Linfield's new "ride:" CAT BUS (Nov 2020)

Linfield's new "ride:" CAT BUS 11/25/2020 Wildcatville photos 

THANKSGIVING WEEK: Turkey, dressing and Linfield football (11/27/2020 N-R)

THANKSGIVING WEEK: Turkey, dressing and Linfield football

One in a special series of stories – ‘Linfield Football Remembrance of Games Past’ by Linfielder Rusty Rae, McMinnville N-R/News-Register. N-R Friday, Nov, 27, 2020, print edition

During the final week in November, it’s normally about turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and, of course, pie unless you’ve won your first-round playoff game, then the spotlight shines on the next opponent and the Saturday after Turkey Day.

That adversary is more likely to include a higher level of competitiveness, requiring a laser focus in preparation by both coaches and players.

“I can’t think of a single second-round match-up that wasn’t against a top-10 team,” said Linfield head coach Joseph Smith.

These days with a 32-team tournament, winning it all requires five victories in as many weeks. In NAIA days, the road to the title required a mere three wins and generally the Thanksgiving weekend was open for a family celebration.

Smith calls the holiday week game, “A blessing and a curse. Certainly we’re happy to be playing, but the logistics for the game are more complex.”

A home contest remains a double-edged sword, according to Smith. On one hand, if players live somewhat close, they have an opportunity to go home for a family celebration.

“We’ll have an early Thursday morning practice and then if the guys live within a four-hour radius they can get home and be back for a Friday practice,” Smith said. While home for Thanksgiving is a positive element, in fact, few students on campus for the game is a negative.

“Home field advantage is difficult to quantify, but having the crowd behind you is significant motivation,” Smith added.

Playing on the road Thanksgiving week entails a different level of operational challenge. Smith tries to overcome the chaos of travel with a team Thanksgiving meal at Covenant Church. Darla Smith, Joe’s wife, organizes and manages the preparation, which is supported by local Wildcat fans and player families who live close to campus. Then the team boards buses for the trip to the airport and points, usually, east.

Competing away from home equals a myriad of additional challenges, not the least of which is changing time zones. Smith feels chagrined with the dogmatic rules set by the NCAA.

In 2011, the ‘Cats second-round contest took them to Wesley College in Dover, Delaware, where Linfield fell by a 49-34 margin. The game began at noon — or 9 a.m. Pacific Time.

“Changing time zones is both a tactical and physical advantage. Your biological time clock simply isn’t ready to play at that time. And there is no reason for the game to start at that time. It used to be an early start was required due to fields not having lights, but now everyone has lights,” Smith said.

A 1991 second-round contest against fourth-ranked Pacific Lutheran wound up a 23-0 loss — a game in which Smith played in the last contest coached by Hall of Fame head coach Ad Rutschman.

“We fought the good fight, but on this day PLU was a better team. Our offense simply was annihilated by their defense,” Smith recalled.

Rutschman, quoted in the News-Register, said, “We did not move the ball consistently. Credit their defense.”

The Lutes advanced to the title game.

In 2003, Linfield survived a second-round contest against Wartburg with a 23-20 victory, played on Willamette’s home field in Salem because Linfield’s grass field was a mud bog. It was won by a 31-yard field goal by Garrett Wales as time expired.

Playing on the road has never been kind to the Wildcats, reflected in a 2010 second round contest the eighth-ranked ‘Cats played in St. Paul, Minnesota, against fourth-rated St. Thomas. During the second overtime, with Linfield down by a score, a fumble near the goal line recovered by the Tommies ended with Linfield on the losing end of a 24-17 result.

Over the years, Linfield and University of Mary Hardin-Baylor engaged in a number of memorable games.

Smith believes the Crusaders have always boasted some of the best talent of a DIII team in the nation, but that hasn’t stopped Linfield from wins, though lately the wins have favored UMHB.

In 2009, Linfield laid the wood to the Cru’ in a second-round contest at the Cat Dome, 53-21.

While there have been a number of significant competitions with UMHB, perhaps no second round contest has been more meaningful than the ‘Cats 31-28 victory on the Crusaders’ home field in Belton, Texas, in 2014.

A second-round victory is always something to celebrate. This marked the first time a Linfield squad took a playoff win on the road since the 1964 upset win over Sul Ross State in Texas.

Though Smith remembers the game not being as close as the score indicated, he said, “We took it to them — it was a fun day,” his memories don’t match the actual margin of the contest.

A key sequence turned out to be a 46-yard Michael Metter field goal as time ran out to end the first half, giving Linfield a 17-14 lead. Linfield would expand its lead to 31-21, but UMHB scored late in the third period on a 56-yard punt return and kept the ‘Cats off balance with a pair of fake punts.

Linfield’s defense forced a pair of fumbles which the ‘Cats recovered and picked off two passes, nullifying UMHB drives.

The Crus mounted a late fourth-quarter drive which appeared on the brink of scoring, either to tie with a field goal or win with a score. However, Jordan Giza intercepted an errant pass at the nine-yard line. Giza returned the pick to the Linfield 44-yard and Linfield ran out the clock for the victory.

There’s no better way to celebrate Thanksgiving than with a win on the road. Certainly, Linfield players and coaching staff savored their Thanksgiving leftovers on returning home.

Some street signs on Linfield McMinnville campus are named for former presidents

Some street signs on Linfield McMinnville campus are named for former presidents of the institution. These -- both photographed 11/21/2020 -- honor A. M. (Arthur Marion) Brumback, 1903-1905, McMinnville College, and William G. (Graham) Everson, 1939-1943, Linfield College.

