By Madison Broeker
Imagine this scenario: You’re standing in front of a crowd of people, and you are asked to spell “embarrassed.” Then, as you’re standing there, you suddenly can’t remember how to spell it.
“How apropos…” was what Benjamin Myers, professor of literature and English, said in response to getting embarrassed as his word, right before misspelling it.
On Sept. 28, the Student Success Center held the Faculty Spelling Bee in the Lower GC. The professors who participated were Myers, Sarah Marsh, Amadi Amaitsa, Keith Hess, Chaoyang “Kevin” Gao, Brian Camp, Stephen Stallard and Joan Klerekoper. The event was held in hopes that students would get to see a different side of their professors, an idea shared by those involved.
“I liked that students had the opportunity to see their professors as people… however decorated with degrees or whatnot, we’re all people, and we’re all in this together,” said Charles Ackerly, public services librarian and one of the spelling bee judges.
This sentiment was echoed by Holly Easttom, assistant professor of journalism and the event’s host.
“I think students get to see a playful side of their professors, which is good! They see we are just like them: insecure about being wrong in front of people, a little embarrassed about being on the spot, but willing to invest to create a meaningful moment; and that’s what we want to model for students.”
Professors and students alike were laughing and joking during the spelling bee. Students cheered when professors got words right and gave a collective “aww” when they got them wrong. The professors reacted to one another’s answers and enjoyed the audience participation, keeping things lighthearted and full of jokes.
Gao said perseverance had “too many letters.” When he asked for its origin and was told it was Latin, he said that “is not a real language.”
When given extraterrestrial, Amaitsa began beatboxing, then stopped and said, “e,” before attempting to spell it.
When the judges told Myers his word was Kafkaesque, he simply said, “It is indeed.”
When Stallard got liaison and began to spell, he said, “L — that’s the easy one…”
The night was full of fun moments and lots of laughs. Perhaps the most popular part was the “buybacks” that allowed professors to get back into the game. During the first three rounds, a professor who got a word wrong could choose to eat a Warhead, answer an embarrassing question or do a dance.
The dancing option seemed to be the crowd’s favorite, as students often chanted for professors who misspelled words to dance. The crowd and judges seemed to think Amaitsa had the best moves.
“It just needs to be said, Dr. Amaitsa’s dancing skills are off the charts,” Ackerly said.
The crowd cheered loudly whenever Amaitsa danced, and a few phones were instantly out recording.
Another popular moment came when Camp stepped onto the floor and slow-danced to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off,” pretending to swing a partner around the dance floor before pretending to kiss his imaginary partner. The crowd laughed and cheered, applauding as he made his way back to his seat.
The night held laughs and cheers until the very end.
Once the buybacks ended, the contestants were narrowed down to the final three: Stallard, Myers and Klerekoper. Eventually, only Myers and Klerekoper remained.
Klerekoper misspelled Worcestershire. The judges jokingly asked Myers to spell onomatopoeia, which he also misspelled. However, they just wanted to see if he could.
The judges declared Myers the winner, and the audience cheered loudly for him.
