The end of an era: McBride to retire

Photo by: Henoc Kivuye

 

After 50 years of teaching at Oklahoma Christian University, Bailey McBride, professor of English and editor emeritus of the Christian Chronicle, is retiring at the end of the semester. McBride first taught for two years at Central Christian College in Bartlesville, Okla. In 1966 he returned after the campus moved to its current location and has taught at Oklahoma Christian ever since.

 

Over the course of his tenure, McBride has held a variety of faculty and administrative titles including department chair, chief academic officer and provost. He also helped form and lead the Honors Program. In 2004, McBride was inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame. Oklahoma Christian later established an endowment to create and support the Bailey B. and Joyce McBride Center for Faith and Literature.

 

McBride discussed his career with The Talon.

 

What prompted you to dedicate your life to teaching English and Literature?

 

McBride: From the time I was about 2 years old I loved stories. My mother read to me until I could read to myself. She read the “Tales of the Arabian Nights.” We read Jack London’s “White Fang” and she read “Black Beauty.” I always loved literature, loved stories. I was reluctant to major in English because I thought that was too natural – that’s too easy. After I didn’t find anything else that I was very good at, I majored in English. After I taught my first class I never had any regrets; I loved the interaction with students. I guess I could teach anything if I had students who would talk to me about what they’re thinking and what they’re reading.

 

What has kept you teaching all of these years?

 

McBride: Students. I have always liked people your age much better than I like people my age, even when I was the same age you are. I like the fact that this generation is very positive, very optimistic. Even though the world is generally not very optimistic, I think students on this campus tend to be very optimistic. Through the years I have always had groups of students that I have felt really close to, that I’ve talked with, that I learned what they were thinking – that is the part I will really miss next year.

 

What from your career are you most proud of?

 

McBride: Most of the pride I have comes from the outstanding students that I had a chance to work with. … When you decide to teach, students become the lifeblood of your existence. The things I’m really happy about are the people I had to teach and have some influence on. … I have to be proud that all three of my children are graduates of Oklahoma Christian; all three of them married graduates of Oklahoma Christian. I have two grandchildren who have graduated from OC.

 

What do you hope students remember most about you?

 

McBride: I hope they remember that loving Jesus and serving God has been my greatest passion since I was about 12 years old. I hope they know that I think that the greatest gift that any of us have is our mind, and the challenge is to use all the capacity of our minds that we possible can. … I hope people remember that the cultivation of the mind goes hand-in-hand with the cultivation of the spirit.

 

What advice do you have for the university?

 

McBride: I think OC is at a very critical time in its history. There is a lot of emphasis nationwide on education that is really pragmatic – What’s my job? How is this related to my career? If we become too committed to those concepts, I think we will miss the most important aspects of education. … I think we always have to be pushing in our programs to make sure that people are broadly educated. As important as your career is, your career is not your life. It’s the way to prepare for your life and to support your life. I hope that students who come out of Oklahoma Christian have an appreciation for creativity, architecture and art. They value the music that is created, the literature that’s created in our own day. All of those are the things that make life valuable for us.

 

What final advice would you give to students?

 

McBride: The simplest thing is work hard. My advice is anything you do, work hard to develop a passion for it. Only passion produces great work.