THE JOY AND SORROW OF PLAYOFFS: Linfield’s storied history features memorable postseason battles (N-R Nov. 20, 2020)

THE JOY AND SORROW OF PLAYOFFS: Linfield’s storied history features memorable postseason battles

By Rusty Rae, McMinnville N-R/News-Register Nov. 20. 2020

Playoff football remains simple: win or go home. Qualifying for the playoffs is somewhat more difficult.

In recent history, winning the Northwest Conference earned the champion an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. However, in years past, the selection process was fraught with intrigue and anxious waiting.

Back in the 1960s, when the Wildcats made their first foray into postseason play, there were only four teams selected to the playoffs. In those National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) days, four teams were chosen from more than 300 nationally. In the current DIII climate, 250 colleges and universities grapple for one of 32 spots in the national championship tournament. Conference champions in 26 leagues earn automatic bids, with the remaining six positions to at-large teams.

Numerous very talents teams stay home each year.

For Linfield, 2018 was one such experience.

The ‘Cats began the season slowly, dropping the non-counting opener to Carroll College (an NAIA school), 21-14n and losing the conference opener to Whitworth in Spokane, 19-14, three weeks later.

However, by season’s end, and behind a fierce offensive line, the ‘Cats developed a vigorous run game balanced with deadly passing attacks. Anchored by an impressive defense, this Wildcat bunch arguably developed into the best team in the league.

And yet, when selection Sunday arrived they remained at home.

“We were all gathered together for the selection show and when we weren’t selected, there were 100 guys in dead silence. Seniors were crying — it was a bitter pill to swallow”, said Linfield head coach Joseph Smith.

Lucky for NWC champion Whitworth, too, which earned the automatic bid. Had the two teams met in a first-round rematch, the Wildcats would have keelhauled the Pirates.

Once you’re invited to the show, the key for success entails following the normal season-long preparatory routine.

Before the digital age, this procedure required a swap of films between the two teams. It wasn’t always a smooth or fair process. Hall of Fame retired head Linfield coach Ad Rutschman painfully remembers a first-round game against Texas Lutheran, a lopsided 52-8 loss for Linfield.

Rutschman’s first foray into the postseason was marred. The ‘Cats’ staff didn’t receive film until Wednesday; the recordings were all but worthless in preparing for an unknown opponent. To top off the mismanaged film swap, the game involved near gale-wind conditions.

One punt into the breeze, according to Rutschman, actually was almost a safety, as the wind took it 35 yards behind the kicker. That led to an easy Texas Lutheran score. In hindsight, Rutschman mused, “A safety would have saved us five points.”

Since the turn of the century, the film exchange has become as simple as downloading or streaming a movie – essentially what coaches do these days.

Linfield head coach Joseph Smith said, “With technology what it is these days, we get the film Sunday so playoff preparation is like a normal week.”

Training for a known opponent is slightly easier; a first-round game may be against a team you’re facing for the second time. In the NAIA era, Linfield often met PLU in the first round of expanded playoffs, with a bidding war often on which team would be favored with the home-field advantage.

“Lately we’ve been playing teams in the first round we have some familiarity with. Of course, when you’re playing a team for the second time, there’s always a punch-counterpunch mentality you have to deal with,” explained Smith.

Actual practices for playoffs are less physical and more technically focused. “By the time we get to the playoffs, we just want everyone to hold together. We’ll have a number of players who are nicked up to some degree so we dial down the physicality of practice and focus on the schematics of the game,” he added.

By this time in the season, players have worked three months on fundamentals; Smith notes, “Technique mastery is a product of repetition; by the time we’ve reached the playoffs we’re counting on that proficiency so we can concentrate on schematics and situational learning.”

Linfield’s initial playoff was against Whittier in 1961, an 18-7 win propelling them into the Camellia Bowl two weeks later.

Pete Dengenis, a NWC all-conference selectee and member of that team, said Linfield first had to dispatch Willamette, at the time a power in the conference.

“Coach Durham (head coach Paul) told us ‘If you guys put me in a position of tying for the conference title versus winning or losing the conference, I’m going to play it safe.’ We weren’t going to put him in that position,” he added.

Indeed, the ‘Cats bombed Willamette, 34-12.

Against Whittier, the Wildcats faced a team built around speed and finesse. The Poets had a solid QB and a rangy, sure-handed receiver who would go on to try out with the Chicago Bears.

However, with the game played on Linfield’s grass field, the home advantage favored the ‘Cats. “The field was in a word, nasty,” recalled Dengenis. “Whittier, from the Los Angeles area of California, was used to playing on manicured fields, and the field and inclement weather negated their speed.”

In 1964, Linfield traveled to Fargo, North Dakota, to battle Concordia of Minneapolis in what has become known as the Ice Bowl. Temperatures began in the twenties and by halftime the mercury had plummeted to 12 degrees.

On that frozen field, Concordia played in tennis shoes while Linfield’s cleats failed in the traction department, leading to a 28-6 loss.

In 1965, Linfield once again was selected for an opening-round contest, this time against powerhouse Sul Ross State University in a game played on the Lobos’ home field in Alpine, Texas. The ‘Cats, huge underdogs, devised a formula and won, 30-27.

“I remember talking with Coach Durham sometime later at a social event. He said they (Sul Ross) were better than we were at every position, but added, ‘We had people like you who didn’t read the papers,’” said Bob Ferguson, a middle guard and future all-American.

“On paper they were so much better — but that’s why you play the game rather than compare stats,” Ferguson added.

His blocked PAT kept the game tied at 27. At the time, both feet were required to be in bounds for a completed reception, as opposed to today’s rule requiring only one foot. Ferguson remembers split end Dean Pade practicing dragging both feet inbounds all season long.

“He was used sparingly during the season, but in our last drive made a couple of great catches; that kept our drive alive and gave our kicker Tim Kubli a shorter distance for the field goal,” Ferguson said.

