Know Your State College English Departments Simply by Their Website, Part Two: Westfield State College

State schools are plucky. Massachusetts state colleges are pluckier than most. When you're the (sort of) next door neighbor to the Harvards and M.I.T.s of the world, you need to put your best foot forward to get recognized. It's all in the presentation. So, in an attempt to learn more about our Massachusetts state college brethren, it's time to examine the English department websites of all state colleges and see what they put out there to the general public for all to learn about them.

Next up: Westfield State College

The website for the Westfield State College English Department welcomes you with this photo--a collage of everything that makes writing and literature great. This includes purple trees lightly sketched over the photos. I'm sure it alludes to something literature-ish if you just give me a few minutes to think about it.

((thinks))

Nope. Got me. I don't know what the purple trees mean. Not a clue.

Granted, Westfield State likes to keep you guessing. The main web page for the college shows a rotation of news at the school where we're told this stunning news: "Our students are studing abroad in China." That's right--studing. It's quite possible Westfield State has started putting their students out to pasture in China. 

What might also have been put out to pasture is the English Department website for the college, too. Some basic sleuthing (ie: looking at the bottom of the page) shows they haven't updated the main page since 2007. Granted, 2007 was probably a fantastic year for the department, so why let the memories fade? While they're at it, they'll also let you know what sort of course electives you can take for the 2006 school year, too. Have you been jonesing to take Contemporary Cross-Cultural Literature? Well, good news. It's available for the Spring 2006 semester. Plan accordingly.

What they have up to date is the department calendar. They just happen to let that run three years into the past as well, just in case you were wondering what was planned in October 2007. (Note: you just barely missed the Student Poetry Slam by 28 months.)

Are you looking for a job in the department? Well, I can report that in 2006 no jobs were available. That said, Westfield State offers a random blurb right after that giving a brief breakdown of what makes Westfield, MA, so appealing to live and work:
 

Western Massachusetts abounds with cultural and recreational activities (Ed. note: only in the summertime really), making it an especially nice place for academic and family life. (If you're a single person, well, hey, you're out of luck.) Westfield is located within half an hour of Northampton and an hour of Amherst with their celebrated bookstores, shops, cafes, and libraries. (So, you might be more interested in teaching at UMass Amherst or Amherst College instead.) Tanglewood and summer stock theatre in the Berkshires are less than an hour away. Both Boston and New York City are easy day trips. (Please ignore Springfield, MA, right next door, unless you like the sweet smell of desperation.) Set on the edge of the Berkshires, (just not quite in it, shucks!) Westfield is a city with a strong sense of history and tradition since its founding in 1669. Besides its indoor as well as outdoor recreational activities (Indoor activities? Like what? Shuffleboard and canasta?), the city boasts fine schools and reasonable housing costs. (It's Massachusetts. "Reasonable housing costs" is a loose term.)

Do you have an interest in theater? No? Good. Neither does Westfield State. Because the website link to the department's program ceases to exist. Feel free to click here just to wax nostalgic for the days when they actually had this as a live link.

Ahh, but activities do exist from the department. Sort of. Kind of. The page hasn't been updated since 2008--which is practically yesterday in Westfield State time--but it does show that they have an English Club, a Sigma Tau Delta Club, a literary journal called Persona, and a Renaissance Faire-esque dinner banquet between faculty and students where everyone wears costumes. Don't think I didn't just search Google for images of this dinner. I was hoping for a goldmine. Sadly, no. (But if anyone out there has photos, I've got a shiny nickel with your name on it.)

Yes, I admit, Westfield State seemingly forgot they have an English Department website. But I can't fault the students, if only because I suddenly realize I know them. Casually. As in I recognize faces. See, the English Honor Society has an international conference every year. A couple years ago it was in Louisville, KY (the hotbed of international intrigue), of which I attended to read a paper of mine. It's attended by hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people. Readings for nonfiction (which I was there for) are attended very well. At the end of my reading, some people from the audience came up to talk with me. Some offered politeness. Some offered praise. Some offered compliments. One such kind person was from Westfield State.

Well, it seems she was the VP of their chapter. Her face is all over the Westfield State English Honors website. Danielle Rice was her name. A pleasant, friendly, cheerful person. So, thank you, Ms. Rice, wherever you are. It was good to have a fellow Massachusetts state schooler there to offer encouraging words. Your kindness has always been remembered.

That's Westfield State College's English Department for you. Cheerful, happy students promoting the college in the best light. The website? Not so much. So, we'll pretend the website doesn't exist in its current form. Purple trees included.