REMEMBERING SPENCER CAHILL AT SKIDMORE COLLEGE

In the early 1980s our Skidmore College sociology program went looking for a symbolic interactionist. We found one of the best in Spencer Cahill. Our luck doubled when Doni Loseke joined us shortly after.

A newly minted PhD, Spencer launched into an ambitious research program and had a highly productive thirteen years at the college. Spencer would surely appreciate the irony (and critique the meaning) of quantifying his scholarly work at Skidmore: 2 edited books, 21 journal publications, 10 book reviews or essays, 8 reprintings of publications, 26 papers and 8 discussion sessions at professional meetings. While at Skidmore, Spencer served as associate editor of seven journals and, with Doni, co-edited the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography. Spencer also served in a variety of offices in the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction.

Spencer applied his interactionist approach to wheelchairs, social work education, sex roles, battered women, language, children . . . . And, of course, public bathrooms. Yes, even our department’s men’s room was fair game for Spencer’s sociological observations.

“Teacher/scholar” was no cliché for Spencer. It was his model for a professional life. He worked hard at his craft, preparing every syllabus, every lecture, every assignment, every exam with great care. Spencer taught brilliantly and attracted a coterie students who called themselves Cahillians. His young disciples carried interactionist ideas into even the most positivist regions of our department.

Spencer mentored young, and sometimes not-so-young, Skidmore colleagues, even those with interests and approaches quite different from his own. Colleagues often found Spencer more knowledgeable about their own fields than they themselves were. He critiqued their manuscripts, opened scholarly opportunities for them, and guided them through the publication process. Always generous with his time, Spencer talked with young colleagues about how to balance scholarship, teaching, and service, how to live the life of a teacher/scholar. Spencer served on and chaired a variety of committees, including a collegewide personnel committee, the most important on campus.

Colleagues remember Spencer and Doni most fondly for off-campus interactions—front porch conversations and dinners with great food and great conversation. Spencer was a wonderful cook and there was always plenty of wine. Best of all, though, there were wonderful discussions and plenty of ideas. Spencer and Doni’s home was a Saratoga salon

But the time finally came for Spencer to move on from Saratoga and Skidmore. Spencer’s commitment was far greater to his intellectual program than to the place where he happened to live and work. Spencer gave much to our students, colleagues, and program at Skidmore College, and we are grateful for the time he was with us.

William Fox and Colleagues
Skidmore College
Saratoga Springs, New York