G. Cobb, a 1969 graduate who is pastor of First Lutheran Church in Norfolk. ``. . .It was this non-stop checking in to do your best.''
Holmes' interest doesn't flag once you graduate. He keeps up with plenty of alumni through e-mail and notes, still helping to smooth their paths. The other day, he wrote a graduate-school recommendation for a woman who'd graduated in the '70s.
``I have no doubt that David has written more letters of recommendation for more students than any other member of this faculty,'' said fellow religion professor James C. Livingston in a letter recommending Holmes for the state's Outstanding Faculty Award, which he received earlier this month. ``The loyalty and generosity of many alumni(ae) to William and Mary is largely due to their appreciation for and indebtedness to David Holmes.''
Holmes - low-key, his voice barely rising above a whisper outside class - downplays his approach as nothing extraordinary. ``When I was a student,'' he said, ``I always appreciated professors who seemed to be on top of their field but who were also available to students. My father was always available.''
His father was known as ``Mr. Wayne,'' a longtime coach and athletic director at Wayne State University in Detroit, where Holmes grew up. The elder Holmes was an exponent of ``Muscular Christianity,'' fusing the values of spirituality and athleticism, as portrayed in the film ``Chariots of Fire.'' For him, winning wasn't everything.
``He always talked about the character of his athletes, and the jobs they were in, rather than won-loss records,'' Holmes said.
Holmes grew up in a Congregationalist home, but fell away from religion as a teenager. He went on to get a bachelor's degree in English at Michigan State University and a master's at Columbia University.
In graduate school, religion became alluring once again. He was drawn more to figures like Cardinal Spellman, the archbishop of New York at the time, than to the characters of English literature. More intrigued by folks like the Methodist circuit riders, who crisscrossed the Midwest to spread the word in the late 18th century. ``They were men of the people, who spoke in the language of the people,'' he said.
So Holmes switched gears, getting his master's and doctoral degrees in religious studies from Princeton University. Right afterward, he went to William and Mary to teach.
Holmes' research speciality is religion in Colonial life, and he is associate editor of the journal ``Anglican and Episcopal History.'' But he considers all that secondary to teaching: ``The great teachers I had published a little less in leading publications because they put extra time into class preparation.''
Some of his guidelines for the classroom: Don't hesitate to inject a little humor. Come well-prepared, with notes, but try not to use them. Treat students like equals.
During a recent class, he charted Italian Roman Catholic immigration to the United States in the early 20th century. The lecture typified his approach, treating all groups with respect, but offering a well-rounded picture. The Italians, he said, livened up the practice of Catholicism in America with their flamboyant processions on feast days. But they were viewed with suspicion by Irish Catholics because they were less likely to attend church or to produce priests, Holmes said.
Holmes peppered his lecture with references to historical figures like New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia (his mother was Jewish, his father Italian, and he turned into an Episcopalian) and allusions to films like ``The Godfather, Part II,'' which opened with a lively feast procession.
And he got students into the act, asking Murawksi if he knew of any Italian-American politicians in New Jersey and later turning to a New Yorker to see if he had attended one of the processions in Greenwich Village.
The most challenging - and, students say, the most stimulating - part of Holmes' courses are his research assignments. Sometimes, he'll ask them to visit a rural area to check out private homes or general stores (``There are seven days a week; I'm also interested in what people who go to religious edifices Saturday or Sunday do the rest of the week''). Other times, he'll tell them to visit churches to see current styles of worship.
Cobb, the Lutheran pastor from Norfolk, said he gets a couple of Holmes' students every year. It's another example, Cobb said, of Holmes' effort to reach students outside the classroom. ``There's the studying of it (religion) and the living out of it,'' Cobb said. ``He wants students to see how the two parts fit together.''
Last semester, Christine Johnson, a sophomore from California, went to Tappahannock for her project. She has become so enchanted with the subject of religion that she's thinking of switching majors from economics. And, with Holmes' help, she's gotten a scholarship to conduct research on the Methodist circuit riders over the summer.
``He cares so much about each individual student,'' she said. ``He says, `If you want to come and sit down with me or take a walk with me, I'll be available.' He loves everything about his subject, and he wants his students to love it, too. He even says, `If you don't like the textbooks, I'll get different ones.' '' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
RICHARD L. DUNSTON/The Virginian-Pilot
DAVID L. HOLMES
Some of his guidelines: ``Don't hesitate to inject a little humor.
Come well-prepared, with notes, but try not to use them. Treat
students like equals.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE PROFESSOR by CNB