LAKEPORT — At Wednesday”s farewell gathering for Mark Rawitsch, Mendocino College Lake Center English instructor Steve Hellman recalled the impact the retiring dean of instruction had on his teaching style.
“I was a cab driver in San Francisco for six years, and I dealt with rude customers by pulling over and kicking them out of my cab,” Hellman said. “When I started teaching here, and I encountered a rude student, I”d just kick ”em out of class.”
Then Hellman had a talk with his dean of instruction.
“Mark understood the breadth and scope of the human experience,” Hellman began.
“He also helped me understand that there were other ways to handle things.”
Hellman”s appreciation of Rawitsch”s thoughtful manner and effective style were typical at the informal lunch-hour on-campus gathering of about 40 friends and colleagues who, one after another, paid tribute to the long-time Mendocino College administrator who will make his retirement official on Aug. 6.
Center assistant Eileen Lucas said, “It”s like losing a family member. I”ve never seen an administrator work side-by-side in every aspect with other employees” as Rawitsch has.
“It”s not just all the things you”ve done here,” Lake County Superintendent of Schools Wally Holbrook told him. “It”s the way you”ve done them.”
“You were gracious to every faculty member,” art instructor Lorraine Brady told Rawitsch. “It”s hard to imagine working with a dean any more gracious than you.”
What”s Rawitsch, 62, going to do now?
“Actually, I”m going to rest for a while and get over being an administrator,” he said.
After getting his first nonfiction book published this spring, which drew good reviews, Rawitsch said he hasn”t ruled out a second book — but for right now, he has other plans.
“Doing what?” someone asked.
“Whatever I want,” he said.
Rich Mellott is a staff reporter for Lake County Publishing. He can be reached at 263-5636, ext. 14, or rmellott@record-bee.com.