Though there was a tie-breaking formula determined by a number of game metrics, Kubli calmly booted the three-pointer with under two minutes left and the defense sealed the win.

One side note: Pade’s mother was so excited by the win and her son’s performance, she barged into the dressing room to give him a hug, according to Ferguson, with players in various stages of undress. When questioned about her locker room visit she causally noted, “Oh, I’ve seen it all before.”

Smith has many memories of first-round playoff wins — and some painful losses, too.

In 2000, the 20-17 OT loss to Central College of Iowa still smarts, buried deep into to the recesses of his memory.

“I’ve totally blocked that game out – it’s a game that feels like it was stolen from us,” he said.

Linfield earned a bye in the first stage of the 28-team initial round, hosting Central. In a tightly fought defensive battle, the contest featured two scores by each team, one in each half, ending in regulation with the score frozen at 14.

In the first OT session, Linfield recorded a 34-yard Scott Cannon field goal for 17-14 lead. When Iowa had its turn on offense, the Linfield defense forced Iowa to attempt a tying field goal from 21 yards. It was blocked, but in the ensuing melee of players and fans rushing the field, assuming the game was over, the Iowa center picked up the loose ball and shoveled it to fullback Joe Ritzert, who lumbered in for the score.

“We had the guy tackled and down and several players heard a whistle – the game should have been over. There were 100 guys on the field, and the officials kind of lost control of that last play,” he said.

Three years later, however, Linfield bested Redlands in a contest that Wildcat running back Thomas Ford ran over, around, and through the Bulldog defense, gaining 237 yards on 26 carries. This was a trap game for the Wildcats, who in the first game of the season dropped Redlands by a 49-10 margin.

Linfield rolled to a 21-0 first-half lead, up 31-7 at the 9:49 mark of the fourth period. A pair of fumbles by Ford invited the Bulldogs back into the contest. Redlands scored 16 seconds later, closing to within eight points. With just over four minutes remaining, the ‘Cat defense stymied the Bulldogs on three consecutive plays from the Linfield 21.

Ford atoned for his fumbles with a 40-yard sprint, shoving Redlands back into its own territory. Linfield, playing conservatively, punted the ball into the end zone and time finally ran out for Redlands.

Smith also recalled the Linfield 27-13 win over Hardin-Simmons in 2017 as one of the team’s great playoff performances.

Linfield had traveled to Abilene, Texas, the previous year for a 24-10 win. The Cowboys, ranked fifth in the final regular season poll, were forced to go to McMinnville to play the ‘Cats, ranked number eight at the time, thanks to being an at-large selection, since their conference winner was University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.

Though grateful for the home-field advantage, even Smith thought Hardin-Simmons was dealt a poor hand by the NCAA.

The Wildcats had located their starting quarterback in coach’s son, Wyatt, midseason when the freshman helped guide Linfield to a 16-10 OT win over Pacific Lutheran. By the time the playoffs arrived, Linfield had developed into a dangerous football team with the ability to score on the ground or in the air.

Linfield advanced to a 21-0 first-half lead against Hardin-Simmons, after a pair of offensive scores, before Linfield safety Duke Mackle essentially broke the ‘Boys’ back with a 53-yard interception for a score and 11 seconds left in the first half.

Smith still remembers Linfield’s most recent game, a momentous 68-65 triple overtime loss to Chapman College in the first round of the 2019 season.

Played at Chapman Stadium in Orange, California, on a typically SoCal sunny 75-degree day, the crowd required a calculator to keep up. In regulation, the score was knotted at 48.

But it took three overtimes and an uncharacteristic defensive blunder by the ‘Cats before Chapman emerged as the first round winner.

Even so, Smith said,” With the many ups and downs and massive flows, it was an enjoyable game to be involved in, even though we lost. It was a momentous game we’ll remember for many years to come.”

Such is playoff football.

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Linfield University trustees, Linfield president and other matters

Linfield University trustees agree to code of conduct

McMinnville N-R/News-Register Nov. 19, 2020

At their fall meeting last week, Linfield University trustees agreed to sign a code of conduct and join faculty and staff in undergoing annual training about sexual misconduct, Title IX regulations and discrimination.

“Each trustee must be a person of unquestioned integrity, at all times recognizing you represent Linfield,” the code of conduct says.

It orders trustees to “maintain the highest standards of conduct, collegiality and care.” In addition to their fiduciary duties to the school, it says they must maintain “policies and practices to prevent inappropriate behaviors and address future allegations in a manner and at a time that does not interfere with legal or policy requirements of Linfield.”

It says officers of the university “are responsible for reporting any perceived or alleged inappropriate conduct, including such that falls short of an official policy violation.” 

The code of conduct also stipulate the process for reporting and investigating allegations of misconduct, whether it is of a sexual or financial nature or another type of alleged violation.

The code of conduct was developed following investigations into accusations of sexual misconduct by a former trustee, David Jubb, and allegations that other trustees and school officials looked the other way.

Jubb resigned from the board in May 2019, three months after being accused by a student of touching her under her clothing. He is scheduled to go to trial in Yamhill County Court Monday, March 22, before Presiding Judge Cynthia Easterday.

Now 71, the Vancouver, Washington, man is charged with one felony count of first-degree sexual assault and seven misdemeanor counts of third-degree assault. He also was accused by three other students, who said he touched them in May 2017.

In announcing results of the November trustees meeting, Linfield President Miles Davis noted, “the weight of decisionmaking leaders must carry is never heavier than during times of great anxiety and uncertainty.”

He noted that 2020 carried “a significant amount of anxiety and uncertainty,” including repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic, elections, wildfires and “our own change from Linfield College to Linfield University.”

