When history education major Don Little ’91 M'94 M'15 was a student at SUNY Oswego, he knew very little about the university founder, Edward Austin Sheldon. He had heard something about Sheldon being a proponent of “object learning” in education and a student joke about what would need to happen for the ball in Sheldon’s hand to drop off the statue. But what Little learned about Sheldon while doing research on his history master’s thesis sparked a deep passion that the Syracuse high school history teacher hopes to turn into a book. “It is mind-blowing to see what he achieved,” Little said. “He changed the game and was a true advocate of school children. He had a deep respect for human dignity. Not only was he concerned about children, but he was an abolitionist. The Oswego Movement had extraordinary reach on American Education. Sheldon even spoke on it at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago.” In celebration of Sheldon’s 200th birthday, Little will present “Honoring our Founder: The Life and Legacy of Edward Austin Sheldon” at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 29, in the auditorium (room 132) of the Marano Campus Center. It is free and open to the university and surrounding communities. Little’s presentation will kick off the third annual Founder’s Weekend celebration, which also includes:
Little hopes that all Lakers will take the time to learn a little bit about their university’s founder, who he describes as the “extraordinarily ordinary game-changer, just like most of the students who have graduated from the university.” He also wishes that as people pass the famous Sheldon statue in front of Sheldon Hall, they take note of some of its exceptional qualities. “200,000 students from 3,000 schools contributed to its commissioning,” Little said. “Also, the fact that it includes a student. Most statues that are memorializing an individual do not include others. It is totally symbolic of the student-centered model he created.”