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Nov 10, 2023

Get to know your professors by taking a peek behind closed doors

Staff writer In his office, professor Pat Farro decorated the space with a collection of natural minerals, wooden furniture and a tuba. Attending office hours is a way to catch a look at professors’

Staff writer

In his office, professor Pat Farro decorated the space with a collection of natural minerals, wooden furniture and a tuba.

Attending office hours is a way to catch a look at professors’ unique office decorations and find out their interests beyond the classroom. Gonzaga University math and mechanical engineering professors Tom McKenzie, Pat Ferro and Melody Alsaker have designed their offices with large collections of different items.

Math professor McKenzie’s office in Herak has several unique collections. Ranging from pop culture artifacts, ancient coins and rocks, McKenzie made sure his office would be entertaining for anyone who visits.

“The theme is just things that interest me that I think might interest students,” McKenzie said. “The students come into my office and they’re working out math problems … so I want there to be something just entertaining that we can talk about that’s not math.”

An extensive collection of “Star Wars”, “Star Trek” and “Babylon 5” memorabilia line the walls of McKenzie’s office. He also has interactive items like a Tippy Top and Rattleback that spin across the desk to occupy students during office hours.

McKenzie said his most unusual decoration was a Playbill from Sir Patrick Stewart’s one-man performance of “A Christmas Carol” on Broadway. He said his favorite decoration was a set of rocks gifted to him by his young son when he first started working at GU. During one of his runs along the Centennial Trail, McKenzie picked up his biggest decoration, a nearly life-sized storm trooper that watches over his office from atop a shelf.

“We were out by Bowl and Pitcher, and I got lost," McKenzie said. "But then I happened upon a yard sale, and this guy was out in front."

As time goes on, he plans to continue adding decorations from unique locations.

Alsaker, who also teaches math, took a similar approach to decorating her office. Located in Herak, she aims to provide a welcoming space for students coming in for office hours. Her collection mostly features natural objects she has found like minerals, fossils and seashells.

“I used to have everything at my house and then I realized I was really one of the only people who ever got to see it,” Alsaker said. “So, I figured more people could enjoy it this way, and people do seem to like it.”

Alsaker’s rock collection began when she was a kid, and she has now gathered multiple bookshelves full of items. Alsaker’s biggest seashell came from her grandmother’s collection that was gifted to Alsaker when her grandmother passed away.

“Liking to pick up rocks and seashells seems to run in the family,” Alsaker said.

Alsaker said one of her favorite decorations was a box of sea glass from a beach town in Sicily, Italy. She said her most unique decoration is a piece of slate that may be a fossilized piece of squid she picked up from the Swiss Alps. Many of Alsaker’s other decorations came from her travels and found a permanent home in her office.

“I consider myself of scientist,” Alsaker said. “I guess [my office] is a reflection of me as a scientist and as a person who wants others to enjoy science as well.”

Ferro, a mechanical engineering professor, also decorated his office in Herak with a large collection of natural minerals.

“My office is where I keep all my stuff,” Ferro said. “I’ve got a lot of cool things like big pieces of copper, or pieces of tungsten and obsidian.”

Ferro considered his tuba a piece of material that is an example of brass, though he does also play music with it. Ferro said that there was no explicit theme to his office, but he did try and stick to wooden furniture over metal.

Though Ferro avoids metal furniture, he has no aversion to collecting metal objects. His heaviest decoration was a piece of tungsten, an incredibly dense metal. He said that one of his favorite decorations was a metal turbine blade from a steam generator, gifted to him by a colleague.

“Almost everything in here was given to me by, in most cases, a Gonzaga engineer,” Ferro said.

Ferro’s decorations are so popular he said that his office is often chosen as the designated meeting room.

“Someone once told me my office reflects my personality,” Ferro said. “That’s probably a true thing about every office everywhere.”

Along with McKenzie and Alsaker, Ferro said that his office is well loved by the students who stop by to visit. Each professor said they tried to provide an interactive atmosphere through their office decorations that make students feel more comfortable visiting.

“My favorite part of the job is office hours, when students come in with questions,” McKenzie said. “The idea is to make it a little less scary.”

Carmen MacRae is a staff writer.

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