As of July 1, the university officially consists of a College of Arts and Sciences and schools of business and of nursing.

Linfield’s in-person classes were closed and students and faculty switched to distance learning in spring because of the pandemic.

The McMinnville and Portland campuses reopened to students in August with strict safety protocols, including smaller classes and social distancing. Students are returning home today and will finish the semester and testing online.

In addition, trustees at their November meeting agreed to change the name of a campus street currently named for A.M. Brumback, a science professor who served as president of the school from 1903 to 1905.

About 1900, he “engaged in desecration and theft of burial artifacts and human remains from Native American burial mounds,” trustees said. The university is inventorying those and other artifacts so they may be repatriated.

Trustees will consider a new name when they meet in February.

The Board of Trustees also passed a resolution saying the university will officially observe the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday each January, and that members of the Linfield campus be encouraged to perform community service that day.

Another resolution approved by the board says leaders of the university’s schools of arts and sciences, business and nursing be involved in decisionmaking for their schools.

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Notes from Wildcatville:

1--Also see, “Board of Trustees November meeting updates” which were “Posted on November 16, 2020 by Kathy Foss” and was a “Message sent on behalf of Miles K. Davis, President of Linfield University” at this URL link: https://www.linfield.edu/linfield-news/bot-nov-updates/

 

2—N-R story above includes, “In addition, trustees at their November meeting agreed to change the name of a campus street currently named for A.M. Brumback, a science professor who served as president of the school from 1903 to 1905.” President Davis’ message about Brumback says he, “served briefly as president.”

In 2014, Wildcatville blog (http://wildcatville.blogspot.com/2013/10/100-candles-on-linfield-football.html) wrote “Coach of the Linfield teams for its first five seasons (1896-1900) was A. M. Brumback. If his name seems familiar, it's because there's a Brumback Street … on campus near Linfield Football's Maxwell Field. However, the street honors not his football, gymnastics or track & field coaching at Linfield. It's because he was the college's president, 1903-05. Some information about Brumback calls him ‘Arthur Brumback’ or ‘Arthur M. Brumback.’ For the record, his full name was Arthur Marion Brumback.”

IN 2008, Wildcatville blog (http://wildcatville.blogspot.com/2008/10/linfield-campus-streets-have-football.html) wrote “BRUMBACK STREET …Brumback Street intersects with Renshaw Avenue … On one end of the street is the Linfield Softball Field, which is across the street from Renshaw Hall, now home of the college's Mass Communications Department. Player/coach A.M. (Arthur M.) Brumback organized Linfield's first football team in 1896. He coached for five seasons before being appointed college president in 1903, a position he held for two years (1903-1905). Brumback taught natural sciences at the college. According to one write-up, "Brumback had a passion for sport, playing center on and coaching the college’s first football team. While enormously popular with students" he was not successful in dealing with Linfield's financial crisis. He left Linfield in 1905, to take a position at his alma mater, Denison College, in Ohio. At Denison, he was that college's first chemistry professor.”

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A. M. Brumback listed here …

Current and former McMinnville College/Linfield College/Linfield University presidents according to Wikipedia posting as seen 6:30am 11/21/2020

 

Presidents of McMinnville College

·         1857-60: George C. Chandler

(Oregon became a state on Feb. 14, 1859. Thus, at the start of Chandler's presidency, the college was located in the Oregon Territory. At the end of his presidency, it was located in the State of Oregon. Same location, different name.)

·         1864-67: John W. Johnson

 

·         1873: J. D. Robb

(Robb served Feb. 20, 1873-July 10, 1873, according to the 1938 book Bricks Without Straw: The Story of Linfield College, by Jonas A. Jonasson.)

·         1873-76: Mark Bailey

·         1876-77: John E. Magers

·         1877-78: Ep Roberts

·         1878-81: J. G. Burchett

·         1881-87: E.C. Anderson

·         1887-96: Truman G. Brownson

·         1896-1903: Harry L. Boardman

·         1903-05: A. M. Brumback

·         1905-06: Emanuel Northup, interim

·         1906-31: Leonard W. Riley (McMinnville College name changed to Linfield College in 1922)

 

Presidents of Linfield College

·         1931-32: William R. Frerichs, interim

·         1932-38: Elam J. Anderson

·         1938-43: William G. Everson

·         1943-68: Harry L. Dillin

·         1968, 1974: Winthrop W. Dolan, interim

·         1968-74: Gordon C. Bjork

·         1974-75: Cornelius Siemens, interim

·         1975-92: Charles U. Walker

·         1992-2005: Vivian A. Bull

·         2005-06: Marvin Henberg, interim

·         2006–2018: Thomas L. Hellie

·         2018-2020: Miles K. Davis (Linfield College name changed to Linfield University in 2020)

 

Presidents of Linfield University

·         2020-present: Miles K. Davis

 

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A. M. Brumback mentioned here …

Mounds of mystery

By Elaine Rhose, ‘Rohse Colored Glasses’ column

McMinnville N-R/News-Register June 12, 2018

The puzzle of the mysterious mounds — found in the Willamette Valley and virtually all over the world — has long gone unsolved.

You, many times, may have walked by these curious blips on the landscape and paid no heed. It was not that their shape was highly unusual. But seeing them here, there and everywhere, you perhaps never really took a good look at the oblong little “mundane” mounds of soil that didn’t really look as if they belonged there.

Archeologists viewed them differently — and, started digging.

A clipping, datelined McMinnville, October 15, but lacking year and source, tells of the opening of a large mound (at the Morgan Baker Ranch) by McMinnville College students under the direction of science professor A. M. Brumback.

Great care was exercised and an unusual procedure was used.

