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Rick Mangan
M.A. Psychology, Integrated Studies, 2006
 Rick Mangan had been teaching full time at a local community college and wanted to complete graduate studies to satisfy his prerequisite for tenure.
He says Antioch allowed him to focus on the specific subjects that intrigued him, and gave him the opportunity to design a master's degree that incorporated both deaf culture and psychology.
"It was simply the best academic choice I have ever made. It not only made me a more educated person, with a deeper, clearer knowledge of my subject area, but also it made me a better teacher and, I hope, a better human being," Mangan notes.
"The theories and multicultural identity perspectives I studied at Antioch have informed my work toward a more pluralistic society. The campus where I teach is constantly striving toward pluralism...."
He says his Antioch experience reawakened and strengthened his passion for social justice.
"The theories and multicultural identity perspectives I studied at Antioch have informed my work toward a more pluralistic society.
"The campus where I teach is constantly striving toward pluralism and a more equitable environment and I have become actively involved in issues around this effort. This includes," he says, "the LGBTQ alliance of faculty, staff and students who work toward student safety on campus both emotionally and physically. I am also involved with our pluralism committee and our diversity caucus on campus.
"The most significant thrust, however, comes from my application project at Antioch. In the ISP, I designed an undergraduate course in Deaf Identity and that has become ETHN 130, a social science course in the Ethnic and Culture Studies department of our Social Science Division. To my knowledge, this is the only course of its kind in the world. And we offer it once or twice each year at Bellevue College," he describes.
He says his life was enriched and changed significantly by faculty members Alexandra Hepburn, Ned Farley, Gwen Jones and Professor Emeritus Farouk Seif.
"All of these people made the learning experience a spiritual process of integrity, self-awareness and social responsibility that was exactly what I needed, exactly when I needed it," Mangan explains.
Today, he has the tenure he sought and he says he frequently tells his students about his best memory, what he describes as a recurring epiphany from his academic experience Antioch.
"It happened frequently in three of my courses during my time there," Mangan says. "Each time, it occurred during class as my fellow students discussed course materials and theories. If I had to put this 'thought/feeling' into words, it would be: 'I am so deeply honored to be in the presence of these wise, beautiful, insightful and creative people.' It was an awe-inspiring sensation and it happened repeatedly in three or four of my classes."
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