A two-foot trench was dug around the base of the mound. Three feet up the side of the mound, it was pierced all the way through, in order to view the interior. Treasure was discovered: relics of war clubs. A skeleton was also found in the mound. Evidence indicated that this may have been a war scene. The search that day, however, could not be completed and had to be continued.

Information collected at the second digging indicated that, indeed, this likely had been a battle site. Several more skeletons were found. Each with a hole in the skull — apparently a bullet hole. And two distinct tribes apparently participated in the fight. Some skulls had the typical flat head characteristic; others had normal contour.

Among other finds in the mound were four buttons, about one and a quarter inches in diameter, with words around the upper edge, as on a coin, but in an unknown language.

Although discovering that the mounds were Indian burial grounds did, in part, solve the secret of the mysterious mounds, clouds still muddle their past..For example, some American Indians dispute ever knowing about them. There was disagreement as to whether the Indians had anything to do with them.

Mounds exist all over the world, including Siberia and It is interesting that an almost continuous line of prehistoric mounds has been found from Finland to Japan that apparently have no connection with any of the races now occupying that region.

Something else: Some settlers claimed that the Native Americans were highly protective of their mounds, and had been known to guard them in order to discourage intrusion, vandalism or desecration in any way. They wanted strictest privacy with regard to them

Yet, A. S. Gatshet archeologist, tells of watching the actual building of a mound and that Indians were well aware of his presence and seemingly disinterested.

Gatshet describes what he saw: “Work progressed on the mound during the night. On the mountain top they awaited the rise of the sun after having exerted themselves through the night carrying up the hill heavy rocks. Other hillocks are thrown up during the night by the female portion of the Indian community who seem more eager than the males to continue this antique custom of their forefathers. The flat topped eminence, about one mile east of the Grand Ronde Agency, is likely Spirit Mountain.”

Calapooya Mounds along the Calapooya and Willamette rivers, according to the Dictionary of Oregon History, now are about four feet high, but were probably higher when built. They are 75 to 150 feet in diameter, and each houses the remains of a stone-age chief. Some indicate sacrificial death by fire. Excavations have revealed obsidian arrow heads and ornaments of native copper. “In the area between Corvallis to Sweet Home more than 100 mounds once existed, but most have now been plowed under.”

And at one time there were as many as six of the oblong mounds near Wapato Lake. Indians depended on the lake, in part, for their food supply of wild potatoes that grew at the root of the plant in the bottom of the Lake.

They were harvested mostly by American Indians walking in the water and pressing the potatoes between their feet, standing deep in the water all day during the ripening season.

Mounds of a different type — shell mounds — were found along the coast. These range in area from 10 to 20 acres and in depth from 20 to 30 feet. From Clatsop to Curry counties in areas along the Coast Highway cuts through some mounds expose layers of shells and apparently the lowest layers are devoid of relics. Upper layers, however have produced finds of arrow and spear heads, pottery, mortars, pestles, smoking pipes and even ovens. Only one skeleton had been found to date. It was taken from a midden in Lincoln County but disintegrated upon exposure to the air before measurement and classification.

Indian mounds apparently date back as far as the first arrival of white settlers in Oregon but the Indians here as well as those in other places have denied knowledge of these mounds.

Although the mystery of the mounds has been solved, at least in part, perhaps the total solution will result in an exciting new chapter to add to our Oregon history.

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(Info below is edited. Go to URL to read complete posting.)

A. M. Brumback mentioned in online QUARTUX JOURNAL …

…NDNHISTORYRESEARCH, Critical Indigenous Anthropology & History | David G. Lewis, PhD : writer : researcher : educator

https://ndnhistoryresearch.com/2017/08/01/mounds-of-the-tualatin-yamhill-kalapuyan-area/

Of the Tualatin, Gatschet states “six miles west of Forest Grove on the eastern slope of a wooded hill which slants towards McCloud’s farm...”

 

This description join that of McMinnville (Linfield) College professor Brumbach who at the turn of the 20th century was excavating mounds in the Tualatin area. Brumbach initiated excavations on at least one mounds uncovering numerous artifacts and skeletons of Kalapuyans. It appears much of the artifacts were sent to the Smithsonian Institution but they are as yet undiscovered in the collections.

Linfield has been asked if they have such collections, but they appear to not have kept the collections. The collections many have gone with Brumbach when he left for a Chemistry appointments at Dennison University or University of California, or they are at the Museum of Oregon Anthropology in Eugene.

Apparently the tribes tried to protect their burials but in time gave in to continuous pressures. The tribes likely stopped practicing the traditions and the new generations stopped protecting the mounds. Found in the mounds are many items from the colonization period  (copper, coins, buttons) indicating that mound building was practiced up to the 1850s. Some scholars have suggested it was a previous culture, but it appears to be the work of the present living culture of the 19th century.

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Ideally it would be best to find the artifacts and human remains mentioned by Brumbach to determine what they are by the archaeologists at the Grand Ronde tribe. Thus far, there has been no Brumbach archive or collection discovered

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Linfield Sports Information website on 11/21/2020 included …

… “A.M. Brumback, football and gymnastics coach who later became college president, helped develop Linfield's first running track. Put into use in 1898, the track was primarily intended for use as a bicycle oval and surrounded the original football field adjacent to Pioneer Hall.”

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Fall 2007 Linfield Magazine includes about A. M. Brumback as Linfield (then McMinnville College) president ..

… He “had taught natural sciences at the college since 1896. Brumback had a passion for sport, playing center on and coaching the college’s first football team. While enormously popular with students, he was no more suited to stopping the fiscal wolf at the college’s door than was Boardman. In 1905 he left McMinnville to take a position at his alma mater, Denison College, in Ohio.”

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Linfield professor alleges antisemitism; Board of Rabbis calls for resignations

By Dora Totoian Of The News-Register• April 16, 2021 

 

The Oregon Board of Rabbis called Thursday for the resignation of Linfield University President Miles Davis and Board of Trustees chair David Baca, matching calls from students and other university community members.

Allegations of sexual misconduct against Davis and other University Board of Trustees members have received renewed attention in recent weeks after the faculty trustee on the board detailed antisemitism he said he has experienced from Davis during his process of reporting sexual misconduct allegations to the board. 

The 31 members of the Oregon Board of Rabbis were polled, and the 22 who responded all signed the letter supporting the call for resignation. 

The Pacific Northwest chapter of the Anti-Defamation League also sent a letter last week requesting the university to investigate the allegations of antisemitism. 

In a response to the ADL, Davis denied making the anti-Semitic comments and said Professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner has been engaged in a “smear campaign” against him and the University administration. Linfield University spokesperson Scott Nelson said in a statement Wednesday that “the facts are straightforward: Outside law firms agreed upon by Dr. Pollack-Pelzner investigated his accusations of antisemitism in 2020 and found no misconduct or violations of policy. There has been no other antisemitism complaint filed with the university.” 

“Linfield would be very happy – eager, even – to have a discussion with the Oregon Board of Rabbis,” Nelson said. “Their call is, by their own acknowledgment, based only on press accounts. The university would welcome a full and deep conversation about all the issues and concerns they raise, where the facts could be discussed as well as larger issues of campus climate. 

 The News-Register sent Linfield a list of 20 questions and allegations to reply to on Tuesday and offered Davis a phone interview on Wednesday. Linfield did not specifically answer most of the questions, and replied with a statement and pointed to statements it issued last summer amid calls for Baca to resign. 

Pollack-Pelzner, an English professor and the faculty trustee on the board, said he spoke up in a recent Twitter thread because he wants a university environment where everyone feels safe and will not face retaliation when reporting sexual misconduct or other abuses of power. He has also called for Davis and Baca to resign. 

“I understand that people in positions of power often become defensive when they’re called out for abusing it. But I think it’s really important to be clear that people who report misconduct are not harming Linfield,” Pollack-Pelzner said Tuesday. “People who commit misconduct are harming Linfield. And people who learn about misconduct and fail to act against it are really harming Linfield.”  

Pollack-Pelzner has served as the faculty trustee on the board since 2019, for which his role includes delivering a report at the board’s three yearly meetings. The board has 33 trustees and 14 emeritus trustees, according to a Linfield spokesperson. 

In his time on the board, he has brought various allegations of sexual misconduct against board members to its attention and requested the board implement sexual harassment prevention training for trustees and make board social events occasions centered on common academic interests rather than off-campus events with alcohol, he said. 

After the board didn’t implement those measures before its Feb. 2020 meeting, Pollack-Pelzner met with Baca, who Pollack-Pelzner said accused him of a secret agenda to grab power. Baca wrote in a July 2020 statement that since Feb. 2020, trustees have to undergo Title IX training. 

Nelson told the Oregonian that Baca was unaware Pollack-Pelzner was Jewish and was concerned the professor was asking him to take “actions that an individual trustee does not have the authority to make.” 

The stereotype of Jewish people as power-hungry is one of the most persistent anti-Semitic tropes, and Jews have often been depicted as the villains in art and literature since the Middle Ages, according to a post about anti-Semitic myths on the ADL’s site. 

In May 2020, the faculty assembly passed a no-confidence vote in Baca 88-18, which the board rejected. It eventually led to a petition and student protest over the summer calling for Baca’s resignation. 

Read more about the history of the sexual misconduct allegations in the accompanying story. 

 

Contacted this week, several Linfield students described feeling betrayed by the university and said they don’t feel the board and president care about their safety. Charlotte Abramson, a junior journalism major and the features editor of the Linfield Review, said their leadership does not inspire confidence and called on Baca to resign. 

“The school has taken a side on sexual assault, and there are no sides on sexual assault,” Abramson said. “We are paying so much money, we should be able to trust the people in charge of our education and that they’re going to put our safety as a top priority and not the paycheck that’s filling their pocket.” 

Dozens of people commented criticisms of the university on a March 31 Linfield Instagram post featuring cherry blossoms with the caption, “Spring has sprung.” “The flowers are so pretty!! You know what else is pretty?? Not covering up acts of sexual harassment and antisemitism,” one user wrote. 

Beatrice DeGraw, a junior literature major and president of Linfield University Pride, called on Davis and Baca to resign. 

“I’ve overwhelmingly had positive experiences with different staff and faculty,” DeGraw said. “It’s really hard to be a student at a university like Linfield especially when I am so close to graduating, and to not be able to trust my institution and to not feel proud of the institution that I’m at.” 

Katie Martinez, a sophomore elementary education major and McMinnville local, sent an email to trustees imploring them to listen to students and professors and to not protect people in power. 

“Linfield needs to do its homework and have some extraordinary accountability and transparency,” Martinez told the News-Register. “It affects all of McMinnville. It affects Yamhill County. McMinnville is a community, and Linfield is a part of that. If this culture permeates Linfield, it’ll permeate McMinnville.”

Pollack-Pelzner, in his recent Twitter thread and in an interview with the News-Register, described Davis allegedly commenting on the size of Jewish and Arab noses in 2018, implying Pollack-Pelzner would be disloyal to Linfield by including allegations of sexual misconduct in a trustee report, and telling board members in Feb. 2020 that following the teachings of Jesus Christ would prevent Linfield from being destroyed by internal disloyalty, he said. Pollack-Pelzner filed a complaint with human resources at Linfield in Feb. 2020 and with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries this month, he said. 

Davis denied these allegations in a response letter to the ADL and pointed to investigations into Pollack-Pelzner’s claims (Read the letter in its entirety at bit.ly/3afcyyv). An outside investigator found last summer that two of Pollack-Pelzner’s nine claims were partially or fully substantiated and he “endured significant resistance” from Davis and other University leaders, according to a summary of the investigation. Some of the complaints couldn’t be substantiated because there were no witnesses or because witnesses had a different recollection than Pollack-Pelzner, the summary said. 

The Oregonian reported Monday that Davis allegedly referenced the Holocaust to make a point in 2018, saying something to the effect of, “You don’t send Jews to the showers with soap,” according to two Linfield psychology professors who were present. 

Davis said in a statement he does not recall making the comment but said that if he did, he would have attributed it to one of his former business professors who used the imagery, in Davis’ words, “to drive home the moral dimension of organizational work.” He apologized for making the two professors uncomfortable and said, “I have never met or known anyone at Linfield who would be intentionally anti-Semitic, and feel heartsick about this accusation.” 

The Oregon Board of Rabbis, comprised of 22 rabbis from all Jewish denominations, issued four requests: for Davis and Baca to step down; implementation of a process for investigating sexual harassment and guidelines against retaliation; training for the board on implicit bias, microaggressions and antisemitism; and reporting and transparency on these topics. 

“Linfield University is one of Oregon’s most cherished institutions of higher education, and as such, should guarantee excellent safeguards for personal and academic freedom and dignity.  We will continue to insist that no one, regardless of gender or religion or race, experience fear or intimidation, least of all in a hallowed learning environment,” the letter said. 

The Pacific Northwest chapter of the Anti-Defamation League, a 108-year-old organization that combats antisemitism and other forms of hate, wrote a letter to the Board of Trustees last week asking the university to investigate the allegations of antisemitism and encouraging the board and other campus leadership to attend trainings on bias and antisemitism. 

Miri Cypers, regional director of the Pacific Northwest ADL, wrote the letter after two Oregon Jewish community leaders raised concerns about antisemitism at Linfield. The ADL is not representing Pollack-Pelzner or serving as his attorney, and it is not in a position to verify his allegations, the letter said. 

“Based on the alleged comments, it seems like there were a lot of anti-Semitic tropes and stereotypes that had been used, so we thought it was important to bring to light how these tropes become normalized and more common if they’re used a lot and desensitized over time,” Cypers told the News-Register Wednesday. 

The ADL said last year that reported anti-Semitic hate crimes reached their highest level since it began tracking them in 1979, with over 2,100 incidents reported in 2019, according to its website. 

Pollack-Pelzner said while he is troubled by the alleged antisemitism he described, his aim in speaking up is to make sure people at Linfield are not afraid to report sexual misconduct and other abuses of power. 

“I’ve had faculty say to me that they think the president and board’s actions are unacceptable, but they’re afraid that it’s only their own families who will suffer if they speak up about it,” Pollack-Pelzner said. 

The president proposes candidates for promotion and tenure, and the board approves or denies those requests, Pollack-Pelzner said. 

Hannah Waterman, a senior biochemistry and math major who helped organize the protest calling for Baca’s resignation last summer, noted the power differential between trustees and students/professors. Waterman also said she thinks Davis and Baca should resign. 

Reshmi Dutt-Ballerstadt, an English professor and the coordinator of the gender studies program, described a lack of transparency between the president and board and the rest of the campus community in an email to the News-Register. Nelson said he thinks Linfield is extremely transparent with deliberations and decision-making but said it was fair to ask if there were ways to improve campus communication. 

Dutt-Ballerstadt called for Davis and Baca to resign, adding she worried about harm to students and Linfield’s reputation. 

“Our community cannot even begin to heal until those that have injured our community are removed. Any rhetoric of ‘moving forward’ without serious accountability is irresponsible, ableist and damaging for those who have been harmed and the overall health of our institution,” Dutt-Ballerstadt said. “If he doesn’t step down then we will signal that those in power at Linfield can simply get away with anything.” 

Pollack-Pelzner pointed to trauma researcher Jennifer Freyd’s work on institutional betrayal and institutional courage in describing what he thinks accountability should look like, saying Linfield should begin by apologizing and outlining steps it is taking to prevent sexual abuse. 

Waterman, the senior, described a tension between her appreciation for Linfield students and professors and the frustrations she has with university leadership. 

“It really isn’t the university, it’s the board and the administration. I love being a student at Linfield. My professors are amazing. I’ve never once had a terrible encounter with professors or other students,” Waterman said. “But having people who are leading the university who have this reputation for discrimination and retaliation is shameful.”

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A timeline of complaints and concerns

By DORA TOTOIAN Of the News-Register April 16, 2021

In Nov. 2019, Pollack-Pelzner learned of a student and a professor who described being inappropriately touched by trustees, including Linfield University President Miles Davis, but did not want to file Title IX complaints, he said.

Instead, they asked Pollack-Pelzner if he could request the board to implement sexual harassment prevention training for trustees and make board social events occasions centered on students’, professors’ and trustees’ common academic interests rather than off-campus events with alcohol. 

Pollack-Pelzner learned through a Dec. 2019 Oregonian article that the student trustee on the board had filed a complaint against now-former trustee David Jubb, who had previously been accused of sexual assault but allowed to stay on the board, according to the Oregonian. Pollack-Pelzner asked Davis, Board of Trustees chair David Baca and the college’s general counsel to implement the preventative measures before the board’s next meeting in Feb. 2020. 

Jubb resigned from the board in June 2019 and is awaiting trial. He pleaded not guilty to one count of first-degree sexual abuse and seven counts of third-degree sexual abuse, according to the Oregonian. 

When Davis asked faculty to host dinners for trustees in town for the February board meeting, on Valentine’s Day, Pollack-Pelzner again asked about the preventative measures he suggested. 

“There’s a well intentioned desire to have communication between trustees and faculty and students. But after three consecutive meetings with complaints about sexual misconduct all involving alcohol and off-campus events, to have the president propose another off-campus event involving trustees and alcohol seemed to me to miss the point,” Pollack-Pelzner said. 

Pollack-Pelzner said Baca soon accused him of an agenda to grab power. Linfield spokesman Scott Nelson said Baca didn’t know Pollack-Pelzner was Jewish and thought he was being asked to make decisions beyond his role as an individual trustee. 

Davis then asked Pollack-Pelzner to withdraw his February trustee report describing allegations of sexual misconduct against board members, Pollack-Pelzner said. A summary of the investigation last summer looking at Pollack-Pelzner’s claims against Davis substantiated that Davis indicated the report would damage Linfield and “forcefully conveyed – while perhaps not using the actual word ‘disloyal’ – that Dr. Pollack-Pelzner was being disloyal to Linfield by disclosing the allegations in his report,” the report summary said. 

In his May 2020 trustee report, Pollack-Pelzner said 4 people on the Board of Trustees, or about 10% of the board, had been accused of sexual misconduct. Baca censored the allegations in the May report, according to a July 2020 article in the Linfield Review. 

Baca said in a July 2020 statement that it was “malicious” to say four board members had been accused, and said that at the time, there were no pending allegations by any Linfield students against current trustees. 

The board also issued Pollack-Pelzner an official censure and prevented him from attending executive sessions, he said. Nelson said his removal from executive sessions happened because he “broke confidentiality” of those sessions. 

In his May 2020 faculty trustee report, Pollack-Pelzner expressed his concern over the elimination of the voting faculty and student trustee roles on the Board of Trustees. Nelson said the board is looking at “how we might actually increase student and faculty representation at board meetings and give them a chance to provide feedback on important issues, while getting away from voting members.” 

In May 2020, the faculty assembly passed by 88-18 a no-confidence vote in Baca after an alumna said the university and Baca failed to intervene as promised after she reported that Jubb allegedly touched her and two other students in 2017, according to the Oregonian. The board later rejected the faculty’s no-confidence vote, the News-Register reported in July 2020. 

In Nov. 2020, the Board of Trustees dissolved the faculty assembly and replaced it with a faculty senate model of governance, according to the Linfield Review. The model gives each of the university’s three schools an equal number of senators, but is overall a smaller governing body than the faculty assembly, the article said. 

The faculty senate of the College of Arts and Sciences planned to meet on Thursday afternoon, after the News-Register’s deadline. 

Over the summer, Linfield community members circulated a petition calling for Baca’s resignation and organized a protest on campus. 

It also led to two investigations of a professor’s claims against Davis and trustee Norm Nixon, which were found to be “substantiated by a preponderance of the evidence” but did not violate Linfield’s anti-harassment and sexual harassment policy or its Title IX policy, according to summaries of the reports. 

An investigation of Pollack-Pelzner’s claims of harassment and retaliation partially or completely substantiated two of the nine claims, but found the complaints did not meet the threshold for unlawful harassment or retaliation, according to a summary of the report. 

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Whatchamacolumn

By Jeb Bladine President / Publisher •April 16, 2021 

 

Bladine: Story resurfaces with a vengeance

Linfield Professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner wanted another bite of the apple in his campaign to discredit Linfield University President Miles Davis. He didn’t get just one, but a whole bushelful.

Our news story today rekindles distasteful controversies at Linfield dating back to 2017, before Davis arrived in mid-2018 from Shenandoah University in Virginia. Since then, Davis and Linfield have endured three tumultuous years, and Pollack-Pelzner has been a continuing thorn in some of those wounds.

Setting aside the 2018 storm surrounding Linfield’s volleyball team — a high-drama situation resolved deftly by Davis — those controversies include:

Pre-2018 financial problems leading to 2019 faculty reductions; sexual offense and inappropriate behavior charges against members of the Board of Trustees and, to a lesser degree, Davis himself; overlaying all that with challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic; and lesser known, internal faculty power struggles related to Linfield’s 2020 conversion from college to university.

That’s a lot of apples, as previously reported. For a complete review, just type “Jubb” into our website search field; read today’s story, which links to a letter Davis issued in response to the 2020 controversies; and consider how this latest reprise of old news surfaced.

Two weeks ago, Pollack-Pelzner wrote a series of tweets retracing his grievances against Davis and Linfield, with special emphasis on accusing Davis of long ago anti-Semitic comments. Back in 2020, we reported Davis’s terse denial “in the strongest terms possible. These claims of bias on my part are fictitious, and were thoroughly investigated. I will not dignify the allegations by discussing them further.”

Pollack-Pelzner’s 2021 Tweets drew a letter of concern from Portland chapter of the Anti-Defamation League; Oregon Public Broadcasting, whose website indicates no 2020 coverage of the Linfield saga, dove into the whole story as if it were all new stuff; The Oregonian, which covered the 2020 sexual scandal but apparently missed the anti-Semitism charge, made up for lost ground with a lengthy investigative article published this week.

And now, we’re all revisiting these past offenses and allegations. Developments continue to unfold, like the call from the Oregon Board of Rabbis for Davis to resign, which occurred just as this column was going to press.

Linfield has rebounded financially, and its conversion to University status may be its best path to future stability. That good economic news evolved despite the series of controversies that Linfield hoped – now without success – were being left behind.

Meanwhile, Miles Davis remains a lightning rod at the local campus, as Pollack-Pelzner plays a mixture of Zeus and Thor in raining down bolts and encouraging others to do the same. It seems like a story with more to come.